The clothing manufacturing industry is a blend of creativity and precision, heavily reliant on the skills of its workforce to produce fashionable garments. In today’s world, fashion and clothing styles evolve rapidly, making these industries exceptionally fast-paced. They hold significant importance, consistently striving to meet the highest quality standards. The impact of technology and automation is noteworthy, creating additional job opportunities for skilled workers in the apparel sector. It is now wonder that manufacturers are increasingly focusing on training and skill development programmes to maximise workforce potential. Consequently, new methods for analysing and enhancing skills have become crucial in this field.

To stay updated and competitive in manufacturing apparel goods is an ongoing challenge. This article explores how new methods for analysing and improving skills in the clothing industry can facilitate increased production. We will delve into why these methods are vital, what companies need to do to implement them, and their role in producing high-quality apparel goods. These methods not only improve worker proficiency but also enable garment manufacturing industries to adapt to changing fashion trends. As technology advances, these methods are expected to play a pivotal role in the garment production process and establish new industry standards.

Ways to Improve Productivity in the Apparel Industry

In the apparel industry, there are several innovative methods to enhance productivity. These include the implementation of various lean tools and techniques, conducting root cause analyses, eliminating bottleneck areas, fostering continuous improvement initiatives, and embracing automation. Generally, there are three primary strategies aimed at boosting productivity on the organisational or workshop floor. These approaches align with the productivity formula, which is the ratio of output to input. They are:

Increasing Output While Maintaining Constant Input: This method focuses on boosting production levels without altering the amount of resources used.

Decreasing Input While Keeping Output Constant: This approach involves reducing resource usage while maintaining the same level of production.

Increasing Certain Inputs to Achieve Higher Output: In this strategy, selective inputs are increased with the objective of significantly enhancing output.

By implementing these techniques, the overall productivity within the apparel industry can be improved. Below we examine some of the methods as to how they can enhance production and productivity, improve quality, increase customer satisfaction, and reduce lead times, costs, logistics, and variable expenses.

1.   Hourly Performance Monitoring

Traditional methods of monitoring operator performance in the garment industry have been the norm for years. However, it is now essential to implement a system that tracks operator performance on an hourly basis. This approach enables timely interventions, leading to enhanced efficiency and productivity. The adoption of technological advancements is crucial, particularly when traditional methods fall short in providing such detailed monitoring.

2.  Implementing Learning Work Techniques

Many manufacturing industries operate on the principle that “the best can always be improved.” To actualise this, it requires the involvement of all personnel in the manufacturing unit or organisation. Key methods to enhance learning work include the preparation of checklists to monitor actions and practices. These checklists are instrumental in identifying value-added and non-value-added activities. They aid in reducing cycle times, implementing skill improvement programmes, focusing on labour productivity at every stage of operation, and analysing ways to reduce operator fatigue.

3.  Production Research and improvement

A key focus of the research and improvement team on the manufacturing floor is to identify and eliminate non-value-added (NVA) processes. This approach yields significant benefits, streamlining operations and enhancing efficiency.

4.  Identifying the Root Cause of Issues

Accurately pinpointing the root cause of problems is crucial in enhancing an organisation’s overall productivity. Various methods and techniques are available for problem-solving and root cause analysis. These include the Gemba walk, performance testing, lean tool implementation, and specific root cause analysis methods. Employing these techniques helps in effectively addressing and resolving issues.

5.  Layout Optimisation

In order to maximise efficiency in the sewing department, it is critical to arrange sewing machines, tools, and equipment logically to minimise operator movement and reduce travel time. An optimal layout involves grouping similar machines together, ensuring a streamlined workflow, providing easy access to tools and materials for operators, and considering ergonomic factors for operator comfort. Additionally, the layout should facilitate a smooth flow of materials, integrate quality control checkpoints, maximise space utilisation, and remain adaptable to evolving production demands. This holistic approach to layout optimisation is instrumental in boosting productivity and efficiency in the sewing department.

