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LEAN MANUFACTURING IN APPAREL INDUSTRY
LEAN MANUFACTURING IN APPAREL INDUSTRY
INTRODUCTION :
A systematic approach to identifying and eliminating waste through continuous improvement by flowing the product at the demand of the customer”. Lean is about doing more with less: Time, inventory, space, people, and money. Apparel manufacturers- pressed to deliver high quality garments at low costs.
HISTORY OF LEAN MANUFACTURING:
It was originated from the Toyota Motor Company. It is a management philosophy of production that emphasizes the minimization of the amount of all the resources (including time) used in the various activities to produce a goods or service. It involves identifying and eliminating non-value (waste) added activities which increase product cost.
THE BASIC LEAN MANUFACTURING PRINCIPLES:
Value
Value stream mapping
Flow
Pull
Perfection
THE TRADITIONAL PRODUCTION VS LEAN MANUFACTURING.
• Job definition
• Quality control
• Production process
• Inventory
• Competing on
• Cost reduction
• Product flow
• Product development
• Leadership
• Design
• Outcome
STEPS TO IMPLEMENT THE LEAN MANUFACTURING:
There are four steps in implementing lean manufacturing. They are;
Identifying the fact that there are wastes to be removed.
Analysing the wastes and finding the root causes for these wastes.
Finding the solution for these root causes.
Application of these solutions and achieving the objective.
THE LEAN PRODUCTION GOALS:
Deliver the product, while…
"maximizing value (give the customer what they exactly need)”
“Minimizing waste (eliminate anything not needed for delivering value)”
“Pursuing perfection”
LEAN MANUFACTURING TOOLS & TECHNIQUES:
Seven QC tools
JIT (Just In Time)
5s
Kanban tooling
Total productive maintenance
QFD (Quality Function Deployment)
SEVEN QC TOOLS:
Check sheet or tally sheet
Histogram
Pareto chart
Cause and effect diagram
Process flow chart
Control chart
Scatter diagram
JIT (JUST IN TIME):
• JIT much interconnected with lean manufacturing; and it is the backbone of the lean manufacturing.
• JIT concepts are based on the pull demand model. JIT has three main areas.
JIT purchasing
JIT Production
JIT distribution
5s :
5s is a series of five simple lean manufacturing tools to improve the work environment.
1. Seiri (sort)
2. Seiton (straighten)
3. Seiso (shine)
4. Seiketsu (standardize)
5. Shitsuke (sustain)
KANBAN TOOLING:
Kanban is one of most popular tools in lean manufacturing. This is a simple concept, but very effective. Kanban mainly focus on the reduction of overproduction. There are mainly two types of kanbans. They are
Withdrawal kanban
Production kanban
ADVANTAGES OF LEAN MANUFACTURING:
Lean manufacturing is normally known to reduce the; Lead time by 50% at least (some reports says stories where lead time is being reduced up to 90%)
Reduced WIP up to 80%
Floor space savings around 30 %( sometimes more than 50%)
Increased productivity at least by 30%. (even more than 100% in some cases)
Overall cost reduction
BARRIERS FOR LEAN IMPLEMENTATION:
Lack of interest.
Lack of awareness.
Shortage of basic infrastructure.
Wasteful movements due to larger distance.
No regular and proper training to workmen and officers.
Initial Stage- Applying- Production disturbed.
Wrong concept about lean among employees.
Thus by following the lean manufacturing we can achieve less waste and eliminate unwanted wastes. We can achieve high quality garment at low cost.
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