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Tools

Work out the numbers before you spend.

Nine calculators built from the same arithmetic a supplier uses — except here every assumption is on screen and you can change it.

01

Laser cost per garment

Electricity plus tube wear — the two costs that actually recur.

Laser + chiller + exhaust together. A 100W machine typically draws 1.2–1.6 kW.
Tube plus fitting. Ask the supplier for this before you buy.
Optional — lens, mirrors, filters, service, spread over your monthly volume.
Cost per garment ₹0.00
  • Electricity₹0.00
  • Tube wear₹0.00
  • Other₹0.00
Per 100 garments₹0
Per 1,000 garments₹0
What this does not include The machine itself, the operator, the fabric, rent, or the electricity your unit uses anyway. It answers one question only: what does pressing start cost you.

(kW × hours × rate) + (tube cost ÷ rated life × hours) + other

02

Which bed size do you need?

Measure your largest regular pattern piece. Everything follows from that.

Room for the head to travel and for the piece to sit square.
Only tick this if the piece has no grain-line constraint. Rotating an on-grain piece to save space will make the garment hang wrong.
Smallest bed that fits —

    Also measure your floor A 1300 × 900 mm machine needs roughly 2.2 m of clear run once you allow for the lid, the exhaust duct and someone standing at the side. Confirm the exact footprint with the supplier before you commit.

    largest piece + clearance on every side, checked against each bed

    03

    Fabric consumption per garment

    How many metres one garment eats, once you allow for the width of the roll.

    Full width minus the selvedges you cannot cut into. Measure it; the label is often optimistic.
    Half the chest or half the hip, whichever is bigger, plus seam allowance.
    Shoulder to hem, including the hem allowance.
    Ends of the roll, faults, and the gaps between pieces. 5–12% is normal for a single-size lay.
    Fabric per garment 0.00 m
    • Fits across the width—
    • Fabric for the whole order0.0 m
    • Fabric cost per garment₹0.00
    Total fabric bill₹0

    What this assumes
    • A straight single-size lay. Mixing sizes in one marker uses less; a print or stripe that has to be matched uses more.
    • The garment is cut in one piece down its length. Anything cut on the cross, or panelled, will not follow this.
    • Only whole garments fit across the width — the strip left over is counted as wastage, not carried to the next garment.
    • Shrinkage before cutting is not included. Add it to the wastage figure if you pre-wash.

    (longest piece + extras) ÷ garments across the width, plus wastage

    04

    Pattern cost per garment

    A pattern is paid for once and used many times. This is what one garment carries.

    First draft plus the toile corrections, not just the clean copy.
    Be honest here. A pattern used for 20 pieces carries ten times the cost of one used for 200.
    Pattern cost per garment ₹0.00
    • Drafting₹0.00
    • Grading₹0.00
    • Plotting and paper₹0.00
    One-off pattern cost₹0

    What this assumes
    • The rate covers the pattern master only. If someone in-house does it, use their hourly cost, not zero — the time is still spent.
    • Digitising an existing paper pattern is drafting time here. So is fixing a pattern that came back wrong.
    • The cost is spread evenly over the run. If the style is repeated next season without changes, the real per-garment figure drops.
    • Software licences are not in this. They are a monthly cost of the studio, not of one pattern.

    (drafting + grading + plotting) ÷ garments the pattern will make

    05

    Garment costing and selling price

    Everything that goes into one piece, and what you have to charge for it.

    Use the fabric calculator above if you do not have this figure.
    Buttons, zip, lining, interlining, thread, labels, tags.
    What proportion of the cost you lose to pieces that need redoing or cannot be sold.
    Rent, power, supervision, admin. Take last year’s overhead, divide by last year’s direct cost.
    This is mark-up, not margin. The two are different and the result shows both.
    Selling price per garment ₹0.00
    • Direct cost₹0.00
    • Rejection allowance₹0.00
    • Overhead₹0.00
    • Total cost₹0.00
    Profit per garment₹0.00
    Gross margin0.0%

    What this assumes
    • A 35% mark-up on cost is not a 35% margin. On a cost of 100 it gives a price of 135, and a margin of 25.9%. Both figures are shown so neither can be mistaken for the other.
    • The price is before GST. Tax is added on top of this, not taken out of it.
    • Overhead is applied as a flat percentage. That is the usual shortcut, and it over-charges simple styles while under-charging complicated ones.
    • Nothing here covers discounts, returns, commission or the cost of unsold stock. Those come off the margin later.

    direct cost + rejects + overhead = total cost; price = total cost + mark-up

    06

    Production efficiency

    What the line actually produced against what the standard time says it could.

