George Hodge

There are many ways to specify yarns. While ?yarn? is often considered as a generic input to the fabric production process it has a large impact on the suitability of the final product. Unfortunately, at the present time product data management systems for garments and fabrics do not consider the complexity of the yarn. In modern cotton spinning mills a vast amount of data is available from routine online and offline testing and monitoring equipment. The proposed research will determine whether better use can be made of this data to improve both process and product quality. An additional objective is to determine which data that can be considered to be useful (in terms of controlling or predicting product quality) and which items of data are superfluous (and thus their collection and storage can be discontinued). Of particular interest is monitoring changes in the fiber as it progresses through processing and what, if any, influence this has on the resultant yarn quality. There are obvious examples where this is clearly identifiable, such as a sharp increase in neps in the sliver will usually result in defective yarn. However more subtle changes in fiber length may be more difficult to discern. The research will need systematic collection of appropriate data over a reasonable period of time and the design of the experimental plan plus the collaboration of an industrial partner is crucial to the success of this project. Yarn specification standards which consider the final application for the yarn will be produced. These yarns specifications may be used in computer systems to create product data management systems that allow for engineering of the product back to the fiber and yarn stages. Yarn specifications for a variety of end products will be investigated.

This proposal is a specific application of the general Memorandum of Understanding previously approved by officers of COT and TTSC/CITI. The areas of focus which are to be pursued are considered to represent the current and near future needs of Sri Lanka and were proposed after initial discussions between representatives of these organizations. A subsequent fact finding mission, by a group from NC State to Sri Lanka, spent time visiting various academic institutions and different sectors of the industry. In addition panel discussions were held with different groups that play a significant role in the Sri Lankan textile and apparel industry and brief notes from this visit are appended (Appendix 1). There was surprising concordance within the various groups with respect to the perceived shortcomings in certain skills within the Sri Lankan industries and there was very strong affirmation that the originally selected focus areas were indeed the most vital. The specific areas which have been identified were selected after the above described considerations of the needs of the Sri Lankan industry and the expertise that is available within the College of Textiles at NC State (COT). These are: Technical Design and Product Development Supply Chain Development & Management Industrial Engineering It is proposed that COT will provide personnel who will help the Sri Lankan industry acquire and develop strengths in each area by assisting in the creation of suitable courses and providing industry seminars. Additionally, suitably qualified staff from Sri Lanka will be hosted by COT and will be familiarized with innovative teaching methods and current research activities and furthermore will be encouraged to obtain further academic qualifications (Graduate Certificates and/or Masters Degrees).

There are many ways to specify yarns. Yarn is often considered as a generic input to the fabric production process, but has a large impact on the suitability of the final product. Product data management systems for garments and fabrics do not consider the complexity of the yarn. Yarn specification standards which consider the final application for the yarn will be produced. These yarns specifications may be used in computer systems to create product data management systems that allow for engineering of the product back to the fiber and yarn stages. Yarn specifications for a variety of end products will be investigated.

Textile companies are responding to globalization challenges by incorporating the principles of lean manufacturing in their operations. Crucial to the success of a lean scheduling implementation is having the right planning and scheduling systems in place. This project will develop a requirements checklist for planning and scheduling systems to be used in a lean environment. A software directory of commercially available planning and scheduling systems for textiles will also be developed that provides details on the functionality of the systems and an evaluation of whether they meet the lean requirements checklist. These systems may be stand alone or incorporated into material requirements planning (MRP) systems, enterprise resource planning systems (ERP), or supply chain management (SCM) systems. This research project will complement the project entitled ?Adapting Lean Principles for the Textile Industry? identifying the characteristics of advanced planning systems currently available as part of plant floor data collection systems, enterprise resource planning systems and supply chain management systems. This will minimize the mismatch between implementing lean manufacturing and adopting new information systems.

Lean manufacturing can be defined as a systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste (non-value-added activities) through continuous improvement and by pulling product through the supply chain in response to customer demand. The Lean concept has allowed many companies to become world class manufacturers able to compete in the global market. However, many of the conditions under which Lean principles have been most frequently implemented are not always consistent with the Textile environment (i.e., discrete versus continuous batches, volatility of demand, longer lead times, etc.). As textile companies and their customers implement lean manufacturing, questions arise as to how best to organize the planning and scheduling functions. This research will remove some of the barriers of implementing lean manufacturing into textile companies by developing a road map of steps that a company should follow to have a successful implementation of Lean with respect to planning and scheduling. Furthermore, we will identify and adapt those concepts that are most suited for the textile industry as well as determine how a company can apply them to their environment. This project will examine planning and scheduling problems with respect to lean at one or two ITT member companies and recommend solutions (i.e., our team will help these members identify opportunities and adapt the lean principles to their situation). As part of the research, the best practices inside and outside of the textile industry will be examined. Also, the types of metrics being currently used will be identified and what metrics should the textile industry be using in terms of lean and supply chains.

In modern cotton spinning mills a vast amount of data is available from routine online and offline testing and monitoring equipment. The proposed research will determine whether better use can be made of this data to improve both process and product quality. An additional objective is to determine which data that can be considered to be useful (in terms of controlling or predicting quality) and which items of data are superfluous (and thus there collection and storage can be discontinued). The methodology of data mining can then be applied to additional textile operations. The objectives of this research are to: ? Define data collection requirements for textile spinning; ? Identify data quality issues for textile spinning; ? Define a data warehouse for textile spinning; ? Identify which data elements are needed for monitoring and controlling product quality; and ? Investigate relationships between textile processing and final product quality using data mining techniques.

E-business offers great benefits in terms of information exchange and management of business across great distances. This would seem to make e-business an ideal initiative for textile companies trying to compete in this new global economy. But the textile industry is highly fragmented, made up of many small and medium sized firms, which are historically behind other industries in terms of implementing new technologies. This study, which is exploratory in nature, will provide US textile manufacturing companies with an overview of e-business initiatives currently used by their peers and a source of information on where others in the industry expect to find the greatest benefits and challenges in terms of e-business initiatives. Previous research in e-business has focused primarily on EDI transactional processing and not on other initiatives, nor strategic benefits. Also, U.S. based textile manufacturers have not been the basis for investigations into e-business. The objectives of this research are to: 1. Identify e-business initiatives currently used by textile manufacturers; 2. Identify e-business initiatives being considered by textile manufacturers; 3. Identify benefits and barriers to adopting e-business initiatives; 4. Develop a conceptual model of e-business for textile manufacturing; 5. Determine the relative importance of the different e-business initiatives to textile manufacturers; and 6. Conduct detailed case studies for implementing the high importance e-business initiatives.