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Productivity Improvement with Sewing Machine Attachment

Experiment Findings · October 2015

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.26003.68641

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 Productivity Improvement with Sewing Machine Attachment
Harshada Upasani, Pranjali Chandurkar, Dipaksingh Girase, and Vishnu Dorugade

Center for Textile Functions, Mukesh Patel School of Technology Management & Engineering, SVKM’S
NMIMS, Shirpur Campus, Shirpur-425405, Dist. Dhule, Maharashtra, India.

ABSTRACT

There are lots of factors which will help to run the industry very efficiently; one of the important factors is to
lower the cost of manufacturing without sacrificing productivity and quality. There are some kinds of time
saving devises that facilitate operator to perform their work effectively with fewer efforts. If work aids are
used effectively, operation cycle time can be reduced many fold than existing cycle time. Labor productivity
is comparably higher for the factories that widely use work aids than those who do not use work aids for the
similar products. Folders and attachments are also very helpful in producing consistent stitching quality. On
the other hand work aids, guides and fixtures reduce operator’s movement and weight lifting. In this project,
the productivity was increased by about 15% by using folder for waist band attachment operation.
Keywords: Garment, Stitch, Textiles, Clothing.

1. Introduction In this project for improving the productivity and

Today the term productivity has acquired a wider
meaning. Originally, it was used only to rate the
workers according to their skills. The person who
produced more either faster or harder were said to
have higher productivity. Subsequently emphasis
was laid to improve the hourly output by
analyzing and improving, upon the techniques
applied by different workers.
A system of measurement was then evolved to
compare the improvement made in relation to the
rate of output and in order to improve productivity
further. For improving the productivity and
quality, first identify which factor are affecting on
productivity and quality. By reducing these all we
can easily achieve quality as well as the
production in sewing line.
There are some kinds of time saving devises that
facilitate operator to perform their work
effectively with fewer efforts. If work aids are
used effectively operation cycle time can be
reduced many fold than existing cycle time. Labor
productivity is comparably higher for the factories
that widely use work aids than those who do not
use work aids for the similar products. Folders and
attachments are also very helpful in producing
consistent stitching quality.
_________________________
*Correspondence author. Tel.:91 2563 251078 Mobile: 9820240616
E-mail: dorugadev65@yahoo.co.in (V.A.Dorugade)
efficiency, we attach folder to pressure foot of
sewing machine for operation of waist band
attachment in the sewing line which gives proper
and smooth flow. Considering experience and
capacity select one production line from sewing
floor. One garment order is chosen which was
started in that line, knowing total amount of order,
style description, and fabric type and color.
By using folder for the operation of waist band
attachment reduce operator’s movement and
weight lifting. This improved labor productivity
up to 15% (Anilkumar et al., 2008.)
2. Literature Review
Concept
Production is the quantitative relation between
what we produce and what we use as a resource to
produce them, i.e., arithmetic ratio of amount
produced (Output) to the amount of resource
(input). Productivity can be expressed as: -
Productivity = Input / Output
It is the concept that guides the management of
production system. It is an indicator of how well
the factors of (production land, capital, labor and
energy) are utilized.
“European Productivity is an attitude of mind. It is
the mentality of progress, of the constant
improvements of that which exists. It is certainty
of being able to do better today than yesterday and
continuously. It is the continual effort to apply
new techniques and methods. It is the faith in
human progress.”
Labor productivity - Output per labor (direct+
indirect) in a given time frame (in pieces)
Machine productivity - Output per machine in a
given time frame (in pieces)
Value productivity - Total value of output in a
given time frame.
Definitions of Productivity
The definition of Productivity is given as
“OUTPUT” compared to “INPUT”.
Productivity is a function of providing more and
more of everything to more and more People with
less and consumption of resources.
The volume of Output attained in a given period
of time in relation to sum of direct and indirect
efforts expended in its production.
Productivity is the measure of how well the
resources are brought together in an organization
and utilized for accomplishing a set of objectives.
Productivity is concerned with establishing
congruency between organizational goals with
societal aspirations through input – output
relationship (Martand et al., 2009).
Method for Increase Productivity
Productivity is at the heart of cost control and
Product Company. To increase productivity you
must take into account several diverse
considerations in order to ensure your company is
working at maximum efficiency. A productive
company is ultimately a profitable one, and you
should never underestimate the powerful growth
that can follow as a result.
Instructions:
Make sure the work environment is up to date on
all safety requirements. Too conscientiously
increase industrial productivity you must make
certain the work environment is safe and secure.
Make certain that all equipment is properly
maintained and capable of working for long
periods of time without needing corrective
maintenance. Industrial productivity is largely
controlled by machinery and computers.
Design a worker friendly plan for vacation and
break time. Having content workers helps
increase industrial productivity.
Allow workers certain benefit options that allow
them to invest in the company. A worker who has
a vested interest in the performance of the
business will consistently work to increase
industrial productivity.
Plan team-building exercises so that your workers
function as an organic unit. This stimulates a
more creative and dynamic work force capable of
solving a number of unforeseeable productivity
concerns.
Remember that your most important resource is
your human resource. Having a group of people
who are eager to improve their own abilities will
improve the abilities and productivity of the
company itself.
Benefits from Improving Productivity & Gain
Increase: Volume of output s, Skilled middle
management & operators
Improve : Quality of products, Customer service,
Safety, Housekeeping, Flexibility of work
process
Reduction in: Volume of rejection, volume of
rework, waste , lead time, No. of machine break
down, Overtime, Cost/ unit. (Pannerselvam,
2004.)
Factors Affecting on Production
Any one of the following can reduce;
Machine break down production of assembly
line. So to get estimated output, you have to take
on the following areas.
Imbalance line (WIP control)
Continuous feeding to the line
Quality problems
Individual operator performance level.
Operator absenteeism
 Productivity ((Joseph et al., 2004)

