Textile and Garment Manufacturer`s Journey to Operational Excellence

Textile and Garment Manufacturing
improvement (MDI) practices, which encourage employee
involvement in problem solving and fast response to
production abnormalities.
“It’s truly been amazing to see the transformation. The sense
of ownership and employee accountability continue to drive
changes and improvements every day,” adds Sethi.
The objectives outlined in the initial improvement plan were
all achieved. The manufacturer improved efficiency by
50 percent, productivity is up 44 percent, cycle times
(cut to pack) have been cut in half, and line changeovers
(time required to reach peak efficiency) have been reduced
from three days to eight hours. Output was also increased
20 percent without any new capital equipment investments.
Most importantly, from their retail customer’s perspective,
the on-time and in-full delivery rate now consistently stands
at 100 percent, and there haven’t been any air-freight
shipments for many months.
Client
Cotton Blossom Pvt. Ltd., an integrated
garment manufacturer (spinning, knitting,
dying, sewing, printing and embroidery)
based in southern India that supplies clothing
to a variety of customers, including a multibillion dollar retailer with over 1,000 stores
and 900-plus suppliers in 40 countries.
Challenge
The company’s manufacturing operations
were suffering from low capacity utilization,
inconsistent quality and poor on-time delivery.
About TBM Consulting Group
TBM is a global operations management consulting firm that maximizes enterprise value and accelerates growth
by working with clients to leverage Operational Excellence. Our clients achieve growth rates 3–5X their industry
average and EBITDA growth at least 2X their topline. We focus on results with a bias for action and work side by
side with our clients to immediately improve EBITDA, accelerate organic growth, ensure the rapid realization of
results from newly acquired businesses, and generate immediate and long-term balance sheet improvements. Our
subject-matter professionals average 10–25 years of operational, management and executive experience in the
manufacturing sector and none are career consultants. We leave behind a customized framework and structure
for lasting change using our proprietary LeanSigma® approach, which has been continuously improved since we
introduced it over 20 years ago.
4/2014
TBM, the TBM logo and LeanSigma are registered trademarks of TBM Consulting Group, Inc.
Consulting Group
Join us on
China
Solution
Following a thorough assessment, TBM
provided management guidance and helped
Cotton Blossom the garment manufacturer
execute a sequence of LeanSigma projects
and kaizen events which helped standardize
processes and dramatically improve efficiency
and quality.
Results
After two years, line efficiency is up 50
percent, productivity is up 44 percent, cycle
times (cut to pack) have been cut in half, and
line changeovers (time required to reach peak
efficiency) have been reduced from three days
to eight hours.
Supplier Development:
A Garment Manufacturer’s Journey
to Operational Excellence
Lean transformation dramatically improves on-time
delivery, efficiency and quality for a retailer’s key supplier.
Cotton Blossom’s journey to Operational Excellence began with
two kaizen events facilitated by TBM Consulting Group and
underwritten by a major customer at one of its sewing factories in
Tirupur, India, which is about 320 km south of Bangalore. Those
initial events demonstrated the effectiveness of the LeanSigma
tools and approach. TBM worked with a management steering
committee on a monthly basis to prioritize projects, expand
employee skills, and transform the company’s culture.
Founded in the late 1990s with 40 people and a couple dozen
sewing machines, today Cotton Blossom employs over 6,000
people who produce 18 million-plus items of clothing per year.
It exports casual clothing and sportswear to Europe, the United
States, Mexico and many other countries for C&A, Next,
Diadora, Diesel, Yonex, s.Oliver and Mothercare. Registrars
have audited and certified the company’s management systems
for quality (ISO 9001), environmental systems (ISO14001),
health and safety (OHSAS 18001), and social responsibility
(SA8000).
“Such certifications are a good starting point,” says Vineet Sethi,
Senior Management Consultant for TBM India. “They can even
create a general understanding of standard work and other
elements of process discipline, but a well-documented process
can still be inefficient and poor performing. There are plenty of
ISO-certified operations that have gone out of business.”
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www.tbmcg.com
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Brazil
•
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•
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Textile and Garment Manufacturing
Developing Knowledge, Changing Behavior
TBM’s initial assessment of the Cotton Blossom’s cutting
and sewing operations spotlighted a number of areas for
immediate improvement.
• Visually, while the sewing lines and other areas of the
plant were orderly and clean, there were considerable
opportunities to improve workplace organization by
applying 5S methodologies.
• Although work-in-process inventory was reasonably
low, with some lines practicing one-piece flow, workers
transported finished garments by batch to centralized
areas for printing and embroidery, and also for finishing
and packaging.
The training helped build a self-sustaining continuous
improvement understanding at all levels of the company.
FIRST KAIZEN EVENT RESULTS
For simplicity’s sake, the improvement plan focused on
three immediate priorities:
Before
After
1) S
treamlining and standardizing key manufacturing
processes (sewing and cutting specifically) by using lean
principles and kaizen breakthrough methodologies.
Rework
(Quality)
Labor
Productivity
6.78%
2.72 pcs/head/day
5.37%
2) Improving production flexibility by reducing set-up times
and learning curves for operators.
