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IMPROVING THE PROCESS OF PREPARING FABRIC ORDERS

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL

FEBRUARY 19, 2017

Improving the Process of Preparing Fabric Orders 1

Request for Proposal: Improving the Process of Preparing Fabric

Orders

Abstract

The preparation of fabric orders can be a time-consuming and laborious process in the fabric

industry [1]. The fabric roll must be retrieved from its storage place, unrolled, measured on the measuring

table, cut at the correct length, then rolled back up and placed back into its original spot. Depending on

the length and material of fabric, this process can strain the back, wrist, take a long time, and be inaccurate

therefore leading to wastage of materials [1]. Godwin & Son Dye and Accessories Ltd, or G&S Dye, a

retailer of fabrics and dyes, have experienced all these problems [1]. Thus, there exists an opportunity to

improve the process of preparing fabric orders at G&S Dye.

G&S Dye is a family business that opened in 1986 consisting of a retail location at 250 Dundas

Street West in Toronto and warehouse in Markham. Mr. Dixon Chan inherited the business from his father

and currently owns G&S Dye. This small family-owned business is run by five employees: the owner,

manager, and three employees who work at the warehouse location [2]. The manager, Lily Lai, is the main

point of contact who works on-site at the retail location and interacts with customers ranging from post-

secondary students to the National Ballet of Canada. The manager has expressed interest in improving the

process of fabric preparation to save time and decrease material wastage [1] [2].

The key stakeholders include:

● G&S Dye’s Manager (Lily Lai), who is involved in the daily activities of running the

business and would prefer her job be made easier.

● Owner of G&S Dye (Dixon Chan), who holds the most decision-making power, as he

decides how the business’ money is allocated.

● G&S Dye customers, who prefer quick, high-quality service.

The choice of addressing only the organization and storage or only the rolling and cutting of

fabrics or both is to the discretion of the responding team. The goal of this request for proposal is to

improve the lived experience at G&S Dye by addressing the following objectives. The proposal team

should aim to improve the efficiency in the fabric preparation processes, defined as effective use of time,

materials and energy. The proposed designs must not damage the textiles, be easy to install and use, have

minimal impact on other activities carried out by the community, and have minimal impact on the health

and safety of any stakeholders.

Sources Cited

[1] L. Lai, "Verifying Objectives Interview", G&S Dye, 2017.

[2] L. Lai, "Learning About Potential Opportunities: Interview", G&S Dye, 2017.


Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction and Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1.1 The Industry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1.2 About the Community. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1.3 The Opportunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.4 Description of Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.4.1 Retrieval Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

1.4.2 Dispensing Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

1.5 Justification of Opportunity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2.0 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

3.0 Stakeholders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

3.1 Primary Stakeholders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

3.1.1 G&S Dye Manager (Lily Lai) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

3.1.2 Owner of G&S Dye (Dixon Chan) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

3.1.3 G&S Dye Customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

3.2 Secondary Stakeholders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

3.2.1 G&S Dye Warehouse Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

3.2.2 U-Can-Do-It Woodworking Studio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

3.2.3 Textile Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

4.0 Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

4.1 Overarching Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

4.1.1 High Level Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

4.1.2 Overarching Detailed Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

4.1.3 Overarching Metrics, Constraints and Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

4.2 DP Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

4.2.1 DP Detailed Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

4.2.2 DP Metrics, Constraints and Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

4.3 RP Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

4.3.1 DP Detailed Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

4.3.2 DP Metrics, Constraints and Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

5.0 Reference Designs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

5.1 Fabric Rollers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

5.2 Cloth Stillages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

5.3 Vinyl Racks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

5.4 Giraffe Roll Lift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

6.0 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

7.0 Sources Cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23


8.0 Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Appendix A Contact Information for G&S Dye Manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Appendix B Location of G&S Dye retail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Appendix C Video of Fabric Rolling Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Appendix D Textile Industry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Appendix E How the Clothing Wholesale & Retail Markets Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Appendix F Textiles Industry Profile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Appendix G Notes from Interview with Lily Lai on Jan. 27, 2017 - “First Meeting”. . 29

Appendix H Transcript of Interview with Lily Lai on Feb. 18, 2017 - “Validating

Metrics”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Appendix I Notes from Interview with Lily Lai on Feb. 16, 2017 - “Taking

Measurements” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Appendix Ja Notes from Interview with Lily Lai on Feb. 1, 2017 - “Learning

About Potential Opportunities”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Appendix Jb Measuring Tape at G&S Dye. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Appendix K Ergonomics Standard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Appendix L Notes from Interview with Lily Lai on Feb. 2, 2017 - “Learning About

Fabric Rolling”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Appendix M Uses of Kraft Paper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Appendix N Calculating Recommended Weight Limit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Appendix O Repetitive Strain Injury. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Appendix P Costs of Fabrics at G&S Dye. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Appendix Q Ergonomics Definition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Appendix R Defining “Must” and “Should”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Appendix S About Grains and Selvages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Appendix T About Health in Pushing and Pulling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Appendix U NIST Handbook 44 section 5.50 Specifications for Fabric Measuring

Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Appendix V Safety Guidelines for Blades in the Workplace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Appendix W Sample Prices of Fabric Rollers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Appendix X Cloth Stillages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Appendix Y Bull Rack Vinyl Rack. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Appendix Z Vinyl Racks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Appendix AA Giraffe Roll Lift. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Appendix AB Development of Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57


1.0 Introduction and Background

This Request for Proposal (RFP) aims to improve the lived experience of Godwin & Son Dye and

Accessories Ltd, a fabric and dye retail store. An opportunity exists to improve the retrieval process

(organization of fabric rolls) and dispensing process (measuring, cutting, and rolling of fabrics) at the

store. This RFP details the requirements that a responding team must consider when addressing the

opportunity.

