1. 1. understanding garment manufacturing system what is line balance
Line balancing in garment industry is the technique of leveling output of every operation in a garment sewing
production line.
The main objectives of balancing the line is to produce the same expected output at every process of an
assembly line .There should neither be accumulation of work between two process nor absence of work
between the processes. It is important to maintain this balance because in an assembly line output of one
process is the input for other.
If a production line is not balanced then there would be following production problems:
1. Accumulation of WIP– Some operations would produce more and some will produce less this will
lead to increase in WIP (Work In Progress) of production line.
2. Reduced Efficiency – In an imbalanced line the flow of input and output is uneven. Because of this
reason some operators will not get loading input as per their capacity of producing output, hence they
will be underutilized. In this scenario to make matters worse more machines and more manpower will
be allocated to increase the production but efficiency will fall down even more.
3. Chaos on the production floor: Because Operators, supervisors, and managers will be pushing
themselves to produce more with no results because without improving the line balance all the other
efforts will be wasted. It causes stress on the production floor.
Types of line balancing
There are two type of sewing line balancing in garment industry Static and Dynamic .
1. Static Line Balance
Static line balance is done at the start of production based on the operator (tailors) availability and style being
loaded in the sewing line. This is how static line balance is done :
1. Know which operators are present for allocation from attendance system.
2. Take the operation bulletin of the style being loaded in the line.
3. Take skill matrix – in most cases supervisors have skill memorized but it is good practice to have a
documented skill matrix as others can check the balance of line as well.
4. Allocate operations to operators as per the planned capacity of line. The objective is to produce as per
the planned capacity with optimum manpower allocation.
2 .Dynamic Line Balance
Once the production starts situations may change and supervisors have to re-adapt to the situations so they
need continuously reallocate work to operators.
For example : an operator doing operation “A” in a line A is performing well and producing more than the line
capacity, but operator in line B is producing less. The supervisor may switch operators after there is required
WIP in line A.
How to automate or Digitalize Line Balance in garment industry?
2. The big question is what could be done to optimize sewing line balancing? The answer to this is digitalization
because too many combinations are involved and an automated system can compute these combinations
better.
There can be two approaches of automating line balancing:
1. Algorithmic Approach: A logical if – else program can be made from an well-articulated algorithm
which should be designed to assign the right operators to the right operations. The inputs needed will be
attendance record, operation bulletin and skill matrix . Therefore it is important to digitalize and
integrate these data to run automatic line balancing program on the software.
2. Artificial Intelligence: Line balancing is a complex problem and though it could be solved by
algorithmic approach . It would be better if the system learns from the production trend and allocated
work more smartly. This can be achieved by applying machine learning models and neural networks on
the available datasets. Some companies have already developed these program. However there is a lot
of work left to be done
2 SMV (Standard minute value).
Standard Minute Value (SMV): Definition, Calculation and Use
By Prasanta Sarkar-September 21, 2019
There is no more secret in Standard Minutes Value (SMV) calculation. Now, SMV is a common
language between fashion brands and manufacturers for discussions on cost, time and floor capacity. Most of
the garment manufacturing companies calculate the SMV of their garments. Industrial engineers take
responsibility for measuring standard time for the given garment samples. Let me define SMV, the most
critical factor, widely used and much talked about term in the garment industry.
Definition of Standard Minute Value
Standard Minute is the time value arrived at for a task based on the average rate of output which
qualified workers will naturally achieve without over exertion provided that they know and adhere to the
specified method and provided that they are motivated to apply themselves to their work.
- This definition is written in the ILO work study book.
Operation cycle time or average time, taken by an operator completing an operation is not the Standard minute
value. SMV is the given time that should be taken to complete operation if she works at 100% performance
level. SMV of the same operation will be different if the working condition is changed – like operator using a
different machine, the operator sews a bigger component, an operator using attachment and work-aids when
sewing a garment. Most importantly, movement and motions involved in performing a task.
3. SMV calculation method
You can calculate garment SMV using SMV calculation software or through time study method.
Standard minute value calculation method using Time Study is explained in this article with an example. First,
you measure operation wise SMV. Then SMV of all operations in style are combined to calculate total SMV of
a garment.
