Manufacturing Process at Mas Active

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Conventional cutting would lay fabric on a mass scale basis, where there would be one cutting department and it would do the cutting for the entire production lines. In this mechanism irrespective of the production, it would finish the cutting in one attempt for the entire order. Which would mean even if the production does not demand for the cut panels, cutting department would finish the task and hold the cut panels in the form of WIP. After the panels are cut, if the garment requires an embellishment, the embellishment team executes this activity and completes their task, in mass scale. After the panels are cut and specific embroidery is done, specific panels are bundled according to the line layouts and the work-study of the garment.

The line would constitute of separate machinery to produce the garment. Type of machine layout and the work flow would be designed in the initial works study and Standard Minute preparation stage. Line would constitute of normal sewing operators and specialized machine operators who would be semi skilled and skilled depending on the operation type and helpers who are non skilled in nature. These operators would form in a line formation and starting with the first operation and ending with the end garment. Each worker would get a day target and rewarded on the amount of completions irrespective of the end garment.

This function would be in line and at the end line. Quality defects found at the end of the line would be reworked , if it cannot be reworked it would be passed to scrap. Finishing would complete the garment and it.

This process resulted in large levels of stock, departmental segregation, space, blame game, waste of time, no shared values being main characteristics of this working model.

A certain amount of refinement was attempted by the company by having one cutting table cutting for a few modules instead of one. Ironing and finishing was taken into the lines along with quality, so that the headcount required and cost was reduced. Attempts to create a team culture with management support. This reduced the stock levels from what it was. And also reduced the repairs, reworks and rejects.

However, as the quota regime ended and now the company had to compete with international companies on cost, quality and delivery and the hence, the drive to change from a manufacturing company to a company which brings concepts to reality, to its branded customers. The pressures described above that are exerted from both sides, led to the manufacturing process being reviewed from a systems thinking approach to ensure that the business process, as much as its aligned internally, that it is connected to the external environment, being the customer.

2.2 3rd Wave

The customer only pays for the actual stitching, embellishment and packing time. All other activities are part of the cost which the company needs to allocate from its, total earnings that it receives from its customers. Therefore, every single second spent on doing something non value adding or non essential is additional cost.

Therefore, rather than allocating the issues into departments and resolving them on a piecemeal basis, it was decided to link the cutting and production together, adding the embellishment and quality process into the sewing module, thereby creating a single large team. This team would then be responsible for their cutting, sewing, embellishment, quality and packing of that module, in total. To this team a mechanic too is thrown in, so that a total systems thinking functional team was created at the lowest level in the organization. Thus pushing the organization structure relatively flatter, in comparison to what it was.

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2.2.1 Features of the Model

Fabric will be requested from the stores, based on the hours production requirement and will be transported to the cutting area. The cutters would cut the fabric and along with the accessories received will hand over the items to the team members that directly stitch or incorporate them into the garment manufacturing process. When the 1st girl in the sewing module is stitching the last piece of the previous style, the next item is kept ready and handed over to her. After cutting the necessary garments, the cutters are multi skilled to either perform a panel inspection, packing or repair function, as required. The quality of the garment is checked during the stitching process as well as at the end of the line. Goods are packed into the carton and sent to the finished goods warehouse. If there is any machinery concern, the mechanic for that team, ensures the repair is done, without causing disruption to the line. If the planned quantity is achieved for the day, all members from cutting to packing including the mechanics are rewarded for their contribution in achieving the output required.

As described above the process is aligned and each individual is working towards one common goal. The connections of the process and team members are very visual in such a process and have most unnecessary movements and motions removed. Thus enabling bottle necks, run outs, idle times to be easily identified and the problem rectified. Garments would flow in single piece flow, rather than in batches. As a result of the pull system, the cutwork and work in progress levels would drop drastically.

Communication between team is easy because all are in one place and issues can be resolved faster. Passing on issues between departments is removed and therefore, it’s fundamentally important that each member understands his or her role in the team. Team support plays a vital role, especially when new employees join the team. This was a cause of concern earlier. Work that needs to be done by each has to be specified in detail and trained to the required level.

2.2.2 Measures and Expectations of the Model

The expectations from a such a system is vast and from the practical application of it, the benefits and expectations are as follows :

- Capacity – Increase in physical area where garment stitching can happen and increase in output as a result of increase in throughput time

- Distance – reduced to the minimum as a result of aligning the teams and removing unnecessary space

- Throughput time – faster as a result of less disruptions and waiting time

- Value added time – increased as stitching time increases and waiting time reduces