Line: an assembly line composed of several work stations, at

which specific operations are performed. To work effectively,

with no work pile-ups between stations, the line must be
balanced,
e.g. work must get through each workstation in roughly the
same amount of time.
 What is Line Planning?
Line planning is scheduling and allocating of orders to production lines according to
product setting (product is being made in the line) and due dates of production
completion. A line plan defines when a style is going to be loaded to the line, how many
pieces to be expected (target) from the line and when order to be completed. For
example, please refer to the following Table-1, where a simple line planning has been
shown in spread sheet.

During booking orders or allocating orders to the production line, planners must check
what is running on the line and how many days it will take to complete the Running
style.

Benefit of Line planning: It helps production manager as well as line supervisor with
information such as what is the daily production target for line. They set their line
(machines and manpower) accordingly. Line plan also provides information such as
how many days style would run, what is the next style going to be loaded?
 Line 1 Line 2 Total
Daily Cumm Daily Cumm Daily
Date Prod. Prod. Prod. Prod. Prod.
loading #2341A,
1-Dec Qty -3000 pieces 300 1200 300
2-Dec 200 200 300 1500 500
3-Dec 250 450 300 1800 550
4-Dec 400 850 200 2000 600
loading #Polo ,
5-Dec 400 1250 Qty -1500 pieces 400
6-Dec 400 1650 0 0 400
7-Dec 400 2050 100 100 500
8-Dec 400 2450 300 400 700
9-Dec 400 2850 350 750 750
10-Dec 150 3000 350 1100 500
loading #432K,
11-Dec Qty -5500 pieces 400 1500 400
loading #YK45,
12-Dec 100 100 Qty -4500 pieces 100
13-Dec 250 350 200 200 450
14-Dec 500 850 250 450 750
15-Dec 500 1350 400 850 900
16-Dec 500 1850 400 1250 900
17-Dec 500 2350 400 1650 900
18-Dec 500 2850 400 2050 900
19-Dec 500 3350 400 2450 900
20-Dec 500 3850 400 2850 900
21-Dec 500 4350 400 3250 900
22-Dec 500 4850 400 3650 900
23-Dec 150 5000 400 4050 550

Daily Prod. – Daily production or line output

Cumm Prod. – Cumulative production of the style till date
LINE BALANCING (Process Organization) The Line Balancing is “ to design a
smooth production flow by allotting processes to workers so as to allow each
worker to complete the allotted workload within an even time ”

 LINE BALANCING (Process Organization) It is a system where you meet the

production expectations and you can find the same amount of work in process in
every operation at any point in the day.
 WHY LINE BALANCING…
@ the main job in line balancing is to eliminate or reduce wip
(work in process) at bottleneck operations.
@ keeps inventory costs low, resulting in higher net income
@ allows operator to work all day long giving an opportunity to
earn more money and increases his/her work efficiency
@ keeps the prices low which turns into repeat sales
@ means better production planning
there are 3 rules for balancing

(1) have at least ½ hour of wip for each operation .

(2) Solve problems before they become any larger.

(3) Meet production goals by keeping every operator working at

their maximum capacity .
LINE BALANCING TOOLS

Production sheets
Daily production
r e p o rt
The inve n t or y levels by
operation
Production boards
Stop watch
Calculator
 STEPS TO A BALANCED LINE
STEP 1. CALCULATION OF THE LABOR REQUIREMENTS
AND CAPACITY STUDY
THE REQUIREMENT OF WORKER DEPENDS UPON THE PROBABLE
EFFICIENCY OF THE LINE SELECTED AND PERCENTAGE OF TIME THEY
WORK.
List down all operations
with operator name as
perChopeeckractyiocnlesetiqmueenfcoer
each operation for five
conWseicthutiavveercaygcelecsycle time
calculate hourly capacity
oWfitthhethoepehrealtporosfthe hourly
capacity, calculate the
labour requirement
STEP 2. OPERATIONAL BREAKDOWN AND
SETTING THE TARGET

A
+
• With the capacity data set target
B. output per hour from one line.
• Target per hour = Total no of
C. operators X 60 /garment SAM
• Current hourly operator production
D. report is analyzed
STEP 3: TARGET SETTING

With the above step 1 & 2 data set

your target output per hour from one
line.
Generally it is calculated using
following formula (Target per hour=
Total no of operators X 60
/garment SAM).
Check current hourly operator
production report. Draw a straight
line with target output data on the
line graph.
 *STThEePt4im.eIDaEtNwThIFicIhCAthTeIOloNngOeFstBtOimTeTLisENreEqCuiKredis
cAalRleEdA“SBottleneck Process”
*The state of line organization should be
evaluated as “Organization Efficiency”
*Pitch Time provides average time allotted to
each worker.
* Using the pitch time and Bottleneck Process
Time.
Bottleneck process
Hanes
160
1st Bottleneck 2nd Bottleneck
140 area area

120
Loss in balance

Work Allotment Time

100
Loss in balance

80
Loss in balance
60

40

20

0
A B C D E F G H
Name of worker (In order of processes)

See picture of knitted trunk short, and develop operation

breakdown and confirm possible bottleneck
STEP4. ELIMINATION OF BOTTLENECKS FROM
THE LINE
Methods of eliminating bottlenecks from the line

Club operations where possible. Give the operator

another operation with less work content considering
Shuffmleacohpineerattyopres.aOndpesreawtionngstthhraetadhacvoelorlosw.work
content use low performer while work content is
Add more ohpeigrhaetrorusseathbigohttplenrfeocrkmoepresr.ations.Also
compare the cost-benefits of putting additional
machine into the line.
Improve workstation layout and improve methods

Do extra work at bottleneck operations.

Reduce cycle time using work aids and attachments

All in all…
FROM IMBALANCED
LINE..

To Balanced line
Sl. No. Operation List SAM
1 Pinning to profile 0.234
2 Run stitch collar 0.219
3 Trim collar 0.285
4 Clip and turn collar 0.223
5 Crease collar 0.381
6 Top stitch collar 0.42
7 Run stitch (R/s) collar band 0.291 Product: Full Sleeve Men’s Formal Shirt. Brand:
8 Crease collar band 0.317 Arrow
9 Insert collar in neck band 0.799
10 Turn and crease collar 0.452
11 Attach bias piece to cuff 0.874 From given table draw a line diagram as well
12 Crease cuff 0.458 balance the line.
13 Hem cuff 0.501
14 R/s cuff 0.565
15 Trim cuff 0.36
16 Turn cuff 0.527
17 Crease cuff bottom 0.566
18 Attach placket to sleeve 0.795
19 Lock and make diamond 1.026
20 Sew pleats (4 no.) 0.389
21 Hem right front 0.494
22 Attach front placket 0.603
23 Crease pocket 0.542
24 Hem pocket mouth 0.28
25 Attach pocket to front 0.861
26 Attach brand label and tackloop 0.589
27 Crease patch pieces 0.236
28 Attach patch piece 0.333
29 Sew pleats 0.278
30 Attach yoke to back 0.475
31 Top stitch back yoke 0.365
32 Join shoulder 0.64
33 Top stitch shoulder 0.656
34 Attach collar 0.535
35 Close collar with size label 1.01
36 Sleeve attach 0.862
37 Top stitch armhole 0.678
38 Top stitch side seam 1.036
39 Attach & close cuff 0.696
40 Top stitch cuff 0.524
41 Hem bottom 0.947
Total SAM 22.322