3) D
eveloping a steering committee to horizontally deploy
the LeanSigma knowledge quickly.
3.93 pcs/head/day
Changeover
(to peak production
efficiency)
Lead Times
(cut to pack)
approx. 3 days
8 hours
• On the sewing line, operator efficiency averaged
40 percent, machine downtime was seven percent,
and product changeovers required five to six hours.
Building on the Initial Success
• The quality repair rate on the line was around
10 percent, and the reject rate was 2.6 percent.
• The value stream map created during the initial
assessment documented a total lead time from fabric
cutting to packaging of almost nine days, with 30.39
minutes of value-added time (a value-added ratio of
0.57 percent).
• And finally, of top concern to their main customer,
the average “on-time delivery-in-full” rate was less than
20 percent.
Performance improvement targets in the sewing operations
included reducing the quality repair rate to 3 percent (from
10 percent) and the reject rate to 0.5 percent (from 2.6
percent). Other goals were to reduce the cost per item by
40 percent, cut premium air shipment costs in half, and
improve the on-time delivery-in-full rate to 100 percent.
The go-forward plan that TBM developed in conjunction
with the Cotton Blossom’s management team emphasized
both immediate process changes and employee training.
“The educational component of the plan was critical for
maintaining the performance gains resulting from all of
the process changes that we implemented,” says Sethi.
Leveraging the benefits of one-piece flow and standard
work, the first kaizen event dramatically improved
efficiency and quality performance. Within two weeks,
line efficiency had increased to 97 percent, rework was
holding steady, and the total number of machine operators
in the target area dropped from 48 to 31.
www.tbmcg.com
Case Study
Cotton Blossom’s second kaizen event focused on
sustaining the gains from the first project. The team
also established a supermarket for pulling material into
the sewing area, and implemented visual management
tools, like SQDC boards (safety, quality, delivery, and
cost) for reporting performance in each work cell. Similar
events and tools have subsequently been rolled out across
the company.
Over the past three years, TBM has led a variety of
employee training programs, helped establish kaizen
promotion offices in different facilities, and developed
hundreds of kaizen event facilitators. The training sessions
have focused on change management for supervisors,
business process kaizen, lead-time reduction techniques,
and cultural transformation. Employees throughout the
organization have learned how to identify waste, create
one-piece flow, implement 5S, use hour-by-hour charts
and establish standard work procedures. Supervisor
and manager training also included managing for daily
www.tbmcg.com
5–6 days
2–3 days
Textile and Garment Manufacturing
Developing Knowledge, Changing Behavior
TBM’s initial assessment of the Cotton Blossom’s cutting
and sewing operations spotlighted a number of areas for
immediate improvement.
• Visually, while the sewing lines and other areas of the
plant were orderly and clean, there were considerable
opportunities to improve workplace organization by
applying 5S methodologies.
• Although work-in-process inventory was reasonably
low, with some lines practicing one-piece flow, workers
transported finished garments by batch to centralized
areas for printing and embroidery, and also for finishing
and packaging.
The training helped build a self-sustaining continuous
improvement understanding at all levels of the company.
FIRST KAIZEN EVENT RESULTS
For simplicity’s sake, the improvement plan focused on
three immediate priorities:
Before
After
1) S
treamlining and standardizing key manufacturing
processes (sewing and cutting specifically) by using lean
principles and kaizen breakthrough methodologies.
Rework
(Quality)
Labor
Productivity
6.78%
2.72 pcs/head/day
5.37%
2) Improving production flexibility by reducing set-up times
and learning curves for operators.
3) D
eveloping a steering committee to horizontally deploy
the LeanSigma knowledge quickly.
3.93 pcs/head/day
Changeover
(to peak production
efficiency)
Lead Times
(cut to pack)
approx. 3 days
8 hours
• On the sewing line, operator efficiency averaged
40 percent, machine downtime was seven percent,
and product changeovers required five to six hours.
Building on the Initial Success
• The quality repair rate on the line was around
10 percent, and the reject rate was 2.6 percent.
• The value stream map created during the initial
assessment documented a total lead time from fabric
cutting to packaging of almost nine days, with 30.39
minutes of value-added time (a value-added ratio of
0.57 percent).
• And finally, of top concern to their main customer,
the average “on-time delivery-in-full” rate was less than
20 percent.
Performance improvement targets in the sewing operations
included reducing the quality repair rate to 3 percent (from
10 percent) and the reject rate to 0.5 percent (from 2.6
percent). Other goals were to reduce the cost per item by
40 percent, cut premium air shipment costs in half, and
improve the on-time delivery-in-full rate to 100 percent.
The go-forward plan that TBM developed in conjunction
with the Cotton Blossom’s management team emphasized
both immediate process changes and employee training.
“The educational component of the plan was critical for
maintaining the performance gains resulting from all of
the process changes that we implemented,” says Sethi.
