CAD/CAM Adoption in Knitwear Production

The present investigation was carried out to study the automation and CAD/CAM adoption in knitwear production. For this study, data were collected from 110 knitwear units of Ludhiana consisting 56 small scale knitwear units, 29 medium scale knitwear units and 25 large scale knitwear units by using interview schedule. The sample was selected according to the probability proportional to size by following stratified sampling technique. The results revealed that with the adoption of automation and CAD/CAM systems in knitwear production, there was considerable decrease in lead time of fabric and garment production which is very important to be competitive in the market. Majority of the units used CAD/CAM systems in pattern cutting and garment assembly. The impact of automation and CAD/CAM systems on knitwear production revealed that the rate of design production, quality of design, production capacity, quality of production and communication speed increased whereas lead time, manufacturing cost, overall labour cost, and manpower decreased.