Apparel Manufacturing:

Many of the remaining production workers work in teams. For example, sewing machine operators are organized into production "modules." Each operator in a module is trained to perform nearly all of the functions required to assemble a garment. Each module is responsible for its own performance, and individuals usually receive compensation based on the team's performance. The textile and apparel manufacturing industries are rapidly.

modernizing, as new investments in automation and information technology have been made necessary by growing international competition. Firms also have responded to competition by developing new products and services. For example, some manufacturers
are producing textiles developed from fibers made from recycled materials. These innovations have had a wide effect across the industry. Advanced machinery is boosting productivity levels in textiles, costing some workers their jobs while fundamentally changing the nature of work for others. New technology also has led to increasingly technical training for workers throughout the industry. Computers and computer-controlled equipment aid in many functions, such as design, pattern making, and cutting. Wider looms, more computerized equipment, and the increasing use of robotics to move material within the plant are other technologies recently designed to make the production plant more efficient. Despite these changes, however, the apparel industry-especially its sewing function-has remained significantly less automated than many other manufacturing industries.

One advantage the domestic industry has is its closeness to the market and its ability to react to changes in fashion more quickly than its foreign competitors can. Also, as retailers consolidate and become more cost conscious, they require more apparel manufacturers to move toward a just-in-time delivery system, in which purchased apparel items are quickly replaced by the manufacturer rather than from a large inventory kept by the retailer. Through electronic data interchange-mainly using barcodes-information is quickly communicated to the manufacturers, providing information not only on inventory, but also about the desires of the public for fashion items.

Some apparel firms have responded to growing competition by merging with other apparel firms and by moving into the retail market. They also are contracting out functions in addition to the production of garments-for example, warehousing and order fulfillment functions-to concentrate on their strengths:

Design and marketing. Such changes may help the apparel manufacturing industry meet the growing competition and continue to supply the Nation's consumers with garments at an acceptable cost. Author Resource:- Henry Cherner has been in the apparel industry and apparel manufacturing for over 30 years and serves on the Advisory Board at Cal Poly Pomona, California Design College, Los Angeles Trade Technical College and Fashion Business Inc. He also teaches a class at Los Angeles Trade Technical College (LATTC) titled
"Fashion Computer Applications " in the Spring Semesters.