Who is a Garments Merchandiser?
In the garments trade, a merchandiser has to face different kinds of problems till the delivery of his/her order. There is no merchandiser, who can say that he/she has not faced any problem up to delivery. Problem-solving is one of the parts of merchandising but if a merchandiser should follow the below-working procedure accurately then 90% of the problem will be solved.
Working procedures of a knit merchandiser:
The main working procedures of a merchandiser are discussed below:
An apparel merchandiser must have to maintain his order in the following two ways if he/ she wants to deliver his order in a timely. The first and most important matter is “Fabrics follow up” and the second one is “Order execution”.
Fabric follow up
Now I will discuss the very first important thing named “Fabric follow up”. Fabric follows up contains the following issues:
- Yarn booking and requisition,
- Fabric booking,
- Lab dip develops,
- Local accessories booking,
- Knitting follow up,
- Lab dip approval,
- Fabrics dyeing follow up and in-house.
All the main seven key factors for the “fabric follow-up” are discussed below:
1. Yarn booking and requisition:
When the buyer forwards his sample with all the details instruction, in that time a merchandiser should be done yarn booking and requisition by following the buyer’s instruction about the fabric GSM.
2. Fabric booking:
After completing the yarn booking and requisition, a merchandiser should take the necessary steps about the fabric booking. He/she has to do accurate fabric booking by following the order specification such as-Order quantity, types of fabric (Cotton single jersey, Stretch piquet, etc), types of color for each fabric (Blue, Black, Red, etc).
3. Lab dip development:
The third and very important one is lab dip development. A merchandiser should confirm the dyeing factory for developing the lab dip on an urgent basis. Here it must be noted that less time is required for the lab-dip easier to complete the rest of the process.
4. Local accessories booking:
After completing all the above three steps, a merchandiser should confirm the local accessories booking such as sewing thread, Button, Rivet, Twill tape, etc., and in-house these before completing fabric dyeing.
5. Knitting follows up:
In the meantime, a merchandiser should be followed the knitting procedure and completed all types of fabric knitting before approving lab dip by the buyer.
6. lab dip approval:
After developing the lab dip it should be sent to the buyer for its approval.
7. Fabric dyeing follow up and in-house:
After approving the lab dip by the buyer, a merchandiser should send the approved lab dip to the dyeing factory and follow up the dyeing procedure. After completing the dyeing procedure, all the fabrics should be in-housed in a timely.
Order execution
The second and final important matter to ship in a timely is “Order execution”
Order execution contains the following features:
- Pattern making,
- Print and embroidery development,
- Fit sample making,
- Comments,
- Cutting the fabric,
- Print and embroidery,
- Sewing,
- Finishing and QC check,
- Shipment.
The above all nine features are discussed below:
1. Pattern making:
After receiving all the details from the buyer, a merchandiser should pass urgently the entire reference sample with the buyer’s details instruction to the pattern section for making the pattern.
2. Print and embroidery development:
If there are any print and embroidery, then it should be developed on an urgent basis by maintaining the buyer’s instruction.
3. Fit sample making:
In the meantime, a merchandiser should make the fit sample by maintaining the buyer’s instruction. Here one thing should be noted that, in the fit sample, the using fabric may b vary than buyer nominated fabric, color may vary than buyer nominated color, but measurement must be accurate as buyers providing measurement sheet.
4. Comments:
After making the fit sample it should send to the buyer for their comments. When the buyer comments on the fit sample, it must be noted and following their comments for the next steps.
5. Cutting the fabric:
When the comments are received from the buyer, a development merchandiser should cut the fabrics for the required quantity by following the buyer’s comments.
6. Print and embroidery:
After cutting the fabric, the required cutting pieces should send to the print and embroidery section with the buyer’s comments about the print and embroidery and completed on an urgent basis.
7. Sewing:
After completing the print and embroidery process, all the cutting pieces should be input in the sewing section with the buyer’s comments about the sewing.
8. Finishing and QC check:
When the sewing process will complete then all the garments are sent to the finishing section. After finishing, all the garments are sent to the QC (Quality Controller) department.
9. Shipment:
When the QC department approved the quality then these are sent to the buyer by sea or air.
