HOW TO IMPROVE YARN REALIZATION

                   HOW TO IMPROVE YARN REALIZATION

1. INTRODUCTION
In the production economics of a spinning mill, yarn realisation plays a significant role. To illustrate, in the prevailing cotton cost and yarn selling price, even an 1% improvement in yarn realisation would lead to a saving of Rs 20 lakhs per year for a 30000 spindle mill manufacturing 40s yarn. 

Two decades ago, SITRA had brought out a publication on yarn realisation and process waste control. During this intervening period, remarkable changes have taken place in the industry with regard to technology of machinery, yarn quality and workers efficiency. Keeping the above in mind, the formulae for estimating yarn realisation and norms for different categories of wastes have been updated and presented in this article.

This article also deals with various measures necessary to improve yarn realisation and control wastes. Besides controlling process wastes such as blowroom and card droppings, flat strips, comber noil, sweep waste and yarn waste, equal emphasis should also be laid on the control of reusable wastes (soft waste) such as lap bits, sliver bits, roving ends and pneumafil and roller waste. This is because, apart from loss in production, reprocessing of soft wastes involves extra handling and deteriorates yarn quality.

2. YARN REALISATION 
Establishment of norms for wastes is a pre-requisite for a successful waste control in a mill. Yarn realisation (YR) is largely governed by the level of trash in cotton, expected yarn quality and type of machinery. Achievable yarn realisation can be obtained using the following formulae:

1. INTRODUCTION
In the production economics of a spinning mill, yarn realisation plays a significant role. To illustrate, in the prevailing cotton cost and yarn selling price, even an 1% improvement in yarn realisation would lead to a saving of Rs 20 lakhs per year for a 30000 spindle mill manufacturing 40s yarn. 

Two decades ago, SITRA had brought out a publication on yarn realisation and process waste control. During this intervening period, remarkable changes have taken place in the industry with regard to technology of machinery, yarn quality and workers efficiency. Keeping the above in mind, the formulae for estimating yarn realisation and norms for different categories of wastes have been updated and presented in this article.

This article also deals with various measures necessary to improve yarn realisation and control wastes. Besides controlling process wastes such as blowroom and card droppings, flat strips, comber noil, sweep waste and yarn waste, equal emphasis should also be laid on the control of reusable wastes (soft waste) such as lap bits, sliver bits, roving ends and pneumafil and roller waste. This is because, apart from loss in production, reprocessing of soft wastes involves extra handling and deteriorates yarn quality.

2. YARN REALISATION 
Establishment of norms for wastes is a pre-requisite for a successful waste control in a mill. Yarn realisation (YR) is largely governed by the level of trash in cotton, expected yarn quality and type of machinery. Achievable yarn realisation can be obtained using the following formulae:

A. For mills reusing the entire usable wastes in the same mixing

1. INTRODUCTION
In the production economics of a spinning mill, yarn realisation plays a significant role. To illustrate, in the prevailing cotton cost and yarn selling price, even an 1% improvement in yarn realisation would lead to a saving of Rs 20 lakhs per year for a 30000 spindle mill manufacturing 40s yarn. 

Two decades ago, SITRA had brought out a publication on yarn realisation and process waste control. During this intervening period, remarkable changes have taken place in the industry with regard to technology of machinery, yarn quality and workers efficiency. Keeping the above in mind, the formulae for estimating yarn realisation and norms for different categories of wastes have been updated and presented in this article.

This article also deals with various measures necessary to improve yarn realisation and control wastes. Besides controlling process wastes such as blowroom and card droppings, flat strips, comber noil, sweep waste and yarn waste, equal emphasis should also be laid on the control of reusable wastes (soft waste) such as lap bits, sliver bits, roving ends and pneumafil and roller waste. This is because, apart from loss in production, reprocessing of soft wastes involves extra handling and deteriorates yarn quality.

2. YARN REALISATION 
Establishment of norms for wastes is a pre-requisite for a successful waste control in a mill. Yarn realisation (YR) is largely governed by the level of trash in cotton, expected yarn quality and type of machinery. Achievable yarn realisation can be obtained using the following formulae:

A. For mills reusing the entire usable wastes in the same mixing

For the method of consolidating waste, estimating invisible loss and checking the accuracy of figures, reference may be made to SITRA monograph Quality Control in Spinning, 1998.  4. PROCESS WASTE  4.1. Blow room Amount of waste extracted in blow room is mostly determined by the trash level in cotton. In modern blow room lines, greater importance is attached to the opening of cotton than cleaning. Hence, cleaning efficiency of about 60% in cottons with high trash content and 50% in cottons with low trash level can be considered to be quite satisfactory in these lines. For good cleaning efficiency, the waste extracted in blow room should be about the same as the trash in mixing. If, however, the cleaning efficiency achieved is less than 50% 60%, then the total waste extracted should also be low. It should be ensured that the overall lint in waste is no more than 40% in cottons with high amount of trash and 50% for cottons with low level of trash.  The expected lint loss can be estimated using the following formula: t = trash in mixing (%) t L = trash in lap (%) Wb = waste extracted in blow room (%) L = % lint in waste Illustrative Examples 1. Trash in mixing : 3.5% Trash in lap : 1.5% Waste extracted : 3.2% Calculate the lint loss in waste. Refer equation (2), 2) Trash in mixing : 5% Trash in lap : 2% Expected lint loss : 40% Estimate the amount of waste to be extracted in blow room

For the method of consolidating waste, estimating invisible loss and checking the accuracy of figures, reference may be made to SITRA monograph Quality Control in Spinning, 1998.  4. PROCESS WASTE  4.1. Blow room Amount of waste extracted in blow room is mostly determined by the trash level in cotton. In modern blow room lines, greater importance is attached to the opening of cotton than cleaning. Hence, cleaning efficiency of about 60% in cottons with high trash content and 50% in cottons with low trash level can be considered to be quite satisfactory in these lines. For good cleaning efficiency, the waste extracted in blow room should be about the same as the trash in mixing. If, however, the cleaning efficiency achieved is less than 50% 60%, then the total waste extracted should also be low. It should be ensured that the overall lint in waste is no more than 40% in cottons with high amount of trash and 50% for cottons with low level of trash.  The expected lint loss can be estimated using the following formula: t = trash in mixing (%) t L = trash in lap (%) Wb = waste extracted in blow room (%) L = % lint in waste Illustrative Examples 1. Trash in mixing : 3.5% Trash in lap : 1.5% Waste extracted : 3.2% Calculate the lint loss in waste. Refer equation (2), 2) Trash in mixing : 5% Trash in lap : 2% Expected lint loss : 40% Estimate the amount of waste to be extracted in blow room

