Adoption of Automation and CAD/CAM Systems in Designing by Knitwear Industry of Ludhiana

The present investigation was conducted on adoption of automation and computer aided designing/computer aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) systems in designing by knitwear industry of Ludhiana. Data were collected from 110 knitwear units of Ludhiana consisting of 56 small scale, 29 medium scale 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 the mode used for fabric designing includes automatic machines, computer aided designing systems and manual sketching whereas in garment designing, manual sketching and CAD system were used. While designing the knitwear, fashion forecast, consumer demand and new fashion trends were the main factors considered by all the knitwear units along with other factors like one's own past designs, season, competitor's products, export potential, area of maximum demand and availability of material. Various softwares like Corel Draw, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Fukuhara, Universal, Stoll, Gerber, Autocad and Shima Seiki were used for the designing of knitwears. Main reasons given for using automation and CAD/CAM systems in knitwear designing were rapid generation of new styles, value addition, cost reduction, fast modification of design etc. The impact of automation and CAD/CAM systems on designing reveals that style development, modification of style, grading of design and pattern storage became easier.