China’s clothing manufacturing industry has a long history and a large scale. It involves steps like spinning, fabric production and garment manufacturing. Then, it produces finished garments that are marketed to end consumers through brand owners. Understanding the process of clothing manufacturing is important for both companies and consumers. It can help companies control costs and help consumers recognize the quality of the clothing. This article will let you look inside the production process of a leading Chinese clothing manufacture. It will help you understand the entire process of apparel production.
Sourcing of Raw Materials
In China, there are several fabrics and materials frequently used, that is cotton, linen and silk. Cotton is mostly used for fashion, casual wear, underwear and shirts. However, clothes made of cotton are easy to shrink, easy to wrinkle, and the appearance is not quite beautiful. Besides, they must be ironed from time to time. Clothes made of linen are breathable, refreshing, soft and comfortable. What’s more, the clothes are have characteristics such as washable, sun-resistant, antiseptic and antibacterial. Linen is often used to make casual wear and work wear. Clothes made of silk are comfortable to wear. Silk is composed of protein fibers, and it has a good biocompatibility with the human body. Because of its smooth surface, its friction irritation coefficient on the human body is only 7.4%, the lowest among all types of fibers.
Chinese clothing manufacturers are also paying particular attention to sustainability in their choice of materials. They are gradually shifting to using higher-quality, more environmentally friendly fabrics. This trend is also contributing to the rapid expansion of the market for environmentally friendly fabrics in China, as well as bringing consumers and material suppliers closer together. Well-known fabric manufacturers are accelerating their sustainability strategies to develop greener, more environmentally friendly fabrics.
Design and Prototyping
Currently, many Chinese manufacturers are collaborating with well-known fashion designers. For example, Semir is cooperating with independent designer C.J. YAO, who uses a unique design language and charming expression to design clothes that express the attitude of Chinese young people towards fashion. The clothes win the favor of young people both at home and abroad. In addition to Semir, many Chinese clothing manufacturers are also producing samples of trendy clothing. Through the production of prototypes, designers can see the overall effect of the clothing more intuitively and make adjustments according to their own ideas, thus designing more popular clothing.
As we all know, the design of clothing is very important in setting trends globally. Design is the process of presenting human ideas in a certain form, which often reflects the needs of people and the pursuit of fashion in a certain period of time. Excellent designs can create fashion. Therefore, it is not difficult to see that clothing design is very important in setting the global trend.
Cutting and Sewing
The process of cutting and sewing involves advanced machinery and skilled labor. In a large-scale clothing manufacture, the cutting and sewing process is done on an automated production line. The fully automated production line is equipped with many different machines like the sewing machines, button-sewing machines, and cutting machines, which minimize labor involvement and reduce costs. However, clothing manufactures still need a portion of experienced labor. These employees are able to help check the quality of the clothes and make adjustments manually when problems are detected, thus reducing raw material loss in the whole clothing manufacturing process.
Speaking of checking the quality of the clothes, quality checks should be performed at each stage of the cutting and sewing process. Before the whole process begins, people should check the fabrics to ensure that they have no problems with quality. During the cutting and sewing process, employees need to focus on checking the size of the clothing. The size of each part should meet the requirements and the error should not exceed a certain range. When the whole process is completed, the overall appearance of the clothing needs to be inspected. There should be no obvious damage and color difference.
Although the cutting and sewing process is now done by machines, craftsmen still play an important role in garment manufacturing. Firstly, they need to maintain the normal operation of machines and equipment, and take timely measures to deal with any problems they find. Secondly, they need to check the quality of the clothing produced by the machines. Thirdly, as a skilled craftsman, they need to use their sewing skills to modify the clothing they find faulty in the quality check. From this we can see that craftsmanship still plays a very important role in Chinese manufacturing.
Dyeing and Printing
When it comes to dyeing and printing, there are different dyeing techniques used by clothing manufactures. The traditional dyeing technique is called vat dyeing. People boil the fabric in a pot of water. This step is to soak the fabric as quickly as possible, so that it becomes easy to color. After the step, there is no barrier of adherence to the fabric, so that it can be dyed with an even color. Then the wanted color is made in advance in a vat. People soak the fabric in the pot. After a period of time, the color is dyed onto the fabric. This technic was used a long time ago. Today, many modern dyeing techniques are available, such as spray-dyeing, tie-dyeing, and bleaching. With the help of modern dyeing techniques, Chinese clothing manufacturers can create garments with brighter and more vibrant colors.
In addition to dyeing, printing is also very important in clothing manufacturing. Among all, custom prints have great significance for the fashion industry. On the one hand, custom prints can show people’s unique style and personality on their clothes, which is very important to the fashion industry. On the other hand, nowadays, the visual impact of clothes is what the fashion industry pursues. Custom prints can bring strong visual impact through bold and exaggerated patterns on the clothes. Therefore, it is easy to see that custom prints are of great significance to the fashion industry.
The dyeing and printing process determines the overall presentation of the clothing, so we need to take measures to ensure color durability and quality. As a clothing manufacturer, we can recommend mild detergents to our customers to reduce the possibility of color fading during the laundering process, thus maintaining the durability of the colors. Moreover, to ensure the quality of the clothes, clothing manufacturers should try to avoid the use of chemicals during the dyeing and printing process to minimize the damage to the clothing.