Leveraging the benefits of one-piece flow and standard
work, the first kaizen event dramatically improved
efficiency and quality performance. Within two weeks,
line efficiency had increased to 97 percent, rework was
holding steady, and the total number of machine operators
in the target area dropped from 48 to 31.
www.tbmcg.com
Case Study
Cotton Blossom’s second kaizen event focused on
sustaining the gains from the first project. The team
also established a supermarket for pulling material into
the sewing area, and implemented visual management
tools, like SQDC boards (safety, quality, delivery, and
cost) for reporting performance in each work cell. Similar
events and tools have subsequently been rolled out across
the company.
Over the past three years, TBM has led a variety of
employee training programs, helped establish kaizen
promotion offices in different facilities, and developed
hundreds of kaizen event facilitators. The training sessions
have focused on change management for supervisors,
business process kaizen, lead-time reduction techniques,
and cultural transformation. Employees throughout the
organization have learned how to identify waste, create
one-piece flow, implement 5S, use hour-by-hour charts
and establish standard work procedures. Supervisor
and manager training also included managing for daily
www.tbmcg.com
5–6 days
2–3 days
Textile and Garment Manufacturing
improvement (MDI) practices, which encourage employee
involvement in problem solving and fast response to
production abnormalities.
“It’s truly been amazing to see the transformation. The sense
of ownership and employee accountability continue to drive
changes and improvements every day,” adds Sethi.
The objectives outlined in the initial improvement plan were
all achieved. The manufacturer improved efficiency by
50 percent, productivity is up 44 percent, cycle times
(cut to pack) have been cut in half, and line changeovers
(time required to reach peak efficiency) have been reduced
from three days to eight hours. Output was also increased
20 percent without any new capital equipment investments.
Most importantly, from their retail customer’s perspective,
the on-time and in-full delivery rate now consistently stands
at 100 percent, and there haven’t been any air-freight
shipments for many months.
Client
Cotton Blossom Pvt. Ltd., an integrated
garment manufacturer (spinning, knitting,
dying, sewing, printing and embroidery)
based in southern India that supplies clothing
to a variety of customers, including a multibillion dollar retailer with over 1,000 stores
and 900-plus suppliers in 40 countries.
Challenge
The company’s manufacturing operations
were suffering from low capacity utilization,
inconsistent quality and poor on-time delivery.
About TBM Consulting Group
TBM is a global operations management consulting firm that maximizes enterprise value and accelerates growth
by working with clients to leverage Operational Excellence. Our clients achieve growth rates 3–5X their industry
average and EBITDA growth at least 2X their topline. We focus on results with a bias for action and work side by
side with our clients to immediately improve EBITDA, accelerate organic growth, ensure the rapid realization of
results from newly acquired businesses, and generate immediate and long-term balance sheet improvements. Our
subject-matter professionals average 10–25 years of operational, management and executive experience in the
manufacturing sector and none are career consultants. We leave behind a customized framework and structure
for lasting change using our proprietary LeanSigma® approach, which has been continuously improved since we
introduced it over 20 years ago.
4/2014
TBM, the TBM logo and LeanSigma are registered trademarks of TBM Consulting Group, Inc.
Consulting Group
Join us on
China
Solution
Following a thorough assessment, TBM
provided management guidance and helped
Cotton Blossom the garment manufacturer
execute a sequence of LeanSigma projects
and kaizen events which helped standardize
processes and dramatically improve efficiency
and quality.
Results
After two years, line efficiency is up 50
percent, productivity is up 44 percent, cycle
times (cut to pack) have been cut in half, and
line changeovers (time required to reach peak
efficiency) have been reduced from three days
to eight hours.
Supplier Development:
A Garment Manufacturer’s Journey
to Operational Excellence
Lean transformation dramatically improves on-time
delivery, efficiency and quality for a retailer’s key supplier.
Cotton Blossom’s journey to Operational Excellence began with
two kaizen events facilitated by TBM Consulting Group and
underwritten by a major customer at one of its sewing factories in
Tirupur, India, which is about 320 km south of Bangalore. Those
initial events demonstrated the effectiveness of the LeanSigma
tools and approach. TBM worked with a management steering
committee on a monthly basis to prioritize projects, expand
employee skills, and transform the company’s culture.
Founded in the late 1990s with 40 people and a couple dozen
sewing machines, today Cotton Blossom employs over 6,000
people who produce 18 million-plus items of clothing per year.
It exports casual clothing and sportswear to Europe, the United
States, Mexico and many other countries for C&A, Next,
Diadora, Diesel, Yonex, s.Oliver and Mothercare. Registrars
have audited and certified the company’s management systems
for quality (ISO 9001), environmental systems (ISO14001),
health and safety (OHSAS 18001), and social responsibility
(SA8000).
“Such certifications are a good starting point,” says Vineet Sethi,
Senior Management Consultant for TBM India. “They can even
create a general understanding of standard work and other
elements of process discipline, but a well-documented process
can still be inefficient and poor performing. There are plenty of
ISO-certified operations that have gone out of business.”
Accomplish More
www.tbmcg.com
Our
Blog
•
Brazil
•
France
•
Germany
•
India
•
Mexico
•
United Kingdom
•
United States
Case Study
www.tbmcg.com