An analysis of Apparel Manufacturing SMEs in the NCR

The quote above very appropriately states the purpose of investigation of the management in the garment industry. State of the art machinery, efficient labour force and standard operating system cannot do wonders without effective management.

Evaluating the managerial workforce of the garment industry was one of the primary objectives during the survey. This article illustrates the findings on the general status of managers and supervisors across the industry.

The analysis is based upon the survey conducted by the Methods Apparel Consultancy. Ten factories were rated and 300 people were assessed during the surveys in November-December, 2007 commissioned by the Garment Technical Cooperation (GTZ) in association with Okhla Garment and Textile Cluster (OGTC) to analyze current systems and advise ways to improve overall productivity. The survey was done in two parts, the first analyzing the factory and the second evaluating the personnel.

A comprehensive checklist was developed which covered various parameters of managerial and supervisory characteristics and each point on the checklist was awarded a value of 1 to 5 points. The people were evaluated by their immediate superiors in complete confidentiality and a score for the average level of the industry was calculated.

Evaluation Criteria

1. Communication skills were found to be grossly lacking among both managers and supervisors. Many of them still believe that the louder you shout the more you produce. Effective communication skills if not inborn can be acquired by professional training and can be a major tool for the managers.
2. The discipline to manage a to-do list can be a vital asset in organizing one's work.
3. Leadership Techniques must be mastered by the managers/supervisors to get productive results from their employees. Only a good leader can steer its team and motivate them.
4. Effective and logical decision making (57.8%) is another important requirement which was lacking in a large percentage of the people.
5. Planning and organization scored 56%. The managers/supervisors should be trained in effective planning strategies by utilizing the data available through various management/ supervision techniques. The most talented people of the organization are mostly busy with fire fighting and shipment delivery.
6. To further increase the level of technical expertise, the managers/supervisors should be encouraged to continuously upgrade themselves by training and attending seminars on various new products and procedures. It was surprising to note that many managers/supervisors had no knowledge of the innovative techniques which can be used to simplify their work
7. Work Study has come up as one of the most important areas for training requirements.
8. Quality and Productivity - The repair and rejection rate is at times as high as 70% and many times it goes unrecorded. The efficiency rating of the industry is also at a level of 33% only.
9. SOPs were not present in many factories and in most cases wherever present were only for decorative purposes for the buyers.
10. Computer Knowledge. A refresher course in basic usage of computers can help managers.
11. General industry knowledge This cannot be taught but has to be inculcated by the mangers themselves.