Minimum Number of Helpers is More Profitable

A Sewing Line with Minimum Number of Helpers is More Profitable - How would You Prove This?

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Question

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I have started my career as an Industrial Engineer in a Jeans manufacturing company. In past few weeks I had gone through nearly all of your articles on IE on your blog and it has been a great help for me. But, I need some additional advises and I thought your help would be best for me.

I have been given an assignment to reduce helpers in the sewing department. Managers have observed that in many operations together with a machinist, a helper is also provided. Thus, this increase cost and consume time as the helper could have been placed to work as a machinist. Therefore, I want to know what method to use to show the line managers that it would be more profitable to reduce helpers from the floor. ... asked by Tashreen from Mauritius.

Image source: traffickalerts.wordpress.com

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Answer

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Tashreen I appreciate your bold step that you have taken to show line managers that by reducing unnecessary helpers from the line, you are actually improving the performance of the factory. Read my answer to find a way.

First thing first, look into some theories.

You can analyse profitability of a line by using two measures - Labor Productivity and Line Efficiency.

Reason#1: Higher the productivity lower is labor cost per garment
Reason#2: Higher the line efficiency lower is labor cost per garment
And a reduced cost brings a higher profit

Additionally you can measure labor cost per garment. From the labor cost figure you can directly show the benefits of reduction in helpers from the sewing floor.

Next, you have to record few things to calculate above measures. Instead of two measures you can work on one measure only. Collect following information for a sewing line

1. Number of helpers allocated
2. Number of operators
3. Daily production
4. Working hours
5. Garment SAM
6. Helpers salary/day, OT payment, other Bonus if applicable

Prepare for a demonstration: You can show good figures to your manager by changing numbers here and there. But that would not work without practical demonstration. I would suggest you to pick one line for experiment (Pilot Line). Focus on that line only. Followings are the process to demonstrate it.

Step#1: Collect data for the above parameters.
For example, suppose number of helpers 15, number of operators 25, daily production 400 pieces, working hours 8 hourly daily.

Step#2: Calculate labor productivity with the existing manpower (operators + helpers). In the example total number of labors is 40 (25+15).

Labor productivity = Production per day / Total manpower input

Existing labor productivity = 400/40 = 10 pieces per labor

Step#3: Calculate labor cost per garment produced = (Total salary paid for the day / Total garment produced)
Calculate labor cost using actual figures from your factory.

Step#4: Action plan
Find what kind of jobs operators are actually doing in the line? Are they just assisting sewing operators by trimming chain of threads, aligning garment components after stitching or doing manual operations? In case operators can do his/her operations by their own, remove helpers from those workstations. Instead of removing all helpers on the same day, you can go step by step. It doesn't mean that you need to fire your helpers from the factory. As you said you can train them and employ them as operator.

Suppose you have reduced 5 helpers from the line. Now only 10 helpers are working in the pilot line.

Give operator time to practice working without helpers. Once they are habituated working without helpers capture production data. After reduction of the helpers you may or may not find slight reduction in production. Assume that you get same production as before i.e. 400 pieces.

Step#5: Calculate Labor productivity of the pilot line after helper reduction. Calculate labor cost per garment also.
From the above example, Current Labor Productivity = 400/35 = 11.42 pieces per labor.

Step#6: Now compare the labor productivity and labor cost per garment. Possibly, you will find that current labor productivity is higher than existing labor productivity. You can expect in reduction of labor cost when labor productivity goes up. This way you can show your managers, that reducing helpers is beneficial for the line. It reduces labor cost per garment and factory will earn more profit.

Improvement in Labor productivity = (11.42 -10)*100/10 = 14.2%
From this much improvement of productivity you will get minimum 14.2% reduction in labor cost.

Note: When you are removing helpers, you might need to train operators and change their habit. You might need to push them to keep production as per target.

All the best.

Industrial Engineer

Industrial Engineering Procedure

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Question

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Could you please define what is the Industrial Engineering  procedure? I want to know the exact answer. ... asked by Rukshan

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Answer

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This one is really a tough question to answer. As I don't know if there is a defined IE procedure for the garment industry. So, instead of defining Industrial Engineering (IE) procedure I would to explain things for better clarification. 

