GENERAL VIEW - ROLE OF THE MERCHANDISER A garment export unit generally has many departments like stores, cutting,

production, packing, checkingetc., in which Merchandising department a linking device of all.The job of a merchandiser is to co ordinate with the entire department in the office as well as thecustomers.Merchandiser meets the buyers and collects the details of their requirements etc., to develop therelationship with the customer.A spec sheet (specification sheet) of the garment with sketch, measurement (will be mentioned before or after wash measurements.) and description is received from the buyer with or without sample .A generalformat of the spec sheet contains the sketch of the garment on the left side and the measurement on theright side. Descriptions of the stitching method, placement and design of embroidery or printing,additional accessories, color and type of buttons, threads etc. are mentioned at the back side. Additionalsheets are added if the garment had more detailed work to do. Wash care label details are mentioned.Type, size, color and shape of the buttons are given. Placement of labels, prints, embroidery are given .Packing instructions are also given in this sheet which includes type, color size of the carton, marks andnumbers to be printed on it, poly bags size and details printed on it, clips ,boards, tissue papers, requiredfold etc., Wash required for the garments will also be mentioned.Detailed study is made from the spec sheet and the raw materials required for sample making is orderedby the merchandiser which includes fabric, thread, buttons, zips, labels, etc., The color and quality of thethings ordered is approved by the merchandiser.Also the merchandiser should contact printing unit, dyeing unit, embroidery unit to make samples of printing, dyeing, embroidery respectively. This is also approved by the merchandiser with the suggestionof the customer.

Some times garments will be dyed after stitching, care should be taken while ordering raw materials for this, since the accessories should not catch dying color. Also the thread used to stitch these garments mustbe choosy, depending upon the buyers request whether to get the dying color or not. Ready to dye threadshould be used if the thread should be dyed after stitching.Sample pieces are made and sent to the buyer for approval. The corrected samples are made and sent if the buyer required the same. After the sample is approved by the buyer or even before that, costing sheetis prepared by the Merchandiser. In costing sheet ,the price of the fabric, accessories, prints etc per garment is listed and the price is fixed by adding margin. This cost is got approved from the Manager or the person concerned and quoted to the buyer.Purchase order (PO) is received from the buyer which includes- PO no/date- Buyer/Consignee- Garment unit - The description of the garment- L/C date- Last date within which shipment to be reach the destination.- Sign and sealOrder validity date - Speck sheetAfter receiving PO from the buyer merchandiser issues BOM (bill of material ) for the fabrics, buttons, thread, dyeing unit, printing, embroidery and other raw materials. These raw materials are checked andcolor, quality and size approved by the merchandiser. The merchandiser does the capacity booking in the factory, for the production of the garments. This isdone to ensure the availability of the machines and operators to produce the bulk garment. The booking isdone keeping in the delivery date given by the customer. If the factory is busy with another production,then the merchandiser informs the customer that the delivery date expected by him cannot be met, andalso suggests the date when the delivery can be

made.After discussing with the production manager, Work Order is issued to all the departments bymerchandiser along with the trim sheet. Work order consists of order no and description of the order.Trim sheet is a sheet in which the sample piece of fabric and accessories are stuck and distributed to theentire department for them to be aware of trims used for a certain order. Approved sample piece is sentalong with this work order to the cutting department first from where it passes to all the departments theraw materials pass through.The bulk fabric is sent through the cutting dept, stitching dept, washing or dyeing unit, and then thepacking department. As per the requirement printing or embroidery is done after stitching or cutting.In packing department merchandiser checks and approves a piece for the type of packing and the packingmaterials are selected according to the buyers specifications. The carton thickness, size, color etc., areinstructed by the merchandiser to the packing department as per the buyers requirement. Number of pieces to be packed and the marks and numbers to be printed on the carton is instructed by themerchandiser according to the specification of the customer. A packing list is prepared by theMerchandiser with all the packing details mentioned in it and given to the packing department.The garments are inspected at all stages of stitching by the quality controller present in the factory withthe suggestions given by the customers quality controller. The garments are randomly inspected atvarious stages of production, but at the final inspection the garments are inspected 100% for quality. Thus a merchandiser plays a very important role in the garment industry