4.5. Sweep waste
Sweep waste in all the departments of a spinning mill together should be within 1%. A high sweep waste arises invariably due to operatives throwing away the wastes like roller waste, lap bits, sliver bits, roving ends, etc. on the floor and generation of fly and fluff. The fly frame and ring frame tenters should be provided with hip bags and it should be ensured that the roller waste and roving ends are deposited in the bags after piecing the broken ends. Good waste, if any, should be picked before sweeping instead of sorting out the waste later. A high price fetched for sweep waste would give an indication of the presence of good fibers in the waste. 

5. INVISIBLE LOSS
Invisible loss in a spinning mill occurs due to a number of factors such as short fibers (fluff) escaping from the departments, improper accounting of wastes produced, weighment errors in cotton purchased and wastes sold, excess give away of yarn and inaccuracies in the estimates of stock held in process. Since it would be difficult to accurately assess the process stock, it is suggested that the invisible loss be assessed only once in 4 months for control purposes. This will help in minimising the variation in invisible loss due to errors in process stock estimate. From the data compiled every month, a cumulative average could also be taken for control purpose. However, not much importance should be given for estimates made from data less than 4 months. 

To maintain the invisible loss within 0.5%, mill should also ensure that moisture content in the finished goods is at par with the level prevailed in cotton at the time of purchase. For more details on invisible loss control, reference may be made to SITRA Focus How to Control Invisible Loss in Spinning Mills? Case study, Vol.23, No.3, September 2005.

6. USABLE WASTE
By exercising good control over 
► end breaks in various machines
► material handling and storage and 
► work practices of operatives 
a mill could maintain the usable waste below 5%. 

7. CONCLUSION
In many mills, there is good scope for improving yarn realisation and reducing wastes (as revealed by inter-mill studies as well as consultancy studies by SITRA). The following 4 steps would be helpful to improve yarn realisation.

Step 1: Calculate actual yarn realisation and different categories of wastes 
Step 2: Using the formulae given in this article, estimate the expected yarn realisation for the existing working conditions. 
Step 3: Compare the actual yarn realisation with the expected value and actual wastes with norms.
Step 4: Analyse the causes for deviation and initiate corrective action. Create awareness among the workers and technical staff about the importance of waste control. Good supervision and proper maintenance of machinery would help to reduce the waste.

Source: The south Indian Textile Research Association, Coimbatore-641014, India,http://www.sitra.org.in/default.aspx.

An overview on some of the basics of TQM

TQM is the art of managing all the activities of an organization to achieve excellence. It is a philosophy and a set of guiding principles that represent the foundation of a continuously improving organization, wherein the application of quantitative methods and human recourses are sought to improve all the processes within the organization so as to meet and exceed the customer needs now and continuously with change of time. It is a proven technique to ensure survival in the era of globalization of trade. TQM can be defined as an integrated organizational approach in delighting customers (Both Internal and External) by meeting their expectations on a continuous basis through everyone involved with organization working on continuous improvement in all products, services and processes along with proper problem solving methodology.
Quality definition and its dimensions
The expression Quality has to be understood clearly from the customer point of view for the success of TQM Programme. One usually thinks about Quality in terms of an excellent product or service that fulfills or exceeds the expectations. These expectations are based on the intended use and the selling prize. If a product or service surpasses the expectations one relate it with the quality. Thus it is more or less an intangible thing based on perception. The Quality can be quantified as follows:
Q = (P / E),
Where, Q- Quality, P- Performance and E- Expectations
If Q is greater than 1 then the customer has a good feeling about the product or service. It should be noted that based on perception P is determined by the organization and E determined by the customer.
As per ISO 9000:2000, quality is defined as the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfill requirements. Degree means that quality can be used with adjectives such as poor, good and excellent. Inherent is defined as existing in something, especially as a permanent characteristic. Characteristics can be quantitative or qualitative. Requirement is a need or expectation that is stated; generally implied by the organization, its customers and other interested parties; or obligatory. Quality has different dimensions as mentioned below:
Quality Dimension
Explanation
1. Performance
Primary Product Characteristics
2. Features
Secondary Product Characteristics
3. Conformance
Meeting specification/ Standards/ Workmanship
4. Reliability
Consistency of Performance over the Time
5. Durability
Useful Life
6. Service
Resolution of Problems and Complaints
7. Response
Human-to-human Interface
8. Aesthetics
Sensory Characteristics
9. Reputation
Past Performance
TQM is an approach to management that can be characterized by its principles, practices, and techniques and emphasized on customer focus, continuous improvement, and teamwork.
Basic Principles and Concepts of TQM:
The TQM programme is a continual activity that must be entrenched as culture and requires the following six basics principles and concepts knitted by effective communication:
Top management Commitment- Leadership
Focus on customer- Customer Satisfaction
Effective involvement and utilization of entire employee
Continuous improvement
Treating suppliers as partners
Establishing performance measures for the processes