6.  Implementation of Basic Lean Tools

The implementation of lean principles in the garment industry is crucial for achieving operational excellence, reducing waste, and enhancing overall productivity. Lean methodologies are key to identifying and eliminating inefficiencies across the production process, from design to distribution. The application of lean practices increases efficiency and reduces lead times, allowing garment manufacturers to quickly adapt to market demands and stay responsive to changing trends, while maintaining operational flexibility. A focus on quality, inherent in lean principles, leads to fewer defects and rework, enhancing brand reputation and customer loyalty. In an era where sustainability is increasingly valued, lean practices reduce environmental impact by promoting resource efficiency. Additionally, lean principles cultivate a culture of continuous improvement, empowering employees at all levels to identify and address issues, thereby fostering innovation and a commitment to excellence. Ultimately, integrating lean principles in the garment industry is a transformative step towards operational excellence, ensuring long-term competitiveness in this dynamic and competitive sector.

6S: 6S is a highly effective lean methodology widely adopted by many manufacturing organisations. It is known for waste minimisation and product enhancement. The 6S tools consist of Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardise, Sustain, and Safety. This methodology is common and straightforward to implement in lean manufacturing, offering clear visibility and a safe, standardised workspace. Consequently, it significantly improves productivity and consistency on the work floor.

Kaizen: Kaizen, a Japanese term meaning continuous improvement or change for the better, is a vital tool in lean manufacturing. It is commonly used in workplace settings. Kaizen focuses on activities that add value to processes and embodies the idea of continuous improvement across all functions. To effectively implement and sustain the principles of Kaizen, involvement is required from everyone in the manufacturing industry, from the CEO to assembly line staff.

7.  Effective Line Balancing

Achieving maximum efficiency and productivity in the garment industry necessitates proper balancing of the sewing line. It is the industrial engineer’s primary responsibility to design a line that avoids any bottleneck operations. Line balancing focuses on reducing operation time and ensuring smoother material flow, with the goal of achieving high efficiency and maximum productivity. When balancing the sewing line, understanding the skill matrix of each operator is crucial to extract optimal performance. After assigning the right manpower to appropriate operations, enhancing productivity per person involves conducting method studies, time studies, and work measurements. These practices not only increase the productivity of individual lines but also elevate the overall efficiency of the sewing floor.

8. Reduce Timeline

Changes in style or product on the sewing line can significantly impact productivity and the production process. Valuable time is often lost due to line changeovers, machine breakdowns, power failures, setting up new style lines, regular operator absences, among other factors. These issues extend the timeline or lead time, reducing overall machine production and line efficiency. In a production environment with several sewing lines, the responsibility of the technical and industrial engineering teams includes designing and operating all lines to ensure minimal setup time and increased productivity.

9.  Skill-Enhancing Training

Operators are vital to the manufacturing industry, making it essential to invest in their skills and training. In the garment manufacturing industry, focusing on operator skills and training is not seen as a cost but as an investment. Less skilled operators can negatively impact production, quality, time, and cost. Conversely, highly skilled and proficient operators can resolve these issues. Effective training not only improves each operator’s performance on the sewing floor but also contributes to the overall efficiency and quality of the production process.

10.  Minimise Downtime

Maximising the utilisation of operators’ time in the production process is crucial. Any period of inactivity disrupts operations, leading to performance delays and reduced productivity. To optimise time usage, it is essential to proactively minimise idle periods and maintain a smooth workflow. Strategies such as automation and efficient scheduling can further enhance efficiency. It is also important to align operator incentives with their efficiency, incentivising optimal performance.

11.   Use of Work Aids

Work aids are additional attachments or devices integrated with sewing machines to reduce operation time. In the apparel industry, various work aids are attached to sewing machines to boost production, including folders, guides, binder attachments, bobbin winders, foot pedals, hemmer feet, quilting guides, seam rippers, trolley guides, thread stands, needle threaders, and others. The appropriate use of work aids is crucial for achieving minimal working cycle time, optimum quality, and improved productivity of the line.