3. In time study, you capture the observed time of the selected operation. You rate operator performance in the
work. You use standard allowances for different types of machines, bundle allowance and contingency
allowances.
Steps for calculating SMV
1. Record observed time.
Following the Time Study procedure, you conduct Time Study for a selected operator and on the selected
operation.
2. Convert observed time into Basic time using this formula.
The observed time for the same operation done by two different operators might be different. Our objective is
to establish the standard for the selected operation. So, for the levelling of the observed time, it is multiplied by
the rating factor. The new time is called as basic time.
4. SAM
SAM and SMV are units of measuring standard minutes of a task or an operation of a garment. Where,
SAM stands for Standard Allowed Minutes and. SMV stands for Standard Minute Value.
How to Calculate Garment SAM?
byPrasanta Sarkar-February 03, 2011
Standard Allowed Minute (SAM) is used to measure a task or work content of a garment. So you need
to calculate the garment SAM to establish the standard time of the individual garment operations as
well as the whole garment SAM.
This 'SAM' term is widely used by industrial engineers and garment production people in the garment
manufacturing industry. In this article, you will learn how to calculate the standard minute (SAM) of
individual sewing operations.
For the estimation of the cost of making a garment, the SAM value plays a very important role. In past
scientists and apparel technicians did research on how much time to be allowed to do a job when one
follows the standard method of doing the job. According to the research study, minute value has been
defined for each movement needed to accomplish a job. Synthetic data is available for each movement.
General Sewing Data (GSD) has defined a set of codes for motion data for SAM calculation. There are
also other methods through which one can calculate SAM of a garment without using synthetic data or
GSD.
Both methods are explained in the following.
Method #1: Calculate Garment SAM Using Synthetic Data
In this method 'Predetermined Time Standard' (PTS) code is used to establish 'Standard Time' of a
garment or other sewing products.
4. Step 1: Select one operation for which you want to calculate SAM.
Step 2: Study the motions of that operation. Stand by the side of an operator (experienced one) and see
the operator how he is doing it.
HomeIndustrial Engineering
How to Calculate Garment SAM?
byPrasanta Sarkar-February 03, 2011
Standard Allowed Minute (SAM) is used to measure a task or work content of a garment. So you need
to calculate the garment SAM to establish the standard time of the individual garment operations as
well as the whole garment SAM.
This 'SAM' term is widely used by industrial engineers and garment production people in the garment
manufacturing industry. In this article, you will learn how to calculate the standard minute (SAM) of
individual sewing operations.
For the estimation of the cost of making a garment, the SAM value plays a very important role. In past
scientists and apparel technicians did research on how much time to be allowed to do a job when one
follows the standard method of doing the job. According to the research study, minute value has been
defined for each movement needed to accomplish a job. Synthetic data is available for each movement.
General Sewing Data (GSD) has defined a set of codes for motion data for SAM calculation. There are
also other methods through which one can calculate SAM of a garment without using synthetic data or
GSD.
Both methods are explained in the following.
Method #1: Calculate Garment SAM Using Synthetic Data
In this method 'Predetermined Time Standard' (PTS) code is used to establish 'Standard Time' of a
garment or other sewing products.
Step 1: Select one operation for which you want to calculate SAM.
Step 2: Study the motions of that operation. Stand by the side of an operator (experienced one) and see
the operator how he is doing it.
Note all movements used by the operator in doing one complete cycle of work. See carefully again and
recheck your note if all movement/motion is captured and correct. (for example, motions are like - pick
up parts one hand or two hands, align part on the table or machine foot, realign plies, etc.)
Step 3: List down all motion sequentially. Refer to the synthetic data for TMU (Time measuring unit)
values. For synthetic data, you can refer GSD (without license use of GSD code prohibited but for
personal use and study one can refer GSD code and TMU values) or Sewing Performance Data table
(SPD).
Now you got TMU value for one operation (for example say it is 400 TMU). Convert total TMU into
minutes (1 TMU=0.0006 minute). This is called Basic Time in minutes. In this example, it is 0.24
minutes.
