Determination of fault-tolerant fabric-cutting schedules in a just-in-time apparel manufacturing environment

Chun Kit Kwong, Pik Yin Mok, Wai Keung Wong

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In apparel manufacturing, accurate upstream fabric-cutting planning is crucial for the smoothness of downstream sewing operations. Effective and reliable fabric-cutting schedules are difficult to obtain because the apparel manufacturing environment is fuzzy and dynamic. In this paper, genetic algorithms and fuzzy-set theory are used to generate fault-tolerant fabric-cutting schedules in a just-in-time production environment. The proposed method is demonstrated by two cases with production data collected from a Hong Kong-owned garment production plant in China. Results of the two cases preliminarily show that the genetically improved fault-tolerant schedules effectively satisfy the demand for downstream production units, guarantee consistent and reliable system performance, and also reduce production costs through reduced operator idle time. More cases will be conducted in order to further validate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4465-4490
Number of pages26
JournalInternational Journal of Production Research
Volume44
Issue number21
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2006

Keywords

  • Fabric cutting
  • Fuzzy set theory
  • Genetic algorithms
  • Parallel machine scheduling

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Strategy and Management
  • Management Science and Operations Research
  • Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Determination of fault-tolerant fabric-cutting schedules in a just-in-time apparel manufacturing environment'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this