Knitting
Technology
Topic: Introduction to
Knitwear
Course
Teacher
Md. Golam
Robbani
Lecture
r BGMEA University of Fashion &
Knitwear
Knit + Wear
Any
One kind item
of that is
fabric wearable
Knitwear
An y wearable item made from knit fabric or knitting
process is called the knitwear. Such as T-shirt, Polo shirt,
Sports jersey, Sweater etc.
Two conditions---
Must be wearable.
Made from knit fabric or knitting
process.
Types of Knitwear
Knitwea
r
Fully Cut &
fashione sew
d knitwear
knitwear
Fully Fashioned
Knitwear
Fully fashioning is a process
of shaping a knitted structure
by increasing or decreasing
the number of needles or
Wales where the individual
pieces are more engineered so
that each garment piece is
made with no extra fabric.
The garments produced by
fully fashioning technique is
called fully fashioned
knitwear.
Think Yourself…
Why fully
fashioning
process is more
engineered?
ADVANTAGES OF FULLY FASHIONED
KNITWEAR
A considerable decrease in waste
in the production
stage. There is no little cutting waste.
A reduction of some of p r o d u c t i o n
stages such as marking, grading and
cutting.
The quality of fashioned garment edge is much
better than cut edge.
The shape of the panel is accurate during the
knitting panel rather than being cut layer.
DISADVANTAGES OF FULLY FASHIONED
KNITWEAR
A reduce machinery productivity due to
repeated machine setting.
The final shape of the garments has to be
designed before the knitting started.
High level of designing skills has to be
exercised.
Low volume production because time
consuming.
Cut & Sew
Knitwear
It's a process of
the
combiningdifferent garment
pieces where we
knit cut the fabrics
basedand sew
required pattern on
them together to form a
complete garment. This
process is called "cut and
sew" & the garment from
this process is called Cut
& Sew Knitwear.
Basic Cut & Sew Knitwear
Item
T -Shirt Tank Top
Basic Cut & Sew Knitwear
Item
Polo Shirt Vest
Cut & Sew Knitwear:
Advantages
Ease speed of knitting of
fabric.
Total consistency of cut
panel sizes and relative
ease of garment make-up.
The downside is that the
seams have to be over-
locked or linked to
prevent the exposed
stitches from laddering.
Cut & Sew Knitwear:
Disadvantages
The cut and sew is not
used for wool knitwear
production.
The material
wastage (up to
25%)
and “lower quality” o f
image makes it less
appealing.
Self
Study…
Differentiate between
fully fashioned and
cut & sew knitwear.
Woven
Composite
Spinning W eaving Dyeing Garments
Weavin Garment
• Fibre g • Grey s
• Yar • Finished fabric
fabric
n
Spinnin Dyein
g g
Knit
Composite
Knitting Dyeing Garments
Dyein
• Yar g • Finished
• Grey
n fabric
fabric
Knitting Garment
s
Woven Composite
Industry
Huge amount of money and land is required for
woven composite industry due to horizontal
construction.
Advantages of Knit Composite over Woven
Composite Industry
Primary installment cost
is low.
Profit is high
compared to installment
cost.
Industry can be built up
by vertical construction.
Easy supply chain.
High market demand.
Strong backward linkage.
Process Flow in Knit Composite Industry
(Solid Color Fabric)
Yarn Numbering
& Bundling Printing
received
Knitting Cutting Sewing Shipment
Final
Inspectio Inspectio Inspection
Inspection
n n
Dyeing Finishing Ironing Packaging
SPECIFIC ADVANTAGES OF
SECTOR OF
KNITWEAR
BANGLADESH
Knitwear is a self-sufficient sector; currently the sector is
supplying 90% of the knit fabric.
Local yarn suppliers provide a large number of yarn demand for
the industry.
Many garments have their own dyeing and finishing units.
More than 200 composite factories.
More than 2000 knitwear factories.
Knitwear is exported to 153 countries of the world.
Bangladeshi Knitwear is almost unbeatable in price advantages
in the world.
Bangladesh provides a cheap labor force.
Strong backward linkage facilities.
Comparative
Advantages of
Bangladesh Knitwear
◘ The core strength of the Knitwear sector is its backward linkage.
Industry:
The entrepreneurs of the sector not only increased their stitching
capacity over time but also invested in the allied industry to
augment the overall capacity of the sector with the same pace.
