A Report on Garment Industries Bangladesh (Part-1)

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background Of The Project

Garments Industries in our country is facing the challenge of export of their products in the world market. The market has become very competitive and it is very hard for the poor countries to survive in the quota free market. Efficient management and proper business strategies can produce quality production in minimal time and costs. Computerization is a tool to achieve this goal which allows the best use of the information to make future plans. Our intension is to help the garments industries of our country by using proper use of computer technology. As a reference subject we visited a garments factory named Opex. But we found that Opex Group is not using a proper computerization system for production and inventory management system. Most of the works are carried out in pen and paper. This is slowing down the operations and errors are made frequently. Most of the time, they are losing the old data. The current situation is very poor in the Opex Group in case of computerizations. [1]

1.2 Problems Of Current System

Current system has many problems. In this section we discuss those problems [1]:

Production section of the Opex Group is doing the work manually.
All the works are carried out in pen and paper.
Sometimes administrator can not get proper information about the product.
Buyers can not place the order easily.
This system is not efficient and takes long time.

1.3 Objective of the Project

The goal of our project is to make the entire system efficient and user friendly to the product manager and administrator. The objectives focusing on our attempt are mainly concerned [1]:

To increase the flexibility of the administrator, agents and buyers.
Making the system faster than the present system.
To eliminate the paper work of the agent.
To facilitate the Administrator so that he can easily access product information from anywhere.
To reduce complexity of the production section.
To reduce physical labor of the personnel at the Opex Group.
To reduce workers of the Opex Group.

1.4 Methodology

Methodology is defined as a collection of procedures, techniques and tools that is used for the development. Methodology is not only a set of methods but it also includes the ideas, rationale and assumptions which is underling the research or investigation. Software development methodology helps us to contribute our effort to develop and implement a system by the collection of theories and concepts, comparative studies of different approaches and by development of individual methods. This methodology was followed [8] :

PHP
MySQL database
Apache Server

These tools are described in chapter 6

1.5 Conclusion

Science has brought the world at our door. Internet has made our life easier. With the development of civilization, our life has become comfortable and luxuries. Today every people all around the world want to do something in an organized way. This need is met by the addition of database technologies that retain key information and allow for an easy way to manipulate that information. If anybody wants to maintain his/ her system by a organize way, web database can serve for this purpose. Our “Garments Production Management System” provides the facility to maintain all of the sections of garments production and keep track of all the product information.

REQUIREMENT ANALYSIS

2.1. Introduction

Requirement analysis is the way to understand the requirements of the users of the system. It explores the expectations of the users about the proposed system. Requirements are actually the descriptions on how the system should work and interact with the user of the system. Requirement analysis is difficult as it brings together all the requirements and interest of the business personnel. The efficiency of the final product depends on the accuracy of the requirement analysis. As this is the base of the future work, so the analysis part of this project was performed carefully [8].

2.2 The production cycle of readymade garments

The needs for cotton fabrics are increasing day by day world wide. The world is moving forward and the demand of garments has a vertical growth not only for clothing but also for households, fashion and industrial purpose. The garments industries usually follow different steps for production of the readymade garments. The following steps are described below [1] :

2.2.1 Achievement of Raw Materials

Raw materials which are used in the production, completely depends on the contract. Buyers provide only the fabrics and clothes and the company gathers the rest of the raw materials [1].

2.2.2 Acquisition Procedures

Acquisition Procedures means the way that the company follows to incorporate the raw material from different sources. The company buys the raw materials from either retailers or whole sellers who are involved in the production of such raw materials [1].

2.2.3 Merchandise Information

At this stage, the production manager gathers all the information related with the raw materials which is achieved by one of the procedures mentioned above. Then a sample is designed as specified on the order from the buyers [1].

2.2.4 Scheduling

This is the most important factor in manufacturing procedure. The productivity of the company depends completely on scheduling. In manufacturing process, scheduling maximizes the efficiency of the business operations and reduces the cost. Scheduling is to set a goal to minimize the production time and costs by explaining clearly what to make and how many in quantity in a specific time period with the use of specific equipments and manpower. The company sets a target to achieve the goal and follows the steps on day to day basis. Scheduling is to planning the activities required for production at different stages from the date the resources become available to determine the shipment date [1].

2.2.5 Production Process

Production starts at this stage and the amount of daily production is recorded. The progress of the production is related with the scheduling. This process is divided in 4 parts.

Cutting
Sewing
Finishing
Maintenance

Cutting: First of all the cutting section cuts the raw materials fabrics and the clothes. For this purpose, factory provides them the measurements and the designed sample. [1]

Sewing: The sewing section is involved in the sewing of the clothes as provided in the sample. All the sewing accessories (buttons, zippers, labels etc) required to add on the garments are assembled here. [1]

Finishing: There are other types of accessories which are called finishing accessories. These accessories include Hang Tag, Barcode Stickers, Poly Bags, Cartons, etc. These are being fixed at the finishing section. After successful achievement of these; products go to the finishing section. The finishing section finally checks the quality, cleanliness, do the ironing, sticks the tickets, and packs into poly bags (as buyer’s instruction). [1]

Maintenance: The maintenance section is involved to the inspection of the finished goods by the buyer or its nominated agents or by the factory inspectors and to generate inspection certificate by following the inspection instruction. Now the garments are finished and packed in cartons and ready to be ex-factory. The goods are then handed over to Commercial Department. The commercial department contacts the shipping agent either nominated by the buyer or negotiated by the factory owner for the buyer. They also do the bank related jobs to prepare the documents for the shipment [1].