In garment production Industrial Engineers do a number of tasks. They use number of tools and techniques, and methods for the tasks. I would say it is not exactly IE procedure but procedures of implementation of IE tools and techniques. 

IE Work Flow Chart

Still if you like to know about IE procedures, it can described with a work flow. Most common tasks of an IE are presented in an order in the following.

Style analysis --> Make operation breakdown --> Thread consumption calculation--> Making line layout on paper --> Select m/c and equipment --> arrange guides and attachment -->Planning for production target --> Setting line when new style is loaded --> Do line balancing --> Record production data --> Make production reports --> Report to higher management (P.S. This is just an example of work flow).

Most IE tasks are aimed to make better work flow, improve utilization of resources, increasing factory performance, and reducing production cost. As IE department get matured in a factory, it includes more tools to help production team to increase the factory performance.

Work flow chart of IE department is shown in the following chart. (Click to enlarge image)

Industrial Engineering Work Flow Chart

Industrial Engineer's Job Profile

If you are new to Industrial Engineering fields, read list of jobs done by Industrial Engineers and Industrial Engineering department.

1. Industrial Engineer's Job Profile in the Apparel Industry
2. Role of the Industrial Engineers in Garment Production Management

Implementation Procedure of IE Tools

IE procedure can be explained as the procedure of using Industrial Engineering tools. To learn how Industrial Engineering tools are used by IEs in garment industry read on the following articles.

• Time Study Procedure
• Standard Minute Estimation Procedure
• Operation Bulletin Preparation Procedures
• Operator Training Procedures
• Sewing Operator Recruitment Procedure 
• Thread Average Calculation 

There are many other IE tools used by IE department. To know more about procedure of other IE tools search by keywords using the search box in top right corner.

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IE Guide to Job Interview Preparation

Table of Contents of the Book (IE Guide to Job Interview Preparation)

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Inside the book you will get answers of the following 50 Frequently Asked Questions.

 

	Table of Contents
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48.	What is Industrial Engineering?  What is the basic Functions of Industrial Engineering department in the garment industry?    What is work measurement? What techniques are used for work measurement?     What is Pitch time? What is Needle Time? What is the percentage of needle time of total working during a day? Define Standard Time (SMV and SAM)? How to calculate Standard Time (SAM) of an operation using Time Study method? What is rating (performance rating)? What is line efficiency? What is the formula for calculating Line efficiency? How to measure factory efficiency? How to calculate (production) target for a sewing line? How to set hourly target for an operation? Garment operation breakdown (approximate SAM, Machine, Target)  What is productivity? How to calculate labor productivity and machine productivity? How will you improve productivity of a line? How do you improve efficiency of a line? What is the difference between production and Productivity? What is TMU in motion analysis? How many TMU is equal to one seconds and one minute?  What do you mean by bottleneck operation? How do you find bottleneck operations in a line? What is Line balancing? How do you balance a line? Why it is important to balance a line? Did you work on balancing a line? Why work aids are used in sewing? Name few basic attachments and guides used in a sewing operations. What is learning curve? What is the application of the learning curve in garment production? What is off-standard time? How you would track off-standard time (Non-Productive time)? Thread consumption ratio/factor for different machines? Calculate Thread requirement for this (provide you a garment) sample. How to calculate Labor Cost in production? How to calculate manpower requirement for production? What is Line Setup time and Operation Cycle Time? What do you mean by improving? What is Time Study? Why do you do Time study? What is Method Study? Why Method study is important? Or what are the objectives of method study? What are the steps of method study? Name some special sewing machines. What improvements would you suggest for a sewing floor? What are the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of a factory? What is the difference between an Industrial Engineer and a Production Person? Which one is better method to know factory performance, Productivity or Cost per standard minute (SAM)?  Give me some examples of improvement work you have done in the previous companies (Creative Work). What is Sewing Operator Skill Matrix? What are the benefits of skill matrix in Production? What is throughput time? What should be the throughput time of an average style? How would you find throughput time of a style? What is lead time, order changeover time and idle time? How do you hire sewing operators? Explain Basic Concept of Lean Manufacturing? Name few common lean tools that are used in apparel manufacturing? How many machines are you handling in the current company? Can you work on excel sheet (MS Office Spreadsheet)? How much computer skill do you have?  What all reports do you make in the company where you are currently working? Are you a trained IE or GSD practitioner? What you know about GSD? Can you run sewing machine?    How to measure factory performance? How to measure individual operator performance?            Annexure: Interview Question sets Personal Interview (PI) Preparation

Learning Industrial Engineering

How I Learned Industrial Engineering (and How You Can Too)?