◘As the earning from export increased the development of the
sector also increased in the same row. Now a days, The Knitwear
sector of Bangladesh has the unique structure as well as the
competitive advantage not only in terms of price but also the
product quality. There are many other advantages of Bangladesh
Knitwear sector, such as:
Comparative Advantages of
Bangladesh Knitwear
Industry:
1. High quality products.
2. Duty-free and quota-free access to the markets of several
developed and developing countries, such as EU, Canada,
Australia, Japan etc.
3. Strong backward linkage facilities.
4. Socially and environmentally attending factories.
5. Ensuring the quality of product.
6. Application of CPM (Clean production
mechanism) into . the factory production
strategy.
Child labor free factories.
Environmentally compliant ISO, BSCIS, WRAP,
OKETEX
Comparative Advantages of
Bangladesh Knitwear
Industry:
5. Implementation of social compliance, fire safety mechanism in the
factories.
6. Productivity campaign to ensure the best quality products.
7. Ensuring quality assessment process for the products-to-be-made.
8. Linkage the factories with environmentally and chemical
sustainability program.
9. Adopting the Green factory mechanism for a sustainable
industrial
build-up.
10. Structural adjustment policies of the factories according to the
demand of ILO, ACCORD, ALLIANCE & Other related
international bodies.
11. Most factories being inspected by Bangladesh University of
Technology and Engineering (BUET), thus ensuring structural safety
for the importers of the world.
The domestic value addition in this sector is about 75%, which is much higher
than woven products. The Knitwear sector’s value addition contribution in the GDP
is about 10%. In the export field, the knitwear industry of Bangladesh has managed
to make a big name across the world. BKMEA has taken different initiatives to
promote the export growth of knitwear products. BKMEA is working to
incorporate the latest technology, which in turn will increase the domestic value
addition.
Year 1994 2000 2008 2012 2013 2014
Value
Addition 50% 70% 75% 72% 75% 75%
Net
Retention 40% 55% 61% 53% 50% 48%
Table: Value Addition and Net Retention Rate of Bangladesh Knitwear Sector
Bangladesh Knitwear sector contributes to the Bangladesh economy in a
distinctive manner. The last 20 years witnessed unparalleled growth in this
sector, which is also the largest exporting industry in Bangladesh. It has
attained top notch stance in terms of foreign exchange earnings, exports,
industrialization and contribution to GDP within a short span of time. The
industry plays a significant role in employment generation, women
empowerment, poverty reduction, health and Nutrition improvement etc.
Women’s Empowerment:
Employment in the Knitwear industry has provided direct access to cash income for
the first time to many poor women. A survey, conducted by the Institute of Business
Administration (IBA) in 2012 showed that for 86 percent of the female workers in the
non-EPZ areas, work in the garment industry was the maiden wage employment.
The survey also showed that women were taking up such roles paying for house
rents and schooling expenses for their children or brothers and sisters. Most
significant change has been occurred in the empowerment of women. Now women
can play important role in making decisions by their own.
Poverty Reduction:
It has been observed that out of 9.0 percentage point reduction in head-count poverty
during 2000-2005, 2.5 percentage point reduction could be adduced to growth of RMG
sector. The knitwear export growth has also a positive impact on service sector. The
service sector has created huge job opportunity for the people. All these, amongst
others, have positive impacts in reducing poverty and have resulted in change.
Employment Generation:
The effective way to reduce the poverty level is to create employment opportunities for
the impoverished people. Bangladesh Knitwear Industry has played important role by
creating employment opportunities for the poor and uneducated people who were
previously engaged with the traditional agriculture sector. BKMEA has set up a training
institute and developed different short, medium and long term courses on different issues
related with knitwear production. Thousands of workers and mid-level management
have got training from BKMEA. Many fresh graduates have already taken trainings
from the institute and joined in the knitwear factories. The immediate result of rising
knitwear sector translated into rapid urbanization. So far the industry creates 1.6 million
direct jobs and 0.5 million indirect jobs.
Improvement of Purchasing Power:
The development of knitwear sector has a huge impact on the improvement of
purchasing power capacity, particularly for rural female. The purchasing power of the
low income people has increased significantly. Now People can afford more goods
than before. This happens because the income level has increased considerably. The
purchasing power of the garment workers has been increased significantly compared
to the scenario back in 1980s and 1990s.
