Computer assisted Design is used at several stages in the apparel and textile industry. The fashion design CAD/CAM software can be generally sorted into following categories, all relating to a different design and manufacturing stage.

Designing Planning– earlier the start of any fashion season, all apparel producers plan the range of garments which they are setting up to produce. Most of the designing and range planning is still done by the purchaser or the owners of the brand because they are closest to their real clients; it is simpler for them to understand the particular needs of their target market. To some extent, this has now varied with more and more manufacturers granting vendors to dabble a bit in designing, based on their specific inputs in terms of colors, yarns, fabrics, prints, silhouettes etc.

Sampling– formerly the designs have been settled, a prototype or sample has to be made, because the quantifiable of the end product very much looks on the fit of the garment.
In a study guided by an independent research agency, which monitored and noticed the reasons of dissatisfied or returns of garments sold fitting problems topped the dissatisfaction list. Regarding the importance of a good fit, it becomes imperative for a producer or retailer to succeed the best fits possible. regarding the complexity included with different fabrics and silhouettes, a CAD system takes away much of the pain from prototyping thus decreasing the time to market.

Mass Production – Unlike most other products, apparel manufacturing, even today very much depends on people – specially when it comes to assembling. A fault anywhere down the line in the prototyping or cutting process becomes very difficult and often impossible to correct. This is where a CAD system comes in, to deskill some of the processes included in mass manufacturing, namely the reproduction processes so that absolutely cut parts are fed to the operators. Additionally, the fabric saved in bulk cutting while using a CAD system is enormous.