Several steps to improve productivity in garment production

Higher productivity brings higher margin in a business. And increment in

Productivity level reduces garment manufacturing cost. Hence factory can make
more profit through productivity improvement.
Here, several ways have been discussed that will certainly help factories to boost up
current labor productivity. All means that had been explained here can be
implemented as because most of these are at your reach. Machine productivity as
well as labor productivity increases when a factory produces more pieces by existing
resources (Manpower, time & machinery).

1. Conducting motion study & correcting faulty motions:

There is a saying Even best can be improved. So go to Gemba (sewing floor) &
look for operators working method & movements. Prepare a check list for good
methods & movements. At time of motion study observe operators movement and
compare with you checklist. If you found wrong movements is used by operator or
unnecessarily extra movement is present in operation cycle correct it. If needed
deskill operator. By doing this you can reduce operation cycle time & can improve
labor productivity up to 100%* in individual operations (*in 20% of total operations
as per Paretos 80-20 Principle).

2. Hourly operator capacity check:

Employ work study personnel (if you dont have) & start checking operator capacity
hourly or bi-hourly. Compare actual operators hourly production with their capacity.
If production is less then question them why? It helps in two ways first, when
operators capacity is checked at regular interval they will be under pressure.
Secondly, work study personnel start thinking on methods how cycle time can be
reduced. Using capacity data, you can move ahead in balancing the line.

3. Conduct R&D for garment:

A non-value added (NVA) process but having a strong Research & Development
(R&D) team in factory brings lot of benefits. R&D can be taken as preparation stage
for bulk production. This department does sample production & look into
potentially critical operations, plan for requirement of special equipment, advice

changes in terms of construction without changing styling. E.g. if an operation

contains some raw stitches, which doesnt affect final look of garment, then that
operation can be avoided if possible to save time. They plan for skill requirement for
operations. As a result production runs without any break or with less no. of breaks.
As it reduces chance of break in production for unnecessary reasons, line
productivity doesnt come down.

4. Use best possible line layout:

Line layout means placing of machines & centre table (trolley with wheel) as per style
requirement. Main purpose of choosing a better layout is to reduce transportation
time in line as much as possible. A stable line is not a good idea if you produce
multiple products in a same line. A straight assembly line with centre table at left side
is good for a product that has no preparatory work & individual operation SAM is
nearby pitch time. When a style includes lot of preparatory work (for garment parts),
it is better to make garment parts in sections & assemble them later. If possible use
overhead transportation system.

5. Scientific work station layout:

Workstation layout defines from where an operator will pick up work (garment
components) & where she will dispose stitched garment. A scientific layout is
defined as minimum reach for picking up & dispose of components. Every
components & tools (trimmer) must be kept within operator reach. During
workstation designing, engineering must follow key principles.
Components to be worked on should be positioned as near to needle as
possible.
Direction of components where it positioned on table or track should be such
way that during moving component to the needle point does not need to turn it.
Placing of work at same plane of machine table so that operator can easily slide
it to needle point.
Purpose of designing a good workstation layout is to minimize material handling
time as much as possible. Thus you can reduce operation cycle time. Secondary
benefit of good workstation is operators can work at same pace without fatigue.
When designing a workstation layout dont forget to consider ergonomics.

6. Reduce line setting time:

It have been observed that a line reaches at its pick productivity level on day 6-7
after loading of an order. Time lost in initial days (learning curve) brings down
average labor productivity for whole style. Reason - lot of time is lost during setting
of line for a new style. This reduces overall machine productivity and line efficiency.
So to maintain line productivity level you have to work on minimizing line setting
time or throughput time. To reduce line setting time, engineers have to study
garment thoroughly, prepare operation bulletin with machine requirement and
machine layout plan prior to feeding cuttings to line. Read another article to
know how to reduce line setting time. Engineers need to coordinate with line
supervisors & maintenance department with their plans & requirements. This will
help supervisors & maintenance department to be pro-active in arranging required
resources.

7. Improve line balancing:

Purpose of balancing a line is to reduce operators idle time or maximize operator
utilization. In a balanced line work will flow smoothly & no time will be lost in
waiting for work. At time of line setting select operators for operation matching
operator skill history & skill required. Following this method you will select highly
skilled operators for higher work content operations. Once line is set conduct
capacity study at a regular interval. Use pitch diagram method to find bottlenecks
inside line. You have to think how you will minimize WIP level at bottleneck
operations. Read another article on line balancing for guidelines. Once you start
increasing operator utilization through line balancing you will get extra pieces from
same resources in defined time.

8. Use work aids, attachments, guides, correct pressure foots &

folders:
These are some kinds of time saving devises that facilitate operator to perform their
work effectively with less effort. If work aids are used effectively operation cycle
time can be reduced many fold than existing cycle time. In new & small factories
where there is no experienced technical person (maintenance, IE personnel or
production manager) generally not aware about usage & availability of work aids. So
their operators sew garment free hand. Labor productivity is comparably higher for
factories that widely use work aids than those who do not use work aids for similar
products. Folders & attachments are also very helpful in producing consistent

stitching quality. On other hand work aids, guides & fixtures reduce operators
movement and weight lifting. During my research study I college I had improved
labor productivity up to 18.03% using work aids in various operations.

9. Continuous feeding to the sewing line:

It is not a fault of production department if they did not get cuttings to sew. All
plans & efforts towards productivity will fail if line is not been fed continuously.
No feeding or irregular feeding is one of the top reasons for lower productivity in
poorly managed factory. Poor production plan, wrong selection product mix in
seasons & ineffective cutting department are reasons that stop continuous feeding.
Once operators get rhythm, they should be given non-stop feeding until style
changeover to keep up productivity. If you know there is unavailability of cutting in
near future then plan accordingly and dont call all operators for that duration.

