Introduction
CAD/CAM is virtually a "No Limit" solution for
textile designing and manufacturing because it has enormous application area. With
the introduction of computer aided designing and computer aided manufacturing
technology it is possible to make modern designs and unique color combinations
which can easily satisfy the consumer's need. Now the fabrics are more
attractive and more completive in today's rapid changing fashion world. High
quality exportable textile products including apparels, furnishing fabrics,
upholsteries, blankets, carpets and so on, are made with help of CAD/CAM system,
showing higher potentiality of revenue generation from export market.
Computer aided design technology allows the creativity of
the textiles designers to run free; hence it is being used more and more in
textile industry. CAD/CAM is heavily used in textile industry as a designing
medium as well as a tool for production. In power loom sector of our country,
almost every composite textile mill has adopted this type of CAD/CAM tools for
textile designing and manufacturing in their R&D lab. The software is so
efficient that it produces all the required outputs within a few seconds and
allow the craftsman show more and more creativity.
What Is CAD/CAM?
CAD/CAM is the contraction which stands for Computer Aided
Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing. This term means different things to
different people involved in designing, manufacturing and mechanical
engineering.
Why CAD/CAM Is Necessary
Today every coming generation is more fashion conscious so
there is huge demand for new-fangled weave designs. With these conditions designers
have difficulty in keeping pace with the fast changing trends of the market. Some
times they find that they are not ready to cater the market needs. It is not
easy to them to remain competitive, by merely depending upon the traditional
way of designing, because todays design becomes out of fashion tomorrow.
Hence they loose a share of market, so to keeping pace with fast shifting
trends of market computer aided designing and manufacturing is very much
required.
It is well known phenomenon that human being is always in
search of opportunities related to saving money, time and comfort. Any textile
industry will think in terms of improving the efficiency, maximum utilization
of resources and improvement in services for customers satisfaction. Search of
these elements leads towards development and use of new technologies. As the
proverb says "Creativity is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine per
cent perspiration." but computers have confirm it wrong. They have made textile
designing simpler, faster, more precise and enjoyable. The designer can create
his motifs with a mouse or pen. Once the design is created, further process of
editing the design i.e. clipping of certain parts, adding new shapes, changing
the shapes, distortion, resizing, recolouration, color reduction, replicating
and combining as per the need can be done at the minimum possible time. Also,
one part of design can be altered without affecting the rest.
The other benefit is its wide application in different types
of fabric designing. CAD system can be effectively used for designing Suiting/
Shirting, Sarees, Furnishing and Upholstery Fabrics, Blankets, Terry Towel, Carpet,
Labels, Knitwear, Bed Covers, Velvet and other. Various complicated weaves can
be made easily, one need not to worry about the complicated drafting and peg
plans, and the effect of supposed weave can be seen immediately before actual
production.
Read
Full Article
About the Author
The author
is associated with Department of Clothing and Textiles, G.B. Pant Univ. of Ag.
& Tech., Pantnagar. (U.K.)
