In the Ready-Made Garments (RMG) industry, the cutting room is the heartbeat of production. While sewing often gets the spotlight, cutting is the foundational step that determines both the quality of the final garment and the profitability of the entire order. Fabric accounts for 60% to 70% of total garment manufacturing costs. Even a fraction of an inch of miscalculation or a minor flaw in the cutting process can lead to massive financial losses and poorly fitting clothes.
Here is an in-depth breakdown of how the RMG cutting process works, from blueprint to bundle.
1. Marker Making: The Blueprint
Before a single blade touches the fabric, a marker must be created. A marker is essentially a giant jigsaw puzzle a full-scale layout of all the pattern pieces for various sizes (Small, Medium, Large, etc.) arranged on paper or a digital screen.
The goal of marker making is to maximize marker efficiency (the percentage of fabric actually used for garments rather than discarded as waste). Today, CAD (Computer-Aided Design) software relies on advanced algorithms to nest pattern pieces together seamlessly, often achieving over 85% fabric utilization.
2. Fabric Relaxing and Spreading
Fabric arrives at the factory tightly wound in rolls. Because textiles stretch during the rolling process, the fabric must undergo relaxing—unrolling it and allowing it to sit so the fibers shrink back to their natural state. Skipping this step results in garments that shrink unpredictably after they are cut.
Once relaxed, the fabric moves to the spreading tables. Operators—often using automated spreading machines—lay out the fabric in perfectly aligned, flat layers called plies. A "lay" can consist of anywhere from a dozen to several hundred plies depending on the fabric's thickness and the capacity of the cutting blade. The marker is then placed on top of this multi-layered stack.
3. The Cutting Operation
This is the moment of truth where the fabric is sliced according to the marker lines. The method chosen depends on the factory's scale, the fabric type, and the required precision.
Manual Cutting: Skilled operators use straight-knife or rotary-knife cutting machines. While highly maneuverable, this requires immense physical control to ensure the blade stays perfectly vertical through hundreds of fabric layers.
Band Knife Cutting: Used for smaller, intricate pieces (like collars and cuffs), the operator pushes blocks of fabric into a stationary, continuous blade, much like a woodworker using a bandsaw.
Computerized (CNC) Cutting: In modern facilities, automated cutters driven by CAD data slice through fabric with vacuum-sealed precision using lasers or oscillating blades.
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