Dhaka, Dec. 22 -- Automation and technological upgradation have boosted productivity at the cutting and knitting levels of garment production, while high efficiency has been found in jackets in the product category, says a study.

The Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) study conducted on six processes - knitting, weaving, wet processing, cutting, sewing, and end finishing - of eight types of products explored whether technological convergence was taking place across firms and tasks.

It found automation-intensive areas drove the strongest performance, with cutting achieving an annual productivity increase of 11.13 per cent, knitting 9.85 per cent, and wet processing 6.11 per cent.

In contrast, sewing, which remained the l...