1.1 The Industry

The textile industry is among Canada’s largest manufacturing-sector employers with almost

170,000 employees [1]. From the world’s standpoint, Canada remains a relatively open market for textile

with its consumption of textiles constituting to about 2% of the world’s total [1]. The Canadian textile

industry is competitive with other developed countries, especially in terms of product quality [1]. Major

technological advances have helped the industry evolve from natural to synthetic fibres as well

incorporating advanced spinning, weaving, cutting, rolling and knitting techniques [1].

The rapid expansion of the industry meant there was no middle-person to negotiate sales between

the manufacturers and customers. Wholesale distributors took up that position and became the source of

goods (fabrics) purchase for small retail stores [2]. This led to retail stores being opened up that would

operate for the sole purpose of buying and selling textiles domestically and/or internationally. Most of

these stores are either part of larger companies or privately owned/ family stores.

The advances in the industry have resulted in textiles competing with other materials, such as

metal or wood [3]. This implies that retail stores will have to stock up their inventory to provide for the

increased demand for fabrics. This way the burden on manufacturers to sell textile products to consumers

is reduced. An opportunity that makes the life of employees at a fabric retail store easier is worth pursuing.

1.2 About the Community

One retailer in the textile industry is Godwin & Son Dye and Accessories Ltd, also known as G&S

Dye, a provider of a variety of fabric dyes and textiles. G&S Dye first opened in 1986 and its retail store

is currently located at 250 Dundas Street West, Toronto. The current owner, Dixon Chan, inherited

business from his father. This family business has two locations - a retail location in Toronto and a

warehouse in Markham. A total of five employees make up the business; the owner, manager, and three

other employees at the warehouse. The owner is on-site at the retail location two days a week. The

manager, Lily Lai, works at the retail location during all open hours and assists customers with their choice

of dyes and fabrics [4]. G&S Dye imports materials to sell to the public from suppliers around the world,

mainly China. G&S Dye strives for quality products, including having odourless, well-cut fabrics [5].

G&S Dye welcomes a variety of customers, from students to the National Ballet of Canada. Customers

can order products online, via phone order or on-site at the retail location.. They are happy to offer advice

and give back to the local community as source of expertise on dyes and fabrics [7]. G&S Dye also


displays and provides shop space for children’s woodworking kits from U-Can-Do-It Woodworking

Studio that have been dyed using G&S Dye products [4].

Figure 1. Layout of G&S Dye Retail Location to scale (all measurements in mm). Note that the ceiling

is 3330 mm high [6].

1.3 The Opportunity

There exists an opportunity to improve the process of preparing fabric orders and to reorganize

the fabrics to be more accessible to the stakeholders. Currently, the entire process consists of finding the

fabric ordered, removing it from the shelf, transporting it to the cutting table, unrolling and measuring the

desired length, cutting the fabric, rolling it back up, and finally replacing it on the shelf. The process can

be divided into two parts: (a) finding the fabric and transporting it to the cutting area and then (b) rolling,

measuring and cutting the fabric. In the remainder of this document, “Retrieval Process” or “RP” and

“Dispensing Process” or “DP” shall refer to (a) and (b) as outlined above. An opportunity exists to address

them either separately or simultaneously.

1.4 Description of Processes

1.4.1 Retrieval Process

The fabrics are currently either stacked on top of each other horizontally in their shelves or on the

floor or leaning against the wall vertically (see Figure 2). They are organized alphabetically from left to

right by their article number [7]. The article numbers were arbitrarily assigned to various cloths by the


original owner when the business first opened, and these codes have been used ever since. Some fabric

rolls can weigh up to 27 kg (60 lbs) each depending on the length and material of fabric. Sometimes, it

takes two people to be able to unroll one roll of fabric due to its heavy nature [6]. If done with poor lifting

technique, lifting and transporting heavy fabric rolls can cause back damage [8].

Figure 2. Organization of fabrics at G&S Dye.

1.4.2 Dispensing Process [9]

One of the most difficult and time consuming tasks for Lily is unrolling, measuring, cutting, and

then re-rolling the fabrics. The rolling and unrolling process is as follows:

1. After the RP, the manager unrolls fabric by pulling the fabric from the roll until all the fabric is off

the roll and on the cutting table.

2. Manager measures length required yard by yard by comparing the fabric to a measuring tape on

cutting table.

3. Manager makes an incision using the cutting scissors (see Figure 3).


Figure 3. Scissors used by G&S Dye for fabric cutting. These scissors are not to be used on any other

material to preserve the quality of the cut [6].

