Optimizing Decision Making in the Apparel Supply Chain Using Artificial Intelligence (AI): from Production to Retail

As customer requirements have become more demanding, and fashion trends change more rapidly than ever, managing the apparel supply chain to optimise cost, speed and quality has become more complex. There has been growing interest in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to plan and optimize apparel production. This pioneering book reviews how AI can be used to optimise the apparel supply chain, from production order, cut order and marker planning through to fabric spreading and cutting, sewing and assembly, sales forecasting and cross-selling.

Key Features: helps the reader gain an understanding of the key decision points in the apparel supply chain; discusses the fundamentals of artificial intelligence techniques for apparel management techniques; considers the use of neural networks in selecting the location of apparel manufacturing plants; reviews intelligent product cross-selling systems in fashion retailing using RFID technology.

Contents: Understanding key decision points in the apparel supply chain; Fundamentals of artificial intelligence techniques for apparel management applications; Selecting the location of apparel manufacturing plants using neural networks; Optimizing apparel production order planning scheduling using genetic algorithms; Optimizing cut order planning in apparel production using evolutionary strategies; Optimizing marker planning in apparel production using evolutionary strategies and neural networks; Optimizing fabric spreading and cutting schedules in apparel production using genetic algorithms and fuzzy set theory; Optimizing apparel production systems using genetic algorithms; Intelligent sales forecasting for fashion retailing using harmony search algorithms and extreme learning machines; Intelligent product cross-selling system in fashion retailing using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, fuzzy logic and rule-based expert system.