Garment production planning, step by step

Garment production planning means deciding, before an order starts, which processes it goes through, what material it needs and when, how long each step takes, and when each step must start so the order ships on time. A good plan is then checked every day against what really happened.

This guide is for production and planning managers in garment units. It walks through the six steps of a practical plan with one sample order: 10,000 knitted polo shirts. For how Karpan ERP records routes, work orders and WIP, see BOM and planning canvas and production and WIP.

Step 1: Break the order down

Start from the buyer order, not from the factory. Write down:

Style and quantity by size and colour (for example 10,000 pieces in 4 colours and 5 sizes).
Ship date and any partial shipments.
Excess you plan to cut for rejects and short shipments (often 2–5% per size).
Special work: print, embroidery, wash, special packing.

Planning only the total quantity is the first mistake. The XL pieces in one colour are often what holds up the shipment.

Step 2: Set the process route

The route is the list of processes the order goes through, in order, and who does each one: your own department or a job worker. Two common routes:

Knitted polo	Woven shirt
Yarn purchase	Fabric purchase
Knitting (often outside)	Fabric inspection
Dyeing and compacting (often outside)	Cutting
Fabric inspection	Stitching
Cutting	Washing (often outside)
Printing (often outside)	Finishing and checking
Stitching, finishing, packing	Packing

For each process, note what goes in and what comes out (yarn in, grey fabric out; cut panels in, printed panels out) and the expected loss. A dyeing loss of 5–8% means you must knit more fabric than the cutting room needs.

Step 3: Plan the material

Work out material from the BOM: consumption per piece × quantity, plus cutting wastage and process loss, for each size and colour. Then work backwards from when cutting needs the fabric:

Supplier lead time for yarn, fabric and trims.
Time at each outside processor, including transport.
A day or two for inspection before the fabric can be issued.

Trims are small but often late. Buttons, labels and cartons for one size can stop the packing table.

Step 4: Check capacity

Capacity tells you if the factory can make the order in the time you have. The usual way in garments uses SMV (standard minute value): the minutes a trained operator needs for one garment.

Minutes needed = SMV × quantity
Minutes available per day = operators × working minutes × efficiency

Sample: the polo has an SMV of 12 minutes. 10,000 pieces need 120,000 minutes. One line has 30 operators working 480 minutes a day at 60% efficiency, which gives 8,640 minutes a day. So one line needs about 14 working days for stitching. Two lines need about 7.

Do the same quick check for cutting, printing and finishing. The slowest step sets the pace of the whole order.

Step 5: Schedule back from the ship date

Put the ship date at the end and place each step before it, with a little buffer. Sample plan for the polo order (working days before the ship date):

Step	Takes	Must start by
Packing and final check	2 days	Day −2
Finishing	3 days	Day −5
Stitching (1 line)	14 days	Day −19
Printing (job worker)	5 days	Day −24
Cutting	2 days	Day −26
Fabric inspection	2 days	Day −28
Knitting, dyeing, compacting	14 days	Day −42
Yarn purchase and delivery	7 days	Day −49

In practice steps overlap: stitching can start once the first sizes are cut and printed. But the backward plan shows the latest safe start for each step. If the order arrives with only 40 days to ship, you know on day one that you need a second line or a faster knitter. (Sample numbers.)

Step 6: Follow plan against actual

A plan that is not checked is only a wish. Every day, or at least every week, compare:

Material: required, ordered, received, passed inspection, issued.
Production: planned output against real output for each department.
WIP: pieces waiting in each department. Rising WIP in one place is your bottleneck (see how to track WIP).
Job workers: what is still lying with each one, and since when.

Common mistakes

Planning the total quantity, not sizes and colours.
Leaving out process loss, so the fabric falls short at cutting.
Forgetting transport and waiting time at outside processors.
Using 100% efficiency in capacity sums.
Starting cutting before the fabric is inspected.
Making the plan once and never comparing it with the floor.

How Karpan ERP helps with planning

In Karpan ERP you lay out each order’s process route on a visual planning canvas, with the input, output and cost of every process, and see planned cost against budget before buying. The BOM works out material by size and colour, purchase orders come straight from it, and the procurement status report shows required, ordered, received, inspected and issued material for each order. Work orders, WIP by department and garment output by size and colour show the actual side. SMV can be recorded on the process route, but Karpan does not do capacity or line loading, and it has no time-and-action calendar today, so the capacity check and the backward schedule in steps 4 and 5 are still done by your planner. See the planning canvas.

Questions people ask

What is production planning in the garment industry?

It is deciding which processes an order goes through, what material it needs and when, how long each step takes, and when each step must start so the order ships on time.

How do you calculate production capacity in a garment factory?

Minutes available per day = operators × working minutes × efficiency. Divide the minutes the order needs (SMV × quantity) by this number to get the days of work.

What is SMV in garment production?

SMV (standard minute value) is the time a trained operator needs to make one garment or do one operation, in minutes. It is used for capacity and for the making cost.

What is backward scheduling?

Starting from the ship date and placing each step before it, so you know the latest day each step can start and still ship on time.