10. Feed fault free & precise cutting to line:

Stop cutting & trimming of extra fabric from cut components by operators. If your
cutter does not able to provide precise cutting s/he should be trained. But faulty
cutting dont be fed. When operators cut fabric he performs additional task in
operation cycle time. If in some cases trimming is intended then that task must be
included in total work content. Otherwise you will get wrong (less) efficiency for
operator. Secondly, cuttings with fabric defects, pattern problem are issued to sewing
line. As a result line produces defective garments. Alteration & repair work for
defective garments reduces labor productivity.

11. Training for Line supervisors:

Line supervisors are shop floor managers. So each supervisor must be trained with
fundamental management skills & communication skill. Still in most of supervisors
in Indian factories are raised from tailors. They dont acquire technical qualification
in supervising. But their main job is providing instruction, transferring information.
For which communication skill training is required for supervisors. Secondly,
supervisor should understand fundamental of industrial engineering like operation
bulletin, skill matrix, workstation layout, movement, capacity study & theoretical line
balancing etc. If they understood these, they can help engineers or work study boys
to improve line performance. Above training will bring changes in managing and
controlling lines and will improve labor productivity.

12. Training to sewing operators:

Operators are main resources in apparel manufacturing. They are most valuable
resource to the company. So, factory must work on developing operator skill where
required. Training is not cost but an investment said by many experts. Production
from an operator depends on his skill level to the task. A low skilled operator will
consume higher resources (time) and give less output. You will find quality related
issues with low skilled & untrained operators. As skill level of operators is increased
through training lines output will improve. Training does mean lot of time and
money. Training should be given only on specific tasks that will be performed by
operator. Pauls article systematic training for apparel industry operators an
introduction is very helpful in this regard.

13. Setting individual operator target:

Instead of giving equal target to all operators working in a line, give individual target
as per operators skill level and capacity. Set an achievable target for each operator so
that they would try to reach target. This will help improving operators individual
efficiency. Use tricks for increasing target step by step. Take care of operators who
are under target. They may need skill training. Go back to point#12. Training for
sewing operators.

14. Eliminate loss time & off-standard time:

Utilize operators time as much as you can. There is no better alternative than just
stopping operators sitting idle to improve operator productivity. Non productive
time such as waiting for work, machine breakdown, power failure & repair work kill
your productivity. Start eliminating non-productive time as much as possible. To
start work on this point you have to track off-standard or non-productive time data
according to different categories. Once you have analysis & Pareto of nonproductive time you can think & plan on reducing it.

15. Real time shop floor data tracking system:

For continuous improvement & prompt action on failure you need information
from shop floor as fast as possible. Important information needed such as hourly
production, line balancing, WIP, tracking bundles & quality performance of line. If
corrective action is not been taken early problem may increase as time goes. So

RFID based real time systems are helping in providing shop floor information
within second. With Leadtec system Joshep Abboud increased its total productivity
more than 40% (refer to following case study link). This system is quite costlier at
this time. But as per published case studies ROI (12-18 months) of this RFID based
real time system is not bad.

16. Using auto trimmer sewing machine (UBT):

Just think how many pieces an operator is producing in a day? Each time an operator
trims thread using a trimmer or scissors consume time minimum 50 TMU or 2
Seconds (approx). A rough estimate, in a day operator will lose about 20 minutes just
in thread cutting. In an operation of 0.5 SAM, operator can make 40 extra pieces.
Even machine without auto trimmer consumes more sewing thread. Those who use
heavy (half kilogram weight) scissor may start using hand trimmer.

17. Installing better equipment:

A low performing machine is not acceptable where some of your good machines are
idle in same building. Use the best of your resources. If machines or equipment
dont perform well operator motivation goes down. Repetitive breakdown of
machines increase loss time & bring down overall line efficiency & labor
productivity. I have seen lines where UBT machine is used in long seam operations
& comparably lower work content. On other hand where shorter seams are being
stitched, most of time spent in thread trimming for taking out work from needle,
normal lock stitch sewing machine are used.

18. Inline quality inspection at regular interval:

Traffic light system is the most effective inspection tool to reduce defect generation
at source. Less number of defective seam is made less the time will be lost in
repairing it. Inline checking system will alert operators in concentrating their job. It
also helps in other way. May be at start of style an operator not understood
specification, an interaction with quality inspector will make an operator clear about
quality requirement. Poorly managed factory loses productivity up to 10% due to
repair and reject as mentioned by Dr. Bheda in his article Productivity.

19. Operator motivation:

Operators will is the most crucial part in productivity improvement. If they are
motivated, they will put enough efforts on work. Employee motivation generally
depends on various factors like work culture, HR policies, bonus on extra effort or
achieving target. In garment manufacturing operators motivation come through
extra money. Operator motivation can be improve by sharing certain percentage of
you profit made from operators extra effort.

20. Plan for operators Incentive scheme:

Paul Collyer, British expert says In British factories, in a non incentive environment
factory can reach up to 80% efficiency level and if manager expect more than that
they had to provide incentive to operators as well as to supporting team. If we look
into Asian factories, in a non incentive environment factories find it is very difficult
to reach up to 40% efficiency. You can see the potential efficiency that can be
converted in money.
You need to understand that employees come for work in your organization for
money. Initially you may think that an incentive scheme may reduce your profit. But
in real it works in opposite direction, provided that incentive system is fair for
workers & has been implemented intelligently. I have seen factories where operator
efficiency reaches up to 76% from 45% after implementation of incentive scheme.
An incentive scheme will give lot of other benefits in return as a byproduct. An
incentive scheme designed with multiple parameters may bring discipline on shop
floor. As operators give extra effort to work, efficiency as well as productivity of the
operator increases