Apparel Manufacturing Process

An overview

Global Textile and Apparel trade is recovering after a slump during the economic recession in 2008-09, and is expected to reach US$ 1 Trillion by 2020 from the current US$ 510 Bn Indias total Textile and Apparel industry size is valued at Rs 3,27,000 crores (US$ 70 Bn) in 2009 and is estimated to grow @ 11% CAGR to reach Rs 10,32,000 crores (US$ 220 Bn) by 2020

New Realities-Market

Recessionary market. Customer wants more range at a cheaper price. Seasons becoming more frequent

Recent Challenges in Apparel Manufacturing

1)Intense labour and skill dependency 2)Labour shortage 3)High wages 4)Market restructuring with reduced margins 5)Slow reaction to consumer behaviour & market demand 6)Poor Infrastructure facility

Time-Line

Performance Benchmark Concept to availability Product development

1997 184

Fabric procurement Manufacturing Delivery

104 34 39 7

Time-Line

Performance Benchmark Concept to availability Product development

2011 126

Fabric procurement Manufacturing Delivery

44 30 28 3-4

Zara

Product cycle from conceptualization to delivery to its shops is four weeks only.

Evolution of Supply Chain Management

Consumer Needs Consumer Product Design Product Development Raw Material Sourcing Wholesaler Factory sourcing Local Forwarder consolidation Customs clearance Forwarder consolidation Manufacturing control Shipping consolidation

Order Processing
Range for buyers Sample selection by buyers Fit Sample Greige Order Lab dip / Strike off / Bit Loom

Approval

no

Approval
no

yes

Fabric Processing Ready for Production

yes

Size set

Sealer / Pre-Production sample

Areas where manufacturers are looking forward to improve profitability

Maintaining cost effectiveness Quality

Issues

Manufacturers cannot gain an advantage over their competitors by the use of technology; the same equipment is available with everyone The purchasing of materials cannot give a competitive edge, retailers insist on materials being purchased from a limited number of approved suppliers important to examine the manufacturing costs, i.e. labour cost (standard hours) and the control of overheads ,the only point at which performances of different manufacturers can be compared.

Key elements of running a production unit

Marketing management performance of production management and supervisory staff, labour cost control monitoring, work methods, implementation and cost measuring of systematic operator training systems combining of all activities into a systematic approach to managing a factory.

Marketing Management
Marketing is the analysis, planning, implementation, and control of carefully formulated programs designed to bring about voluntary exchanges of values with target markets for the purpose of achieving organizational objectives. It relies heavily on designing the organizations offering in terms of the target markets needs and desires, and on using effective pricing, communication, and distribution to inform, motivate, and service the markets. (Philip Kotler

KEY POINTS

Managerial Process involving analysis, planning and control. Carefully formulated programs and not just random actions. Voluntary exchange of values; no use of force or coercion. Selection of Target Markets rather than an attempt to win every market and be all things to all men. Purpose of marketing is to achieve Organizational Objectives.

Marketing Core concepts

deals with Customer orientation Competition orientation The ability to respond to environmental changes like changes in consumer needs , competition , government policy , technology etc., before the competition

Costing

Costing now days is approached in a different way: Cut Make = C.P.M. x S.P.T C.P.M.->Cost per Minute S.P.T.->Standard Processing time

People

The essential part of any factory is people; garment manufacturing is a labour-intensive business, therefore effective organization and control of the work force is crucial to its success. In any factory this role is the responsibility of production managers of varying levels of seniority, and supervisors. It is therefore necessary to consider:

How well are the operators performing? Do they know the levels of performance they should achieve? Do managers and supervisors know their roles and responsibilities? Have their roles been clearly defined in a job specification? Are Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) used and does the labour cost control system given clear feedback

Performance reviews
Following must be considered to do this:

At set intervals in specified format Achievements can be discussed, shortcomings appraised and development plans agreed as required. An adequate planning of resources and a motivating payment system helps boosting the performance.

