Line Balancing Worksheet

What this template does#

The worksheet turns an operation breakdown into a line balance. It totals the garment SMV, calculates pitch time from the operators in the line, and shows for each operation how many operators it needs in theory. When you enter the operators you allocate, it calculates each station's capacity per hour and its load against pitch time. The summary shows the line output per hour set by the bottleneck.

The method is explained in line balancing.

When to use it#

• Before a new style starts, to plan the layout and operator allocation.
• When output falls short, to check whether the balance is the problem.
• When manpower changes, to rebalance with fewer or more people.

How to complete it#

1. Enter the style, operators in line and working minutes in the header.
2. List every operation in sequence with its machine type and SMV. Total SMV and pitch time update automatically.
3. Read the theoretical manpower for each operation.
4. Enter allocated operators, rounding and combining operations as described in the line balancing guide. Shared operators can be entered as fractions (0.5).
5. Check load vs pitch. Stations well above 100% are bottleneck risks; stations well below have spare time.
6. Check line output per hour in the summary and compare it with your target.

Common mistakes#

• Using SMVs from costing instead of engineering SMVs.
• Allocating more total operators than the header value.
• Forgetting manual operations (trimming, marking) that take real time.
• Treating the plan as final without a floor check once the line runs. Use the capacity study to confirm.

Download formats#

The Excel workbook contains the formulas, the parameter block and a print layout in landscape. The CSV contains the headings and example rows for import into other systems.