In this guide 6 sections
Follow a Tiruppur order with one internal number that stays on it from yarn to cartons. Split it into colour lots and give each lot a status. Record every dyeing and printing dispatch with a return date. Compare each lot with the buyer’s shipping window every morning.
Give the buyer order one number that never changes
A buyer order arrives as a PO with styles, colours, size ratios and an ex-factory date. Give it one internal number on day one. Yarn issues, knitting programs, dye lots and carton lists all carry that number.
Most knitwear units already hold the pieces. The merchandiser keeps an Excel tracker, the knitting master has a program sheet, and the packing hall has its own carton list. They do not connect, so the merchandiser walks or phones three floors just to learn where one style stands.
Split the order by style and colour into lots. The lot is the unit you follow. A navy lot can be late while the white lot is already boxed.
- Buyer PO number, style code and season
- Colour and size ratio for each lot
- Ex-factory date and the booked vessel or flight
- Yarn count and blend, such as combed cotton with elastane
- Approved lab dip, fit sample and trim card references
Yarn and knitting are where an order first slips
Work out yarn from the garment weight, the fabric GSM and the wastage you expect in knitting and cutting. Order against that figure, then record each yarn lot received with its supplier and count. Shade variation between yarn lots is a classic cause of rejected cartons months later.
Knitting turns yarn into fabric in kilograms, not metres. Track kilograms issued, kilograms of grey fabric produced and the machine that made it. Note the finished diameter and GSM the knitting master set, because dyers are judged against those numbers.
A late yarn delivery rarely stays in the yarn store. It pushes dyeing, then cutting, then packing. See it on day three, not day twelve.
Dyeing and printing leave your floor, so track the movement
Job work is where visibility usually dies. Grey fabric leaves on a delivery challan, comes back dyed days later, and the only record is a notebook at the gate. Record each dispatch with the processor, the kilograms sent, the colour, the expected return date and the challan number.
When fabric returns, record kilograms received and compare. The gap is process loss, and it differs by dyer, shade and fibre. After a few orders you can see which dyer returns dark shades on time and which one needs a week more than promised.
Printers and embroiderers work the same way, except they receive cut panels, not fabric. Count pieces out and pieces back.
- Processor name and the process: dye, print, wash or compact
- Quantity sent and quantity returned
- Promised and actual return dates
- Shrinkage and shade approval result
- Rejects returned for rework
Cutting, stitching and packing need a line view
Once dyed fabric returns, the cutting plan decides everything after it. Record cut quantity against the order quantity per size, with the extra allowed by the buyer. Bundle tickets then carry the lot through stitching, so a stitched piece can always be traced to its cutting table.
On the sewing floor, track pieces loaded on each line, pieces finished and pieces sitting in checking. Linking, ironing, final inspection and poly packing each add a queue. A lot that looks nearly done on the line can still be four queues from the carton.
Packing is the last place to learn that a size is short. Count carton lists against the size ratio before the container is booked.
Show every lot against the shipping window
The merchandiser needs one screen with lots down the side and stages across the top. Each cell shows done, in progress or waiting, plus the date it should finish. Compare that date with the ex-factory date and mark the lot green, amber or red.
Amber lots are the useful ones. They still have time to be saved by moving a dyeing slot, adding a night shift or splitting a shipment. Red lots only produce apologies to the buyer.
Hold a ten-minute review each morning on amber and red lots only. Tomorrow, take one live order, list its lots on a sheet and write the date each stage actually finished.
Order tracking sheet for one buyer PO
Built for one buyer PO, with a row per colour lot. Columns cover PO and style, yarn received, kilograms knitted, dyeing dispatch and return dates, cut quantity, stitched quantity, packed cartons, ex-factory date and a green, amber or red flag. A second block lists each job work dispatch with processor, challan number, quantity out and quantity back.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Do we need software, or can an Excel tracker do this?
Excel works for a handful of orders if one person updates it. It breaks when the dyeing, cutting and packing teams each need to enter their own numbers. Software lets each floor update its stage and the merchandiser sees one view.
How do we track fabric sent to outside dyers and printers?
Treat each dispatch as a record with the processor, challan number, quantity sent and promised return date. Record the receipt against it. The open dispatches then show which processors owe you fabric.
What should a merchandiser see each morning?
Only lots at risk. Show the stage each lot is in, its expected finish date and the days left before the ex-factory date. Everything on schedule can stay out of the meeting.
Can one system hold orders for several buyers?
Yes. Each buyer order keeps its own number, styles and lots, while yarn stock, dyer capacity and line plans are shared. That is also how you notice two buyers competing for the same dyeing slot.