2.3 The process of product order and getting into garments production

Product Management System and its business have changed considerably over some few years. Before implementing and designing this project, several steps were to be taken that were conducted through a combination of research equipments. Understanding product management system (e.g. cutting, swing, washing, finishing etc) and their limitations of information access were some of our considerations. For this purpose we have discussed with Opex Group workers, managers for understanding the system [1].

Most of the ready made garments factories do as follow:

Buyers send a color visual or Original Sample to follow or a book let of their detail design to follow with the order.
Factory (manufacturers) sends the price accordingly and asks for approval from the buyer.
After approval, the factory develops the proto (development) sample and gets the approval.
Within this period buyer sends the purchase order along with the LC (Letter of Credits).
After getting the proto and LC, the factory goes for size wise fit sample (for approval of the measurement).
After the approval, the factory develops the Pre-Production (PP) sample and gets these approved. Pre production sample goes with all original brandings like actual fabric in actual color, actual color print and embroidery, all actual accessories like labels, buttons, packing etc.
After receiving the approval on Pre Production samples, the factory goes for final bulk production.
After final production, either buyer does the inspection or the factory do the inspection on behalf of buyers and produces an inspection certificate which is a compulsory with the shipping document.
The factory does the packing as per buyer’s instruction.
Commercial department contacts the buyer’s nominated shipping agent.

2.4. Conclusion

Understanding the requirements of a problem is one of the most difficult tasks. We visited to all section of the Opex Group to get relevant information sources to familiarize ourselves with the system. We also spend time in analysis of those data. We performed the requirement analysis part of this project carefully to get the final product.

SYSTEM ANALYSIS

3.1 Introduction to System Analysis

System analysis deals with the analysis of the system prior to the automation of as computer system. Technology is applied on analysis of the system which satisfies the needs of the individuals. The problems are analyzed to determine the nature of the system. Business processes are the day to day driver for any business. There is a relation between the business and the business customers. The business process includes the set of business rules, computer systems, the operations and the actions of the business. The aim of system analysis is to understand the ins and outs of the business process, analyzing of the statistical and day to day data used in the business, and to draft the interaction of the technology with information. All business depends on data. Data represents the reality therefore understanding the dimension of data plays an important role in system analysis [2, 4].

3.2 OBJECTIVES

System analysis is conducted with the following objectives in mind:

Understand a system.
Understand the different phases of system development life cycle.
Know the components of system analysis.
Know the components of system designing.

3.3 SYSTEM LIFE CYCLE

System life cycle is an organizational process of developing and maintaining systems. It helps in establishing a system project plan, because it gives overall list of processes and sub-processes required developing a system [2, 4, and 8].

3.4 System Development Life Cycle

System development life cycle means combination of various activities. In other words we can say that various activities put together are referred as system development life cycle. In the System Analysis and Design terminology, the system development life cycle means software development life cycle [2, 4, and 8].

Following are the different phases of software development cycle:

System study
Feasibility study
Cost benefit analysis
System analysis
System design
Coding
Testing
Implementation
Maintenance

The different phases of software development life cycle is shown in Fig.3.1

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Fig. 3.1: Different phases of Software development Life Cycle

3.5 Phases Of System Development Life Cycle

Let us now describe the different phases and the related activities of system development life cycle in detail.

3.5.1 System Study

System study is the first stage of system development life cycle. This gives a clear picture of what actually the physical system is? After completing the system study, a system proposal is prepared by the System Analyst (who studies the system) and placed before the user. The proposed system contains the findings of the present system and recommendations to overcome the limitations and problems of the present system in the light of the user’s requirements [2, 4, and 8].

To describe the system study phase more analytically, we would say that system study phase passes through the following steps:

Problem identification and project initiation
Background analysis
Inference or findings

3.5.2 Feasibility Study

The feasibility study is basically the test of the proposed system in the light of its workability, meeting user’s requirements, effective use of resources and of course, the cost effectiveness. The main goal of feasibility study is not to solve the problem but to achieve the scope. In the process of feasibility study, the cost and benefits are estimated with greater accuracy [2, 4, and 8].

3.5.3 Cost Benefit Analysis

Among the most important information contained study is the cost benefit analysis which is an assessment of the economic justification. Cost benefit analysis delineates cost for project development and weights them against tangible and intangible benefit of a system [2, 4, and 8].

In developing cost estimates for a system, we need to consider several cost elements.

Hardware cost relate to the purchase of the computer and peripherals.
Personnel cost includes staff salaries and benefits or bonus.
Operating cost includes all costs associated with the day-to-day operation of the system; depends on the number of shifts, the nature of the application, the caliber of the operating staff, etc.
Supply costs are variable costs that increased use of paper, ribbon, discs etc.