Top management Commitment:
Top management participation and complete involvement is essential in the total quality programme. The management commitment should be clearly visible through their acts and deeds. A Quality Council must be established to develop a clear vision, set long term goals and direct the quality programme. The short and long term business plan shall include the quality goals. An annual quality improvement programme is to be established on the basis of Collection of inputs from every stakeholders of business. Managers also get involved in quality improvement teams and provide leadership. Leadership is essential during every phase of the implementation process and particularly at the start.
Leadership
There is no universal definition of leadership. A leader strengthens and inspires the followers to accomplish shared goals. Leaders shape the organizations values and promote, protect and exemplify it.
An organizations seniors leaders should set directions and create a customer focus, clear and visible values, and high expectations. The directions, values and expectations should balance the needs of all the stakeholders. The leaders should ensure the creation of strategies, systems and methods for achieving excellence, stimulating innovation and building knowledge and capabilities. The values and strategies should help in guiding all activities and decisions of the organization. Senior leaders should inspire, motivate and encourage all employees to contribute, to develop and learn, to be innovative and to creative.
Seniors leaders should serve as role models through their ethical behaviour and their personal involvement in planning, in communications, coaching, development of future leaders, review of organizational performance and employee recognition. As role models, they can reinforce values and expectations while building leadership, commitment, and initiative throughout the organization.
Characteristics of quality leaders
Leadership can be difficult to define. However, successful quality leaders tend to have certain characteristics. There are many characteristics that successful quality leaders demonstrate.
Priority attention to external and internal customers and their need
Empower, rather than control, subordinates.
Emphasize improvement rather than maintenance.
Importance to prevention.
Encourage collaboration rather than competition.
Train and coach rather than direct and supervise.
Learn from problems.
Continually try to improve communications.
Continually demonstrate their commitment to quality.
Select suppliers on the basis of quality, not price.
Establish organizational systems to support the quality effort
Encourage and recognize team effort.
Seven Habits of Highly effective People
Stephen R. Covey found the following seven habits of Highly Effective People. A habit is the intersection of knowledge, skill and desire. Knowledge is what to do and Why; skill is the how to do; and desire is the motivation or want to do. In order for something to become a habit we have to have all the three.
1. Be proactive
2. Begin with the end in mind
3. Put first thing first
4. Think win-win
5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood
6. Synergy
7. Sharpen the saw ( Renewal)

The seven habits are a highly integrated approach that moves from dependency (you take care of me) to independence (I take care of myself) and to interdependence (we can do something better together). The first three habits deal with independence-the essence of character growth. The habits 4, 5 and 6 are dealing with interdependenceteamwork, cooperation, and communication. Habit 7 is the habit of renewal. The seven habits are in harmony with a natural law that Covey calls the P/PC Balance, where P stands for Production of desired result and PC stand for Production Capacity, the ability or asset.
Focus on customer - Customer Satisfaction:
The key to effective TQM Programme is to focus on Internal/ external customer needs and satisfaction. The organization should listen to the voice of the customer and give greater importance to the customer perception and satisfaction.
Manufacturing and service organization are using customer satisfaction as the measure of quality. The Total quality management implies an organizational obsession with meeting or exceeding customer expectations, so that customer is delighted. Understanding the customers needs and expectations is essential to win new business and retain the existing one. An organization must give its customers a quality product or service that meets their needs at a reasonable price, which include on-time delivery and out standing service. To attain these levels, the organization needs to continually examine their quality system to see if it is responsive to ever-changing customer requirements and expectations.
Customer perception of Quality
The most successful TQM programs begin by defining quality from the customers perspective. An American Society for Quality survey on end user perceptions of important factors that influence purchases showed the following ranking
1. Performance
2. Features
3. Service
4. Warranty
5. Price
6. Reputations
The factors such as Performance, Features, Service and Warranty are part of the product or service quality; therefore it is evident that product quality and service is more important than price.
Using Customer Feedback
Customer feedback must be continually solicited and monitored. It is not a one time effort; it is an ongoing and active probing of the customer mind. Feed back enable the organization to
* Discover customer dissatisfaction
* Discover relative priorities of quality
* Compare performance with the competition
* Identify Customers need.
* Determine opportunity for improvement
Using Customer Complaint
Feedback is proactive and the complaints are reactive in nature. Even then they are very vital in gathering data on customer perceptions. A dissatisfied customer can easily become a lost customer. Many organization uses customer dissatisfaction as the primary measures to assess their process improvement effort. A positive approach towards complaint creates opportunity to obtain information and a better service level can be assured.

Service Quality
Customer service is the set of activities an organization uses to win and retain customers satisfaction. It can be provided before, during, or after the sale of product. Following are the dimensions of service quality.
1. Tangibles- physical evidence of service
2. Reliability- Consistency in providing the service
3. Responsiveness - Readiness and Willingness of the employees
4. Assurance Ability of employee to convey trust and confidence
5. The ability of the employees to put themselves in the customer shoes
Customer retention
Customer retention is more powerful and effective than customer satisfaction. Customer retention represents the activities that produce the necessary customer satisfaction that creates customer loyalty, which actually improves the bottom line.
Effective involvement and utilization of entire employee
As the TQM is the organization wide challenge, every employees involvement is essential. All personnel must be must be trained in TQM, Statistical Process Control and other appropriate quality improvement skills so that they can effectively participate in the quality teams.
Motivation
Motivation means a process of stimulating people to accomplish desired goals. Motivation could be explained in terms of hierarchy of need and that there were five levels as explained by Abraham Maslow. These levels are survival, security, social, esteem and self-actualization. Frederick Herzberg found that people were motivated by recognition, responsibility, achievement, advancement and the work itself. While management thinks that good pay is the number one need of the employee. Survey results show that this factor is usually in the middle of the ranking. Employee tends to follow the theories of Maslow and Herzberg. By involving employees through the use of teams in meaningful work and by providing the proper reward and recognition, mangers can reap the advantages of greater quality and productivity along with employee satisfaction.
Empowerment
Empowerment is an environment in which people have the ability, the confidence and the commitment to take the responsibility and ownership to improve the process and initiate the necessary step to satisfy customer requirement within well defined boundaries in order to achieve organizational values and goals. Employee empowerment requires that the individual is held responsible for accomplishing whole task. The employee becomes the process owner- thus the individual is not only responsible but also accountable. In order to create empowered environment three conditions are necessary.
* Every one must understand the need for change
* The system needs to change to the new paradigm
* The organization must enable its employee


