Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine May Issue 2019 | Page 25

EXPORTER PERSPECTIVE
Newly operational production line in MFL
Susanth Ranjith Ekanayaka, GM
(Maintenance), Mahmud Fashion
Ltd., who, since the beginning, has
focused immensely to improve line
balancing and has even reworked
on the line layout to increase
productivity. “Wages have increased,
overheads have gone up, lead time is
getting shorter and buyers’ pressure
is already there which are collectively
reducing profit margins. When MFL
became operational last year, we
designed our lines in a way which can
get us more productivity using limited
resources,” explained Susanth.
MFL has a special maintenance team
which is taking care of production
lines. The team plans 15 days before
changing the layout, and in that
period of time, it uses the team
members’ expertise to know the
kind of product categories that are
supposed to come in production lines
and the action that should be taken to
modify a particular line. If the same
design is carried on adjacent lines,
the maintenance team replicates the
same structure. Currently, MFL is
running 18 lines in 4-4-3-4-2-1 layout
which is the best possible layout
for them. “In second phase, we will
set 48 lines in similar pattern,” said
Susanth.
It’s not that MFL could achieve the
proper line balancing in order to
increase output quite easily. “A lot of
issues were there before we planned
line layouts. The major problem
Profile of Mahmud Fashion Ltd.
was scarcity of skilled manpower,”
commented Susanth. It’s a fact
that attrition rate is high here in
Bangladesh. So by the time a person
gets through the process, he/she is
gone and someone new comes in and
then it takes time for a factory to
train freshers again. The same was
an issue with MFL when it became
operational. But the maintenance
and production teams together had
to tackle this challenge and they did
it. In production lines, they identified
critical operations first. Then IE
people were told to train manpower in
a batch of 50 people on all aspects to
make them efficient enough to carry
multiple operations. “So, while we
plan a layout and an operator quits
the factory, we don’t have to face
issues in finalising the layout as we
have everything in place, right from
the strategy that we need to follow to
the workers who we are going to use,”
averred Susanth.
It is not just
installing
technology which
will boost the
business level
overnight, it’s
all about how a
manufacturer
utilises the
installations to the
fullest, making a
balance between
manpower and
machines.
operational unit with its massive
infrastructure, technology use in
production floors and focus on
operators’ training is achieving what
it plans. In this new unit, around
3,500 workers are churning out woven
bottoms, denims and non-denims,
day in and day out in 35 production
lines out of which 20 lines are fully
operational.
According to Laila Styles, it is not just
installing technology which will boost
the business level overnight, but it’s
all about how a manufacturer utilises
the installations to the fullest, making
a balance between manpower and
machines. On one hand, manpower
remains the most crucial part in
Bangladesh garment industry, while
‘Training and
Technology are our
priority’
– LAILA STYLES LTD.
Laila Styles Ltd. is one of the
prominent names in Bangladesh
apparel manufacturing industry
which started operation in September
2018 and is yet to become fully
operational. However, the partial
Bodiuz Zaman, General Manager – Admin, HR & Compliance, Laila Styles Ltd.
www.apparelresources.com | MAY 2019 | Apparel Online Bangladesh
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