ONE OF OUR SUCCESS STORIES
Cost savings is a main priority for Top Notch Pattern. The company has worked to reduce excessive fabric consumption for thirty years. Through grading and marking techniques, Top Notch has been able to ensure client specifications are consistently accurate. Through modifying grading patterns, Top Notch is able to produce custom specifications that meet client sizing requirements. Grading is essential for keeping consistency between styles and ensuring each garment meets its expected fit. Once the physical process is complete and the dimensions of the pattern are checked, Top Notch is able to digitize the pattern. The paper pattern gets scanned into a digital file and can be sent to clients and factories electronically.
The steps of grading and digitizing are important, but marking is the main tool employed by Top Notch that reduces costs associated with excessive fabric. If marking is not done properly, it can cost apparel companies a tremendous amount of money. Through the techniques employed by Top Notch, the company is able to optimally place pattern pieces to maximize the use of fabric yield. Top Notch improves companies’ production processes by creating a more precise and compact fabric guideline for each garment.
THE PROBLEM
American Eagle contacted Top Notch to assess the accuracy of their production marker. The company was prepared to start mass-producing a million garments, but questioned the fabric yield the facility overseas estimated. The previous level of fabric consumption did not seem to match the estimate that they were given by the overseas facility. Thus, American Eagle reached out to Top Notch to have a new style marker created.
HOW WE HELPED
Top Notch’s extensive knowledge of marking and grading enabled them to pinpoint the inaccuracies American Eagle had been experiencing. After receiving the pattern, Top Notch’s team carefully graded the style to the desired specification sheet. Once the pattern was graded, checked, and approved, we moved forward by creating the style marker to the cutting ticket. Our specialists accurately created a marker to save three quarters (0.75) a yard per garment.
THE OUTCOME
Top Notch Pattern was able to reduce the fabric yield and total use of raw material by 47%.
With the mass-production of a million garments, and reducing approximately two inches of fabric per garment, we were able to reduce total fabric estimates by ~55,000 yards. This small difference saved the company ~$111,000 in wasted resources at $2 a yard.
