6. Efficiency of Operation
Number of active machines seen in the running (production) condition is an indicator of the efficiency of that department. Companies having
efficient manufacturing departments only can keep their commitments. Say for
example, in a weaving plant, if you find from the indicators about 10% machines
are stopped, you may grossly assess that the department works with about 90%
efficiency at that time.
7. Quality and Efficacy of communication
Many buyers insist that the vendor designate a single person
as a point of contact for all follow ups related to their orders. I find
efficacy of this arrangement not very doubtful because,
- That particular contact person may not be available all
the time.
- Unlike apparel merchandisers, the fabric marketing
people move around inside the plants and outside a lot and they normally
check e-mails only twice or thrice a day. Therefore, it is wise to
consolidate all queries/questions in a batch and send/ expect reply only
once or twice from a vendor per day. Also, questions related to order
status should be with the PPC department instead of with the marketing
person while a copy of such communication should be marked to the marketing
person of the vendor. This is a tested method to get correct and timely
replies.
You should also check out that Vendors have competent
communicators to answer queries on a day to day basis.
8. Suggestion for buying smaller quantity of fabric
It is always a good idea to procure smaller quantity of
fabrics from a wholesaler or through a good buying agent than buying directly
from a manufacturer. The cost may be slightly higher but the wholesalers and
agents of textile manufacturers have normally very close contact with the mills
and they can ensure on-time delivery better for smaller quantities.
Last but not the least, the merchandisers involved in the
sourcing job sometimes does not recognize the issues characteristic of the
textile industry. In such cases they should be given some orientation in the
fabric manufacturing process to understand and plan the fabric procurement operation better.
The
views expressed are personal. Here 'I' refers to the author.