4. Manager rips fabric along the cut to separate the fabric for the customer from the remaining fabric.

5. Manager cuts length of Kraft paper (see Figure 4) equivalent to length of cutting table and places

it on the ground on the opposite side of the table from the measuring tape. The Kraft paper prevents

the excess length of fabric that hangs off the edge of the table from touching the ground and getting

dirty.

Figure 4. Kraft paper [10]. Often used as a liner or packaging material [11].

6. Manager places one end of the fabric lengthwise on the edge of the cutting table closest to her with

the measuring tape and the rest of the fabric on the floor on top of the Kraft paper used in the

previous step.

7. Manager places empty roll on top of the end of the fabric closest to her and begins to reroll the

fabric (see Figure 5). After rolling a length of the fabric, manager brings roll back towards the edge

of the table and continues rolling.


Figure 5. Manager beginning the re-rolling process on the cutting table. Measuring tape is on side of

measuring table closest to the manager. [Link to video:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0ByN8s1T4K36ia1h6aWdDZjFMeW8?usp=sharing]

8. Manager unrolls if she notices creasing or diagonal rolling (Figure 6).1

Figure 6. Example of diagonal rolling (left) vs. desired rolling (right).

9. Manager repeats process for other half of fabric.

1 Creasing and diagonal rolling are undesirable [6].

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0ByN8s1T4K36ia1h6aWdDZjFMeW8?usp=sharing


This process takes approximately 165 seconds for 9 ¼ yards of fabric [6] [9]. Different fabrics

have different degrees of difficulty with regards to ease of rolling and cutting. Thicker and heavier fabrics

are less likely to crease, but offer more resistance to being cut than lighter, thinner fabrics [9].

1.5 Justification of Opportunity

The RP poses a health risk, is time consuming, and can be inconvenient. As mentioned in 1.4.1,

the RP can cause back injuries. In addition, lifting heavier fabrics can exceed the weight limit

recommended by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), even when two

people are lifting together [12]. The manager of G&S Dye has had training to be able to do the manual

labour with as little negative health impact as possible. However, she still experiences strain in her back,

especially when lifting the heavier fabrics. Furthermore, retrieving heavy fabrics can be a two-person job,

but the owner is not always on site, thus on days when the manager is alone, those fabrics can not be dealt

with. The manager does not exercise on a regular basis and thus experiences difficulty lifting heavier

fabrics. This can inconvenience customers [5]. Currently, the fabrics are stacked on top of each other in

the shop; to reach the lower fabrics, the ones above must first be removed, which is a time-consuming

process (see Figure 2). Thus, there is an opportunity to reorganize the fabrics in G&S Dye to improve the

lived experience of the community.

Dispensing the fabric is a time-consuming process which takes over two minutes for 9 1/4 yards

of fabric [6] [9].2 Larger orders can be up to 100 yards in length, and can take the manager the entire day

to complete the process [6]. The DP also involves repetitive movement of the arm and wrist when re-

rolling the fabric, which can strain and damage them in the long term [13]. It sometimes takes a lot of

force to make the thicker fabrics roll properly; the manager sometimes must put her full weight into rolling

the fabric, and re-rolling the fabrics takes skill and experience [9]. The cascading of the fabric over the

other side of the cutting table inconveniences customers as they cannot go into that aisle and are thus

limited in their movements. The measuring of the fabrics is not entirely accurate either. The manager gives

2-3 inches of extra fabric to ensure that customers do not complain about receiving less fabric than they

ordered [6]. Thus, G&S Dye can lose up to $3.33 per order3 [14] due to inaccurate measuring and cutting,

and so G&S Dye “prices their fabrics accordingly to offset that loss” (Lai, 2017) [6]. In summary, there is

wastage of time and money, as well as inconveniencing of customers with the DP. Hence, an opportunity

to improve the DP exists.

As a family owned business with only five employees, G&S Dye wants to save time, energy and

costs in every situation. Thus, there is an opportunity to make the process of rolling, cutting, and

measuring fabrics more efficient (as defined in 2.0) and effective.

2 Time taken to roll up fabric is not linearly dependent on fabric length; other factors, such as weight and material

of fabric, impact the time taken [9].

3 Based on the price of Silk Knit per yard ($40.00) [14] and assuming an extra 3 inches is given.


2.0 Definitions

Dispensing Process: in this document, the “Dispensing Process”, or DP, refers to the act of unrolling,

measuring, cutting and re-rolling, as outlined in 1.3.

Efficiency: effective use of time, materials (i.e. less time taken to do tasks and wastage in

doing the tasks) and energy.

Ergonomic: is the process of designing and arranging products so that people interact with

them in the most efficient and safe way possible in the working environment [15].

Grain: refers to the weave of the fabric [16]. For different types of grain with respect to

the selvage. See Figure 7.

Must: “This word, or the terms "REQUIRED" or "SHALL", mean that the definition is

an absolute requirement of the specification” [16].

Retrieval Process: in this document, the “Retrieval Process”, or RP, refers to the act of finding a

fabric on the shelf, removing it from the shelf, transporting it to the cutting table

and then subsequently replacing it on the shelf after cutting.

Selvage: the finished edge of the fabric [17].

Should: “This word, or the adjective “RECOMMENDED” [and “PREFERRED”], mean

that there may exist valid reasons in particular circumstances to ignore a particular

item, but the full implications must be understood and carefully weighed before

choosing a different course.” [16].

