Assessment of the emerging designing technologies in the clothing industry the perception of fashion designers within Adentan Municipality

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the emerging production technologies in clothing production in Ghana - the perception of customers within Adentan Municipality. The research design adopted was mixed method. The researcher used mixed research approach for the study. Population studied was fashion designers in the Adentan Municipality. The study population was 120 fashion designers. Random sampling was used to select 80 fashion designers for the study. Questionnaire, interview guide and focus group workshop were the main instrument used to gather primary data. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze data. The study results indicated that the emerging designing technologies in clothing industry were ranked as Computer-aided design (CAD) representing first (1st) in the likert ranking order, Automated inspection (AIN) ranked 2nd. Automated material handling devices (AMHD) ranked 3rd . The study shows that more than half of the respondents indicated that fashion designers use automated inspection machines to perform product inspection. Also, a little more than half of the respondents agreed that that fashion designers use systems capable of automatically loading, unloading, and sorting out. Moreover, more than half of the respondents agreed that Fashion designers use a form of programmable automation in which the processing equipment is controlled by means of numbers, letters, or other symbols. The study concluded that in order to demonstrate creative ability, the designer should be able to generate an original design from a unique concept, or be able to interpret trend information into a novel design idea. The study recommended that fashion designers must be encouraged to reduce the amount of solid and hazardous waste in their packaging. Fashion designers should creatively re-think, customize or re-design an existing design concept.