Teams
Employee involvement is optimized by the use team. In most instances they are effective because many heads are more knowledgeable than one. Each members of the team has special abilities that can be used to solve complex problems. The interactions within the team produce the results that exceed the contributions of each member. There are various types of teams, namely Process improvement team, cross-functional team, natural work team, self-directed team. But people need to be trained to work as a team. There are mainly three types of teams that TQM organizations adopt:
A. Quality Improvement Teams or Excellence Teams (QITS) - These are temporary teams with the purpose of dealing with specific problems that often re-occur. These teams are set up for period of three to twelve months.
B. Problem Solving Teams (PSTs) - These are temporary teams to solve certain problems and also to identify and overcome causes of problems. They generally last from one week to three months.
C. Natural Work Teams (NWTs) - These teams consist of small groups of skilled workers who share tasks and responsibilities. These teams use concepts such as employee involvement teams, self-managing teams and quality circles. These teams generally work for one to two hours a week.
Recognition and Reward
Recognition is a form of employee motivation in which the organization acknowledges the positive contributions an individual or team has made to the success of the organization. Reward is something tangible. Recognition and reward go together to form a system for letting people know that they are valuable members of the organization. As people are recognized, there can be huge changes in self-esteem, productivity, quality and the amount of effort exhorted to the task at hand. Recognition comes in its best form when it is immediately following an action that an employee has performed. Recognition comes in different ways, places and time such as,
Ways - It can be by way of personal letter from top management. Also by award banquets, plaques, trophies etc.
Places - Good performers can be recognized in front of departments, on performance boards and also in front of top management.
Time - Recognition can be given at any time like in staff meeting, annual award banquets, etc.
Performance appraisal
The purpose of performance appraisal is to let employees know how they are doing and provide a basis for promotions, salary increase, counseling and other purposes related to an employees future. Performance appraisal may be for the team or individuals. Regardless of the system a key factor in a successful performance appraisal is employee involvement.
Continuous improvements
There must be a continual striving to improve all business and production processes. Quality improvement projects, such as on-time delivery, customer satisfaction, waste reduction, product realization and inventory are good places to begin Tools. Thus, techniques such as Juran Trilogy, PDSA Cycle, 5S, Benchmarking, Quality function deployment, TQC, Kaizen etc. are excellent for problem solving at various activities.
Treating suppliers as partners
As the significant quantity of business activity is the purchased product or service, their performance quality is contributing lot to the companys quality. Therefore partnership relationship with suppliers must be developed. Both parties have as much gain or lose based on the success or failure of the product or service. Focus should be on quality and life cycle costs rather than price.

Establishing performance measures for the processes
For each functional area performance measures should be determined and posted for everyone to see. Quantitative data are necessary to measure the continuous quality improvement activity.
The purpose of TQM is to provide a quality product and/or Service to customers, which will, in turn, increase productivity and lower cost. With a higher quality product and lower price, competitive position in the marketplace will be enhanced. This series of events will allow the organization to achieve the objectives of profit and growth with greater ease. In addition, the work force will have job security, which shall create a satisfying place to work.
The TQM require a cultural change and this change being substantial can not be accomplished in short period of time. The following changes are expected due to TQM implementation

Elements Before TQM Implementation After TQM implementation
Definition Product oriented Customer oriented
Priorities Second to Service and cost First among equals of service and cost
Decisions Short term Long-term
Emphasis Detection Prevention
Errors Operations System
Responsibility Quality Control Everyone
Problem solving Managers Teams
Procurement Price Life-cycle costs, Partnership
Managers Role Plan, assign, Control and enforce Delegate, coach, facilitate and mentors
Communication
It is a vital link between all elements of TQM. Communication means a common understanding of ideas between the sender and the receiver. The success of TQM demands communication with and among all the organization members, suppliers and customers. Supervisors must keep open airways where employees can send and receive information about the TQM process. Communication coupled with the sharing of correct information is vital. For communication to be credible the message must be clear and receiver must interpret in the way the sender intended.
Downward communication
This is the dominant form of communication in an organization. Presentations and discussions basically do it. Supervisors are able to make the employees aware about the basic features of total quality management and its importance.
Upward communication
By this the lower level of employees are able to provide suggestions to upper management of the affects of TQM. As employees provide insight and constructive criticism, supervisors must listen effectively to correct the situation that comes about through the use of TQM. This forms a level of trust between supervisors and employees. This is also similar to empowering communication
, where supervisors keep open ears and listen to others.

Sideways communication
This type of communication is important because it breaks down barriers between departments. It also allows dealing with customers and suppliers in a more professional manner.
References:
Dale H Besterfield et al, Total Quality Management, Pearson Education.
Stephen R. Covey et al, First Thing First, Simon & Schuster.
V. Jayakumar et al, Total Quality Management, Lakshmi Publications.
Besterfiled, Dale H., Quality control, Prentice Hall.
Bossert, James L., Quality Function Deployment: A Practioners Approach, ASQ Quality Press.
Camp, Robert C., Bench Marking: The Search for Industry Best Practices that Lead to Superior Practice, ASQ Quality Press.
http://www.isixsigma.com/

The theory of compacting

Fig. 1 shows the airflow as it has been calculated (using FEM methods)

Fig. 2. The effect due to the inclination of the slot

Compact Spinning has firmly established itself as THE method of making superior ring yarn, with SUESSENs EliTe being the worlds leading system.
The goal of compacting is to align the fibres in parallel and very close position to each other immediately prior to the twist insertion. This fibre arrangement will give compact yarn with all its characteristics. The elimination of the spinning triangle is merely a consequence of this arrangement.
Let me try to explain what is actually going on in the compacting zone.
All successful compacting systems are characterized by the following:
a.) Between exit of the normal 3-roller drafting system and a nipping line there is a compacting zone
b.) This zone consists of a suction tube with a slot inclined relative to the direction of the yarn path. Negative pressure is applied at this slot.
c.) A perforated transportation means (e.g. lattice apron, metal drum with holes) is used to move the fibres across this inclined slot.
There are two nearly independent physical effects which help to achieve the goal mentioned above:
1. The pneumatic effect
The drawing might require some explanations: imagine the EliTube cut along the line AA, as indicated in the small picture in the right hand bottom corner of Fig. 1. The arrows indicate the direction of the airflow as it enters the slot.
It is easy to imagine that the airflow tries to move the fibre strand towards the centre of the slot. The width of the fibre mass is reduced; a step in the correct direction. This effect is present regardless of the inclination of the slot. Adding a lid on top of the slot, as done by some systems, may enhance it. This effect merely pushes the fibres closer together without any impact of them being parallel.

