Checking fabric consumption against the cutting plan

The cutting is finished; 4,300 metres of fabric had left the warehouse, while the cutting plan allowed for 4,050 metres. If the record writes raw material off by the planned norm, the gap appears in the count as a "fabric shortage": not in the warehouse, still shown in the records. Yet it is often not a stock loss but a consumption deviation: the fabric was used, only more of it than planned. Confusing the two leads to blaming the wrong person. This article goes through the consumption check step by step.

Three figures: plan, issue, actual

For every order you need three figures:

• planned consumption: consumption per garment (metres per piece) × order quantity; the per-piece figure comes from the marker layout plan and includes planned waste;
• issued from the warehouse: the total of the issue slips written for the order;
• actual consumption: issued − sound fabric returned to the warehouse − usable remnants returned as a separate item.

The difference between actual and planned is the deviation. It should be calculated as soon as the order closes, by the cutting-room head and the storekeeper together; months later nobody remembers what caused what.

Example: the calculation for one order

An illustrative shirt order: 3,000 pieces, planned consumption of 1.35 m per piece.

• planned: 3,000 × 1.35 = 4,050 m;
• issued from the warehouse: 4,300 m;
• sound fabric returned unused: 60 m, usable remnants: 58 m;
• actual consumption: 4,300 − 60 − 58 = 4,182 m;
• deviation: 4,182 − 4,050 = 132 m, about 3.3 per cent of the plan (132 ÷ 4,050);
• actual consumption per piece: 4,182 ÷ 3,000 = 1.394 m.

At a unit cost of 2.50 USD, the deviation is worth 132 × 2.50 = 330 USD. If the same deviation repeats in 10 orders a month, it comes to 10 × 330 = 3,300 USD a month and 3,300 × 12 = 39,600 USD a year. A percentage that looks small becomes a large figure if the standard is never updated.

Separate the causes of the deviation

Not all of the deviation is loss. Four causes are common:

• end and edge waste: when fabric is spread, more is left over at the start and end of each layer than planned;
• recutting: defective or wrongly cut pieces are replaced with new ones;
• samples without a slip: metres cut for samples or trials are not written on an issue slip;
• width and weight differences: from lot to lot the width varies by a few centimetres, and the layout plan no longer fits.

The 132 metres in the example could break down like this: 70 metres of end and edge waste, 40 metres of recutting and 22 metres of samples with no slip. 70 + 40 + 22 = 132. The first two belong to production and planning, the third to record keeping; none is an "unexplained loss". If the deviation is posted as waste on time, the count will not show it as a fabric shortage either. If an unexplained part remains, the real investigation is made only for that part.

Recording it, and updating the standard

When the order closes, post the consumption deviation as a separate movement together with its cause; the warehouse balance then moves closer to the physical reality and the deviation reaches the order cost. Measure remnants and returned fabric on the same day and post them on a slip, set a slip rule for sample cutting and show defective pieces on a separate line.

If several orders in a row show a deviation in the same direction and of a similar size, the problem is not in the order but in the standard. If the model, the fabric width or the layout has changed, the consumption per piece must be updated; every calculation made with the old standard produces a false difference from the start. Set a threshold: for example, deviations above 2 per cent are reviewed when the order closes. Write down who approves the new standard (cutting-room head and planning). The deviation report is valuable not only for the warehouse but for production cost: a business that knows actual consumption by model also quotes prices more accurately.

In short

Once plan and actual are separated, a fabric difference in the count is much less of a mystery. StockSystem counts material waiting on the cutting table, in the workshop or at a subcontractor and compares it with the issue slips, which separates fabric missing from the warehouse because it was used in production from fabric genuinely lost.