The Production Floor in Apparel Manufacturing (An Analysis of SMEs in NCR Region)

In continuation with the article published in the previous issue on cutting room we now move on to the production floor. This article throws light on the fundamental systems of production management which are presently not followed in the industry resulting in poor productivity.

The analysis is based upon the survey conducted by the Methods Apparel Consultancy. Ten factories were rated and 300 people were assessed during the surveys in November-December, 2007 commissioned by the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) in association with Okhla Garment and Textile Cluster (OGTC) to analyze current systems and advise ways to improve overall productivity. The survey was done in two parts, the first analyzing the factory and the second evaluating the personnel.

A comprehensive checklist was developed which covered every department and each point on the checklist was awarded a value of 1 to 5 points, 5 being considered an International benchmark. The points awarded were added and a percentage score was calculated. Priorities for improvement for each department were established.

Production Floor ---------- No Measurement = No Management.

Current Production Managers are generally working with systems that are out of date, they are reluctant to learn new techniques and have little or no knowledge or interest in finding out what is available to help them improve and are reluctant to pass on their knowledge to trainees. They are doing what has always been done and repeating the same mistakes.

Production problems and bottlenecks are solved by adding additional labour instead of solving the problem that has caused the bottleneck. In some cases the management thinks that the louder you shout the more you will produce, this of course is not an answer. The major focus is to ensure that the order is delivered on time and not the efficiency that is required to remain competitive. The most skillful people in the organization are spending their time chasing orders and not problem solving.

7 of the 10 factories surveyed do not have systems in place to measure the efficiency. The average industry efficiency is between 35 -45% and certainly is not competitive in the world market. A few factories have been able to achieve improvements in their production floor by employing experts to train their people.

Bundle System

Most companies do not have bundle systems and have additional operators matching parts. Companies that do have bundle systems have poor bundle disciplines; in many cases the bundle quantity does not match ticket quantity.

Line layout and workflow

Line size is generally large comprising of 40-50 people. Line layout is poor, helper and ironing stations are often placed outside the lines. The operators are not placed in a proper sequence resulting in improper workflow and unnecessary helpers.

WIP and line balancing

The lines are not properly balanced in most of the companies. Due to paucity of proper work study procedures line balancing and WIP management is far behind acceptable standards. Average balance efficiency was around 60-65%. Line balance efficiency should be 80% or better.

Repair handling

Repairs are done within 30 minutes of their detection although in many cases repairs are not given to the person who caused them there were separate people to handle repairs. This is not a good practice since those responsible have no incentive to improve.

Meetings and reports

Reports are generally inaccurate due to improper data collection. Most factories have informal meetings on requirement basis only. There is a great need for formal supervisory meetings on a regular basis with an agenda and action requirement especially when there are shorter runs in production.

CASE STUDY: M/A Ratio Study in Factory XYZ This is a study to establish what the operators are capable of: M = Measured (Timed) We timed each operation for 3-5 cycles to get the time taken by the operator. The measured time = 23.3 minutes + 20% allowances= 28 minutes An allowance of 20% was added to the measured time for all contingencies. A = Achieved. This is the average time taken to produce the garment. Total no of people working on the style: 39 working an 8 hour day, the production output per hour: 50 pieces. Therefore the actual time taken to make a garment is 47 minutes. The M/A ratio is 28 / 47 x 100 = 59.5% 40.5 % of the operator time is lost, some of the reasons are: Poor line balancing resulting in waiting time Poor work flow Poor supervisory control

Lost time

Lost time is described as "Time lost by operators for which they are not responsible". It can be used to monitor the effectiveness of line balancing, service by mechanics, and all other delays that cause the operator to lose productivity. None of the companies utilize this tool adequately.

**Please note that the efficiencies displayed on this chart are the measurement of "Section Efficiency" this means that lost time has been excluded from the calculations.

Two out of ten factories have attempted to record lost time; one factory has been able to reap substantial benefits from this data. Factory no 5 is monitoring lost time and identifying areas of improvement. Though, it still needs to refine its systems to achieve the full potential.

Production monitoring and control

Production boards are not present in many cases and wherever present are placed in inappropriate locations. Only those companies who have workstudy and operator management systems are properly able to monitor production and efficiency.

Clippers

All the companies except one had operators working with huge scissors.

Many operators trim pieces of fabric from garment panels that do not fit properly, if garment parts don't fit this indicates two possible problems:

(A) The garments have been poorly cut or

(B) The patterns are wrong.

It is essential that this activity is eliminated; operators should not be allowed to trim garment parts under any circumstances.

Recommendations

1. Bundle control systems with adequate bundle disciplines to be introduced.
2. Proper standard times and operator monitoring procedures to be established.
3. The supervisors trained to manage WIP levels.
4. The supervisors trained to do proper production monitoring and control.
5. Method improvement procedures introduced
6. Production monitoring systems to be introduced.
7. Production studies completed wherever poor performance is observed.
8. Lost time information collected analysed and acted upon.
9. Repair handling procedures to be revised.
10. Large inappropriate scissors eliminated.
11. Operators should not be allowed to trim garment parts.

The next article will discuss about the work-study departments and their importance in the garment factories.

(Surveys conducted by Methods Apparel Consultancy)

Source: AEPC Weekly (http://aepc.fibre2fashion.com/vol1issue58/special-focus.asp)