2. The effect due to the inclination of the slot(Ref: Fig-2)

This is a dynamic effect. Assume fibre A has left the front nipping point. Its front portion is now on the lattice apron (perforated drum, or the like) and moving with the speed of the lattice apron. As its head crosses the upstream edge of the slot nothing at all happens.
It gets interesting when it tries to cross the downstream edge:
The suction applied to the slot does not allow the fibre to cross the edge. It is therefore forced to move along the edge. Now by the law of vectorial addition of speed (we are still well below Einsteins Theory of Relativity) the speed of the portion of fibres along the edge increases to

This increase in speed of the portion of fibre moving along the downstream edge causes the fibres to be gently stretched.

Now, imagine a fibre B coming out of the front nipping point at a distance d from fibre A. It suffers the same fate so to speak. It will also be unable to cross the downstream edge of the slot and will align itself closely to fibre A, as they move to the end of the slot.
Thus, a fibre bundle having a certain width upon leaving the front nipping point, and with the individual fibres neither parallel nor stretched, is transformed into a bundle where the fibres are perfectly parallel and close to each other.
Naturally, the two effects complement each other, but it is obvious that the second effect is several orders of magnitude larger than the first one; also only the second effect stretches the fibres at the same time. As may be imagined, there is a complicated relationship between the optimum angle α, the suction pressure and the properties of the various fibres.
If the compacting system allows V0, the speed of the perforated means to be varied relative to the speed of the front roller, the stretching of the fibres may be controlled further.
Much of these important details are not yet understood well theoretically, and as so often in spinning one must rely on experience, and one finds surprises every once in a while!

Men's leisure-wear gets smart with revolutionary fiber
July 30, 2008 (Switzerland)
As daily life gets busier, men just can’t get enough of easy-wear, easy-care textiles. Non-iron stretch shirts for men are featuring more prominently than ever before on fashion catwalks across Europe. Now, leading German shirt maker CasaModa has embraced science to introduce eight durable, non-iron smart-casual sports shirts to its Premium range. The shirts are made with revolutionary DOW XLA stretch fiber, the only stretch fiber that can support a true non-iron finish. Other fibers tend to break away as a result of the rigorous process and finishes applied.The flexibility and easy-care properties of DOW XLA combined with CasaModa’s patented process to prevent puckering at the seams, have resulted in shirts that always look crisp and smooth with a top-quality, non-iron finish. The collared shirts are available in black and white as well as various bold, fresh colours, with both long and short sleeves.“DOW XLA is a case in point,” Klaus Katt, CEO of CasaModa said. “As the only stretch fiber that can support a true non-iron finish it enhances the look, hand feel, freedom of movement and longevity of our shirts. It’s also incredibly durable, and able to withstand machine washing and tumble drying at high temperatures, holding color and retaining its shape over time -- something we find very attractive for our high quality brand.”CasaModa’s shirts are worn and modeled by German television personality Jörg Pilawa. “Many of today’s professionals travel extensively and live out of suitcases, making CasaModa’s shirts the perfect answer to their need for low maintenance clothing,” Pilawa said. “As someone who not only travels extensively but who is also often in the public eye these shirts perfectly meet my need for easy-care smartness. When I take them out of the suitcase they look crisp and fresh and don’t require ironing”. CasaModa uses DOW XLA fiber throughout its Premium range, which also comprises business shirts, in its CasaModa top line and its slim-fit Venti line. It plans to integrate the fiber into further shirt collections in 2009. CasaModa’s Premium sports shirts are now available at the CasaModa stores in Hamburg, Berlin and Cologne as well as at Käferlein in Nuremberg and Breiter in Munich. “Through strengthening Dow’s market-facing focus, our technology leadership and market understanding, we are finding innovative new ways to help our customers succeed so they can ultimately fulfill consumer needs. The partnerships with high-profile fashion brands such as CasaModa prove that Dow is a highly innovative company which constantly improves what’s essential to human progress,” said Mark Remmert, global business director, Dow Fiber Solutions.The fashion industry is rapidly incorporating DOW XLA in designs and collections where sculpting, durability and ease of care are important. The fiber is being used by Brooks Brothers, Calvin Klein, Burberry Japan, and many more.

Dow Fiber Solutions

Compact yarn and warping - New concepts
A very important issue concerning EliTeQCompact Yarn is the improved warping performance due to its increased strength.
Normally, when a yarn has an increased strength, the performance of this yarn in warping is ultimately increased, too. But this concept is no more valid now, especially in case of compact yarn. It is a well-known fact that even with low twist; compact yarns have an up to 20% higher strength than normal ring-spun yarns.
This misconception may divert spinners attention to reduce twist below the limit, which is definitely required for certain fibre lengths to achieve a certain elongation of yarn. Because even with a slightly good strength, the performance of compact yarn on weaving machines is almost the same as normal ring-spun yarn (in any case performance on loom is always excellent). We can understand this by the following experiments.
Experiment A
Conventional ring-spun yarn EliteCompact Yarn
Cotton length 28 mm 28 mm
Count (NEC) 40/1 40/1
T.M. 4.3 3.8
TPI 27.2 24.03
Strength (Lbs) 60 65
CLSP 2400 2600
RKM 15.36 16.64
Warping Breakage per Million Meters 0.7 0.7
This experiment shows no difference in warping performance between conventional ring-spun yarn and compact yarn. EliTeQYarn even has much better strength.

Experiment B
Conventional ring-spun yarn Conventional ring-spun yarn
Cotton length 28 mm 32mm
Count (NEC) 40/1 40/1
T.M. 4.3 3.6
TPI 27.2 22.77
Strength (Lbs) 60 65
CLSP 2400 2600
RKM 15.36 16.64
Warping Breakage per Million Meters 0.7 0.9
In this experiment both yarns are normal ring spun. One yarn with long fibre length and with very low twist multiplier has a higher strength value, but performance in warping is inferior.
Both experiments prove this ideology that strength is not the only parameter to improve performance in warping. The most important factor to improve warping performance is twist, because a certain amount of yarn twist depending on the given fibre lengths - is definitely required to hold the fibre bundle and to bear warping force.
Now the question arises regarding the benefits of yarn production on spinning frames, applying low twist philosophy.
Its answer is that a production benefit is indeed achieved if twist is lower than that of normal ring-spun yarn, but this difference in twist (T.M) should not be based on yarn strength. It must be at the limit, as a certain amount of twist is required in any case, to bear warping tension and force.
So ideally twist in compact yarn should be 8% less than that of normal ring yarn. This 8% lower twist plus increase in spindle speed (compared with normal ring yarn) will provide a production advantage.
Another important feature is the performance on loom after sizing. Even with a low performance in warping, the same yarn will perform much much better than normal ring-spun yarn, so that loom efficiency is increased by about 4-5% with compact yarn. This is owing to low hairiness and slightly lower twist than that of conventional ring-spun yarn.
In conventional yarn, all fibres of the yarn including hairs (short and long) are covered with a film of sizing material.
These hairs, and especially long hairs, are part of the yarn, but have no contribution to loom working, and furthermore these hairs disturb the shedding process on a loom, and are one of the reasons for warp breaks on loom.
EliTeQYarn has no such long hairs, which allows a good sizing of the yarn and also provides a perfect shedding process on the loom.
As a result of all these advantages, not only loom efficiency is very good, but also the quality of the fabric, almost free from loom start mark, due to less loom stops.
About the Author:
Ahmed Iftikhar
The author is associated with Gadoon Textile Mills as Technical Director.

