Marking a milestone - American Uniform Co.'s use of new automated CAD process

Pioneering a new automated CAD process for high-volume production markers, American Uniform Co. has slashed marker making throughput time by more than 50 percent.

For the past 25 years, CAD systems capable of automatically producing high yield production markers have been at the top of technology wish lists. Today, advances in computer technology and artificial intelligence have provided a foundation that is helping manufacturers turn dreams into reality.

A case in point: American Uniform Co. This past year, the Cleveland, TN-based career apparel producer pioneered a new automated marker development process that integrated Assyst Inc.'s assyCAD package and Nester Inc.'s NESTER automated marker making system. The results have been impressive. American Uniform has been able to slash its marker making throughput time by more than 50 percent, while improving efficiencies on many existing production markers.

"It used to take more than a week to process all of our orders for the following week," explains Garry Stonecipher, head engineer for the firm. "The [employees] were working overtime and still not getting everything done by Friday. Now we can get everything done for the entire week in two days. ... And at the same time we've reduced our staff and improved material utilization."

Moreover, says Kelly Morris, the Assyst regional sales manager who worked on the implementation team, the integrated system has improved inter-department communication and streamlined the flow of information from marker making to production.

Behind the Scenes

The roots of the automated marking system stem back to 1996, when American Uniform purchased assyCAD. The diversified manufacturer, which has annual revenues of $100 million, adopted the pattern making, grading and marking system to help streamline its pre-production department, which handles approximately 3,000 active SKUs at any given time. This includes shirts, pants, coveralls and other basic uniforms, the majority of which are commodity items produced to stock and sold to the rental laundry market in the United States. The balance of sales, at 10 percent, is direct uniform packages for large corporations and retailers.

Both businesses require some made-to-measure production, which prompted American Uniform to add assyCAD's Made-to-Measure (MTM) module in 1997. As Stonecipher explains: "Basic made-to-measure is a very small portion of our overall business, but it is a necessary part of our business because without servicing the customers totally, you probably are not going to get the rest of the business."

The MTM module allows American Uniform to enter order information and then specify alterations, such as adding two inches to the sleeve. The patterns are then automatically adjusted in the CAD system based on alteration points that are defined in assyCAD's pattern making and grading system. The processing also relies on an alterations table that works with multipliers (as opposed to intermittent values) to determine subsequent alteration values for the pattern pieces. Following pattern alterations, an automatic marker calculation function is activated, and the marker(s) can then be processed either manually - the route American Uniform initially took - or automatically.

Not long after implementing the MTM module, Stonecipher learned of NESTER and decided to investigate integrating the assyCAD system with this automated marker making package - and not just for made-to-measure; he saw the possibility of using the MTM module as a front-end for processing all markers.

NESTER, which has been in development for the past 20 years, uses expert systems technologies and advanced algorithms to create marker layouts through a direct CAD system interface. In typical operation, markers are generated by the system and then reviewed to identify the possibility of further optimization though human interface. NESTER also generates numerically controlled cutter files or plot files that can be sent via network to a cutter or plotter, respectively.

"I started talking with NESTER at the 1997 Bobbin Show," recalls Stonecipher. "We sent what I felt were pretty good [markers] to them, and they ran them through the NESTER program. It actually improved markers that we had experienced people lay out.... On the 20 markers we sent, we averaged about two-thirds of a percent [.60 percent] improvement. It got my attention pretty quickly, and I used this [savings] as part of my justification for purchasing the software.

"We consume several millions of dollars worth of fabric a year," Stonecipher rationalizes. "So if we can improve just one-quarter of 1 percent, we are talking thousands of dollars. So what we can save in fabric utilization, plus the fact that we are getting things done more quickly with less people, makes it a win-win situation all the way around."

The Proving Ground

In making the decision to implement automated marker making, American Uniform became the integration proving ground for NESTER and assyCAD. NESTER already was working successfully with programs including Gerber Technology Inc.'s AccuMark and Micro-Mark; Scanvec Garment Systems' Opti-Tex; and AutoCAD, but there was some uncharted ground to cross with the Assyst linkage - namely the UNIX environment. As a result, all the parties had to commit to work together closely.

"As with any new development, you need complete buy in from all interested parties," says Steven McLendon, vice president, sales and marketing, NESTER Inc. "American Uniform worked with the development teams from both [Assyst and NESTER] and clearly identified requirements from a functionality standpoint, which drove the technical developments."

The information derived from this process is now included in a technical specification that outlines the way information is transferred between NESTER and different CAD packages. It extends the American Apparel Manufacturers Association's (AAMA) ANSI/AAMA-292 Pattern Data Interchange Standard by including additional information for marker making.

"This enhancement allows varying CAD systems to output complete marker request data, including the piece information - shape or boundary, notches, text, etc. - and nesting constraints, such as the fabric dimensions, nap constraints, and rules for flipping, rotation and tilting," explains McLendon.

At the operations level, says Stonecipher: "NESTER resides as an integrated module within the UNIX atmosphere on the same server as the CAD system." As a result, operation of the two programs is seamless. "All you have to do is learn how to load the order," he explains. "The programs do all the work. There is no manual hand-off of data."

Additionally, says Assyst president Thomas Baur, the NESTER package is compatible with assyCAD's marker making functions and can be installed easily as an upgrade to the Assyst system.

Time Is of the Essence

When NESTER receives marker information from a CAD system, it works under a set of time parameters for the job. "NESTER is a very high-order, mathematically based software that is time dependent," says Stonecipher. "The longer you give it, the more likely it will improve overall efficiency."

For example, when working with single made-to-measure orders, American Uniform allows approximately five minutes for NESTER to develop a marker within some reasonable limits. On the other hand, stock items that are going to be cut over and over again are planned separately and batch run over the weekend to give the program time to achieve optimum efficiencies. The latter typically are produced by the company's contractors - which are located in Canada, the United States, Mexico and Jamaica.

When planning for the balance of production, which is done at company-owned facilities in Cleveland and Conasauaga, TN; Blue Ridge, GA; and Robbinsville, NC, the orders are grouped and then processed overnight on the NESTER system. The next morning, employees check the orders and then send them to cutting. Cutting files are downloaded to a medium-ply S95 GERBERcutter[R] from Gerber Technology, which is used for both regular stock cuttings and made-to-measure orders. The garments are then assembled in modular lines at American Uniform's plants.

"We can get an order into the system and get it cut within a week and then sew it in two days," explains Stonecipher. "So we can ship [cut-to-order goods] somewhere within a week to two weeks - even special items."

Noting the industry's growing emphasis on short-cycle manufacturing and mass customization - the ability to produce unique garments in a mass production environment - Assyst's Baur adds: "The entire industry needs to look to automation in order to stay competitive. ... [Manufacturers] need to be able to handle small production orders and more frequent turnarounds."

This is a difficult challenge, says Stonecipher, but one that American Uniform is successfully tackling. "With the Assyst advanced CAD capabilities and the NESTER capabilities, I honestly believe we have a world-class setup in our design and cutting area," he concludes. "We are doing it right."

Lisa C. Rabon is editor in chief of Bobbin.

COPYRIGHT 1999 Miller Freeman, Inc.
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