    Paid hours actually on the machine. Take out the tea break if it is not paid.
    A measured standard time for the whole garment. A guess here makes every number below a guess.
    Good pieces only. Count a reject as not produced.
    Line efficiency 0.0%
    • Minutes available0 min
    • Minutes earned0 min
    • Output at 100%0 pcs
    • Short of that by0 pcs
    Pieces per operator0 pcs

    What this assumes
    • SAM has to be measured, not estimated. If it came from the buyer or a catalogue, the efficiency figure is only as good as that number.
    • Every operator is counted as available for the full period. Helpers, checkers and the supervisor should be left out unless they sew.
    • Machine breakdown, waiting for cut parts and style changeover all show up as lost efficiency here. This tells you how much was lost, not why.
    • Above 100% normally means the SAM is too generous rather than that the line beat the standard.

    (pieces × SAM) ÷ (operators × hours × 60)

    07

    Size conversion

    One body measurement, and the label it usually carries in each system.

    Around the fullest part, tape level and not pulled tight.
    Nearest size —
    cmINUKUSEUWord

    What this assumes
    • Size labels are not a standard. Two brands can put different numbers on the same garment, and the same brand changes over the years.
    • This converts one measurement only. A real fit also depends on waist, hip, back length and how much ease the style carries.
    • Indian ready-to-wear usually follows the UK number, but plenty of labels follow the EU or the US one instead.
    • Between two rows, take the larger and alter it down. Letting a garment out is the harder job.

    nearest row by measurement — a lookup, not a calculation

    08

    Fabric wastage

    The gap between what left the store and what ended up in a garment.

    Pieces × consumption per piece, from the fabric calculator above.
    Used only to show what the same wastage rate costs over a month and a year.
    Wastage 0.0%
    • Fabric lost0.0 m
    • Marker efficiency0.0%
    • Cost of this lot₹0
    Per month₹0
    Per year₹0

    What this assumes
    • Everything not in a finished garment counts as wastage: end bits, faults, the gaps in the marker, and anything mis-cut.
    • Usable offcuts still count as lost here. If you actually sell or re-use them, take that value off the cost yourself.
    • The monthly and yearly figures assume this lot is typical. One bad lot projected over a year will look far worse than the truth.
    • Marker efficiency here is simply what is left after wastage. A CAD marker report calculates it from piece areas and will not give exactly this number.

    (issued − used) ÷ issued

    09

    Machine payback

    How long a machine takes to pay for itself at your volume.

    The costs that appear after the quotation. Ask for them in writing.
    What the same job costs you today — hand cutting, or an outside job worker.
    Use calculator 01 above for this figure.
    Operator share, AMC, and rent for the floor space it takes.
    Payback period 0.0 months
    • Total invested₹0
    • Saved per garment₹0.00
    • Gross saving per month₹0
    • Net saving per month₹0
    Net after 3 years₹0
    Net after 5 years₹0

    What this assumes
    • Volume is assumed flat for the whole period. A machine bought for work you hope to win pays back on the day that work arrives, not before.
    • Interest is not included. On an EMI the real payback is longer than this, by roughly the finance cost.
    • Nor is the learning period. Output in the first month or two is usually well below what the machine will settle at.
    • Resale value, downtime and the cost of the work not done while it is down are all outside this.
    • This is an estimate from the figures you typed in. It is not a promise about what the machine will do in your unit.

    total invested ÷ (saving per garment × monthly volume − monthly cost)