5. Step 4: Calculate SAM by adding bundle allowance and personal allowance to the basic time
Standard allowed minutes (SAM) = (Basic minute + Bundle allowances + machine and personal
allowances).
Add bundle allowances (10%) and machine and personal allowances (20%) to basic time.
Now you got Standard Minute value (SMV) or SAM.
SAM= (0.24+0.024+0.048) = 0.31 minutes.
I like to refer you to an article Secret Behind Calculation of Machine Time in SAM for a better
understanding of SAM calculation.
5. WIP
Work in progress (WIP) includes the set at large of unfinished items for products in a production
process. These items are not yet completed but either just being stitched or waiting in a queue for
further processing or in a buffer storage. WIP is in-process inventory.
In garment manufacturing, WIP is normally measured in a number of garments. The end-of-day WIP of
a process is the number of total pieces loaded today in the process plus the previous day’s WIP minus
total pieces come out from that process. In a garment factory, production WIP is measured every day by
the production department or the industrial engineering department.
Why Measure WIP in a Garment Factory?
byPrasanta Sarkar-January 02, 2019
Work in progress (WIP) includes the set at large of unfinished items for products in a production
process. These items are not yet completed but either just being stitched or waiting in a queue for
further processing or in a buffer storage. WIP is in-process inventory.
In garment manufacturing, WIP is normally measured in a number of garments. The end-of-day WIP of
a process is the number of total pieces loaded today in the process plus the previous day’s WIP minus
total pieces come out from that process. In a garment factory, production WIP is measured every day by
the production department or the industrial engineering department.
Why measure WIP?
Maintaining a minimum level of WIP at each sewing workstation is necessary to have continuous work
for workers. But neither a high WIP nor the low WIP is good for a production line.
Here are a few reasons for which factory need to production WIP.
To know whether a line (or workstation) has high WIP level or low WIP level compared to the
targeted/planned WIP
If a line supervisor doesn’t look at operations where WIP is piling up, the production line will become
imbalance soon.
Allowing unnecessary WIP in the line would increase the inventory requirement as well as financial
involvement in a period.
To keep the production line running, it is necessary to feed the production lines and workstations
continuously. If the workstation doesn’t get enough work, it will be on the idle situation and no
6. production would be generated from that workstation. In such cases, a line would loss potential output
from that workstation.
High WIP is the main source of many issues like quality issues, low productivity, and unnecessary
delay in production.
By measuring the WIP, the factory can plan for their next day’s work requirement.
If you think, there are more reasons for measuring production WIP, post it here.
6. Absents
What is the concept of absenteeism?
Absenteeism refers to the habitual non-presence of an employee at their job. Habitual non-presence
extends beyond what is deemed to be within an acceptable realm of days away from the office for
legitimate causes such as scheduled vacations, occasional illness, and family emergencies.
absenteeism is a major challenge for any organization in the current competitive world. Curbing
absenteeism helps organizations achieve their targets and increases productivity. This study highlights
the major causes of absenteeism in the production division of a garment industry under various
dimensions, which influence on absenteeism like work environment, organizational culture, relation
and co-operation, compensation and rewards, facilities, job satisfactory and security, and general
factors. The Study helps to identify reasons for employee absenteeism in production division. Sample
of 180 employees responses were considered for the study from the universe and the data were
analyzed, statistically. The study shows that the major factors like wages, other source of income, and
bad relationship with supervisors were contributing to the major absence of employees from work. This
clearly indicates that work environment, relation and co-operation, facilities provided by the
organization and job satisfaction were the main components which are causing the employee
absenteeism.
How to reduce absenteeism?
1. Create a clear attendance policy. ...
2. Reward good attendance. ...
3. Address unsanctioned absences immediately. ...
4. Improve employee well-being. ...
5. Offer flexible work options. ...
6. Encourage employee engagement. ...
7. Foster a teamwork culture. ...
8. Provide feedback.
What are the causes of absenteeism?
Some of the main reasons for absenteeism include workplace harassment, family-related issues, illness,
and job hunting. Absenteeism can result in higher costs for employers. Other employees often have to
pick up the slack, which may result in a drop in morale
