IoT in Garmenting

Internet of Things (IoT) is a comparatively new concept in the world of information technology.The IoT allows devices and people to connect with others anytime and anywhere through the pre-defined networks and any services.The garment industry as a whole produces more than a hundred types of men, women, and children garments. These categories include raincoats, overcoats, jackets, ensembles, trousers, and shirts of different kinds, pullovers, jerseys, inner-garments, and babies’ garments. There are several types of accessories as well such as gloves, shawls, scarves, and different parts of garments. The cost of product per unit is segregated in the following way: fabric 65- 414 70%, labour or making charge 15%, and 15–20% on overhead expenses.Garment industry needs minute details and utmost accuracy in every department. So, digitalization is beneficial for the industry as a whole since digitalization brings perfections in stock management, work coordination, human resource management, and operations. The industry also requires prompt attention to any deviation, delay, or damage in the production process or marketing. Hence, it is a perfect industry to bring IoT like technology. IoT finds great application in improving process efficiency for apparel manufacturers. With workers performing tasks driven by instructions received through connected devices, there is more insight into the time it takes to complete work orders, filter through past work orders, and close them in time. Since all the information is recorded in real-time, shop floor managers can access the information instantaneously and boost process efficiency. The IoT connected devices on the manufacturing shop floor can enable apparel organizations to receive real-time feedback and alerts for defects or damaged goods. Such timely feedback can help save money and eliminate waste. Errors caught early can be fixed faster and with less impact on the rest of the delivery. Real-time monitoring and data collection from the production process can facilitate quicker, more proactive, and clearer communication. With such insight, IoT enables everyone in the manufacturing unit to be always updated. This helps in the replenishment of stock and optimizing business planning. IoT makes it possible for apparel manufacturers to design and 415 produce products tailored to customers’ tastes and needs. Realtime data from customer preferences, when fed back into the production process, allows manufacturers to make changes in designs, instantly review changes and improve quality. This can not only minimize unnecessary waste and error in samples before finalization but also enables necessary adjustments in real-time. Further the IoT is useful in automated monitoring of factory operations, equipment maintenance, product development, streamline operations, Increase up time in a garment unit. This article covers the need of IoT in garment unit, concept and implementation, various modules of IoT used in garment industry, data analytics method and optimization procedure using IoT.