It is said that the maximum value is added to the garment by the sewing
operators in any apparel manufacturing set up and sewing workers constitute
approximately 85% of the total workforce in the apparel industry. The sewing
machine workers worldwide face gender discrimination, biased appraisal,
wage inequality, work insecurity, and limited portability.
The current skill
evaluation system is subjective in nature and does not consider the important
sewing parameters like average speed, sewing bursts, handling time, needle
running time, etc.
The i-SMART system was developed by Dr. Deepak Panghal
and Dr. Prabir Jana, faculty members from the Department of Fashion Technology,
NIFT, New Delhi. i-SMART was globally launched by NIFT on 4th Oct 2021 in the
presence of Secretary, MoT; DG, NIFT, Director, Delhi and Dean (A).
The fully computerised system objectively evaluates and calculates the
numerical rating score of each operator with zero human interference. The i-SMART skill matrix is operation neutral, easy to develop and maintain, MTM
based-thus worldwide recognition, utilising operator’s inherent strength-thus
higher productivity and better quality, and digitalised skill matrix and SaaS
based deployment will be a step towards Industry 4.0
On 07 February 2022 i-SMART has put NIFT into the Start-up Ecosystem and
also made India proud by winning the prestigious H&M Innovation award. iSMART was selected as one of the top six winners of the STITCH for RMG
Innovation Challenge organised by BRAC with H&M Foundation and The Asia
Foundation.
i-SMART will receive $30,000 as an incubation grant from H&M
Foundation for piloting in Bangladesh and scaling up for the global industry.
Out of 200+ innovators across the world participated in the innovation challenge,
the i-SMART team comprised of Dr. Deepak Panghal and Dr. Prabir Jana has
gone through the gruelling proposal round, pitch deck round, and the
marketplace round in the last two and half months to become one among the
six innovators, is quite an achievement.
“While the i-SMART is currently used by three manufacturers in India, this pilot
implementation in Bangladesh, world’s second largest exporter of apparel will
help us understand the industry requirements better and further strengthen
the i-SMART platform”. – The team commented.
Team i-SMART (From left Dr. Prabir Jana & Dr. Deepak Panghal)
What Industry says
Ravi Singhee, Director, Magnum Clothing –
“One of the biggest challenges that the industry faces today is that operator’s assessment is
done by a person who can push them or entice them for favours. i-SMART will take way that
human element from the assessment to bring objectivity and transparency. i-SMART will bring
unparalleled flexibility to sewing operator’s skill assessment, quantifying and qualifying skill,
test anytime anywhere”.
Kaushl Narayan, Director, Silver Spark –
“Silver Spark of Raymonds is the 4th largest suits manufacturer in the world. Silver Spark has
embarked on a journey of Industry 4.0 and is using i-SMART for operation evaluation during
training, and upgradation and appraisal. It will not only match the skill competency with the
skill requirement, it will also remove bias from operator evaluation”.
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