Production Cost for knitted sweater

Jimmy Lam Institute of Textiles & Clothing

Learning Objectives
Material cost Knitting cost Making cost Accessories cost

Introduction

The knitted sweater costs can be divided into several parts, namely :
the material costs; knitting costs; and cut and make costs

However, in the actual production, the costs are more complicated that this one. Can you name a few production costs for knitted sweater ?

Material cost
Yarn is the material cost for knitting. The yarn can be divided into grey yarn and dyed yarn. Different kind of yarns (says cotton or woollen) will bear a significant different in yarn cost. In addition, the knitted yarn for sweater will be blended into 2, or 3 or 5 plyed yarn before knitting. This additional process will increase the material cost in knitting. In short the costs are :

grey yarn + dyeing costs + winding and blending costs = knitting material cost

Material cost (II)

For example, the cotton yarn for dyed material is about HK$20/lb for 20/2 cotton. A pullover, 5-7 gauge middle size plain stitch sweater will take about 13-15 lbs of yarn /dozen.

Ie. Material cost per dozen sweater is HK$300

Please name the factors for affecting the material consumption of knitted sweater and suggest possible way to determine/calculate the yarn consumption of a knitted sweater.

Knitting cost
The knitting cost involves the cost of the knitting machine, the knitter wages and running cost of the factory. Modern V-bed machine can produce roughly SIX dozen sweaters per day (explain what factors affecting the knitting production). If each knitting factory has to cover $1,200 per day (both the machine cost and knitter cost), the minimum knitting cost for a sweater is therefore, $200 per dozen.

Linking/Inspection/Washing cost

This is approximately HK$100/dozen for a pullover sweater

Accessories

This will mean handtag, cartoon box and package cost. It is rougly HK$20-30/dozen What other cost we have to consider for sweater ?

Summary
ITEM Cost Material Knitting Cost per dozen sweater $300 $200

Linking/Washing $100 Accessories Total $30 $630 per dozen

On top of that, you have to add PROFIT and Quota. The quota cost can be ZERO to over 1,000 per dozen