Is non achievement of production targets accepted by managers who consider absence or style change to be reasonable excuses instead of problems that should have been overcome? Does the payment system motivate both direct and indirect workers? Is salary related to achievement? How many helpers are present, what do they do, are they necessary or can their work be eliminated? Do the people have the skill and knowledge to carry out their roles to the required standards?

Productivity and Output

LABOUR KNOWLEDGE TIME ENERGY CAPITAL MATERIAL

PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE PROCESSING SCRAPE HEAT POLLUTION PACKAGING WASTE

Productivity means
Productivity is the result of how you control your input and output in your factory Productivity is what you get out from what you have. Productivity increase = More Output from your factories Productivity increase = Same Output with less workers and machines

100 80 60 40 20 0

Lost Output
Output is not only affected by the abilities of production managers and supervisors but the planning of orders and sourcing of materials.

How often are styles put onto the line without all of the components being available? How much time is lost through operators waiting for work or machines to be mended? How much production is lost because operators are working to low performances as they either have no incentive to work, or do not have the ability to perform due to the lack of skills, or are working to an inadequate work supply or target? Equal production for all operations might not be a perfect balance

A major cause of lost production is operators working down to inadequate targets or work supply The key is to ensure that operators are fully trained, have an incentive scheme that is both fair and transparent and have supervisors who are competent in production balancing techniques to ensure that sufficient work is available.

Production planning is dependent on:

Planned-cut-date (P.C.D.) P.C.D. is dependent on: -Fabric /Trims In house date -Final Sample Approval date -Capacity Available

Capacity Calculation

Example on production capacity calculation

A manufacturing facility has

820 sewing worker 22 working day in a month 8 Hours in a day 60 minute in an hour

Capacity Calculation

Capacity input:

820 X 22 X 8 X 60 = 8,659,200 minute Or 144,320 hour

If basic garment with 18.8 SAM is defined, the factory theoretically should be able to produce 460,595 garment in a months time 8,659,200 minute / 18.8 SAM = 460,595 piece

T&A

Time and Action calendar can be great tool to follow as it has Fabric and Trims In house (Target/Actual) Dates Sampling Approval In house (Target/Actual) dates Production Processes start and end dates

Follow up

Success can only be throughDaily monitoring Weekly M.I.S. Meetings Right-first-time (R.F.T) Approach

But it is not planning only..

A manufacturer has to be Faster Have Better Productivity Reduced Cost

Methods

The customer pays to sew a garment together, not to bundle or unbundle pieces. Methods being followed by operators are of utmost importance to standardize and control.

To find out the efficiency of methods and bundle handling one should check:

How are pieces presented to the operator? Is there an excess handling such as tying and untying? Does the workstation allow the operator to work without excess reaching or repositioning of pieces? A minimum of 80% of time is spent in handling; Can this be reduced by the adoption of simple, cheap work aids and effective training?

Key points

Is the operator instilled with suitable skills by systematic training? Does the operator search for a component? How much time of an operator is lost in handling garments and components during loading to the machine? Is it acceptable? How far is the component stored from the needle point?

Training

Trained sewing instructors are the most cost effective investments that a sewing factory can make. Reduction on training times, lower labour turnover, reduced faults and greater output from low performing operators can all be achieved by using instructors in a systemic approach to production management in which training is seen as a key part of management systems and not as a necessary expensive add-on.

Quality Issues

It costs ten times as much to repair than it does to do it right first time. Companies record seconds but few know how many garments are repaired. There has to be a record of detected faults and the cost incurred to repair them. It is important to know how many problems are observed by supervisors and repaired before they ever reach the inspection point. Both tenacity and an understanding of problem solving techniques are required but significant improvements (and cost savings) can be made.

Key issues

What systems are in place to prevent faulty garments being produced. Do inspectors report what they are finding and if so is this information used to prevent further problems arising? About 20% of the operators will produce 80% of the faults. A system for identifying and helping (not hammering), these operators should be in place. What exactly do inspectors do? Do they trim threads or do they really check that garments meet specification? Do they have the information (specifications) and training they need to successfully identify faulty garments? Is operator output checked in the line or at the end when the garment is complete (too late)?

The CEOs Role in Continuous Quality Improvement

Thank You