A selection of a fabric-cutting system configuration in different types of apparel manufacturing environments

This paper proposes a queuing theory to find the optimum configuration of a computerised fabric-cutting system within different characteristics of production including small-sized, medium-sized and large-sized production orders. The proposed method can help apparel manufacturers to select the most appropriate cutting system configuration before an investment is made. The spreading and cutting sequencing (SCS) model using genetic algorithms developed by Wong et al. (2000) is employed to validate the feasibility of the proposed queuing theory approach. The results generated by the queuing approach were similar to that of the SCS model. The queuing approach is thus an alternative and effective method to assist apparel manufacturers on their decision-making about investing in a computerised fabric-cutting system.