Figure 7. Directions of fabric grains [17].


3.0 Stakeholders

3.1 Primary Stakeholders

G&S Dye

Manager (Lily

Lai)

As the primary contact and liaison at G&S Dye and the employee who is on-site

at the retail location most often, Lily Lai would be directly impacted by any

change/improvement made to the store. As one of the most knowledgeable

people about the location, she would be able to give valuable insight into the

opportunity. Furthermore, she would have to adjust her current process and daily

routine to accommodate any solution addressing the opportunity. Thus, Lily Lai

would have an interest in and be impacted by the project and be a primary

stakeholder.

Owner of G&S

Dye (Dixon

Chan)

The owner of G&S Dye is in charge of the store and has the most decision-

making power. Thus, he would be interested in anything that might affect his

business; his desires and opinions must be taken into account as he is in charge

of the finances. Also, he aims to provide quality service to his customers,

therefore it is in his interest to make Lily Lai’s job easier.

G&S Dye

Customers

Customers of G&S Dye would be affected by the Dispensing and Retrieving

process opportunity. The dispensing process as defined in section 1.4.2 describes

the process of rolling, cutting and measuring the fabric. An improved process to

carry out those tasks would mean happier customers as there would be fewer

mistakes and complaints about incorrect fabric lengths.


3.2 Secondary Stakeholders

G&S Dye

Warehouse Staff

Although the warehouse staff of G&S Dye would not be directly affected by

changes made to the retail location, they are still part of the business and should

be considered, especially since they may also be able to take advantage of

potential solutions to the opportunity.

U-Can-Do-It

Woodworking

Studio

G&S Dye provides space in their shop for U-Can-Do-It’s carpentry kits to be

sold. The solution’s physical size may affect the amount of space available to

display the kits. As well, the solution may affect the shop’s popularity, which can

affect sales of the kits.

Textile Industry Textile industries will have interest in a cheap yet productive solution for their

smaller outlets, factories or stores. For example, retail stores might buy less

fabric from industries since the new solution reduces the amount of fabric wasted

while getting the job done faster.


4.0 Requirements [5]

There are two aspects to the opportunity presented in this document: improving the organization

and storage of fabrics and improving the process of rolling, unrolling and cutting the fabric. These two

facets can be interlinked; better organization will allow for quicker rolling and cutting, and the design of

the solution to the DP may impact the RP.

However, both aspects can also be addressed separately, with DP being the more important of the

two [5]. While the two processes can be considered in tandem, they can be tackled in different ways. As

such the DP and RP share certain overarching requirements but also have their own unique sets of

requirements that should be considered when addressing the opportunities.

It is at the discretion of the responding team to choose to design solutions addressing both the DP

and the RP, only the RP, or only the DP.4

4.1 Overarching5 Requirements

4.1.1 Overarching High Level Objectives

Design solutions that:

HO1: improve the efficiency (as defined in 2.0) of the RP and DP

HO2: do not damage the textiles [5].

HO3: are easy to install and use.

HO4: have minimal impact on other activities carried out by the community.

HO5: have minimal impact on the health and safety of stakeholders as identified in 1.2.

4.1.2 Overarching Detailed Objectives


ODO1: have minimal volume [5]. (HO3) (HO4)

ODO2: do not impart noticeable odour to the fabric [5]. (HO2)

ODO3: have minimal cost [9]. (HO4)

ODO4: are physically ergonomic and comfortable to use, including but not limited to minimizing

force required. (HO3)

ODO5: do not let the fabric get stained, dusty or wet [9]. (HO2)

ODO6: minimize time taken in the DP and/or RP [5]. (HO5)

4 For further explanation about the development of the requirements please see Appendix AB.

5 “Overarching” implies that what follows applies to both the RP and DP.


4.1.3 Overarching Metrics, Constraints and Criteria

Metric Constraints Criteria

OM1: Dimensions of the solution as

measured in m³. (ODO1)

Dimensions of the

solution must fit within

the G&S Dye retail

location (refer to Figure

1, reproduced below).

Smaller sized solutions

are preferred.

OM2: Percentage of people able to detect

change in odour in the fabric. (ODO2)

Percentage must be 0%

[5].

OM3: Cost measured in Canadian dollars

(CAD). (ODO3)

Should cost less than

$100 CAD [9].

Lower cost is preferred

[9].

Table 1. Chart of the overarching metrics and their corresponding constraints and criteria.

Figure 1.


4.2 DP Requirements

4.2.1 DP Detailed Objectives


DDO1: minimize errors (uneven tension, creasing or folding, and diagonal rolling6 [9]) made in

the process of unrolling and rerolling fabrics of different materia. (HO1) (HO2) (HO3)

DDO2: improve ease of cutting. (HO1) (HO3)

DDO3: improve ease of rolling and unrolling fabrics. (HO1) (HO3)

DDO4: improve ease of measuring fabric length. (HO1) (HO3)

DDO5: result in a high quality final fabric cut. (HO1) (HO2) (HO3)

DDO6: improve accuracy of measuring fabric length. (HO5)

DDO7: have no cutting mechanisms that do pose risk of injury to the user. (HO5)

4.2.2 DP Metrics, Constraints and Criteria


DM1: Presence of uniform tension.