Labor productivity = Output ⁄Total operator

Material productivity = Output ⁄ Material input
Capital productivity = Output ⁄ Capital Input
Energy productivity = Out Put ⁄ Energy Input

Type of Folders Photo.2. Waistband Curtain Pressing Attachment

Used in a second operation after stitching (as

pictured above) to produce finished waistband.
Folds, presses, winds in a single operation,
illustrated on the #500 Judelshon Hot Roll
Machine.

Photo.3. Upturn Hemmer with Trim Folder

Photo.1. Automatic Hemmer
This attachment is designed to produce a
Designed for hemming closed, section of garment decorative effect. Can be made with cord, piping
such as sleeves leg openings etc, Allows starting or with flat finish. When ordering state, make and
point to pass through hemmer thus eliminating style number of machines, enclose samples and
need to stop machine for finishing. Operation material.
Made in sizes 3/8" - 1".When ordering state makes
and style number of machine. Enclose samples
and material.

This folder was designed for the hemming of

closed circles, such as sleeves, leg openings, etc.
Speed in hemming is greatly increased as the
starting point passes through without stopping the
machine, thus saving time required to take
garment out of hemmer for finishing. The folder
resets itself automatically for starting of the next
hem.
Photo.4. Open Elastic Attachment

Equations Efficiency = SAM of Garment Makes a downturn fold on edge of garment while
stitching it on top of elastic, thus leaving elastic
X No of Pieces Produced X 100 /No. Of exposed. Used primarily for boxer shorts and
operator X 60X8 similar type garments. Elastic is guided by tube
and stretched with adjustable tension device. Can
be made for double needle lock chain stitch
machines. State make and style number of
machine and enclose samples when ordering.
(Cooklin, 2007).
3. Materials & Methods

3.1 Material

Fabric:

Waistband: 100% cotton solid s/j inside.

Trouser: 100% cotton
Fabric structure: 2X2 rib; Gsm: 240gsm;
Yarn count: 60s

3.2 Methods

In order to improve the productivity and efficiency

of manufacturing, extra attachment was provided
by attaching folder to pressure foot of sewing
machine for operation of waist band attachment.
Photo.6. Final marking on metal sheet
Method of making the folder for waist band
attachment: Then the sheet was cut as per the marking. All the
edges of the folder were finished as per required
Folder was prepared from thin metal plate having dimensions. The final folder designed is shown in
thickness of 1 mm. For the preparation of folder, Photograph 7
first marking was carried out on paper sheet as
shown in Photograph 5. Then it was cut it out as
precisely as possible. Use it as templates perform
marking with ease. Using this paper template,
marking was done on metal sheet as shown in
Photograph 6.

