Accel Safety
What a wastage allowance is
In a commission knitting factory, the yarn usually belongs to the buyer. The factory knits it, delivers the grey fabric and is paid for the knitting. When the program ends, every kilo the buyer sent should be explained: delivered as fabric, returned as yarn, or lost in the process. The wastage allowance (often called the process loss allowance) is the share of loss the buyer accepts without asking the factory to pay for it.
Two things make this number important. It is money: yarn lost beyond the allowance is normally the factory's cost, and it can be larger than the knitting charge on a small program. And it is trust: a buyer who receives a clear closing statement keeps sending programs. A buyer who has to chase missing kilos starts counting cones at the gate.
Where the yarn goes on a knitting floor
Loss is not one thing. An industry article on knitting floor waste by Easmin Ara Tani (published on Fibre2Fashion) groups it into yarn-stage waste, fabric faults, samples, machine maintenance and programming mistakes. The table below follows that grouping.
| Source of loss | Typical causes | How to reduce it |
|---|---|---|
| Faulty or small cones | Poor cone shape or size; leftover "baby cones" that are hard to use | Check cones at receipt; record and return leftovers by lot |
| Fly and lint | Thread guides and tensioners shedding fibre | Clean guides and machines on a schedule; control the yarn path |
| Yarn faults and breaks | Weak places, frequent breaks, waste at knotting | Record faults by yarn lot and report them to the buyer early |
| Fabric faults | Holes, press-offs, drop stitches, needle lines, stains | Record rejects by defect, machine and shift |
| Samples and set-up | Fabric knitted to set the machine or approve the sample | Weigh and record sample fabric against the program |
| Maintenance and programming errors | Fabric lost around repairs and wrong machine programs | Log maintenance per machine; double-check new programs |
The article also gives rough percentages for each source. Treat them as one author's estimates, not as a standard: real loss depends on yarn count and quality, fibre (cotton, polyester, elastane blends), fabric structure, machine condition and lot size. The only reliable figure for your negotiations is your own, measured program by program.
The moisture and tare trap
Many arguments about "lost" yarn are really weighing problems.
Moisture. Textile fibres absorb water from the air, so the same yarn weighs differently on a humid day and a dry one. Textile courses use an official moisture regain of 8.5% for cotton and 0.4% for polyester, measured against bone-dry weight (NPTEL course material, IIT). ASTM D1909 publishes tables of commercial moisture regains used when fibre is bought and sold on a commercial-weight basis. In practice, if yarn is weighed at receipt in one condition and fabric is weighed at delivery in another, part of the "loss" may only be water. Agree with the buyer how and when both sides weigh, and keep the conditions as similar as you can.
Tare. Cones, cartons and poly bags have weight. If the receiving challan shows gross weight and delivery shows net fabric weight, the difference looks like wastage. Record net weight at both ends, and agree how empty cones and packing are counted when leftover yarn goes back.
How to calculate process loss
Use one formula for every buyer and every program, so results can be compared:
Process loss (kg) = yarn received − (good fabric delivered + rejected fabric accounted for + yarn returned)
Process loss % = process loss (kg) ÷ yarn received × 100
Allowed loss (kg) = yarn received × agreed allowance %
If the actual loss is within the allowed loss, the program closes cleanly. If it is higher, the difference is settled the way your agreement says: charged, adjusted on the next bill, or investigated. Whether rejected fabric counts as "accounted for" (delivered to the buyer, held, or treated as loss) is a commercial term, so write it down per buyer.
A worked example
The numbers below are illustrative, not industry benchmarks. A buyer sends 5,000 kg net of cotton yarn for one program, with an agreed allowance of 3%.
| Line | kg |
|---|---|
| Yarn received (net) | 5,000 |
| Good grey fabric delivered | 4,700 |
| Rejected fabric, delivered separately as agreed | 60 |
| Leftover yarn returned on challan | 120 |
| Process loss | 120 (2.4%) |
| Allowed loss at 3% | 150 |
| Result | Within allowance by 30 kg |
Now imagine the 120 kg of leftover yarn was never returned on a challan and sat in the store under another program. The same program would show 240 kg of loss, 4.8%, and look 90 kg over the allowance. Most "excess wastage" disputes are like this: the yarn exists, but the paperwork does not show where it went. That is why lot-wise records matter (see our guide to yarn lot traceability).
What to agree with each buyer before knitting starts
| Term | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Allowance % per yarn or fabric type | One number for every fabric hides real differences between yarns and structures. |
| Weighing basis (net, conditions, who weighs) | Removes moisture and tare from the argument. |
| Treatment of rejected fabric | Delivered, held or counted as loss: decides the balance. |
| Return of leftover yarn and cones | Deadline, challan format and how small cones are counted. |
| Settlement of excess loss | Charge, adjustment on the bill or joint review, decided before, not after. |
| Sign-off | Who approves the closing statement on each side. |
Closing the program
Close each program with a one-page statement: yarn received by lot, fabric delivered by delivery number, rejects by defect, yarn returned by challan, process loss in kg and %, the allowance and the result. Send it with the last bill (our guide to commission knitting billing covers bills, adjustments and statements). Bill only good kilos delivered; rejects never go on an invoice (our guide to grey fabric rejects explains how to record them). Then compare loss % across programs, machines and yarn suppliers every month. A program that always runs over the allowance is a machine, a yarn or a pricing problem worth finding.
Checklist: wastage allowance control
| # | Check | Done? |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Allowance agreed in writing for each buyer and yarn or fabric type | ☐ |
| 2 | Yarn received recorded by lot in net kg | ☐ |
| 3 | Every issue, production line and reject linked to the program | ☐ |
| 4 | Samples and set-up fabric weighed and recorded | ☐ |
| 5 | Leftover yarn returned on a numbered challan | ☐ |
| 6 | Closing statement with loss kg, loss % and allowance | ☐ |
| 7 | Monthly review of loss % by buyer, machine and yarn supplier | ☐ |
From register to system
All of this works on paper if every hand-over is written down. It gets hard when dozens of programs run at once. AccelKnit, our knitting ERP, was shaped on a working knitting factory: every record sits under one Program ID, yarn is stored by lot, rejects are recorded by defect and never billed, yarn returns go out on a challan against a per-buyer wastage allowance, and each buyer has a live balance. Deletions need a comment and admin approval, so the numbers on the closing statement can be trusted. It runs in English and Bangla. Book a free demo to see it with your own programs.