Sustainability of the textile waste stream in Macedonia,

In Macedonia, as a country with a developed apparel industry, a significant amount of pre-consumer textile waste is generated, more precisely apparel cutting waste. The aim of this paper is to make an accurate estimate of its quantity, as well as the characterization based on the raw material composition as a prerequisite for its further handling. Before any recycling initiative for textile waste, an analysis should be made of whether its quantity and quality can ensure the continuity of the recycling process. The analysis shows that the amount of apparel cutting waste is a fairly constant value (in the period from 2009 to 2014 an average of 3,377 tons of apparel cutting waste was generated annually). The waste from cotton and cotton blends is most common. Despite the constant annual amount of apparel cutting waste and numerous reasons for its recycling, almost all this waste ends in landfills

Application of statistical process control in the production of women's blouse

Quality assurance in production processes is not related only to the people’s work, but also to the continuous technological advancement, as well as the application of methods and techniques to manage and assess the stability and capability of the production processes. To achieve success and sustainability of the process quality, managers must choose a methodology supported by different quality methods and techniques. The applications of statistical process control is one of the requirements of ISO 9001:2008. The essence of statistical process control is to ensure stable and predictable production process. In this paper, statistical control was applied in a production process of women’s blouse. Three methods were used: check list, Pareto diagram and Ishikawa diagram. A checklist is a method used to record and analyze the defects that occur in a production process of women's blouse. This tool was used to systematize problems starting from the most important cases. The Pareto Chart is an auxiliary tool used to select the target and determine where to intervene first. The Ishikawa diagram provides an analysis of the causes that lead to the defect and the most important stage of this diagram is to define the problem correctly. The results obtained from quality control in the production process of women’s blouses have shown that, seam puckering in the area of neckline and armhole are the defects that have the highest percentage in total number of defects. In order to eliminate the cause of occurrence of these defects, a change in the technological operation plan was made and according to it the new specimens were sewn to determine whether the seam pucker in neckline and armhole area would be eliminated. Keywords: quality, check list, Pareto diagram, Ishikawa diagram, technological preparatio

The develompment of textile industry in Shtip

The city of Shtip is the main garment production center in the Eastern part of the Republic of North Macedonia. The textile industry participates with 70% in the total achievements of the industry in the Municipality. There are over 60 companies for production of clothes in Shtip, and among their most important partners are Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands. Most of the clothing companies are organized as small or medium enterprises for production of casual clothes such as shirts, blouses, etc., which operate on the basis of the "LON" production system. Keywords: textile industry, clothing industry, LON system, brand, employee

Methodology for determining the quantity of textile waste from the cutting process

The generation of textile waste primarily depends on the volume of clothing production. This waste contributes significantly to the environmental problems because the research shows that in North Macedonia the textile waste management comes down to its disposal in landfills. The analysis of the quantities of textile waste is a necessary precondition for any further initiative for its efficient management, but such a detailed analysis does not exist yet. The aim of this paper is to design a new methodology for determining the amount of textile waste generated from the cutting process. The examination of the practical use of methodology was done in 3 different companies. The results showed that using this methodology, it quickly and easily calculates the amount of waste generated from the cutting process

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the pre consumer textile waste in North Macedonia

Textile waste in North Macedonia participates with 4.7% in the total composition of the municipal solid waste which is completely landfilled. The purpose of this paper is investigation of the textile waste quantity and quality as a pre-condition for its further management. The results obtained show domination of the apparel cutting waste, the total amount has an average value of 2792.7 tons per year. The further analysis shows that cotton waste is the most represented with 46.4%, then waste from artificial and synthetic fibres with 41.4%. During the research period (2015-2020), 1.42 kg/capita (on average) of pure pre-consumer textile waste with retained physical and mechanical properties is generated annuall

Investigation of seam puckering in women's blouse

In this study, mechanical properties of the fabrics were investigated in order to find the cause for seam puckering problem in armhole and neckline area of woman’s blouse. The same model of woman’s blouse was produced from two types of fabrics with different raw material content: 100% silk and polyester 100%. The obtained results show that both fabrics have a low shear rigidity, which indicates that fabrics extension in bias direction is high. The fabrics extension in bias direction has influence on seam puckering in armhole and neckline area of the blouse because there is sewing in bias direction except sewing in warp and weft directions. Keywords: seam puckering, mechanical properties, FAST system

Effect of the pandemic on the clothing industry in the easthern region of R. N. Macedonia

The purpose of this study was to make an initial assessment of the impact of the pandemic on the clothing industry. This paper provides an analysis of statistics on the clothing industry. The data reviewed include the number of employees, the quantity of industrial production, and the changes in type of production. The data for the past 30 months were reviewed in order to see the effect of the pandemic on the clothing companies

Entwicklung und Anwendung von Bewertungsgrundlagen für ressourceneffiziente Software unter Berücksichtigung bestehender Methodik - Abschlussbericht

In this research project, the evaluation basis for resource-efficient software is being researched. To this end, an impact model is being developed that shows the link between the use of software and the energy consumption of hardware as well as the use of hardware. By classifying software products into local applications, remote data storage and processing applications as well as server services it is shown that energy and resources consumption may take place at different locations. Based on existing findings on resource-saving software development and software design, an evaluation methodology assigning software properties to the impact areas of resource efficiency, potential useful life of hardware and autonomy of use is being developed. Furthermore, a catalogue of criteria with a total of 25 criteria and 76 indicators for assessing the environmental impact of software products is being drawn up. Several case studies (two word processing programs, three internet browsers, three content management systems, three database systems) show that the evaluation method and the criteria developed are applicable in practice, and reveal relevant differences of software products with the same functionality. As a result, the recommendation to develop a "Blue Angel" eco-label for resource-efficient software is being formulated. In order to facilitate the application of the evaluation method, three supplementary modules are also being developed, i.e. a reference system for carrying out measurements on office software, a software for evaluating hardware utilization and energy consumption, and a recording tool for obtaining the evaluation criteria. The conclusions will provide recommendations for the application of the evaluation methodology as controlling tool for product policy. Furthermore, they will identify further-going research needs

Sustainable software products - towards assessment criteria for resource and energy efficiency

Many authors have proposed criteria to assess the “environmental friendliness” or “sustainability” of software products. However, a causal model that links observable properties of a software product to conditions of it being green or (more general) sustainable is still missing. Such a causal model is necessary because software products are intangible goods and, as such, only have indirect effects on the physical world. In particular, software products are not subject to any wear and tear, they can be copied without great effort, and generate no waste or emissions when being disposed of. Viewed in isolation, software seems to be a perfectly sustainable type of product. In real life, however, software products with the same or similar functionality can differ substantially in the burden they place on natural resources, especially if the sequence of released versions and resulting hardware obsolescence is taken into account. In this article, we present a model describing the causal chains from software products to their impacts on natural resources, including energy sources, from a life-cycle perspective. We focus on (i) the demands of software for hardware capacities (local, remote, and in the connecting network) and the resulting hardware energy demand, (ii) the expectations of users regarding such demands and how these affect hardware operating life, and (iii) the autonomy of users in managing their software use with regard to resource efficiency. We propose a hierarchical set of criteria and indicators to assess these impacts. We demonstrate the application of this set of criteria, including the definition of standard usage scenarios for chosen categories of software products. We further discuss the practicability of this type of assessment, its acceptability for several stakeholders and potential consequences for the eco-labeling of software products and sustainable software design