Product Development Process for Pre-Consumer Finishing Waste Knit Exploration

Abstract

<p>A textile finishing plant's (FP) cotton/bamboo blend jersey knit pre-consumer waste (PCW) led to an exploration of triple bottom line, the PCW's usability as a yarn and the product design process. The PCW is the selvage trimming-off of a roll of fabric, a result of the finishing process. Jersey knit's tendency to roll caused this narrow selvage waste to resemble yarn. The waste was crocheted and knitted into samples examined and the most aesthetically pleasing samples were selected for further exploration. In completing the product development process (PDP) of the samples, the researches recognized the need of a redesigned PDP based on Wu & Wu's (2011). Because a potential use of the waste was found in this study, it may be possible to positively affect the triple bottom line of FP, if FP recognizes the benefits of making decisions based on promoting the good will of the company's economy, earth's ecology, and employees' equity.</p>