3.5.4 System Analysis

Analysis involved a detailed study of the current system, leading to specifications of a new system. Analysis is a detailed study of various operations performed by a system and their relationships within and outside the system. During analysis, data are collected on the available files, decision points and transactions handled by the present system. Interviews, on-site observation and questionnaire are the tools used for system analysis [2, 4, and 8].

3.5.5 System Design

Based on the user requirements and the detailed analysis of a new system, the new system is designed. This is the phase of system designing. It is a crucial phase in the development of a system [2, 4, and 8]. Normally the design proceeds in two stages:

Preliminary or general design
Structure or detailed design

3.5.6 Coding

After designing the new system, the whole system is required to be converted into computer understanding language. Coding the new system into computer programming language does this. It is an important stage where the defined procedures are transformed into control specifications by the help of a computer language. This is also called the programming phase in which the programmer converts the program specifications into computer instructions, which we refer as programs. The programs coordinate the data movements and control the entire process in a system [2, 4, and 8].

3.5.7 Testing

Before actually implementing the new system into operations, a test run of the system is done to remove all the bugs, if any. It is an important phase of a successful system. After codifying the whole programs of the system, a test plan should be developed and run on a given set of test data. The output of the test run should match the expected results [2, 4, and 8].

3.5.8 Implementation

After having the user acceptance of the new system developed, the implementation phase begins. Implementation is the stage of a project during which theory is turned into practice. During this phase, all the programs of the system are loaded onto the user’s computer. After loading the system, training of the users starts. Main topics of such type of training are [2, 4, and 8]:

How to execute the package
How to enter the data
How to process the data (processing details)
How to take out the reports

3.5.9 Maintenance

Maintenance is necessary to eliminate errors in the system during its working life and to tune the system to any variations in its working environment. It has been seen that there are always some errors found in the system that must be noted and corrected. It also means the review of the system from time to time. The review of the system is done for:

Knowing the full capabilities of the system
Knowing the required changes or the additional requirements
Studying the performance

If a major change to a system is needed, a new project may have to be set up to carry out the change. The new project will then proceed through all the above life cycle phases [2, 4, and 8].

3.6 Conclusion

System analysis is an important part of the project. System analysis is needed for designing and implementing of the project. The problems are analyzed to determine the nature of the system. System Analysis finds the different phase of a system and components of system design. In this chapter we try to represent all of the phases of system development life cycle to design a system.

SYSTEM DESIGN

4.1 Introduction

System design is the most important phase of the System Development Life Cycle. It is a solution, a “how to” approach to the creation of a new system. It provides the understanding and procedural details necessary for implementing the system recommended in the feasibility study. Emphasis is on translating the performance requirements into design specifications. The design phase is a transition from a user-oriented document (system proposal) to a document oriented to the programmers or data base personnel. An accurate system design gives accurate system performance. Several structural tools are used for design purpose of the candidate system. In this chapter we have discussed about Web Design, Dataflow Diagram, E-R Diagram, Activity Diagram, Use Case Diagram and Network Design of the proposed system [4].

4.2 Web Site Design

A Web site is a collection of information about a particular topic or subject. Designing a web site is defined as the arrangement and creation of web pages that in turn make up a web site. A web page consists of information for which the web site is developed. A web site might be compared to a book, where each page of the book is a web page [9].

The intent of web design is to create a web site (a collection of electronic files residing on one or more web servers) that presents content (including interactive features or interfaces) to the end user in the form of web pages once requested. Such elements as text, forms, and bit-mapped images (GIFs, JPEGs, PNGs) can be placed on the page using HTML, XHTML, or XML tags [9].

Web page design is a process of conceptualization, planning, modeling, and execution of electronic media content delivery via Internet in the form of technologies (such as markup languages) suitable for interpretation and display by a web browser or other web-based graphical user interfaces (GUIs) [9].

Typically web pages are classified as static or dynamic.

Static pages don’t change content and layout with every request unless a human (web master or programmer) manually updates the page.
Dynamic pages adapt their content and/or appearance depending on the end-user’s input or interaction or changes in the computing environment (user, time, database modifications, etc.).

4.3 Network Design

The proposed system will be implemented on the web. A central server at OPEX will contain the application. Any buyer & agent will have access to the special areas of the system through the internet. The administrator will have the full access.

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4.4 Data Flow Diagram (DFD)

The DFD was first developed by Larry Constantine as a way of expressing system requirements in a graphical form. It is also known as a “bubble chart” has the purpose of clarifying system requirements and identifying major transformations that will become programs in system design. A DFD consists of a series of bubbles joined by lines. The bubbles & lines represent data transformations & data flows in the system respectively. DFD does not depend on hardware, software and data structure or file organization because it shows what data flow (logical) rather then how they are processed. There are four symbols in a DFD [4]. They are:

An oval defines a source (originator) or destination of system data.
An arrow identifies data flow-data in motion. It is a pipeline through which information flows.
A rectangle represents a process that transforms incoming data flow(s) into outgoing data flow(s).
An open rectangle is a data store i.e. data at rest, or a temporary repository of data.