Improvement in health sector:
Employment facilities in Knitwear sector improve the income level as well as the
purchasing power of poor people especially from the urban side. As a result access to
medicine and access to registered doctor have increased significantly. Calorie intake
of the workers has increased considerably. BKMEA has set up a hospital for the
better treatment of the workers. BKMEA also strictly monitors the member factories
so that
each factory provides medical services to the workers.
Structural & Social
Development:
The Knitwear industry is contributing in a number ways to the
Bangladesh national economy in poverty alleviation programs and
has helped to create an awareness of women's issues at all levels. In
addition to its economic contribution, the expansion of the RMG
industry has caused noticeable social changes by bringing more than
2.92 million women into the work force.
High female participation rates, as argued above, effectively result
in lower wages and greater competition as evidenced by the size of
the export market. As a result, in the knitwear sector female
participation is higher.
Bangladesh Knitwear Sector: Macro contribution to the Economy:
Bangladesh’s RMG sector contribution in terms of GDP is highly
remarkable; it has reached 13 percent of GDP, which was only about 3
percent in 1991. The contribution of Bangladesh Knitwear sector on GDP
is 6.92% and the backward linkage sector has another 2% contribution on
GDP of Bangladesh. It also plays a pivotal role in promoting the
development of other key sectors of the economy like banking, insurance,
shipping & Logistic industries, etc.
Robust Economic Growth:
Bangladesh has posted a robust and resilient economic performance over
the past decade, accompanied by a sustained decline in poverty. This
robust growth was accompanied by a uniform and steady decline in
poverty headcount rates between 2000 (48.9 percent) and 2014 (24.7
percent), and a continuous decline in the number of poor people—from
nearly 63 million in 2000 to 31 million in 2013, despite a growing
population.
Value Addition from Knitwear industry:
In Bangladesh, normally the knitwear production process starts from cotton. Then
the next processes are done in our country. Thus Bangladesh knitwear industry is
playing a vital role in value addition of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The
domestic value addition in this sector is about 75%, which is much higher than
woven products. The Knitwear sector’s value addition contribution in the GDP is
about 10%.
Year 1994 2000 2008 2012 2013 2014
Value
Addition 50% 70% 75% 72% 75% 75%
Net
Retention 40% 55% 61% 53% 50% 48%
Table: Value Addition and Net Retention Rate of Bangladesh Knitwear Sector
Backward linkage
Development:
The core strength of the knitwear sector is its backward linkage. The
entrepreneurs of the sector have not only increased their stitching capacity
overtime, but also invested in the allied industry to augment the overall
capacity of the total sector with the same pace. Over the period of time,
knitwear sector gradually became almost self-sufficient in fabric and yarn
development. As the export has increased in the knitwear sector, the
capacity of backward linkage has also increased accordingly.
In 2013-14, the contribution of knitwear in national export earnings is
39.81%. The Direct contribution of Knitwear sector on GDP of Bangladesh
is almost 7%, but the backward linkage sector of Knitwear sector has
another 2% contribution on GDP.
Shipping and Logistics Industry Development:
The RMG sector has contributed to the expansion of the shipping business
in Bangladesh and stimulated setting up of several container yards,
expansion of port facilities to handle large container carrying trains,
increase of cargo handling and storage facilities. RMG manufacturers also
extensively use services of Clearing & Forwarding Agents for the purpose
of customs clearance of inputs and finished goods.
Development of Banking and Insurance Sector:
Development of Bangladesh knitwear sector and the related activities
has contributed a lot to the robust growth of the financial sector in
Bangladesh. In FY 2002, the banking sector earned about 37 million
dollars from business related with the RMG sector in the form of interest
and charges and L/C charges. More than one-tenth of the commercial
banks’ asset portfolio belongs to the RMG and textile sector in the
country. In FY 2001 commercial banks lent Taka 4400 crore to the textile
sector, while the amount lent to the woven-RMG sector was Taka 812
crore. The export financing business of the commercial banks is largely
dependent on the textile and RMG sectors.
Cosmetic Industry Development:
There is a significant growth of female employment in the RMG sector of
Bangladesh; one of the higher female labor markets within the Asia
region. So the demand for cosmetic products like Color cosmetics, that
includes lipstick, nail polish, eye and cheek shades and Personal care
products, that includes skin and hair care products, like shampoo,
conditioner, lotions, Beauty soap and creams are increasing day by day.
Find the Problems &
prospects of Knitting
industry in
Bangladesh.