Garment Exports--Quality with Growth

In the past 20 years, the textile industry has grown rapidly to become Taiwan's biggest export earner. More recently, there has been a matching growth in quality and design improvement to appeal to the most sophisticated foreign tastes. Exports of textiles started in 1959, and by 1966 had reached a value of US$95 million, already the biggest foreign exchange earner. In 1976, the industry was still in the lead, with an export value exceeding US$2 billion, 23 times the 1966 level. Helped by improved techniques and quality tailoring in Taiwan, garments today account for half of the country's textile exports. One of the organizations promoting Taiwan's textiles sales overseas is the China External Trade Development Council, which holds a garment show each spring and invites more than 10,000 buyers. At the show, lissom models wear tailored garments which do not give the appearance of being mass-produced. Last year, the U.S. was the biggest market for Taiwan garments, accounting for 45 percent, while other markets in order were Spain, 14 percent; Japan, 11.5 percent; Canada, 8.9 percent; Kuwait, 4 percent and Australia, 3 percent. Low-cost and highly skilled manpower in Taiwan has undoubtedly been the biggest factor in the development of the labor intensive garment industry. Alongside the growth of the garment industry has sprung up a vast network of satellite factories making buttons, laces, belts, ribbons and artificial flowers for use as decorations and accessories. To make high-quality garments, manufacturers must pay attention to four main areas--fabric, colors, fashion, tailoring and design. The supply of high-quality fabric is assured from intermediate factories in Taiwan, while patterns and dyeing are usually up to international standards. Tailoring in most garment factories is done by junior high school graduates, whose fast learning ability and high efficiency enables them to become skilful seamstresses quickly. Until recently, Taiwan's garment manufacturers have tended to neglect design, which caused foreign buyers to consider the country's products as cheap but not fashionable. Now, manufacturers have started to remedy this defect, and demand for designers is rising. Departments of textile design, dyeing and fashion have been established in many universities and colleges to meet the demand. To ensure maximum return from labor, most payment at garment factories is done on a piecework basis. Too much time on the job, however, will cause workers to tire easily and make mistakes. To avoid any waste of material, therefore, manufacturers have worked out ways to cut piece goods as economically as possible and match exactly decorations and accessories with the garment. In most garment factories, there are special departments for design, tailoring, sewing, ironing, decoration, packaging and inspection, each with inspectors to ensure quality standards. In large factories, computers are used to assist integrated production, improve quality and eliminate waste. Because the work demands concentration and at the same time is monotonous, wages have been rising recently, to US$250 a month for experienced workers and US$150 for recruits. Inspectors play an important role in garment factories because even small defects may cause buyers to reject consignments, with resulting heavy losses for manufacturers. For this reason, the inspectors are usually former workers with long experience who can spot defects quickly and know how to remedy them.