Topic
Lean tools applied to garment production.
9 notes
5S is the workplace organisation method behind most lean programs. What each S means on a sewing floor, in cutting, stores and finishing, how to run a 5S audit, and how to stop it fading after the first month.
Kaizen means continuous improvement through small, practical changes. How to run kaizen in a garment factory: finding problems, the PDCA cycle, kaizen events, suggestion systems, and examples from sewing, cutting and finishing.
Lean means removing work that adds no value and making production flow. The eight wastes as they appear in cutting and sewing, the lean tools that work in garment factories, and a realistic order to start.
Motion study looks at the hand and body movements in an operation to remove waste. Practical principles for sewing workstations, how to analyse an operation from video, and examples of improvements that shorten handling time.
Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) splits losses into availability, performance and quality. How to calculate it for sewing, cutting and knitting machines, a worked example, and why OEE and line efficiency tell you different things.
Pitch time means two different things in garment factories: the average work content per operator used for line balancing, and the lean interval for moving a pack of finished goods. Formulas, examples and when to use which.
Takt time is the pace at which garments must be finished to meet demand. How to calculate it, how it differs from cycle time and pitch time, and how to use it to size and balance a sewing line.
Work in progress keeps a sewing line running, but too much hides problems and stretches lead time. How to measure WIP, set a sensible level per station, and control bundles on the floor.
Work study combines method study (finding a better way to do a job) and work measurement (setting the time for it). An introduction for garment factories: the steps, the tools and how the results feed SMV, line balancing and costing.