(DDO1)

Presence of uniform

tension is preferred.

DM2: Time taken to go through the process

of unrolling, measuring, cutting and re-

rolling fabrics in s/yard.7 (ODO5)

Shorter time taken is

preferred. [7]

DM3: Number of creases and/or wrinkles

formed in unrolling and rolling of fabrics

per unit length. An example of a crease is

shown in Figure 8. (ODO1) (ODO3)

(DDO1)

Fewer creases and/or

wrinkles formed is

preferred. [5]

DM4: Direction of cut with respect to the

grain. (DDO2) (DDO5)

Must cut along the

crosswise grain (DM4). [9]

DM5: Angle of cut from the selvage of the

fabric (in degrees). (DDO5)

Angles closer to 90

degrees are

preferred.

6 See Figure 6. 7 It should be taken into consideration that the material properties (eg. fibre content, weight) of various fabrics affects

the time taken to work through the DP.



DM6: Angle of selvage with respect to roll

in degrees. (DDO1)

Angles closer to 90

degrees are

preferred. [5]

DM7: Difficulty of rolling (ODO4), if the

user is required to manually roll fabric. This

includes:

a. Maximum force user is required to exert

to push or pull the roll of fabric,8 in N.

b. Position of body (standing, kneeling,

seated) and direction of force while

pushing or pulling the roll of fabric.

DM7a and DM7b must

satisfy the recommended

force limits from the

Canadian Centre for

Occupational Health and

Safety for Pushing &

Pulling - General, available

at:

https://www.ccohs.ca/oshan

swers/ergonomics/push1.ht

ml [18]

Lower forces are

preferred (DM7a).

[18]

DM8: Specifications of Measuring

Mechanism9 as defined by :

a. Units of indication.

b. Length of smallest increment.

c. Percentage accuracy, as defined by:

| measured length - actual length |×100% actual length

(DDO4) (DDO6)

DM8a - must be in yards

and/or inches.

DM8b - must be at most 1

inch.10 [7]

DM8b - narrower

lengths are preferred

[6]

DM8c - lower

percentages are

preferred [6]

DM9: When working with blades:

a. Probability that body parts cross path of

open blade.

b. Probability for blade to detach

unintentionally, either while in use or

not in use.

(DDO7)

DM9a and DM9b -

Probability must be 0%.

Probability must be 0%.

[20]

Table 3. Chart of the DP metrics and their corresponding constraints and criteria.

8 Force can be measured using the mass and acceleration of the object, given by F = m·a. 9 adapted for this particular opportunity from NIST Handbook 44 Section 5.50 Fabric Measuring Devices [19].

Depending on specific design of the responding team, other portions of the Handbook may be applicable as well.

DM8 covers the key points at a high level to allow creativity and flexibility. 10 The current measuring system is precise to one inch, thus the new solution should at least match this.

https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/ergonomics/push1.html




Figure 8. Example of wrinkles formed during rolling of lighter fabrics

4.3 RP Requirements

4.3.1 RP Detailed Objectives [5]


RDO1: reduce back strain. (HO5) [8]

RDO2: allow the fabrics to be physically accessible. (HO3) [5]

RDO3: increase ease of lifting fabrics. (HO5) [12]

RDO4: reduce time taken in the RP process (HO1) (HO3)

RDO5: store variable number of rolls of fabric11 in the given space. (HO1) [5]

4.3.2 RP Metrics, Constraints and Criteria


RM1: Length of fabric that can be unrolled

without removing roll from storage.

(RDO2)

Length must be between

10 cm and 20 cm. [5]

RM2: Difficulty of lifting (ODO4)

(RDO1) (RDO3), if the solution requires

the user to lift weight. This includes:

a. Maximum weight that users are required

to lift, in kg.

b. Horizontal distance from the midpoint

between the ankles to the hands while

holding the object, in cm.

c. The vertical distance of the hands from

the ground at the start of the lift, in cm.

d. The vertical distance that the load

travels, in cm.

Maximum weight that

users are required to lift,

RM7a, should be less

than or equal to the

Recommended Weight

Limit from the National

Institute for

Occupational Safety and

Health (NIOSH),

calculated using RM7b

through RM7i [12].

Lower weight is

preferred (RM7a). [5]

11 To account for seasonal variances in supply [5].



e. The twisting angle of the body while

lifting, in degrees.

f. The frequency of lifting over a

workshift.

g. The duration of lifting in seconds (s)

over a workshift.

h. The quality of grasp classified as good,

fair or poor.

i. The body position (either standing or

stooping).

RM3: Time taken to retrieve a roll of

fabric, in seconds. (RDO4)

Less time taken is

preferred. (RM3) [5]

RM4: Number of rolls of fabrics stored per

unit volume (m3). (RDO5)

Greater range12 and

greater number of

number of rolls per unit

volume is preferred.

(RM4) [5]

Table 4. Chart of the RP metrics and their corresponding constraints and criteria.

12 “Range” refers to minimum to maximum capacity of storage, e.g. 20-30 rolls.