Quality Control and Assurance
Quality control is a very important part in the clothing production process. We need to come up with rigorous testing methods to ensure quality. Testing methods can generally be divided into two categories: physical and chemical testing and sensory testing. Physical and chemical inspection means people main rely on instruments, monitors, measuring devices or chemical methods to conduct clothing inspection. Sensory inspection means people rely on human sensory organs to evaluate or judge the quality of the garment, such as judging the touch of the clothes, the color and so on. All of these inspection methods can help us with quality control.
Some clothes we produce need to export to other countries. International markets often have more strict requirements, so the standards set for international markets needs to be higher. For example, some countries have requirements on raw materials for apparel. You must have knowledge of the local regulations in order to produce clothes that meet their requirements.
Regarding to products made in China, there are several common misconceptions. Some think that products made in China means low quality. That is definitely wrong. China has been making its efforts to meet the standards of different countries, so you do not need to worry about the quality of the clothes made in China. Others think that “Made in China” products are cheap. That is also incorrect. China has been producing high-end products for a long time. Some of the high-fashion clothing made in China is very expensive.
Packaging and Logistics
As we all know, the step of packing clothes will produce a large number of wastes. Here are a few eco-friendly packaging solutions. When choosing raw materials for packaging boxes, priority should be given to environmental-friendly materials because they decompose relatively quickly in the environment, which can greatly reduce the pollution of the environment. In addition, attention should also be paid to the packaging of clothing. Excessive packaging will produce a large amount of garbage, which can cause damages to the environment.
Besides packaging, logistics is also an important part of clothing manufacturing industry. Efficient logistics is of great help to global distribution. Efficient logistics can greatly reduce logistics costs, improve the efficiency of global distribution, and increase the effectiveness of enterprises. At the same time, efficient logistics can also improve customer satisfaction, thereby increasing customer loyalty to the brand. Therefore, enterprises should spare no efforts to improve the efficiency of logistics.
There is one thing you should remember about logistics: every minute counts. Timely delivery in the fashion industry is very important. Nowadays, people are more interested in individuality, fashion and diversity when it comes to choosing their clothes. Therefore, clothing manufacturers need to put forward new apparel to meet the needs of today’s young consumers. From the aspect of logistics, it is important to deliver the clothes on time. Different departments need to work closely with each other to ensure the timely delivery of clothing to seize the market opportunity. Efficient logistics can not only ensure that the clothing is new and fashionable, but also increase sales, so that the company’s profits continue to rise.
The Role of Technology
Technology can help us greatly in production. For instance, the integration of AI and automation can improve the efficiency of production. AI is able to provide accurate prediction and predictive maintenance through big data analysis and machine learning algorithms, thus help companies realize early warning of automated production equipment failures. So, people can repair the equipment on time and reduce production downtime and costs. In addition, AI technology is able to monitor and control the automated production process and improve the efficiency of automated production.
When it comes to design and prototyping, there are a few digital solutions. Speaking of designing, people can use software for designing clothes. In this way, designers can see the overall effect of the clothes without actually making them. As for prototyping, we can use 3D printing technology to produce clothing prototypes. It will save a lot of time and money if we do so.
What is the future of clothing manufacture? I guess the answer is smart clothing and wearables. Smart clothes and wearables are relatively new and emerging areas of interdisciplinary research within the fashion, textile, electronics and related industries. For example, haptic textiles could be used to make smart clothing. Recently, a team of researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) developed a new haptic textile that can be used to acquire information about the human body, such as to monitor sitting posture, movement, or to sense external pressure. Based on this, the team developed a haptic intelligence system to capture human interaction with the environment.
Ethical Production and Sustainability
Labor rights are of great importance in any business. As the head of the enterprise, we should sign labor contracts when recruiting employees to clarify the rights and obligations of both parties, hence protect the legitimate rights and interests of employees. Besides, we should strengthen labor inspection and deal with illegal employment behavior according to the law. In addition, we should establish the staff representative system, so that employees can have a word in the business and get a sense of participation.
In addition to ethical production, sustainability is also very important. In order to achieve that, here are some environmental initiatives. To begin with, no toxic chemicals should be used during the production process. Furthermore, environmental-friendly materials should be adopted to make clothes. Lastly, we should purify the wastewater produced in the production process. In order to protect our environment, we also have to think of ways to reduce waste. For example, we can minimize the environmental impact of discarded clothing by using biodegradable materials for clothing.
One person’s strength is not enough. To achieve sustainable production, different firms should make partners with each other. They can share with each other their ways to reduce the impact on the environment during the production process. In China, if your company makes its efforts in sustainable production, you can receive certification like ISCC (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification).
To conclude, this article introduces the production process of a leading Chinese clothing manufacture from different aspects. Let me remind you once again why we should be informed about the production process. As businessmen, we get to know how the work is done and how to manage our business. As consumers, we can learn about how our clothes are made and know how to check their qualities. Today, we can easily see that the landscape of Chinese clothing manufacturing is still evolving. Advances in technology are greatly driving China’s clothing manufacturing industry towards modernization. I firmly believe that China’s clothing manufacturing industry will be known by the world in the near future.
