Ways to Improve Productivity

in Garment Production

Compiled by :
Esubalew Gebrie
March 14/2012 E.C
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
What is Productivity? Definition, Example and Benefit of Measuring Productivity

 In the case of a garment manufacturing factory,

“output” can be taken as the number of
products manufactured, whereas “input” is the
people, machinery and factory resources
required to create those products within a
given time frame.

 Higher productivity provides more products

from the same number of people, in the same
time frame.
 Ways to Improve Productivity in Garment Production

 Higher productivity brings higher margin in a

business.

 And increment in Productivity level reduces

garment manufacturing cost.

 Hence a factory can make more profit through

productivity improvement.
1. Conducting motion study and correcting faulty motions

 There is a saying “Even best can be improved”.

 So go to Gemba (sewing floor) and look for the operator’s working

method and movements.

 Prepare a checklist for good methods and movements.

 At the time of motion study, observe operator’s movement and

compare with your checklist.

 cont.….

 If you found wrong movements is used by the operator or

unnecessarily extra movement is present in the operation

cycle correct it.

 By doing this you can reduce operation cycle time and can

improve labor productivity up to 100%* in individual

operations (*in 20% of the total operations as per Pareto’s 80-

20 Principle).
 2. Hourly operator capacity checks
 Employ work-study personnel (if you don’t have) and
start checking operator capacity hourly or bi-hourly.
 Compare actual operator’s hourly production with their
capacity.
 If production is less then question them why? It helps in
two ways –
 First, when the operator’s capacity is checked at the
regular interval they will be under pressure.
Secondly, work-study personnel start thinking on
methods of how cycle time can be reduced. Using the
capacity data, you can move ahead in balancing the
line. 
 3. Conduct R&D for the garment

 A non-value added (NVA) process but having a strong Research and

Development (R&D) team in the factory brings a lot of benefits.

 R&D can be taken as a preparation stage for bulk production. This

department does sample production and looks into potentially
critical operations, plan for the requirement of special equipment,
advice changes in terms of construction without changing styling.
 cont.….

 E.g. if an operation contains some raw stitches, which doesn’t affect

the final look of the garment, then that operation can be avoided if

possible to save time. They plan for skill requirement for the

operations.

 As a result, production runs without any break or with less no. of

breaks. As it reduces the chance of the production breaks in

production for unnecessary reasons, line productivity doesn't come

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

 The workstation layout defines from where an operator will pick up work
(garment components) and where she will dispose stitched garment. A
scientific layout is defined as minimum reach for picking up and dispose of
components. Every components and tool (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 the needle as
possible. 
• The direction of the components where it positioned on the 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 the same plane of the machine table so that operator can
easily slide it to needlepoint. 
 The purpose of designing a good workstation layout is to minimize the
material handling time as much as possible. Thus you can reduce operation
cycle time. The secondary benefit of a good workstation is operators can work
at the same pace without fatigue. When designing a workstation layout don’t
forget to consider ergonomics. 
 6. Reduce line setting time
 It has been observed that a line reaches at its pick productivity level on day 6-7 after
loading of an order. The time lost in the initial days (learning curve) brings down the
average labor productivity for the whole style.
 Reason - a lot of time is lost during setting of the 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 the line setting time, engineers have to study the garment thoroughly,
prepare operation bulletin with machine requirement and machine layout plan prior
to feeding cuttings to the line.
 Read another article to know how to reduce line setting time. Engineers need to
coordinate with line supervisors and maintenance department with their plans and
requirements.
 This will help supervisors and maintenance department to be pro-active in arranging
required resources. 
 7. Improve line balancing

 Purpose of balancing a line is to reduce operator’s idle time or maximize

operator utilization. In a balanced line work will flow smoothly and no time
will be lost in waiting for work.
 At the time of line setting select operators for the operation matching
operator skill history and skill required. Following this method, you will
select highly skilled operators for higher work content operations. Once the
line is set, conduct the capacity study at a regular interval.
 Use pitch diagram method to find bottlenecks inside the line. You have to
think how you will minimize WIP level at bottleneck operations.
 Read another article online balancing for guidelines. Once you start
increasing operator utilization through line balancing you will get extra
pieces from the same resources in defined time. 
 Even a well-managed factory can improve productivity by 22% through line
balancing reported by Md. Rezaul Hasan Shuman, Kazi Ar if-Uz-Zaman, and
Azizur Rahman in a  Research Study “Productivity Improvement through
Line Balancing in Apparel Industries”. 
 8. Use work aids, attachments, guides, correct pressure foots and folders