5.0 Reference Designs

5.1 Fabric Rollers

Professional fabric mills that manufacture fabrics are equipped with large industrial fabric rollers

(see Figure 9) that comprise of a rotating drum that the fabric is wound onto and two rollers that keep the

fabric taut. Although, they address the problem of rolling up fabrics by hand, they are not viable solutions

to this opportunity because they violate the cost constraint of $100, are much too large to fit within G&S

Dye, and are not necessary for G&S Dye as they manage a maximum of 100 yards at a time. A scan of

online retailers shows that even the smallest of fabric rollers cost on the order of a thousand dollars and

are too large to fit in the retail store [21].

Figure 9. Fabric Rollers.

5.2 Cloth Stillages

Cloth stillages are a set of tubes arranged in a honeycomb structure that prevent the cloth from

being crushed while also providing easy and quick access to any given roll. By packing many rolls of

fabric into one compartment (stillage), cloth stillages improve portability as many rolls can be moved at

once and allow for efficient use of space [22]. However, with this storage system customers may not be

able to see the colour or pattern of the cloth unless it is removed from the tube (as can be seen in Figure

10). Lily has indicated that the merchandise should be visible and accessible, thus this solution goes

against the stakeholder’s values and would fare poorly when being evaluated against OM1. Furthermore,

they require shelf depth of at least the length of the fabric, 4 feet, but the shelf depth at G&S Dye is only

2.9 feet deep [6].

Figure 10. Cloth Stillages.


5.3 Vinyl Racks

Vinyl racks are another way of storing rolls of fabric whereby rolls are inserted into poles that hold

them in place (see Figure 11). Similar to the cloth stillages, vinyl racks prevent cloth from being crushed

and provide easy access to any given roll as well as provide easy transport because of the wheels. Each

vinyl rack houses around sixteen rolls of fabric. Additionally, all rolls are clearly visible on a vinyl rack

[23]. However, retail available vinyl racks are generally too large to fit in small retail stores such as G&S

Dye which are already cramped for space [6]. G&S Dye would need multiple vinyl racks to house their

large collection of fabrics (approximately 100 rolls), which they do not have the room for. For example,

the rack on the left measures 1840 mm x 440 mm x 1475 mm [23] while the one the right measures 660

mm x 660 mm x 355 mm [24].

Figure 11. Vinyl Racks


5.4 Giraffe Roll Lift

The giraffe roll lift (see Figure 12) is a battery-operated lift which can handle heavy rolls safely

and easily while allowing rolls of fabric to be stored in high places [25]. The lift can withstand a maximum

of 80 kg which is suitable to handle all the rolls at G&S Dye since the rolls weigh up to 27 kg at the retail

location [6]. However, this lift is not a viable option to solve the problem of the DP and RP at G&S Dye.

The issue of space arises as the dimensions of the lift measures 1.4 m x 0.72 m x 2.6 m to 3.5 m [25]

whereas the ceiling of the store is only 3.3 m high [6].

Figure 12. Giraffe Roll Lift.


6.0 Conclusion

The processes of retrieving and dispensing rolls of fabric at G&S Dye are inconvenient, time-

consuming, and inefficient. These activities can negatively affect the health and safety of the manager,

Lily Lai and cause customers inconvenience. The manager, customers, and other G&S Dye employees

would benefit from a response to this request for proposal.


7.0 Sources Cited

[1] W. Davidson, "Textile Industry", The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2017. [Online]. Available:

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/textile-industry/. [Accessed: 10- Feb- 2017]. See

Appendix D.

[2] "How the Clothing Wholesale & Retail Markets Work", Smallbusiness.chron.com, 2017. [Online].

Available: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/clothing-wholesale-retail-markets-work-74810.html.

[Accessed: 11- Feb- 2017]. See Appendix E.

[3] "Textiles Industry profile", Industries and Businesses, 2017. [Online]. Available:

https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/textiles-textiles.nsf/eng/h_tx03222.html. [Accessed: 10- Feb- 2017]. See

Appendix F.

[4] L. Lai, "First Meeting", G&S Dye, 2017. See Appendix G.

[5] L.Lai, “Validating Requirements”, G&S Dye, 2017. See Appendix H.

[6] L.Lai, “Taking Measurements”, G&S Dye, 2017. See Appendix I.

[7] L. Lai, "Learning About Potential Opportunities", G&S Dye, 2017. See Appendix Ja and Jb.

[8] Ergonomics — Manual handling — Part 1: Lifting and carrying, 1st ed. International

Organization for Standardization, 2003, p. 17. See Appendix K.

[9] L. Lai, "Learning About Fabric Rolling", G&S Dye, 2017. See Appendix L.

[10] Tritech Forensics, Kraft Paper Rolls - Brown. 2017.

[11] M. Jones, "6 Types of Kraft Paper and Their Best Business Uses", Oren-intl.com, 2017. [Online].

Available: http://www.oren-intl.com/blog/bid/359426/6-Types-of-Kraft-Paper-and-Their-Best-Business-

Uses. [Accessed: 15- Feb- 2017]. See Appendix M.

[12] "Calculating Recommended Weight Limit (RWL)", Canadian Centre for Occupational

Health and Safety, 2017. [Online]. Available:

https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/ergonomics/niosh/calculating_rwl.html. [Accessed: 17- Feb-

2017]. See Appendix N.


