Marco Dunn

Responsibilities

Generally my responsibility during my internship is being an extra set of hands for any projects that are being tackled that day. This could be grading, patternmaking, sewing, or constructing and servicing of sewing machines. Other jobs that I help in are product decision making as well as production floor organization. These duties cover most responsibilities within the company and the structure of the work leaves room for creative problem solving.

Accomplishments

One situation where I took a proactive approach was regarding a B2B (Business to business) contract regarding grading issues on a run of high-end blouses. The company that contracted Science and Kindness already sold the blouses but realized there was an issue regarding sizing on the cuffs. The original manufacturer was in India and could not provide a quick enough turn around time. As the company desperately needed repairs fast I took the responsibility to repair said garments as I thought it would be a good learning experiences about hiccups within the production side of apparel manufacturing. The garments were re-sewn with new cuffs, button holes, and buttons within 2 days and the company was pleased with the repairs and turn around times. As well, Science and Kindness was very grateful and pleased with my work ethic and craftsmanship.

Learning experience

An aspect that I did not know I would like as much was getting old sewing machines up and running again. These sewing machines like Singer and Reese were built to last and seeing them run perfectly even after 70 years of use is amazing and attests the American craftsmanship at the time. So in terms of greatest lessons learned, I would say be grateful where your industry started from and relish in that you're the generation continuing it. Also, be open to taking jobs that are outside of your wheelhouse. You may find a niche within your industry that won't be valued if you close doors early.

What advice would you give?

Advice that I would give to future students in AMD is to be very open minded regarding internships. There are jobs that may seem like they won't fit at first but given some time you may really like them. When getting in contact with companies be very humble but also establish your specialties and skills. I showcased some of my previous projects and design lines to them and with them they helped me secure my internship.