The dimensions are as below.

A = 70 mm; B = 58 mm; C = 10 mm;

D = 60 mm; E = 38 mm.

Photo.7. Folder

Arrangement of folder depends upon following

factors

Kind of cloth
Thickness of cloth
Existence of cloth overlapped
Number of overlapped section
Setting of folder opening
Setting of finished width

Folder attaching method

1) During the attachment of the folder to the
sewing machine near the pressure foot, care was
taken not to extend the folder beyond the top end
Photo.5. Marking on paper sheet exit of main body.

2) During the setting the folder on the pressure

foot, pressure was mounted on the sewing
machine and secure the folder using tape.
3) Folder was fixed at approximately 0.5 mm
above the bottom surface of the pressure foot.
Insert the tape to be used into the folder and pull
softly with the hand. If the tape is bent accurately
as the predetermined size and comes out
smoothly, the folder position is the satisfactory.
4. Results and Discussion
The manufacturing of Ladies night wear trouser
was studied with reference to time required for
each operation. The data of all the required
operations, type of machines used, standard time
required for each operation, time taken by each
operator for performing respective operation and
capacity per hour at 100% & 85% efficiency were
collected and presented in Table1.

Table 1. Time study report for all the operations in manufacturing of ladies night wear trouser.

Time Taken in Sec No. of No. of

Sr. Avg. Pieces Per Pieces Per
Operations SAM
No. Cycle time for each operation time Hour Hour
in Sec. @100% @ 85%
1 2 3 4 5
1 Attach contrast to w/b 0.60 16 16 15 17 14 15.6 230 196
2 Top Stitch W/b 0.55 14 18 17 15 19 17 211.7 180
3 Tack elastic 0.25 27 25 23 24 34 27 133.3 113
4 Join w/b & elastic 0.80 210 260 240 215 280 241 14.9 12.69
5 Join w/b & elastic 0.80 200 180 160 175 200 183 19.6 16.72
6 Join w/b & elastic 0.80 180 175 180 190 160 177 20.3 17.2
7 Attach rib to pocket 0.70 75 65 80 70 75 73 49.3 41.9
8 Attach rib to pocket 0.70 60 73 80 77 80 74 48.6 41.35
9 Top stitch pocket 0.60 45 53 49 55 64 53.2 67.66 57.51
10 Match front & back 0.30 35 39 37 42 40 38.6 93.26 79.2
11 Serge pocket bag 0.50 65 65 62 66 71 65.8 54.7 46.5
12 Tack pocket to side 0.50 90 97 100 94 95 95.2 37.8 32.14
13 Sew side seam 0.95 105 150 140 110 125 126 28.57 24.28
14 Sew side seam 0.95 80 87 75 70 90 80.4 28.57 24.42
15 Attach tape to side 0.60 65 67 60 69 75 67.2 53.57 45.49
16 Sew front & back rise 0.40 42 40 45 43 47 43.2 83.3 70.80
17 Attach w/b to body 0.90 121 119 123 129 125 123 29.17 24.79
18 Attach w/b to body 0.90 129 135 131 118 132 129 27.9 23.72
19 Attach w/b to body 0.90 142 147 143 149 145 145 24.79 21
20 Serge w/b with elastic 0.90 83 87 85 91 86 86.4 41.66 35.41
21 Attach main label 0.30 22 23 25 21 24 23 150.5 133.4
22 Top stitch on w/b 0.40 30 31 29 32 30 30.4 118.4 100.6
23 Attach label 0.55 91 89 93 88 86 89.4 40.26 34.22
24 Attach rib to bottom 0.60 98 93 94 96 97 95.6 37.66 32.0
25 Attach rib to bottom 0.60 102 101 99 105 102 102 35.66 30.29
26 Top stitch on bottom 0.40 43 31 36 32 33 333 108.4 92.1
27 Sew in seam 0.85 73 75 78 71 76 74.6 48.26 41.0
28 Sew in seam 0.85 78 77 73 81 75 76.8 46.8 39.7
29 Tack bottom 0.60 61 53 58 55 57 56.8 63.3 53.8
30 Close twill tape 0.40 30 28 33 31 32 30.8 120 120
From Table 1, it was noticed that the time
required for waist band attachment (operation no.
4, 5 & 6) is more than the other operations. If, the
time required for different operations is not
adjusted properly, the productivity may be
reduced. So, proper line balancing is very
important in getting higher production. So, in
order to reduce the time required for waist band
& elastic attachment, a folder to pressure foot of
sewing machine was attached. Thus, because of
this extra attachment, the time required for waist
band & elastic attachment is reduced drastically.

