A method to reduce the number of sizes in apparel industry

Abstract

The aim of this research is to define a methodology for reducing the number of garments sizes after building a sizing system for a given population. Thus, we introduce the process of development of sizing system in accordance with the literature. Despite the importance of developing appropriate sizing systems in the textile industry, there has been very little research focused on the task of reducing the huge number of sizes generated. The intention to keep the number of garment sizes to a minimum is to reduce confusion among customers, in addition to the logistics costs associated with maintaining a large number of sizes. Therefore, we propose a method to reduce the number of sizes by removing the sizes that cover fewer people. The challenge is to find the most convenient order of removal, how to maintain the linearity of the sizing system as well as to accommodate a larger number of people in the population.