Steps in Merchandising
·
Fashion Forecasting - Studying the fashion forecast along with the
designer
·
Sourcing - of fabrics- mill made, power loom, handloom, woven, knitted etc and trims such
as interlining, buttons, labels etc.
·
Buyer Communication - Getting information about customer profile
whether be a distributor, retailer or exporter, domestic or international
·
Enquiry and Sampling
·
Pre-Costing - Calculating the fabric consumption and estimating
the cost
·
Order confirmation and acceptance
·
Order Review
·
Planning and Programming
·
Samples
·
Accessories Sourcing and Purchasing
·
Inspection
·
Cutting and Production
·
Packing
·
Shipment
At every stage merchandiser has to co-ordinate with all the
departments and follows up at every process. Buyer has to be intimated about
the day-to-day progress of his order and merchandiser has to ensure quality at
all stages of production.
Fashion Forecasting is the process of analyzing and predicting the
future trends for the upcoming season in the industry. It is very important
because without it the manufacturers and retailers would not be able to produce
and sell the goods. Raw material manufacturers have to be ready before one year
for the selling season. Whereas apparel manufacturers and accessories
manufacturers have to be ready by 9 – 12 months ahead of the selling season and
retailers should prepare them at least 3 – 4 months ahead of selling season. So
without forecasting these players cannot prepare and produce the right kind of
style, design and type of materials.
Fashion forecasting can be done through various sources which
could provide numerous information about the future fashion trends like colour,
style, silhouette and designs. Some of the sources for forecasting are fashion
magazines and bulletins, websites, TV channels, fashion predictive services,
sales records and consumer surveys. Effective forecasting depends on how all
the available information is processed analyzed and interpreted using the
forecasting techniques.
Materials and production sourcing are critical to the success of
an apparel firm. Sourcing is procuring of materials and production at a
specified quality and service level. It involves a series of planned management
decisions that includes merchandising, production, and marketing managers.
Decisions are based on product requirements, production capabilities, lead
time, and quality. A basic decision in sourcing is either to produce or buy the
desired product.
Making involves producing the fabric, components, and finishing
the products in the firm’s own production facilities. Buying involves
contracting with another firm to produce the product. Make -or-buy decisions
arise as the result of the development of new products, need for specialized
equipment, unsatisfactory supplier or contractor performance, and increase or
decrease in demand for established products.
After identifying a prospective buyer the next step is to
communicate with those buyers. Communication may be through letters, fax or e
-mails. A formal letter includes detailed profile of the company, address,
contact details, production details, total employees, product details, existing
buyers, annual sales turn over, accreditations, infrastructure etc. It should
be followed up till the company receives a prospective enquiry from the buyer
and consequent order conformation. An exporter should prepare to cover the
overhead expenses that would be incurred during the initial stage. After
getting the approval, the exporter would send samples and enquiries for future
business relationship.
Requisition sent by buyer asking price details of the product
which they want to place the order is an enquiry. The general content of the
enquiry may have the details of garment style, fabric, colour and assortment
and proposed order quantity. An enquiry received from the buyer may not be the
confirmation of order placement. So the buyer will ask for samples of their
enquiry along with the price before confirming the order.
After receiving an enquiry from the buyer the merchandiser has to
do the pre-costing for the product which is mentioned in the enquiry.
Pre-costing is the process of estimating the tentative price for the product.
While doing costing various factors like style, fabric, colour and design,
order quantity, current exchange rate and accessories have to be taken into
consideration. The document that communicates all the details about a garment
inside and outside a company is Specification sheet. After pre-costing, it is
sent to the buyer as a reply to his enquiry. The importance of costing depends
on its degree of accuracy and the quick response to the buyer.
Buyer will confirm the order, after the approval of fit sample and
the price. It will be in the form of order sheet or purchase order from the
buyer. It should be in a proper format duly signed with the office seal of the
buyer. After receiving the order sheet, the exporter has to read it carefully
and confirm the order acceptance by duly signing the order sheet along with the
office seal of the exporter. Then the copy of the same should be sent to the
buyer. It is always advisable to start the order after receiving the Letter of
Credit (L/C) from the buyer.
Order review is going through or reading the order sheet carefully
to check for the particulars with that of enquiry for any variations and also
requirements of the particular order.
The order sheet have details like the quality requirements,
packing details and accessories details. The merchandiser must check the
quality, requirements and note down the important instruction regarding label
placement , wash care and spelling of words. Any discrepancies in the order
sheet should be informed to the buyer at the initial stage itself and should be
corrected before the commencement of the production. This is an important
activity which would help in efficient and effective follow up and execution of
the order.
Planning includes the time that calculation and scheduling of the
order lead time. Planning include master planning and scheduling or critical
path. Programming involves decision making, on certain activities in a
particular order.
Master Planning
The total time required to complete the order is estimated. If not
necessary alternatives to execute the order in time is also planned. The target
date for shipment is set before master planning. The target date is normally
set one week to ten days earlier than the delivery date mentioned in the order
sheet. Yarn purchasing, fabric production, processing, cutting, sewing,
checking, ironing, packing, final inspection and shipment departments need to
be consulted regularly to know the progress of all these activities. Their
available capacity details should also be noted. If the final inspection date
falls on the target date then the order can be shipped in given time. If not,
then the revised planning should be done by outsourcing or increasing the
capacity levels for various activities.