Smart product mix for smart apparel supply chain

Smart product mix for smart apparel supply chain

STYLE, FASHION, BRAND IMAGE- these are the words capture the imagination of consumers shopping out for values in apparel items. The increasing globalisation, the market diversification and the volatile fashion intensify competition in the apparel chain. As a consequence, companies are forced to gain market shares by increasing product diversity to improve market share.

The diversity factor, which is largely determined by various consumer perceivable attributes of apparel like design, handle, size and fit, leads to corresponding wide spectrum of manufacturing parameters in upstream direction. This variability in production parameters and corresponding small batch size are major deterrents in achieving delivery schedule and quality standards, which severely affect the marketability of a brand. This is a typical problem faced by apparel supply chain, where scheduling of work becomes complicated by the introduction of a highly diverse range of products.

This complexity makes management of a given product basket with respect to time, cost and serviceability more difficult. Moreover, product replenishment in apparel supply chain assumes new dimension, as global sourcing becomes the order of the day, with raw material supply, manufacturing, garmenting, distribution and retailing- all are dispersed across the globe. Under this circumstance, it becomes mandatory to "to get the right product to the right place at the right time at the right price". However, while too much emphasis has been given to control the "place", "time" and "price" factor, very little effort has been spent to manage the "right product" in an apparel supply chain. It is crucial to analyse the impact of proliferation of product mix on the operational platform in the apparel supply chain. This article makes an effort to bring out some of the impacts of product-proliferation infested the textile-apparel manufacturing chain and the way forward.

Nature of Product Variety:
Consumer perceives apparel merchandise through a unique set of attributes. The Unique Value Proposition (UVP) of an apparel item is governed by visual and other sensation (Exhibit 1). These subjective sensations can be captured through objective parameters like design, comfort and handle. Each of these objective parameters is influenced by various material & process characteristics in the upstream direction of apparel chain, as shown in the Exhibit-1.

Impact of Product Variety:
Impact of product proliferation can be mapped across two levels- Retailing and Manufacturing.
On Retailing & Sourcing: From a given fabric type, an entire range of apparel S.K.U. can be proliferated, as shown in Exhibit-2. It shows how one type of basic textile product (purple colored fabric) delivered out of textile manufacturer's warehouse gets translated into so many (144 no.) S.K.Us by the time it reaches the retailer's shelf. In addition to this proliferation shown in the exhibit, a retailer may want the goods to be shipped on a hanger or in particular package and may want the manufacturers to mention the price and other details before shipping. Moreover, variability introduced in accessory stage (style of button, calf, collar, zipper etc) will further amplify this diversity at retail level.
Looking into the entire range of variables involved, one can deduce how many thousands of S.K.Us will result at retail level from a given product basket comprising of hundred different varieties of basic textile fabric with respect to colour, design, fabric structure etc! Needless to mention the enormous task of developing and managing this "ocean of S.K.U.s" across globally dispersed supply nodes.

On Manufacturing: Highly diversified product range means increased number of lots at various stages of operation.
All these product parameters lead into multiplicity in number of batches at various stages of process. The key drivers of lot size at different stages of operation are mapped across process domains in Exhibit 3. Order size and maximum batch size permissible at different stages as determinants of lot size are common across manufacturing stages and are not shown in this exhibit.
Hence various apparel and textile manufacturing parameters lead to increase in number of s.k.u. in retail shelf on one hand, and increase in number of lots on manufacturing end on the other. And this multiplicity in manufacturing batches has contributed to following complexity into the nature of operation.
Loss In Productivity
Value Loss
Difficulty In Assortment planning,
Poor Asset management

All these have resulted in increase in manufacturing cost.

Loss In Productivity: In fibre and yarn dyeing, occurrence of re-processing increases with higher number of lots due to increasing difficulty in shade matching. Machine stoppage increases with more number of cleaning after every different shade being dyed. Also there is chance of machine remains idle or under-utilised because all machine have fixed batch size, which may not match with order size of each individual shade component at fibre or yarn stage.

In spinning, weaving and processing, occurrence of changeover increases with higher number of lots. Also uneven processing and loss of productivity results with frequent changes in case product diversity increases.
In garmenting, the scheduling becomes increasingly difficult with increasing types of basic fabric types, garment fits and models. In a completely automated apparel manufacturing operation, it would be difficult to synchronise movements of body, collars, buttons and other accessories across cutting, assembling and stitching of final garment. Garment productivity suffers as a result of this highly diversified product ranges.

Higher Value Loss: Material loss increases at every stage with increase in number of lots. It is largely because of fixed amount of material goes into waste for every lot irrespective of lot-size. So more waste is generated with higher number of lots.
For instance, it is found that material losses are typically higher for all-wool, finer micron wool blend and smaller lots in dyeing and spinning. In finishing, wastage is higher for all-wool fabric than that of blended fabric.
In weaving, there is fixed length, which goes into wastage with every warp-beam. So with reduction in beam-length and more number of beams, the amount of wastage increases
In apparel manufacturing, development of marker becomes increasing difficult with increasing diversity in garment. Consequently material waste in pattern making and cutting increases with under utilisation of fabric. n addition to above impacts, product variety also contributes largely to generation of more sub-standard goods at the end of every process.

