COMPANY PROFILE

Company Name - GOKALDAS EXPORTS LTD.

Unit - JDC (Jammadas Clothing) Pvt. Ltd

Address - Gokaldas Exports Ltd. #16/2, Residency Road, Bangalore - 560025 Head Office Address
Karnataka, INDIA Tel: +(91)-(80)-41272200/01/02 Fax: +(91)-(80)33477491

WEBSITE - http://www.gokaldasexports.com/index.html

Year Established - 1979

Annual Turnover - USD 200 million

Total Workforce - 22,500 employees

COMPANY INTRODUCTION

Gokaldas Exports Ltd (GEX) was incorporated in 1979. GEX is a major player in the readymade
garment industry across the globe. The company which is an ISO 9001:2015 Certified Company is
one of the largest manufacturers in India and amongst the largest internationally. Retaining strong
family values and ethics, it has grown to be one of the world‘s best known and reliable
manufacturers of readymade garments. Headquartered in Bangalore, Gokaldas Exports operates out
of more than 18 factories located in and around Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mysore and
Tumkur. The factories are dedicated by buyers and by products, specializing in creating Outerwear,
Blazers and Pants (Formal and Casuals), Shorts, Shirts, Blouses, Denim Wear, Swim Wear, Active and
Sports Wear, keeping pace with the requirements of famous labels in 39 countries. Global customer
base covers USA, Europe, Latin America, Middle East and India, servicing almost all major brands.

Gokaldas has four decades of partnering the world‘s most trusted fashion labels. They have lead the
readymade Indian garment industry, year after year, earning customer loyalty, winning industry
awards and growing reputation for reliability. They have oriented themselves to fashion trends and
customer needs, investing in the latest technology, relentlessly training the high skilled workforce
and setting the highest standards for themselves.

At Gokaldas Exports, production is optimized through state of the art technology and infrastructure.
Computerized spreading machines, auto jig, sleeve setting and pocket welting machines carry out
the relevant processes with swift efficiency. Fully fledged embroidery, printing, seam sealing,
washing and dyeing sections are equipped for accuracy and speed. The vital aspect of fusing is
handled by highly trained technical operators on top of the line fusing machines, to achieve the
perfect quality required.

Highly organized production systems co-ordinate seamlessly for optimal efficiency, each unit is
streamlined, specializing in the manufacture of a specific product. Steady capacity generation and
strategic alliances with leading processing houses enable Gokaldas Exports to raise the bar on quality
and production standards. The factories are automated with state of the art technology and ERP
systems, generated towards mass production. Gokaldas Exports produces and exports 3 million
garments each month. There are 100% export oriented factories, licensed for duty free imports of
fabrics and accessories for re-export. To give greater control over quality and shorten the product-
to market timeline, all processes involved in garment manufacture are handled in house. Factories
have their own in built stores for fabrics and accessories, enabling them to complete one particular
order at a time. The company‘s factories are compliant with modern manufacturing practices to
ensure higher productivity and on time delivery.
COMPANY HISTORY

The Gokaldas Exports group was set up by the late Shri Jhamandas H.Hinduja. At that time group
expanded through partnership firms. The prevailing regulatory environment, labour laws and
reservation for small scale industries made it conducive for growth through forming partnership
firms. The Company is engaged in the business of design, manufacture, and sale of a wide range of
garments for men, women, and children and caters to the needs of several leading international
fashion brands and retailers. The principal source of revenue for the Company is from export of
garments and related products.

The Company started as a business that manufactured silk scarves and stoles and later changed its
business model to manufacture shirts in a 1,000 square feet rented space with 40 leg machines. The
company targeted export markets- primarily The US and Europe and began to expand through
partnership arrangements. As volume grew, technology was introduced for keeping records. The
factory floors were transformed by introducing advanced, computer controlled machines replacing
those run on leg power. The 70 or 80 manual patternmakers once a source of numerous problems
had been replaced by five to six CAD systems. Huge industrial washing machines churned denim
garments to give them the look of the hour stonewashed, acid washed, bleached while other
garments were manually spray painted, sand blasted or laser engraved. Massive multi head
embroidery machines emblazoned shirts and jackets with appliqués, badges, and embroidery.
Gokaldas was able to provide its clients with ―any kind of garment right from ultra-formal to ultra-
casual across men‘s, women‘s and children‘s wear.‖ Eventually, it specialized in outerwear, like coats
and jackets; active wear, like warm ups and swimsuits; bottoms, like trousers and shorts; and casual
wear, including shirts, blouses and dresses.

By end of 2004 Gokaldas had 43 factories with 258 production lines scattered in and around the
southern Indian city of Bangalore. It had more than 35,000 workers, which was nearly double the no.
it employed in 1999-2000, and its total sales had increased at an annual compounded growth rate of
19.67% over this period. The company was valued at approximately $215 million and exported
nearly 90 percent of its production. However, to maintain its already slim margins in an increasingly
competitive environment, Gokaldas needed to become more efficient. Company leaders hoped to
improve profits by 10-15 percent without adding resources and Gaurav Hinduja, COO of the
sportswear division and a third generation family member, became convinced that Lean would be
the best means to make this happen.