Scheduling or Critical Path
It is the activity of giving time schedules to the various
departments based on master plan. It will be in a table format which tells
about the process sequence for a particular order and their corresponding
schedules or timings or dates for each process from date of order confirmation
till shipment. It consists of two main columns namely Planned and Actual. If
there is any deviation in the planned and actual dates, then revised planning
has to be done. The scheduling is also called as “Route Card”.
Programming
Apparel manufacturing involves a combined network of various
activities like raw materials, purchase, knitting , weaving, processing and
sewing. The decision on when, what, where, how and who has to be made for all
these activities. Programming is the activity of deciding all these activities.
Sample is a product which represents a group, lot or batch. The
quality, style, fit, design, workmanship or any other characteristic of the
product are noted in every sample. Based on the samples the buyer gives
approval or comments for any alteration in design or style or quality. Samples
may be made before the start of the production or can be taken from the
finished goods. For every order or style, separate samples are to be made.
Different types of samples like original sample, offer sample, fit sample,
proto sample, photo shoot sample, salesman sample, and size set sample,
preproduction sample, production sample, shipment sample, fabric sample,
accessories sample and document sample are made in apparel export.
Accessories can be generally classified into production
accessories and packing accessories. Production accessories are the ones which
becomes the integral part of the apparel. Packing accessories are those used in
packaging of the apparel product which may be individual or bulk packing. If
the accessories have to be purchased domestically from the exporters supply,
then it needs approval from the buyer. If it has to be purchased from the
suppliers abroad, the process need time. So accessories planning should be done
at the earliest.
Inspection is the visual examination or review of raw materials,
partially finished components of garments and completely finished garments in
relation to some standards specifications, or requirements. Here the garments
are checked for the required measurements.
The principle involved in inspection is the early detection
of-defects, feedback of this information to appropriate people. This helps in
determination of the cause and ultimately correction of the problem. It is done
under three sections namely raw material inspection, in-process inspection, and
final inspection
Raw Material Inspection
Fabric inspection is usually done on fabric inspection machines.
Defects in a fabric can be seen readily with these machines, as the inspector
has a very good view of the fabric and the fabric does not need to be reversed
to detect the defects. These inspection machines are either power-driven or the
inspector pulls the fabric over the inspection table and check the defects.
In-process Inspection
Inspection is done in between any process or in between any sewing
operations. This may be in half finished (or) semi-finished stage. In – process
inspection includes flip checking, patrol inspection, pre-final inspection and
100% Inspection.
Flip Checking
Inspection done by the operators or by its assistance during the
sewing operation before the garments are bundled.
Patrol Inspection
Inspecting activities of a particular area or line. It is called
as line supervision.
Pre-final inspection
It is done by the final Inspection merchandiser or QC or both can
do pre-final Inspections. After pre-final Inspection garment are send to final
inspection. After final Inspection only, the decision of passing or rejecting
is made.
100% Inspection
Inspection should be done 100% in the Inspection center.
Final Inspection
First time inspection of the packed merchandise goods is called
original inspection. It is a random inspection done according to the customers
individual required standard after the shipment have been completed packed and
ready to ship. Colour appearance, workmanship and style will he checked against
the customer’s specification.
Testing
After fabric is received, certain properties of the materials are
measured or evaluated using certain instrument or equipments. This process is
called as Testing. Generally properties such as GSM, dimensional stability or
shrinkage, pilling, streaks, lines, colour matching, strength and weight are
tested before the production process.
This is a crucial stage in the apparel manufacturing process.
Changes or problems cannot be rectified once the cutting process is done. So
one has to make sure that certain things are completed or approved before
proceeding the work. The following should have been approved before proceeding
for production. This includes Size set samples approvals, Accessories, In-house
Testing reports and Fabric inspection reports.
The apparel manufacturing involves combined network of various
complex activities. In order to ensure the optimal execution of the order
certain approvals are to be obtained during manufacturing process. They are
·
Fabric approval
·
Garment sample approvals at different stage
·
Accessories approval
·
Colour, design approval
·
Packing approval
·
Quality approval
·
Quantity approval
·
Time extension approval
·
Factory approval
·
Document approval
Packing should be done in accordance with the requirement of buyer
as individual or bulk, type of packing material, number of units in each
carton. The carton boxes are checked for the following points:
·
Total number of cartons and their code numbers
·
Shipping marks
·
Packing slip details like order number, style name, number and
other assortment details.
·
Carton packing check like checking the method of packing, type of
end joining.
·
Number of carton boxes selected for inspection
Shipping marks are the symbols or logo which are given by the
buyers and are to be printed on the carton boxes for easy identification.
Besides the shipping marks the carton box should be written with the details of
order which may be printed on the carton box or may be pasted with the packing
slip.
Shipment is the process of expediting the goods to the buyer
through proper means of transport so that it reaches the buyer safely and on
right time. The most common means of transportation are by water, air, road or
combination of these. Products are also transported by courier or post.
Various procedure and documents have to be prepared before
shipment.
Every person importing or exporting goods requires an importer –
Exporter Code Number (IEC). The export of goods is controlled by certain rules
and regulations. Export of goods may require Export license, forwarding and
clearing agent, shipping order, customs formalities, Excise clearance,
Insurance, negotiation documents etc.
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