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Kolkata and Ludhiana leveraging from lean implementation
The industry firmly believes that difficult period is the best time to explore new things and initiate new efforts for improvement . Implementation of lean is one of the most common but still the best option for overall improvement in any manufacturing facility . The good thing is that now such initiatives are increasing in ‘ Tier-II ’ manufacturing hubs also , like Ludhiana and Kolkata which were once known to be laggards as far as lean implementation is concerned . Push for the companies to take this step forward is coming from the increasing awareness to find solutions to remain competitive , increased pressure of market forces , willingness to be more organized and urgent need to be cost-effective . As industry is developing in these hubs , manufacturers are working with more planning with the support of expert consultants . Apparel Online discussed various aspects of lean implementation with some of these consultants and companies that have availed the services .
Nearly 30 per cent increase in production , and that too without much changes or addition of machines , by just overhauling the systems of the factory with proper implementation , of lean , sounds impressive . But this is equally difficult to achieve . Even before implementation , it is very difficult to get the consultant and management of apparel factory on to the same track . Sharing his experience about
Pooja Makhija , Director , Fashion Futures
the same and allied issues , Gayan Ruhunage of AppRail , who worked in companies like Exodus Futura Knits as President – Apparel Manufacturing , said , “ Company owners see the money we charge as a huge expense , but they don ’ t understand that by adopting lean , how much they can save , it is like being ‘ penny wise and poundfoolish ’. But the positive thing is that the young generation easily understands all this and tries to convince their management . Overall , factory managements has to understand that if they want to survive , they have to be more systematic .” In Ludhiana , Gayan has implemented lean in some of the top companies like Superfine Knitters Ltd ., Ambi Knits and Kapoor Cotsyn India . In Kolkata , he has been associated with Bonie
Gayan Ruhunage of AppRail
Some lean experts feel that upcoming places for mass apparel manufacturing hubs like Jharkhand and Odisha will be the next destination for lean , as in these hubs , apparel manufacturers are specially designing the layouts from scratch …; operators are available in abundance , hence good manufacturing principles like lean will be the starting point .
Apparels , The Rajlakshmi Cotton Mills and Acknit Industries Ltd .
“ Currently we are in two hubs – Ludhiana and Kolkata , as we have to be present on site to implement the plans . Our projects also involve turnkey projects which have involvement from construction ,” said Gayan , and he further suggested that before starting lean , factories have to work on basics as their workforce is mostly uneducated or has very less education . As a consultant , he works on all three levels – Men , Machines and Methods . According to him , one of the biggest gains of lean implementation is the reduction of manpower by 10 to 15 per cent in the entire process and across the shopfloors . Production improvement is also there . Once lean implementation starts , adoption of new system is the biggest challenge . “ In some factories we have observed that they have Work in Progress ( WIP ) of 2,000 to 2,500 pieces which we try to bring down to about 500 pieces . For this we work on line balancing , layout plan and many more things , and this change is not easy for the factory staff , especially at the initial level , but with visible improvements , they later get used to it and adopt happily ,” explained Gayan .
Some of the garment manufacturers are very enthusiastic about the lean implementation as the outcome is quite satisfactory for them . Vivek Lakra , Director of Superfine Knitters is happy to have Gayan
46 Apparel Online India | MAY 1-15 , 2018 | www . apparelresources . com