The garment industry is based on fashion and invariably goes through short fashion cycles. To survive in the market, there have to be regular innovations in colour, style, design, fabric, finish and fit. Automated machinery and IT solutions are keys in such a scenario to be competitive and improve business results.

The growth of garment industry in terms of technology adoption can be traced from pedal operated machines in the 60s. The industry moved on to power-operated machines and steam presses in the mid-80s, started assembly line manufacturing in the late 80s and then entered the phase of using computerized machines. The Industry saw a rapid change with the introduction of computerization in the garment industry.

Automated machines for cutting, sewing, buttonholes, CAD/CAM for pattern making, etc, have brought down the cost of production considerably. As a result, garment companies now focus on technology to be productive and cost-effective at the same time. In terms of advancements in automation, present generation machines have under bed trimmers, which stitch and trim excess thread simultaneously. This means a huge saving on threads and excess manpower, besides this, there are automated machines for stitching collars and cuffs, finishing machines, pressing machines, etc.

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The author is Associate Professor, Department of Textiles & Apparel designing, College of Home Science, MPUAT, Udaipur (Raj.)

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