How to Maintain Feeding Record in Garment Production

Maintaining feeding record in stitching department is a good practice and this is practiced by most of the manufacturing units. Here feeding record means maintaining details of cuttings loaded to the stitching line. The purpose of this record keeping is to keep accounting of each and every piece given to stitching department for sewing. Record is maintained date wise, style wise, color wise and size wise for production quantity reconciliation, and movement of garment pieces.

With the cutting receiving quantity, it is also needed to maintain records for garments sent to next processes after stitching like garment washing or garment finishing processes.

The process of cutting issue and receiving and maintaining feeding record in stitching department is done as following

• Normally worker is assigned (known as loader) to bring cuttings from cutting department. Each production line may have different feeders/loaders. In small factories one guy can feed to all the production lines.
• The cutting department generates a challan (cutting issue slip) for cuttings that would be given to stitching department. In the challan cutting quantity is written size wise, and color wise given to stitching department.
• Stitching department receives the cuttings against the challan and cutting quantity is updated in their log book (register) by record keeper (data entry guy).
• Factory also keeps separate records for cutting received from cutting department and cutting loaded to the stitching lines 
• Stitching department give the receiving of the cuttings to the cutting department 

Feeding records can be maintained by stitching department in the following form

1. Recording data in log book
2. Recording data in logbook and later entering data in the computer
3. Recording data using software like ERP or Real time production tracking system

Also read: How to stop missing of garments in production processes?

How to maintain feeding record?

The simple way of maintaining feeding record is to maintain everyday's feeding quantity in a long register.

Use the following format for your feeding log book to maintain cutting loading record. Use separate page for different style/article. If case quantity is high and have multiple colorways - you can even record color wise is different pages.

Logbook format for record maintenance

Create an index page for style wise entries and mark page number. This will help you locate feeding record of a particular style quickly. For reference you can also paste a fabric swatch (1 inch/1 inch) of the style and colorways in the top of the page.

We had used this format in the factory where I was working for maintaining feeding records of sewing lines. At the time when I was working in a garment factory, we have assigned one person to maintain record for daily loading - style wise, line wise and even size wise qty.

In recent days, garment factories are using real time shop floor production control system. In this system, feeding record is prepared automatically once layers (cuts) are created against the production line and size wise cutting quantity assigned to the line. System records line wise feeding data. Later feeding is done as per plan. In this case no need to do data entry multiple times and no need to maintain logbook for detailed feeding record.

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