- Production Work Orders8
- Tech Pack Register8
- WHS Incident and Hazard Register8
- Materials and Trims Stock8
Made here, made well
CAQA Loom and Last is an Australian design and manufacturing business that makes apparel, printed textiles and footwear for uniform programs, independent fashion labels and its own small retail range.
CAQA Loom and Last, textiles, clothing and footwear design and manufacturing
CAQA Loom and Last is an Australian design and manufacturing business that makes apparel, printed textiles and footwear for uniform programs, independent fashion labels and its own small retail range. The business takes a product from a client brief through design, patternmaking, sampling, grading, cutting and sewing to finished, labelled and dispatched stock. The footwear workshop produces short runs of welted and cemented shoes and boots and carries out repairs for retail customers and hospitality clients. Customers value local manufacturing because it shortens lead times, allows small minimum order quantities and keeps the supply chain visible from fibre to finished garment.
The business runs from two Melbourne sites and a showroom in Sydney. The Brunswick factory houses the design studio, pattern room, cutting room, sewing floor and dispatch, and works a single day shift from 7:00 am to 3:30 pm with an optional afternoon overtime crew during peak uniform season. The Preston site holds the footwear workshop, the screen print and dye studio and the trade waste treatment tank. Six departments report to the General Manager: Design Studio, Pattern Room, Production, Footwear Workshop, Quality and WHS, and Supply and Dispatch.
Craft
We respect the skill in every seam, cut and last, and we finish the job properly rather than quickly.
Safety
Nobody is hurt making our products. Guards stay on, needles are accounted for, and chemicals are handled to the safety data sheet.
Fit and fidelity
The garment matches the tech pack, the shoe matches the last, and the client gets exactly what was sampled and approved.
Responsibility
We know where our materials come from, we minimise waste, and we treat the people who make our products fairly.
Services and operations
To design and make well-fitting, durable clothing, textiles and footwear in Australia, safely and to specification, every time.
Uniform design and manufacture
Design, sampling and bulk production of corporate, hospitality and school uniforms in sizes from XXS to 5XL, with embroidery, labelling and pack-by-wearer dispatch.
Patternmaking and grading
Block development, first patterns, digital grading and marker making for independent labels that need production-ready patterns and costed markers.
Sampling and small-run production
Cut and sew prototypes, salesman samples and short production runs from 20 units, using the client's fabric or fabric sourced through our supplier network.
Textile printing and dyeing
Screen printing and small-batch dyeing of natural and synthetic fabrics in the Preston studio, including colour matching, dye recipes and wash fastness testing.
Footwear manufacture and repair
Short-run welted and cemented footwear, custom-made shoes from a fitted last, and resoling, heel and patch repairs for retail and hospitality customers.
Technical textile products
Cut, sewn and welded products such as bags, covers, awnings and protective panels made from canvas, PVC and technical fabrics to client drawings.
Six departments, one workplace
Each department has a purpose, a lead, responsibilities, performance measures and the systems it works in. Students are placed in a department by their scenario.
Design Studio
The Design Studio turns client briefs into garment, textile and footwear designs. It researches trends and technical requirements,...
Visit departmentPattern Room
The Pattern Room builds blocks, drafts and grades patterns, drapes where needed, cuts and sews prototypes and produces costed mark...
Visit departmentProduction
Production covers the cutting room, sewing floor, pressing and finishing at Brunswick. It plans daily output against work orders, ...
Visit departmentFootwear Workshop
The Footwear Workshop at Preston makes short-run and custom footwear and carries out repairs. The team clicks and closes uppers, l...
Visit departmentQuality and WHS
Quality and WHS runs the controlled document system, inspection program, incident and hazard reporting, chemical register and trai...
Visit departmentSupply and Dispatch
Supply and Dispatch sources and receives fabric, leather, trims and chemicals, keeps stock records, and packs and dispatches finis...
Visit departmentWorking systems with real records
Every system is live in your browser: create, update, search, move cards on a board and export what you did. Reset returns the seed data at any time.
Production Work Orders
Tracks every production, sample and repair job from release through cutting, sewing, finishing and dispatch.
8 recordsTech Pack Register
Holds the product specification record for every style and controls which version Production is allowed to cut against.
8 recordsWHS Incident and Hazard Register
Records every injury, near miss, hazard, chemical event and property damage event with its investigation and corrective actions.
8 recordsMaterials and Trims Stock
Keeps the stock record for fabric rolls, leather hides, trims, thread and chemicals with location, quantity and supplier compliance status.
8 recordsQuality Inspection Log
Records receiving, cut, in-line and final inspections and the disposition of any nonconforming product.
8 recordsInbox
8 work requests from managers and colleagues, each linked to a scenario or a document.
Open inboxEight workplace scenarios
Sign in as a role, read the brief, work through the tasks using the documents and systems, then print an evidence summary for your assessor.
Lay up and cut the high visibility shirt order
You are a cutting room assistant working with the senior cutter.
Open scenario Intermediate 2 to 3 hoursRespond to and investigate a broken needle event
You are the acting floor supervisor on the sewing floor.
Open scenario Intermediate 4 to 6 hoursAlter, grade and specify the Studio Quill bias dress
You are a patternmaker in the Pattern Room.
Open scenario Entry 3 to 4 hoursAssess, cost and complete counter footwear repairs
You are a footwear repair trainee at the Preston workshop.
Open scenario Advanced 6 to 8 hoursDevelop the Harbourline spring front of house capsule
You are a designer in the Design Studio.
Open scenario Advanced 3 to 5 hoursSource replacement blazer cloth and canvas
You are the purchasing officer in Supply and Dispatch.
Open scenario Intermediate 2 to 3 hoursManage the band knife hazard and deliver a toolbox talk
You are the assistant to the Quality and WHS Coordinator.
Open scenario Advanced 5 to 7 hoursPlan production for the October delivery peak
You are the production planner reporting to the Production Manager.
Open scenarioNotice board All notices
- Safety Band knife 2 out of service until guard repaired
7 September 2026 - Safety Second eyewash station for the dye studio
9 September 2026 - Quality Sealed sample archive tidy-up
3 September 2026
Coming up Calendar
- 15/09Leadership team meeting: October production plan
8:00 am, Meeting room, Brunswick - 16/09Eyewash station installation, dye studio closed until 11:00 am
7:00 am, Print and dye studio, Preston - 17/09Studio Quill bias dress fit session
2:00 pm, Sample room, Brunswick - 22/09Toolbox talk: cutting room guarding and blade change
7:15 am, Cutting room, Brunswick
Mapped to the Textiles, Clothing and Footwear
Every scenario lists the current units of competency and qualifications it supports, with assessor notes and a printable evidence summary. Use it with your own assessment tools or ask CAQA for a matched kit.