 These are some kinds of time-saving devices that facilitate the operator to
perform their work effectively with less effort. If work aids are used
effectively operation cycle time can be reduced more time than existing
cycle time.
 In new and small factories where there is no experienced technical person
(maintenance, IE personnel or production manager) generally not aware
about the usage and availability of work aids. So their operators sew
garment free hand.
 Labor productivity is comparably higher for the factories that widely use
work aids than those who do not use work aids for the similar products.
Folders and attachments are also very helpful in producing consistent
stitching quality.
 On the other hand work aids, guides and fixtures reduce operator’s
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 and efforts towards productivity will fail if the line is not been fed
continuously. “No feeding or irregular feeding” is one of the top reasons
for lower productivity in a poorly managed factory. Poor production plan,
wrong selection product mix in seasons and ineffective cutting
department are the reasons that stop continuous feeding.
 Once operators get the rhythm, they should be given non-stop feeding
until style changeover to keep up the productivity.
 If you know there is the unavailability of cutting in near future then plan
accordingly and don’t call all operators for that duration. 
 10. Feed fault free and precise cutting to the line
 Stop cutting and trimming of extra fabric from cut
components by operators. If your cutter is not able to provide
precise cutting, he should be trained. But faulty cutting
doesn't be fed into the line.
 When operators cut fabric he performs the additional task in
the 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 the operator. Secondly, cuttings with 
fabric defects, pattern problem are issued to sewing line.
 As a result, line produces defective garments. Alteration and
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 and
communication skill. Still, in most of the supervisors in Indian
factories are raised from tailors. They don’t acquire a technical
qualification in supervising. But their main job is providing
instruction, transferring information. For which communication
skill training is required for supervisors.
 Secondly, a supervisor should understand the fundamental of
industrial engineering like operation bulletin, skill matrix,
workstation layout, movement, capacity study and theoretical
line balancing etc. If they understood these, they can help
engineers or work study boys to improve line performance.
 The above training will bring changes in managing and control
the lines and will improve labor productivity. 
 12. Training to sewing operators

 Operators are main resources in the apparel manufacturing.

 They are the most valuable resource to the company. So, the factory
must work on developing operator skill where required. “Training is
not a 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 and untrained
operators.
 As the skill level of the operators is increased through training lines
output will improve.
 Training does mean a lot of time and money. Training should be
given only on specific tasks that will be performed by the operator.
Paul’s article “
systematic training for apparel industry operators – an introduction”
is very helpful in this regard. 
 13. Setting individual operator target
 Instead of giving an equal target to all operators working in a
line, give individual target as per the operator's skill level and
capacity.
 Set an achievable target for each operator so that they would
try to reach the target. This will help improving the operator’s
individual efficiency.
 Use tricks for increasing the target step by step. Take care of
the operators who are under target.
 They may need skill training. Go back to point#12. Training for
sewing operators.
 14. Eliminate lost time and off-standard time
 Utilize the operator’s 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, and 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 the analysis and Pareto of non-productive time
you can think and plan on reducing it. 
 15. Real-time shop floor data tracking system

 For the continuous improvement and prompt action on failure

you need information from the shop floor as fast as possible.
 Important information needed such as hourly production, line
balancing, WIP, tracking bundles and quality performance of
the 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 a second. 
 16. Using an 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 an operator will lose about 20
minutes just in thread cutting. In operation of 0.5 SAM, an
operator can make 40 extra pieces.
 Even a 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 the same building. Use the
best of your resources.
 If machines or equipment don’t perform well operator
motivation goes down. Repetitive breakdown of machines
increase the loss time and bring down overall line efficiency
and labour productivity.
 I have seen lines where UBT machine is used in long seam
operations and comparably lower work content.
 On the other hand, where shorter seams are being stitched,
most of the time spent in thread trimming for taking out work
from the needle, normal lock stitch sewing machine is 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 a 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 another way.
 At the start of the style, an operator may not understand the
specification, interaction with quality inspector will make an
operator clear about the quality requirement.
 Poorly managed factory loses productivity up to 10% due to
repair and rejects as mentioned by Dr. Bheda in his article
“Productivity in Apparel Manufacturing”. 
 19. Operator motivation

 Operator’s will is the most crucial part of productivity

improvement. If they are motivated, they will put
enough efforts into the work.
 Employee motivation generally depends on various
factors like work culture, HR policies, bonus on extra
effort or achieving the target. In garment
manufacturing operator’s motivation come through
extra money.
 Operator motivation can be improved by sharing a
certain percentage of your profit made from the
operator’s extra effort. 
 20. Plan for operator’s Incentive scheme

 Paul Collyer, a British expert says “In British factories, in a non-

incentive environment factory can reach up to 80% efficiency
level and if the manager expects more than that they had to
provide an incentive to operators as well as to the 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 into
money. 
 You need to understand that employees come to work in your
organization for money. Initially, you may think that an
incentive scheme may reduce your profit.
 But in reality it works in the opposite direction, provided that
the incentive system is fair for the workers and has been
implemented intelligently.
 I have seen factories where operator efficiency reaches up to
76% from 45% after implementation of an incentive scheme.
An incentive scheme will give a lot of other benefits in return
as a byproduct.
 An incentive scheme designed with multiple parameters may
bring discipline on the shop floor.
 As operators give extra effort to the work, efficiency as well as
productivity of the operator increases.
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