Child-and-adult-labour-in-the-export-oriented-garment-and-gem-polishing-industry-of-India

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The garment export industry of India: structure and processes
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3.2 Processes
In the garment industry two main forms of production exist. One is called assembly line
production and is mainly seen in the formal or factory sector. Here, the work is split up within
the firm into various independent detailed steps. Each step is completed by a specific category of
workers, using specialized machines. The other form is complete ready-made garment production
by each worker individually. This form of production is called complete-piece
production and is only practised in the non-factory sector where work is more seasonal. In
Bombay also a third kind exists which is called 'band system'. Here every worker stitches one part
of the garment which takes shape along the production line.
The processes in the assembly-line production are:
1. pattern making (designing) of dyed and printed fabric
2. cutting
3. distribution of cut fabric among tailors
4. tailoring
5. helper of the tailor: removing extra threads from the piece. The piece is passed on to
the next helper who is doing the next detailed step. The helper is expected to learn the
particular job her-/himself so that she or he can take over if necessary.
5. zipping
6. button holing or button stitching
7. checking
8. ironing, pressing
9. packing of the garments and making them ready for selling to the domestic and international
markets.
In the assembly-line production, every step is done by different workers. Some of these processes
(or all processes) are subcontracted to registered and unregistered workshops or to the homes of
women when export orders have to be met in time. The labour intensive jobs which can be
performed without machinery like button holing, button stitching, zipping, embroidery, cutwork,
etc. are subcontracted. The bigger illegal and legal subcontracted sweat-shops mostly have hand
or even electric driven sewing machines, but the tools home-based workers use, are mostly a pair
of scissors, a needle and thread.
Garment manufacturing depends on the supply of fabric. Though the present study only concerns
the garment industry, the processes which lead to a piece of fabric will be mentioned hereafter
briefly. In the case of cotton fabrics, the process is as follows: 'cotton is cultivated, harvested, ginned,
and cleaned and spun into yarn; yarn is woven or knitted into cloth and cloth is finished by
dyeing or bleaching' 66 . Then the fabric is printed with a fashion design and goes to the garment
manufacturer.
66 Swallow, 'Production and control in the Indian garment export industry. In: From craft to industry. The ethnography of proto-industrial
cloth production, 1982.