[13] "Repetitive Strain Injury. Symptoms of repetitive strain injury", Patient.info, 2017. [Online].

Available: http://patient.info/health/repetitive-strain-injury-leaflet. [Accessed: 09- Feb- 2017].See

Appendix O.

[14] "G&S Dye - Fabrics", Gsdye.com, 2017. [Online]. Available:

http://www.gsdye.com/Canada/fabrics.html. [Accessed: 17- Feb- 2017]. See Appendix P.

[15] "Definition of ERGONOMICS", Merriam-webster.com, 2017. [Online]. Available:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ergonomics. [Accessed: 12- Feb- 2017]. See Appendix Q.

[16] S. Bradner, "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels", 1997. See Appendix R.

[17] A. Mitchell, "Sewing with Selvages: Waste Not, Want Not. A Sewing Tutorial", The Craftsy Blog,

2017. [Online]. Available: https://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/04/sewing-with-selvages/. [Accessed: 12-

Feb- 2017]. See Appendix S.

[18] "Pushing & Pulling - General : OSH Answers", Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and

Safety, 2017. [Online]. Available: https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/ergonomics/push1.html. [Accessed:

13- Feb- 2017]. See Appendix T.

[19] Specifications, Tolerances, and Other Technical Requirements for Weighing and Measuring

Devices (HB 44-2017), 1st ed. 2017, p. Section 5.5. See Appendix U.

[20] "Knives and blades in the workplace", WorkSafe Queensland, 2017. [Online]. Available:

https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/injury-prevention-safety/workplace-hazards/dangers-in-your-

workplace/knives-and-blades-in-the-workplace. [Accessed: 01- Feb- 2017]. See Appendix V.

[21] Selection of Fabric Rolling Machines available on alibaba.com,

https://www.alibaba.com/showroom/fabric-rolling-machine.html , 2017. [Online]. [Accessed: 03- Feb-

2017]. See Appendix W.

[22] "Polymaster. Textile Rolling Machinery. RFID Portals. Camera Technology. Engineering.",

http://www.polymaster.co.uk/engineering.html , 2017, [Online]. [Accessed: 03- Feb- 2017]. See

Appendix X.

[23] Plastgrommet, "Bull Rack", http://plastgrommet.com/en/vinyl-storage-racks/mobile-media-rack-

for-rolls.php, 2017, [Online]. [Accessed: 03- Feb- 2017]. See Appendix Y. [24] Signcrafter Supply, "Mobile Vinyl Rack - 16 Rolls.",

http://www.signcraftersupply.com/component/virtuemart/?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.

tpl&product_id=586&category_id=123, 2017, [Online]. [Accessed: 03- Feb- 2017]. See Appendix Z.

https://www.alibaba.com/showroom/fabric-rolling-machine.html

http://www.polymaster.co.uk/engineering.html

http://plastgrommet.com/en/vinyl-storage-racks/mobile-media-rack-for-rolls.php

http://plastgrommet.com/en/vinyl-storage-racks/mobile-media-rack-for-rolls.php


[25] (Giraffe Roll Lift) :"Giraffe Roll Lift", Ascobv.com, 2017. [Online]. Available:

http://www.ascobv.com/en/products/handling-and-storage/giraffe-roll-lift. [Accessed: 12- Feb- 2017]

See Appendix AA.


8.0 Appendices

Appendix A - Contact Information for G&S Dye Manager

Appendix B - Location of G&S Dye retail

Appendix C - Video of Fabric Rolling Process




Appendix D - Textile Industry


Appendix E - How the Clothing Wholesale & Retail Markets Work

Appendix F - Textiles Industry Profile


Appendix G - Notes from Interview with Lily Lai on Jan. 27, 2017 - “First Meeting”


Appendix H - Transcript of Interview with Lily Lai on Feb. 18, 2017 - “Validating Metrics” LL is Lily Lai, the interviewed. DT is the design team interviewer. DT: We would like to validate our process so far and ask some questions, if that is OK with you?

LL: Sure, I’d prefer to be interviewed.

DT: Great! We’d like to know when rolling and unrolling, what would you define an error or mistake

to be?

LL: Oh, things you would prefer not to happen (but is fine if it does), you learn to roll with it. But

things you don’t want include creases or tears in the fabric, uneven rolling, it rolls towards one end. It’s

like when you roll toilet paper and it rolls towards the end. Loose rolling too - sometimes the tension is

not strong enough. Tension is sometimes helpful - even tension is ideal, but sometimes uneven tension

leads to even more creasing, which is not ideal.

DT: OK, next, do you know the exact number of rolls in the store?

LL: No.

DT: For anything storing the rolls, do you have a minimum requirement or would storing as many as

possible suffice? Say we design a shelf; we would want the shelf to hold some minimum requirement?

LL: It would be nice if they were adjustable - able to accommodate either a large or small number.

DT: And different orientations?

LL: Right, sometimes you’d like to change fabrics according to their seasonal availability, for example,

such as when silkworms produce a lot of good silk, in which case silk is in stock.

DT: We’ve divided the overall opportunity into two sub-opportunities - the cutting and rolling of fabric

and the storage and organization of the fabric. You mentioned earlier that there was a cost cap of $100.