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For last 3 years I'm writing tutorials on Industrial Engineering topics ... and I learned many things on Industrial Engineering in this process. How did I learn that much of Industrial Engineering?

In this post I will share methods that I used to learn (and still using) Industrial Engineering and how you can too learn it. These are non-traditional learning methods but very effective. You can copy my techniques and learn Industrial Engineering.

Learning by doing: 

I don't have an Industrial Engineering degree. Whatever I know and learned about Industrial Engineering is by doing it myself. I read Industrial Engineering topics in college. I had seen many IEs to practice Industrial Engineering methods and to use IE tools in factories during my Internship and Graduation Project. When I was heading the Production Planning Department in an export house, I used to implement basic Industrial Engineering tools in the factory. I did many mistakes initially but I learned from my mistakes. 

So you can too learn Industrial Engineering by doing and practicing it on the floor. While doing something first time, you might make mistakes. That is the way to learn things. Keep it up. I learned production planning and merchandising also by doing it.

Learning by teaching others: 

I love to teach learners. Earlier I used teach my subordinates. When I was consultant I taught many participants from client companies. When I teach others I learn many things in the teaching process. You might read IE tutorials (articles) in OCS. Do you know how I learned all those topics? All because of OCS readers who force me to learn, so that I can teach them later and can write new tutorials. I get questions on various topics from OCS readers. I prepare the answers and when I prepare answer for a particular question, I need to research and read the topic first. Thus I learn it. 

To learn IE you can too start teaching your subordinates or juniors. You don't need to be master in your subject to teach others. Whatever you know more than others you can start teaching with that only. When you start teaching, you will be asked questions by your students. It is not necessary that you have to know all answers. If get chance you can learn the answer of the question and answer to your students. If don't find your student start teaching others from production department. 

If nobody asks you question, head over to OCS Forum and give answer to the questions that are posted there by other members. 

Learning by asking questions: 

This is the easiest way of learning something. When I meet with Industrial Engineers in export houses I ask different types of questions to them for clarification. I get answers for most of the questions, as they are working on this field for many years they know the answer. You can also start asking question to your seniors, when you need to know something. If you don't have senior or experienced colleague, you are welcome to send your questions to me or post your questions to the OCS Forum. 

Reading articles online and/or off line: 

I read articles on magazines or in the Internet daily. I learn many things by reading and also discover new areas of learning by reading. My reading topics are not limited to apparel production and Industrial engineering only. I read various topics to get ideas.

You can also start reading technical magazines related to Apparel Production Management and Industrial Engineering. If you don’t like to spend money on print magazines, read free articles on the Internet. By reading articles on Industrial Engineering you can increase your knowledge and you can teach others a new topic. 

Discussing topics with your colleagues and seniors: 

This is a great way of learning. Currently I don't have Industrial Engineering colleague. But I spent 2 and half years with a group of IEs. That time we had lot of discussion on Industrial Engineering. Still I practice this process of learning. As I said I regularly visit garment export houses. When I meet with factory IEs, we discuss things whatever we find interesting, within IE or out of IE topics. 

Watching videos on YouTube: 

YouTube is a great source for learning by watching videos. You will find numerous videos on sewing operations for different products, semi automatic and fully automatic sewing machines, and different types of material handling equipment. When you watch videos, observe it closely. You can learn many things like, good movements, workstation layout, working speed, machine types, attachment and guides used and many more things. 

Conclusion: 

There is no end of learning. And nobody can improve his/her performance continuously without learning. I have explained above how to learn Industrial Engineering. But these techniques are applicable to anything you like to learn.