Application of fuzzy concept in the apparel industry

A fuzzy line-balancing (FLB) model is proposed to handle the line-balancing problem of fabric spreading and cutting operations of the apparel manufacturing process. The level of work-in-progress on each spreading table is reviewed with a planned target at a pre-defined time which gives fuzzy input variables to the fuzzy model. The schedule generated by the spreading-and-cutting sequencing model using a genetic algorithm was compared with that of the FLB model under a dynamic manufacturing environment. The results indicated that the proposed model could assist production management in solving the line-balancing problem in the dynamic manufacturing environment of the apparel industry