“Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort”– this quote of Paul J. Meyer had become apparent in the workshop on Scopes of Increasing Efficiency and Productivity of RMG Industry. It was a 2 day long workshop organized by Amin & Jahan Corporation Ltd. held on 8-9 June, 2012 at the conference hall of the organizers in Gulshan. The workshop was very contemporary which covered almost all concepts from theory to practice. The topics included were: Basic of Production, Productivity & Efficiency, Introducing Modern Cutting Room, Tools and Techniques to increase Productivity, Production Improvement: The Avery Dennison case, Introduction to Audaces Fashion Technology, Product Design, Development & Management by using software and Garments CAD Operation. Variation was not only in topics but also in terms of participants, who comes from various sector related to RMG industry. There were GM, DGM, AGM, Merchandisers, Technical Officers, People from QAM and R&D division, Academician and student.
Production, Productivity & Efficiency – Back to Basics:
As the title of the workshop was “Scopes of Increasing Efficiency & Productivity of RMG Industry”, it begins very logically with some basic concepts about production, productivity & efficiency. Distinguish speaker Engineer Rupali Biswas, Chief Coordinator & Lean Consultant of BKMEA, took the participants to the root definition of these common yet intricate terms. She simply defined production as a function of acquiring inputs (Man, Machine, Materials, Method, Money) and transforming them into outputs (Products or services). Productivity, Efficiency, Effectiveness; all were described individually and elaborately but the most interesting part was when they were related to each other. The speaker introduced a very unique concept of productivity in relation with efficiency & effectiveness. In her words,
Productivity= Doing Things Right (Efficiency) + Doing the Right Things (Effectiveness)
= Doing the Right Things Right .
The session became more interesting when discussion on productivity measurement begun. Focusing on productivity measurement, the speaker quoted from James Harrington,
“Measurement is the first step that leads to control & improvement. If you can’t measure something, you can’t understand it. If you can’t understand it, you can’t control it. If you can’t control it, you can’t improve it.”
Different techniques of productivity measurement, from time study to PMTS (Predetermined Motion Time System) method; were discussed instinctively by the speaker. Use of mathematical problem & equations ease the understanding of the participants about SMV (Standard Minute Value) calculation, Rating and Allowance Factor.
Tools and Techniques to Increase Productivity:
Productivity is evident in all sectors but when it comes to RMG industry it becomes big as life because every effort regarding this industry comes to one end of optimal productivity. Therefore the session on tools and techniques to increase productivity was a great help for the participants. Apart from general techniques of productivity improvement, the discussion on factors influencing productivity covered some different ranges of factors such as (non-controllable) external factors (product factor, work method, human factor etc.), (controllable) internal factors (natural resource, government and infrastructure, social changes etc.). Engineer Rupali Biswas also points some factors as significant irrespective of the controllability; ‘EMPLOYEE’, ‘MANAGEMENT’, ‘FACILITIES’, ‘TECHNOLOGY’, ‘GOVERNMENT’, ‘ENVIRONMENT’ are some significant factors that affect Productivity grossly. The philosophy of LEAN manufacturing had been discussed briefly. This philosophy is very contemporary which focuses on elimination of waste flowing the values into the hands of the customer. The discussion of historical underpinning of LEAN, the four rules of LEAN, its tools and techniques and their application made the total concept quite visible and clear towards the participants. Special emphasis was also given towards understanding customer demand and the suitability of LEAN compared to the traditional method, in meeting those demands. As LEAN focuses on waste elimination thus the concept of waste, its different forms and its effect on productivity were discussed with interactive facts and figures. The discussion on the session cannot be completed without mentioning the “PDCA” cycle which is a widely practiced problem solving process in RMG industry.