Difficulty in Assortment Planning: To achieve maximum impact on consumer's value perception, it is necessary to make all the assortments of a particular product line available on shelf. The availability of complete range of an item necessitates considerable assortment planning at every node of apparel supply chain, starting from initial textile manufacturer. But proliferation of lot sizes deters success of this assortment planning.

As back-end textile manufacturing consists of both batch and continuous processes, it becomes mandatory to move all the assortments of a style together out of final warehouse. To achieve this, it is necessary to harmonise the movement of manufacturing lots in a way that makes the entire component (assortments of a style) available during garment cutting stage.

However, each component has differential processing time, making it difficult to push the entire 'assortment of product' together through the manufacturing leeway of apparel chain. For instance, in an assortment comprises white and color fabric, white products reach final warehouse earlier as processing time for white goods is considerable less than that of color merchandises. And higher the number of product components, more difficult it would become to achieve this synchronization across product-process continuum. The result is that some designs out of entire set of assortments arrive at the garment cutter earlier, leading to assortment breaking. Obviously the final upshot is lost sales due to lack of complete assortment on retail-shelf during purchase.

In apparel manufacturing, a Master Production Schedule (MPS) is always developed to meet the contract delivery dates of the buyers. In many cases, the production orders from the same buyer are grouped together on the production schedule. Those late completed orders contribute to extra transportation costs and reduce selling price of the garments demanded by the buyers to compensate the late delivery.

Poor Asset Management: In internal supply chain, all components needed for a particular product are required to be processed together. With increase number of variety, the time taken for individual component to be processed increases, as lot changeover time and various downtimes related to quality problems increase. This results in higher amount of work-in-process at various stages of operation.

In fibre and yarn dyeing, higher number of changeover from one type of blend to another increases machine downtime. Also time required for matching shades increases with more product variety. Due to capacity constrain of different machine regarding batch size there is more chance of excess dyeing. Waiting time for component shade also increases, as there is more variety to be processed in a given time. All these leads into more material being locked in the process.

In spinning, multiplicity in various blend, count, and twist combination results in more waiting time due to higher number of change-over and insufficient batch quantity of a particular blend-count-twist combination to feed ring-frame.

In weaving and finishing, machine set up time increases with more number of beam-gaiting and more frequency of change in process sequence. Also in finishing, batch preparation time increases with more number of varieties as all similar quality-pattern of a particular product group need to be processed together for uniform finish. All these needs more material in process, which correspondingly increases inventory carrying cost at each stage of processing. All these lead to higher work-in-process.

In warehouse, the finished goods despatch depends on availability of all similar quality of a particular product. In a more diverse product mix, it will take more time for individual quality-pattern to reach in the warehouse. This results in increase in waiting time for balance quality-pattern and higher finished goods inventory.

Way Forward- Recalibrating Supply Chain:

It is evident that a wide spectrum of product variety has impact on operational level of a textile and garment unit. While some of these impacts are resulted due to technological constrains, other are generated by avoidable mix-up, quality problem. But all these lead into failure in delivery commitment and sub-standard quality. While the objective of increasing product mix is to ramp up market share, on the other hand it leads into other operational loss and non-fulfilment of delivery schedule. The later significantly increases manufacturing cost and considerably affects the bottom line. Based on experience, two attempts are mentioned to counter this product proliferation syndrome.

A] Delayed Differentiation or Postponement:

Product postponement pushes the value differentiation point further down the apparel supply chain, to leverage the advantage of economy of scale through aggregation of demand across multiple S.KUs. For instance, one can introduce 'product differentiation' with respect to color across three stages, as shown in Exhibit-4.

As differentiation point propagates in forward direction of apparel chain closer to final consumer, number of lots in the stages prior to the 'differentiation point' gets reduced. For instance, under stage-III, coloration point has been moved after fabric formation, unlike in stage-I where coloration takes place in fibre stage. The number of lots in third stage is considerably less, as only white fabric needs to be produced as against so many color fibre and yarn lots under stage-I


In apparel manufacturing stage, delayed differentiation has considerable impact in trimming down number of batches to enhance operational performance and responsiveness. For instance, in apparel knitting process, it is possible to move garment coloration point as close to final consumer as possible. In Shima Seiki digital knitting machine, the conversion of digital color data to the physical fabric is moved closer to the point of consumption. In the traditional garment model, the differentiator is the cutting machine. For the digitally knitted garment, the differentiator is the knitting machine itself.

This reduction of lots prior to the differentiation point correspondingly increases batch size with resulting benefits in operational platform of apparel chain. However, one need to factor in the differences of product aesthetics as value-differentiation point moves across supply chain. The 'feel and appeal' of a yarn-dyed goods is considerable different than a fabric-dyed good from consumer's point of view. Deciding product-postponement stage needs to consider this final aesthetic value also.

B] Product Rationalisation:

From exhibit-3, one can find out number of manufacturing lots at each stage. Assuming 2 colors, 2 types of fibre, 2 different linear density (count) of yarn, 2 basic designs and 2 process types, a back-of-the-envelope calculation can show that lot sizes in dyeing, spinning, weaving and processing will be 4, 8, 16 and 32 respectively. The similar calculation can show how many times these 'lots' multiply in reality with hundreds of colour, counts, weave design etc in upstream direction.
To 'brake' in this explosion of manufacturing lots, an A-B-C analysis could be carried out to rationalize the product-base after critically looking into the contribution of each variable (color, count, design etc.) to the final product basket.

By taking out A-B-C analysis of sales across product items, significant insights can be gained over the product-mixes having maximum impact on firms top line. In composite mills set up, it is often found that less than 20 percent product-items contribute over 80 percent of revenue. Balance 80 percent of the product mix can be rationalized keeping cost-benefit trade off in mind.

Similar A-B-C analysis can be undertaken at different stages of textile supply chain, to determine number of lots contributing to final product varieties. For instance, in spinning A-B-C analysis might reveal that only 30 percent of lots (count-blend combination) contribute to 80 percent of final product basket. So there is enough scope to trim down the balance 70 percent of 'spinning lots' without having much impact on product diversity. Similarly it can be found minority of lots in dyeing (fibre) or in weaving contribute to majority items in the final product basket. Hence, it is judicious to whittle down some of the lots in these stages to maximise operational effectiveness without taking a beating on final profitability on account of lost diversity.

