Apparel Industry Careers Apparel Manufacturing/Production

1. Apparel Industry CareersApparel Manufacturing/Production App. 2 Obj. 1.01 Debra Hadley Created from materials provided by NCDPI, App. 2 curriculum guide

2. What is manufacturing/production? • Manufacture – (verb) To make something on a large scale (a lot at a time) using machinery https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=definition+of+manufacture • Production – (noun) The action of making or manufacturing from components or raw material https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=definition+of+production http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/library/kheel http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/library/kheel

3. What is apparel manufacturing? • Operations in apparel manufacturing are divided into two sectors by the federal government • Cut and sew (when buying fabric, cutting and then sewing) • Knit and sew (when knitting fabric, cutting and then sewing) http://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iag315.htm

4. Apparel Manufacturing Subsector The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics lists these parts of the Apparel Manufacturing Subsector • Apparel Knitting Mills: NAICS 3151 • Cut and Sew Apparel Manufacturing: NAICS 3152 • Apparel Accessories and Other Apparel Manufacturing: • NAICS 3159 http://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iag315.htm

5. Is there work? Yes! Are there jobs in Apparel and Textiles in our state? VF (Vanity Fair) jobs listings for North Carolina are linked below. Link to VF job postings in Greensboro

6. What kinds of jobs are there? Sample Maker – This person sews the garment or item to find and document any problems before the pattern is put into production. Marker Maker – This person takes a graded pattern and traces it onto paper. They then make a layout plan or roadmap for cutting out the pieces. The marker maker must plan to maintain grain, match patterns (stripes or plaids), conserve fabric and consider the needs of the cutting department. Pattern Maker– This person takes the designer’s sketches and turns them into engineering blueprints that the production chain can use to make the design. Pattern Grader – This person takes the pattern and then generates the sizes needed for the garment. The pattern grader uses mathematical formulas to enlarge the pattern for the different-sized customers. Cutter – This person spreads out the fabric for cutting and then cuts out the pattern pieces. They use the marker (prepared by the marker maker) to do this job. According to some sources, this job is in high-demand as it requires a lot of skill and training.

7. More apparel careers Sewing Machine Operator – This person sews the pieces of the garment together. Commercial sewing machine operators generally do not sew an entire garment, but sew some specific part of it in an assembly line process. Finisher – a person who does any required hand-sewing work on better quality, higher-priced apparel to complete a more finished appearance Inspector – This person looks at garments and their workmanship to make sure they meet production and quality standards. They may also remove all loose and unnecessary threads and lint Costing Engineer – This person may have the most difficult job in the apparel field. He or she must use information on labor, material and production costs to calculate how much it costs the company to make a garment or item. It is this work that allows management to make decisions about what garments to produce and how to price them for the wholesale and/or retail marketplaces.

8. To sum up • Apparel Manufacturing careers are concerned with the production of garments, accessories and other items for wholesale or retail sale. • Apparel Manufacturing is centered in factories and other production facilities. • In the past decades, much apparel manufacturing has left the United States. But there are still good-quality jobs for workers in this sector.