Avery Dennison – Applying ‘LEAN’ Like a Boss:
“Avery Dennison…..We’re everywhere you look” – as the slogan suggests, business of Avery Dennison covers a wide range of products. Labels of RMG sector are included in these. Besides the huge business, the multinational company also made its mark as one of the top ‘LEAN’ appliers of the world. Ifhtekhar Aziz, Project Engineer, Avery Dennison, South Asia; presented a case study of Avery Dennison Bangladesh on productivity improvement. The common perception of lean, as a tool for problem solving (waste reduction) is not followed in Avery Dennison. Here lean itself is about problem solving (waste reduction) and the tools will only help to surface the problems. Avery Dennison specifies value, identify value stream, define flow & pull and then strives for perfection. Definition of foundational waste elimination tools like Kanban, A3 Management, CEDAC (Cause and Effect Diagramming with Addition of Cards), MDI (Management for Daily improvement), 5S were given in this session. It was really interesting to found that, Avery Dennison is using 6S in place of 5S.With the common 5S’s – Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardized, Sustain; they are using an additional ‘S’ for Safety.
The ‘Poka Yoka’ system is a brilliant method for error proofing in workshop & it is practiced in Avery Dennison. Success of this organization is hugely dependent on the achievement of its KPI’s, which are- Reliability, Cycle time, Scrap %, UEE % (Utilization of Efficient Equipment), UPLH (Unit Produced per Labor Hour) & CFST. Avery Dennison Bangladesh was ranked No. 1 in the overall platform rating of the company in 2012, which is a great achievement. In a nutshell, the case study of Avery Dennison impressed all the participants and inspired them to use the methods it is taking to be the absolute Lean manufacturer.
Audaces Fashion Technology – A Bold Solution for Productivity Improvement in RMG Industry:
“100 % creative, 100 % innovative”, Audaces Fashion Technology was introduced like this to the participants by Eduardo lopez, commercial manager, Audaces. The company is based on the island of Florianópolis, capital of Santa Catarina State, Brazil. Mr. Eduardo begins with the present demands of the fashion industry like- Creation agility, Good communication between sectors, Organization in process & data, Information patronization & delivery in its due dates. Failure in meeting these demands will result in increase cost & waste, back order, bad reputation & thus loss, loss, loss. On the other hand achieving the proposed objectives will definitely create a win, win, win situation & thus improve productivity. The modern cutting room will play a vital role in this aspect. It consists of computerized pattern making, auto spreading, automatic marker making & printing and auto cutting. Low maintenance, low consumption & easy operation are three vital characteristics of a modern cutting room which leads to the ultimate increase in production and reduce in man work hour, fix & operational costs. Audaces brings to you ‘Neocut’, first automatic cutting machine with worldwide technology produced in Brazil. This machine will do the spreading & cutting operation more smoothly and quickly than most of its competitors. It reduces spreads high from 20-30 cm to 3-7 cm without compromising with the quality issue. Besides the ‘Neocut’, Mr. Eduardo introduces the participants with Audaces Jet Lux Plotter for printing the marker.
Audaces also brings a variety of software for RMG industry like Audaces Pattern Making Software, Audaces Marker Making Software, Audaces Idea Software etc. Among these, Audaces Idea seemed the most innovative. This software allows us to create entire collections in less time. Select key apparel pieces from an extensive catalog, manage our product engineering, customize our technical readouts and even create virtual and printable catalogs. On the whole, Audaces Fashion Technology is headed to create a revolution in ultimate productivity sustainability.
Garments CAD operation……… Very Easy!!!
This was really a very useful session where the participants get a practical knowledge about garments CAD (Computer Aided design) operation. Tushar Kumar Paul , Technical Sales Executive, Apptex Sourcing & Afsar Hossain Saikat, Executive – CAD, Apptex Sourcing conducted the session. They made a pattern in front of the participants using Audaces Pattern Making Software and also made an automatic marker using that pattern. It showed the participants how easily a pattern & marker can be developed using limited tools by Audaces software & cleared most of their misconceptions about CAD being a difficult operation.
In a nutshell the workshop was a great endeavor of Amin& Jahan Corporation Ltd. which opened up new avenues of ideas in order to increase productivity in RMG sector in Bangladesh.