Would that be for each opportunity or is that inclusive of both?

LL: I’m just ball-parking with that $100 estimate.

DT: Would you consider the organization or the dispension process more important?

LL: I believe the cutting and measuring would be the more important since it actually deals with the

orders and costs, whereas organization is something that would be nice to have.

DT: Yes, that’s exactly what we were thinking. Next, we had a metric about visibility, but we were not

sure how to measure that.

LL: When we want things to be visible, we also like the fabric to be accessible since people like to see

and touch the fabrics and feel it and see how long it is.

DT: Would it be acceptable to say give at least this much area must be touchable?

LL: Give the ends of fabric about 10 to 20 cm sticking out. Some of it should be sticking out. At least

you should be able to see the ends of the fabric, and you can at least see the colour. Some people like to

unfurl the fabric a little bit to see how the light passes through it and hold it up to the light or the window

or hold it against the skin to see if the colour suits them.

DT: We also had difficulty measuring “smellability”.

LL: For the most part, fabrics do not have much smell (just sometimes shipments from Thailand).

Discernable odours! Is the odour discernable at all. It is quite subjective.


DT: Our metric was percentage of people able to smell it within a sample size of, for example, 20

people. What percent would you be happy with?

LL: Zero. Ideally, that would be a hard constraint.

DT: Here is our actual RFP with our objectives outlined. If you could take a look, that would be really

appreciated! Here are our high level objectives, do you think we’re missing anything important?

LL: This seems fine.

DT: Perfect. We’ve split the opportunities into two parts - the RP (retrieval process) and DP (dispension

process) which has these objectives. Are we missing anything from these?

LL: You have time? Good, then these are pretty standard.

DT: They are general so that teams have room to maneuver and we don’t constrain them with the

requirements.

LL: Sometimes we have human errors when counting fabrics and you get distracted, such as when

someone talks to you, and then you have to do it all over again if you lose count.

DT: I think that will be all. Thanks so much, we’ll be in touch about the results of the RFP. We’ll know

within two weeks whether it will roll forward.

LL: Great, best of luck guys!


Appendix I - Notes from Interview with Lily Lai on Feb. 16, 2017 - “Taking Measurements”


Appendix Ja - Notes from Interview with Lily Lai on Feb. 1, 2017 - “Learning About Potential

Opportunities”


Appendix Jb - Measuring Tape at G&S Dye


Appendix K - Ergonomics Standard


Appendix L - Notes from Interview with Lily Lai on Feb. 2, 2017 - “Learning About Fabric Rolling”


Appendix M - Uses of Kraft Paper


Appendix N - Calculating Recommended Weight Limit


Appendix O - Repetitive Strain Injury


Appendix P - Costs of Fabrics at G&S Dye


Appendix Q - Ergonomics Definition


Appendix R - Defining “Must” and “Should”


Appendix S - About Selvages


Appendix T - About Health in Pushing and Pulling


Appendix U - NIST Handbook 44 Section 5.50 Specifications for Fabric Measuring Devices


Appendix V - Safety Guidelines for Blades in the Workplace


Appendix W - Sample Prices of Fabric Rollers

Appendix X - Cloth Stillages


Appendix Y - Bull Rack Vinyl Rack

Appendix Z - Vinyl Racks


Appendix AA - Giraffe Roll Lift

Appendix AB - Development of Requirements

The opportunity was identified in tandem with the main stakeholder - the manager, Lily Lai. We,

the design team, observed the store and asked questions about her activities. Through these discussions

the requirements were developed. Some of them are specifically requested by the stakeholder and some

of them were included by our team. For example, HO2 is required by the stakeholder while HO3 and HO5

are consistent with our team’s values of accessibility and safety. While phrasing the requirements, we consciously aimed to leave as open a frame as possible

(within the constraints) for the responding team. For example, we noticed that in the DP, a significant

amount of Kraft paper is wasted. In order to cut down on this waste, our initial reaction was to include a

requirement to prevent the fabric from touching the ground. However, the true objective of such a

requirement was to protect the fabric from damage; thus the requirement was changed to ODO5 (do not

let the fabric get stained, dusty or wet), which achieves the same goal as the initial requirement without

limiting the responding team. We considered including a metric for compatibility between solutions as well as the compatibility

between the solutions and the community. This was in consideration of the case where a responding team

comes up with solutions that involved some form of construction. However, the cost constraint of $100

CAD and HO4 (have minimal impact on other activities carried out by the community) should make it

impossible for such solutions to be viable, and thus the community is preserved. Therefore no metric for

compatibility was included. DM9 is specifically related to blades because it is unlikely that any other cutting mechanisms

such as a laser, water jet or torch cutter would be possible under the $100 constraint. The constraint of 0%


probability for this metric applies within reason; the solution should protect against user negligence such

as lack of concentration but of course in reality it is impossible to guarantee a 0% chance of accident. DM7 and RM2 are including only for the case that the solution designed requires that the user do

some form of manual labor. However, it is acceptable for the solutions to be automated in some way such

that the user does not have to physically exert him- or herself. In that case, the net force would be 0 N and

therefore within the force limits outlined.

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