12.  Continuous Quality Checking

Maintaining garment quality requires regular functional testing of quality standards to minimise and eliminate defects during manufacturing. Addressing small issues as they arise in the apparel industry saves time that would otherwise be spent on extensive repairs. Producing defective parts or poor-quality goods leads to a threefold loss in production. For instance, when an operator produces a faulty garment, the first loss is the time spent creating the defect. The second loss occurs in identifying and repairing the defect. Concurrently, the time spent on these activities could have been used to stitch another piece of quality product, representing the third loss. Hence, addressing defects incurs not just the time and resources for correction, but also prevents the production of defect-free items, amplifying overall losses. Implementing an online inspection system is vital to keep operators focused on their tasks, enabling early identification and prevention of quality issues.

13.  Empower the Workforce

Employee motivation is influenced by various factors including workplace culture, HR policies, and incentives such as bonuses for exceeding targets. In the context of promoting clothing production, a blend of financial and non-financial incentives can be effective. However, financial incentives are particularly impactful due to their tangible benefits and motivational impact. Production assistance that reduces product costs and enhances quality ultimately leads to customer satisfaction. High-quality products increase value, establish brand names, and build good reputation for clothing manufacturers, which in turn leads to customer satisfaction and increased sales.

14.  Quality Control and Quality Assurance

Enhancing productivity in the apparel industry requires implementing a robust quality control (QC) system. This involves regular inspections, testing, defect analysis, and feedback mechanisms to identify and address issues at various production stages. Alongside QC, integrating quality assurance (QA) is crucial. QA focuses on standardising processes, managing suppliers, encouraging continuous improvement, and mitigating risks. While QC ensures final products meet specific quality standards and are defect-free, QA establishes a framework to prevent defects and maintain consistent quality. This approach leads to reduced rework, minimal defects, heightened customer satisfaction, and increased operational efficiency.

15.  Automation to Boost Productivity

Automation significantly revolutionises the apparel industry by enhancing productivity in several ways. Firstly, it accelerates the manufacturing process, reducing production time and increasing productivity and efficiency. Semi- or fully-automated machinery ensures consistent and precise output, reducing errors and the need for rework. This results in considerable cost savings by lowering labour costs and minimising expenses related to worker benefits and turnover. Additionally, automation allows for continuous operation, which is especially beneficial for meeting tight deadlines and seasonal demands. Modern technology facilitates flexible manufacturing, enabling the production of customised or small-batch clothing to cater to niche markets and individual preferences. Automation also optimises fabric usage, reducing material waste and minimising errors. Moreover, it improves working conditions by eliminating repetitive and physically demanding tasks.

Conclusion

The apparel industry, characterised by its blend of creativity and precision, is undergoing rapid evolution. The integration of technology and automation has accelerated manufacturing processes, minimised errors, and resulted in significant labour cost savings. Additionally, it has facilitated flexible production capabilities for customised clothing.

To boost productivity, companies in the clothing industry can employ a variety of techniques. These include identifying root causes of inefficiencies, monitoring performance on an hourly basis, and optimising the layout of production facilities. Such strategies help in reducing downtime and ensuring the production of high-quality products.

Furthermore, empowering the workforce and implementing robust quality control and assurance measures are crucial. These practices not only uphold standards but also foster a motivated and skilled workforce.

In this dynamic and fast-paced sector, adopting these methods is essential for maintaining competitiveness and adapting to the ever-changing demands of fashion. As technological advancements continue, automation is set to further revolutionise the apparel production process. This evolution will set new industry standards and keep the apparel industry at the forefront of innovation.

In this dynamic and fast-paced sector, adopting these methods is essential for maintaining competitiveness and adapting to the ever-changing demands of fashion. As technological advancements continue, automation is set to further revolutionize the apparel production process. This evolution will set new industry standards and keep the apparel industry at the forefront of innovation.