Table 2. Time study report before folder attachment

Operator Time Taken in Sec Avg. Sec No. of No. of
Pieces Per Pieces Per
1 2 3 4 5 Hour @100% Hour @85%
Operator 1 210 260 240 215 280 241 14.9 12.69

Operator 2 200 180 160 175 200 183 19.6 16.72

Operator 3 180 175 180 190 160 177 20.3 17.2

Table 3. Time study report after folder attachment

Operator Time Taken in Sec Avg. Sec No. of No. of
Pieces Per Pieces Per
1 2 3 4 5 Hour @100% Hour @85%
Operator 1 150 138 133 147 133 140 25.71 21.85

Operator 2 145 139 135 121 130 134 26.86 22.83

Operator 3 122 124 141 120 150 131.4 27.39 23.28

Time study was carried out for only one
operation i.e. waist band attachment operation
and the results are given in Table 2. Compared to
other operations in the manufacturing of ladies
night wear trouser, more time is required for
waist band attachment.
To reduce the waist band attachment operation
time, extra folder attachment was done and the
same study was taken. The study was carried out
in term of time required and number of pieces
produced. The results are shown in Table 3.
From the Table 2 and 3, it was observed that
average time required for waist band attachment
operation was 200 sec., whereas the average time
required for the same operation after folder
attachment was found to be 135 sec. Thus, there
was about 65 sec. reduction in the waist band
attachment operation. Similarly, average pieces
produced per hour before attachment was 18 and
16 at 100% and 85% efficiency respectively.
However, after folder attachment number of
pieces per hour increased to 26 and 22 at 100%
and 85% efficiency respectively. Alternatively,
we can say that there was about 44% increase in
production at 100% efficiency and about 38%
increase in production at 85% efficiency. The
same results are also represented in Figure 1 and
2.
 This project deals with increasing productivity and
quality of garment while lowering costs is
attempted to make sure that you are giving the best
result for the company. Because of extra
attachment of folder to the sewing machine, the
time of the waist band attachment was reduced
and thus numbers of pieces produced were
increased considerably. Thus, using this extra
folder attachment, the productivity increased by
44% without sacrificing with quality

Fig.1. Comparative time study before and after
folder attachment
Figure 1 shows that average time required per
operation is 200 seconds after reducing the
stoppages this average time is reduced to 135
seconds. This can be happed by minimizing the
stoppages during proper alignment of Stretch
elastic through folder attachment in the stitching
operations. So productivity increased by 15%.
Fig.2. Comparative production of number of
pieces before and after folder attachment
REFERENCES
[1] Anilkumar, S. and Suresh, N. 2008,
Production and Operations Management; 2nd
Edition; New Age International (P) Limited
Publishers.
[2] Gerry, Cooklin, 2007, Introduction to
Clothing Manufacturing, 2nd Edition, pp. 131,Om
Book International.
[3] Joseph, Monks G. 2004, Theory and
Problems of Operations Management, 2nd
Edition, Tata McGraw, Hill Publishing Company
Limited.
[4] Martand, Tesang, 2009, Industrial
Engineering and Production Managements, 1st
Edition, pp. 13-14, S. Chand and Company
Limited, New Delhi.
[5] Pannerselvam, R. 2004, Production and
Operations Management, Prentice-Hall of India
Private Limited.
[6] Ronald, J.Ebert and Everett, E.A. 1994,
Production and Operations Management; 5th
Edition, Prentice-Hall of India Private Limited.

The increase in the production after the folder

attachment could be due to minimizing the
stoppages during proper alignment of stretched
elastic waist band through folder attachment
during stitching.

5. Conclusion

Productivity improvement results in lower cost per

units by effective utilizations of all the resources
and reducing wastages. Lower cost per units
contributes to increased profit levels so that
company can reinvent the surplus in new
technology, equipments and machines. This will
results in further productivity increases and also
there is a greater employment generation due to
new investments.

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