In addition to the expansion of the sewing capacity, Apex Lingerie Limited is also implementing its planned backward linkage. In the 1st Phase, the Narrow fabrics production and dyeing facilities are being setup. It is expected to go into commercial production by November 2003. Under this production facilities most of the accessories like shoulder strap, sandwich elastic, trimming elastic, tunnel elastic, hook & eye Tape, narrow lace elastic, tunnel elastic, narrow lace etc will be produced in our plant. Only some of the accessories like, Ring & Slide, Under-wire etc will be imported from different sources.

In the 2nd phase, Warp knit fabric production and dyeing facilities will be setup. It is expected to be completed by the middle of 2004. And, in the 3rd phase, Wide Lace fabric and dyeing facilities will be setup. The 3rd phase will be completed by middle of 2004.

Moreover, in house screen-printing and embroidery facilities are available in our plant, which help ALL to produce varieties styles.

The plant is organized and fully equipped to inspect up to 50% of the fabrics and 100% of the accessories upon delivery to the factory. The fabric inspection machine and the other inspection setup like light box for shade matching, GSM checking machine are located near the warehouse, where the raw materials are stored until ready for cutting. The quality controllers, QAD personnel and Cutting department ensure that all raw materials meet customer specifications.

The pattern, sample and design department makes the initial pattern, checks by making samples and then prepares the final pattern and marker for the cutting department using CAD system (Lectra systems). The sample production department is equipped with 30 sewing machines to produce all types of brassiere and panty. This early protocol allows calculation of materials consumption, and allows quick materials procurement and production planning.

The cutting department is well equipped with bias rolling machine and roll cutting machine, band knifes, round knifes, Straight Knifes, Hydraulic Die Cutting Machine, spreading machines with automatic end cutter, automatic tape cutters, cutting tables, bundle preparation tables and bundle baskets. Cutting quality controllers and QAD inspectors check the cut goods for measurements and quality after which the prepared bundle baskets are sent to the sewing section. The capacity of the cutting department is for about 35,000 pieces/day.

The molding & die-cutting section is equipped with elastic fabric molding machine, rigid fabric molding machine, foam molding machine, plastic cone molding machine and laminating machine. A wide range of molds (Kegels) is available for molding various sizes and shapes. Complete set of molding machinery for fabric and foam has been setup to support all the sewing lines. The fabric molding capacity is about 25,000 pairs/day and the foam molding capacity is about 12,000 pairs/day.

The fabric is to be cut in a square inch as per measurement. After molding the cups are re-cut according to the pattern, either with the hydraulic die cutter or with the band knife.

The laminating section is equipped with laminating machine where 2 fabrics or fabric and foam are brought together to be laminated under measured pressure, temperature and uniform flow of glue. Care is taken so that appropriate amount of glue is used. For all white fabrics non-yellowing glue is used. The capacity of the laminating section is about 6,000 yards/day for fabric and about 4,000 yards/day for foam and fiber-fill.

The sewing department consists of sixteen lines and each line has 30-45 specialized sewing machines. The complete factory machinery is brand new and has been procured under the guidance of expert Clothing Engineers from Germany, Japan and Philippines. Production supervisors, quality controllers and QAD inspectors regulate and control the high quality standards of each of the production lines. All the sewing girls have been extensively trained for over 12 months in brassiere and panty production.
After the end-table inspection in the sewing department, the products are bundled as per sizes and placed in the output boxes for transfer to the packing department. On packaging tables, additional accessories are put on the products and are packed after final QAD inspection. Every department is required to meet the quality standard and delivery time.

The QAD is run under the leadership of an experienced quality technician. A team of well-trained quality inspectors operates QAD independently from the production team and reports only to the upper management. To maintain compliance standards for the European, the USA and Japan market, Apex Lingerie has setup a Quality Assurance Department which is completely separate from the production Team who are authorized to report to management directly. Inspectors from QAD and each of the department’s quality controllers inspect at all the stages and records are maintained at all levels of the production and quality control, including, complete broken needle records and needle detection records etc.

The machine maintenance & attachment-making department is headed by experienced mechanic. The main success of this department is to adjust the machine and to make the attachments as per requirement of the style.