It is no secret that the textile fashion industry is one of the most dynamic and complex sectors in the global market. With shorter production cycles, higher turnover, mass production… Indeed, design fashion industry is putting increasing pressure on manufacturers, logistics operators and retailers, driving them to seek speed, accuracy and traceability in every operation.
How?
With technology.
Today we focus on garment traceability, on the importance of accurate counting and recording of essential textile product data. In this post we detail what automatic hanging garment counters are and how they work. We also explain their advantages in the production environments and textile warehouses.
How do automatic garment counters work?
The garment counters are automatic systems capable of identifying, counting and recording textile products hung on hangers, either on the production line, loading docks or in the preparation of orders in high turnover logistics centers. They feature advanced optical sensors that detect the RFID tags of each product in motion, and identify its key characteristics, in real time.
The counters are installed at strategic points in the operating environment and can be retrofitted to continuous overhead conveyors, loading/unloading docks or automated trolley systems. For example,
● An automatic counter for garments hung on hangers, adapted to a continuous chain line in a logistics center, can record the number of garments in each block and send this information in real time via the Ethernet network to the management system.
● An automatic garment counter on the loading dock can detect and record the model, quality, color and size of each garment being unloaded, generating a detailed packing list in real time.
These automatic counting solutions can process up to 50,000 hanging garments per hour. This is equivalent to operating on overhead conveyors at speeds of up to 2 meters/sec.
The margin of error of these counters is less than 1 x 10,000 garments. They can guarantee accuracy even with overlapping hangers, when using plastic wrapping or in the presence of different formats and thicknesses of hangers. In addition, it is a counting system that detects missing or defective labels. All in real time.
What data do automatic garment hanging counters provide? |
Offered in real time: ● Total number of garments counted. ● Identification of each garment: model, size, color, quality… ● Report of detected incidences, such as missing or wrong labels and irregular hangers). ● Automatic generation of packing list. ● Visualization of the counting result on screen. ● Transmission of all counting data to the management system. |
Challenges in the textile industry Why is an automatic garment counter key?
The textile fashion industry operates under complex logistical pressure. It must manage a supply chain characterized by the simultaneous management of a hyper-high number of SKUs, by the constant rotation of entire collections and by seasonal peaks that can move thousands of hanging garments in just a few hours.
This is an environment that requires automated solutions and equipment to manage the intralogistics flow with precision, high speed and eco-efficiency. Against this backdrop, automatic hanging garment counters have become a key strategic technology for ensuring traceability, accuracy and correct shipment preparation.
Operational complexity
In the design fashion industry, every season new models, new color ranges, different sizes, different qualities… are introduced, which exponentially increases the number of active SKUs in warehouses or distribution centers. For example, a factory can manage more than 10,000 hanging garments at a time; these are products that must be organized, sorted and shipped within short deadlines to different physical stores or logistics centers of ecommerce stores. This is a scenario in which the risk of error due to manual counting of garments increases.
Moreover, unlike other sectors, in fashion, hanging textile products are increasingly handled, both to preserve their quality and to ensure a perfect presentation to the end customer, without wrinkles or deformation of the fabric.
Issues
In the case of garments, specific challenges can occur, such as:
● Crossed or overlapping hangerson overhead conveyors, making visual detection difficult.
● Hangers of different formats, which can hinder the standardization of the manual counting process.
● Dropping or subtractionof garments during transport.
● Wrong, incorrectly programmed or damaged RFID tags.
Limitations of traditional counting
Manual counting is labor intensive. It is a low-speed process with a high probability of error. In addition, it does not allow real-time integration of information into logistics, production or sales systems (WMS, ERP, ecommerce platform, etc.).
Total visibility
Today’s fashion operates under omnichannel or just-in-time schemes, demanding fast responses, immediate deliveries, interconnection of systems and centralization of data. So big brands require absolute visibility, from the production plant to the store. They need the exact product information, the model, the size, the color, the quality, the quantity, at the very moment it is moved.
Advantages of automatic garment counters: on hangers and on docks
The integration of automatic garment counting systems represents a solution to ensure the accuracy of inventories and, mainly, to ensure real-time traceability of the flow of merchandise, at the pace demanded by this industry.
The following are the main strategic advantagesof automatic garment counting solutions on hangers or docks, for high turnover environments:
Error reduction.
By automating the counting, the error rate drops to practically zero. Advanced garment counters offer an accuracy error of less than 0.01%. They send in real time both the garment ID and the quantity of each lot. This allows the operator to divert to the revision line any lot that does not have the expected number of pieces.
Improved traceability
The counters automatically associate count data and unique product identification with each block of garments. This information is sent to the management systems to maintain an accurate record of exactly what was received or shipped. In addition, packing lists are generated electronically. It is a traceability that ensures inventory consistency and facilitates auditing.
Detection of labeling faults
The automatic counter immediately detects if a garment is missing a tag or if its tag is illegible. This allows labeling errors to be corrected before the garment moves up the chain. This function prevents garments without identification or with deprogrammed or defective labels from entering the commercial circuit and the traceability of the product is lost.
In addition, it is possible to detect in real time any discrepancy between the data identified in the packing list and the purchase order.
Data capture and reporting
The information provided by the garment counter enables decision makers and operations leaders to have up-to-date timely operational data, facilitating:
● Dynamic inventory management.
● Synchronization of data with other departments such as sales and transportation, and
● Strategic decision making.
Reliability in the face of downtime or fluctuations
In addition, the latest generation of garment counters are designed to maintain high accuracy and continuity of data recording under unstable conditions. They are driven by intelligent detection algorithms, capable of correctly identifying and counting each garment, even if the chain flow stops momentarily or its speed fluctuates.
TECNIMUSA: your technological partner for the automation of the textile industry.
We design, manufacture and integrate advanced eco-efficient automation solutions, to increase efficiency and traceability in industrial intralogistics. Always under the focus of innovation, continuous improvement and sustainability.
As an engineering company, we specialize in the development of systems for the textile fashion industry. Our work with large multinational companies confirms this: MANGO, DÜRKOPP and LIWE are some of our customers.
What are your company’s goals? We help you achieve them. Let’s talk.