Tailoring Product-Mix Holds The Key:

Already a high degree of variability presents in retail due to volatile fashion and ever-shortening season. Product lines get proliferated with creation of new segments. For e.g., in sports wear the already established lines- golf wear, tennis wears or swim wear are common, now 'Yoga' wear is in hip. Moreover, product-lines, sizes and overall fits vary with globalisation of market. All these tend to amplify S.K.U variability at retail level to an unprecedented level.

Retailer and buying houses need to manage this diversified product lines right through different stages- product development, sample approval, bulk sourcing of components, production or outsourcing apparel, distributing finished product across retail outlets and merchandising. And all these activities need to be coordinated across vast geographical distance. This complexity of operation is magnified many times by the increasing product mixes in the basic textile fabric.

Most of the times the adverse impacts of product proliferation go unnoticed by the frontline organizations (retailer or buying houses), as organizations in textile-apparel-retail chain are seldom inter-connected, and very little coordination exists among different players up to the initial textile manufacturers.

Retailers have to realize that they should not focus only on purchasing and selling, but on the entire supply chain. Because, should a manufacturer not be in a position to deliver the goods at an agreed point of time, delays run through the entire supply chain up to the end customer. Based on the given configuration of apparel supply chain, the retailer has little possibility to exercise control in this process.

Even relatively simple garments depend on the combination of a fabric from one factory, buttons & zipper from another, and snaps from yet another, all of which must come together in time for the finished apparel to be stacked on store shelves.

Moreover, as product development consists of developing & selecting fabric swatches, figuring out garment style and merchandise flow, proliferation of product-mix results in high product development cost, long design-to-market cycle time. Typically design-to-market time for a fashion-apparel item is 6 to 9 months. Generally it is found that 70 percent of this time comprises non-value added activities such as communication delay, waiting time for assortments, and non-approval of merchandise at various stages etc.

The paper shows that a judicious product mix in basic textile material will make the entire apparel supply chain more manageable without sacrificing the end diversity in terms of apparel fit, size and style that attract the consumer's imagination.

know about ORGANIC KOTTON

Organic Cotton - Background Information
The Problem with Conventional Cotton Production
Cotton provides about half of all global fibre requirements. In addition to the six big producers (US, China, India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Turkey) cotton is produced in over 60 countries. It is an important source of income for millions of small farmers and contributes significantly to the national economy of many developing countries.
The size of the global cotton-growing area has not changed much since the 1930s but average yields have increased threefold through the intensive use of synthetic chemicals, irrigation and the use of higher-yielding plant varieties. Conventional cotton is very prone to insect attacks and large quantities of the most toxic insecticides are used in its production. Cotton accounts for about 25% of the global insecticides market by value and about 10% of the pesticides market. The intensive use of toxic insecticides and other toxic chemicals in cotton has caused serious health and environmental impacts, including farmer and farmworker poisonings, water contamination and bird and fish kills.
Organic Cotton Can Bring Health and Environmental Improvements
So serious are the negative impacts of chemical-intensive agricultural production, that momentum for change has grown considerably in recent years. The trend toward more environmentally friendly production methods is supported by a variety of interests including farmers wanting to escape the chemical treadmill, enlightened companies under pressure of increased environmental regulation and competition, and informed consumers calling for greater social and environmental accountability. The burgeoning consumer interest in organic food production has now expanded into other areas of organic production including cotton fibre produced in organic systems.
Organic cotton is produced in organic agricultural systems that produce food and fibre according to clearly established standards. Organic agriculture prohibits the use of toxic and persistent chemical pesticides and fertilizers, as well as genetically modified organisms. It seeks to build biologically diverse agricultural systems, replenish and maintain soil fertility, and promote a healthy environment.
Certification of Organic Cotton
Certification of organic cotton production adds credibility to the final product, assures the buyer of the organic status of the product and encourages payment of premium prices to farmers who engage in organic practices. Certification is a system which sets standards, ensures that organic standards are met and communicates compliance to consumers through appropriate labelling. When a grower or processor is "certified organic," an independent organisation has verified that the company meets or exceeds defined organic standards. Certified organic farms are inspected regularly and must maintain comprehensive records of their production methods.
Certification programmes and standards vary, especially in response to regional differences, although there are general underlying concepts. The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) has produced Basic Standards covering organic production and also textile processing which provide a minimum basis upon which standards in many countries have been based. The International Organic Accreditation Service (IOAS) also exists to accredit certification systems. There are many certification agencies worldwide for organic cotton production but far fewer for certifying cotton processing to assure reduced health and environmental impacts. Several sets of processing standards exist in Europe (KRAV and SKAL for example), and others are being developed in Europe and in the United States.
The Expanding Organic Cotton Market
Organic cotton is now grown in 18 countries but still represents only a tiny fraction of the total global cotton production - less than 0.1%. The biggest producers in 2001 were Turkey, the United States, India and Peru. Smaller experimental projects are also expanding in size and numbers.
There are also signs that organic cotton is moving out of its niche market into the mainstream with increased interest on the part of supermarkets and large companies. Some clothing and textile companies are becoming interested in blending small quantities of organic cotton with conventional cotton. Purchase of organic cotton for such programs expands organic agricultural production.
Market retail leaders in 2001 were Patagonia (USA - specialist outdoor clothing company), Coop Schweiz (Switzerland - all types of clothing), Nike (USA - sports clothing), Otto (Germany - large mail-order company) and Hess Natur (Germany - medium sized mail-order company). Other well known retailers such as Marks and Spencer (UK) or Migros (Switzerland) are following. With Organic Exchange, there is another US-based movement aiming to encourage more and more mainstream garment and textile companies to use organic cotton. In addition, there is a large and increasing number of small companies involved. The range of products available has also increased and their diversity is well illustrated in this directory. Products now include all kinds of clothing for men, women and children, personal and healthcare products, home furnishings (mattresses, bedding, bath items, table linens and accessories) and fabrics, toys and nappies (diapers) - and even stationery and other paper goods
The textile sector in general is facing price competition as never before. Many companies are seeking comparative advantage in the quality of their products and in 'greening' themselves - and organic cotton is a way of achieving these objectives. The challenge is to communicate the health and environmental benefits of organic cotton production and processing to consumers so that their interest will be expressed in their buying preferences