Report on Fakir apparels ltd a study of operational procedures for fast fashion

Abstract

This report covers an internship at Fakir Apparels Ltd. (FAL), a leading knit garment manufacturer in Bangladesh. The internship is a required part of the PGD-KIM program at Brac University. The author worked in five main departments: Marketing & Merchandising, Fakir Apparels Design Studio (FADS), Knitting, Dyeing, and Quality. During the internship, the author observed the entire production process. In Marketing & Merchandising, the tasks included calculating the price (FOB) for new styles from buyers like Inditex and managing orders from order entry to raw material booking to fabric booking through the ERP system. In the FADS department, the focus was on innovation, using trend analysis from WGSN to help create new fashion collections. In the Knitting department, the author learned how engineers translate a designer's fabric sketch into actual physical fabric. Work in the Dyeing department involved matching buyer color samples by first making "Lab Dips" to find the right recipe, then managing the bulk production dyeing. Lastly, in the Quality department, the author learned how to maintain quality at every step, including approving fabric color, checking the first trial cut garments, and performing the final AQL inspection before shipment. The report concludes that the PGD-KIM courses were very useful for solving real problems. For example, the "Introduction to Garments Industry" course helped with product costing, and the "Communication Skills" course helped make factory meetings more efficient. The report gives three main suggestions for Fakir Apparels to improve. First, the Marketing department should create a "Fast-Track Team" to manage quick order changes from fast fashion buyers, because the main ERP system is too slow to manage frequent changes. Second, the Knitting department should build a new, quiet "R&D Lab" to give engineers a better place to think and to create new fabrics. Third, the Dyeing department should buy "soft-flow" dyeing machines, as fast-fashion brands increasingly prefer mixing Knit & Woven fabrics on the same garment. This will allow the factory to dye woven fabrics for such styles and avoid the process loss that occurs when using the knitting dyeing machines for this purpose. This internship was a very important experience and helped the author change from a student mindset to a professional mindset.