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.

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About the Author

The author is associated with Department of Clothing and Textiles, G.B. Pant Univ. of Ag. & Tech., Pantnagar. (U.K.)