GEL, the Company was incorporated on March 1, 2004 by converting the erstwhile partnership firm
Gokaldas India under Part IX of the Companies Act, 1956. Pursuant to the order of the Hon‘ble High
Court of Karnataka dated November 20, 2004, Gokaldas Exports Private Limited and The Unique
Creations (Bangalore) Private Limited have been amalgamated with the Company, with April 1, 2004
being the appointed date.
PRODUCT RANGE

Gokaldas has the capability to produce a wide product range; among these are:

Formal suits, Ladies blouse, Skirts, Dresses, Sports wears, Knits, Denim wear, embroidered garments,
Tie- dyed garments, Sleepwear, Children‘s wear

CUSTOMERS
INTRODUCTION TO THE KAIZEN PHILOSOPHY

Kaizen is defined as continuous improvement. It is a philosophy of continuing improvement involving

small changes throughout all areas in an organization. When applied to the workplace Kaizen
involves all employees - from executives to labourers, and everyone in between. The Kaizen
philosophy has been implemented in organizations around the world. It has been used as a way to
improve production efficiency as well as improve employee morale and safety. The simple nature of
Kaizen means it may be applied to any procedure in the workplace. However, we are aware that
every organization has different and sometimes very unique and specific needs.

KAIZEN

The Definition Kaizen (Ky ‘ zen) is a Japanese term that means continuous improvement, taken from
words 'Kai', which means continuous and 'zen' which means improvement. Some translate 'Kai' to
mean change and 'zen' to mean good, or for the better. If you are aware of the Kaizen philosophy
and strive to implement it, not a day should go by without some kind of improvement being made
somewhere in the company.

FUNCTION OF KAIZEN
Two functions related to the executable work are distinguished in Japan,

 Maintenance of the existing condition relying on the operations related to complying with
current standard of technology and management,
 Improvement of the existing condition-kaizen, being the function playing the main role while
the procedures and instructions are strictly implemented.

APPLICATION PROCESS OF KAIZEN METHOD

Application process of kaizen method basically consists of:
 Definition of the improvement area
 Analysis and selection of the key problem
 Identification of the cause of improvement
 Planning the remedial Centre measures
 Implementation of the improving project
 Measuring, analysing and comparison of the results
 Standardization
TECHNIQUES CONNECTED WITH KAIZEN

There are no strictly defined principles and instruments, which must be used by management and
employee, in order to achieve benefits and control the processes of continuous improvement.
However, several definitions and techniques are connected with kaizen. These are:

TPM

TPM aims at maximization of machine utilization, operator, material, energy utilization, reducing
losses that that affect the work efficiencies which is extremes of productivity.

5 WHY

Basic for kaizen and at the same time the simplest organizing technique simultaneously, captivated
in motto “when you find a problem, ask why five times”; it ask so many times as you will find the
deepest reason of problem.

PDCA

Process of kaizen idea application is closed in PDCA cycle, Where:

 Plan (P) refers to establishing the aim for improvement,

 Do (D) is connected with implementing the plan,
 Check (C) defines determining whether the implementation has brought the planned
improvement,
 Act (A) characterizes standardizing as the preventing recurrence of the original problem or
setting goals for the new improvement.

7 INSTRUMENTS OF THE QUALITY CONTROL

Pareto diagram, reasons and results diagram (so called Ishikawa diagram),histogram, scheme,
punctual diagram, check card most often with x-R diagram,

POKA-YOKE (ERROR PROOF)

Poka-yoke solutions find application in stable processes and enable to drop of frequency of defects
for six sigma level
5S

The basis of kaizen are constituted by 5s concept,

 Seiri-(selection); proper (suitable) preparation of a workplace, with the elimination of

everything useless
 Seito-order (systemic); tidiness in a workplace, tools in the manner enabling simple and quickly
utilization,
 Seiso-clearness (cleaning); order in a workplace allowing on increase of safety
 Seiketsu-consolidation (standardization); reminding employees about their duties in the aspect
of care of used tools and equipment and about keeping the workplace order

KAIZEN OBJECTIVES

 To improve line efficiency

 To reduce waste
 To reduce DHU
 To increase 5S score
 To apply standard operation procedure (SOP) for all operators by eliminating non-value added
activities

METHODOLOGY
Total summarization of Kaizen implementation is given below:

 Collecting existing data including taking time calculation of existing line

 Balancing line by reducing non-value added activities
 Identifying top 5 defects of current sewing line by root cause analysis and taking corrective
action to reduce these top 5 defects
 Auditing 5S of existing layout, taking corrective action. Auditing 5S after Kaizen implementation
 Calculating the improvement in line efficiency and defect reduction after implementing
continuous corrective action known as Kaizen through 5 days of observation

KAIZEN APPLICATION
BEFORE

Before implementing Kaizen the existing data and layout were analysed. In the current layout of
sewing section is processing jackets for both men and women. Here loading, subassembly and
checking operations are most important. And there are some non-value added activities are
occurred in this process while studying. These are treated as wastages that must be removed from
the process are the main organization task. The detail layout of fabric section is shown in the below
figure,

PREVIOUS SEWING LAYOUT

The above Figure shows the detailed layout of sewing section from starting point to loading and
checking point. Here the Colombia 1058 jacket is preparing with 154 workstations in 130 minutes of
operation cycle time, where, the waste occurred as 30 seconds for 1 jackets out of 200 jackets
prepared per day and related 1 hour 40 minutes (110 minutes) is the wastage time. The most of the
wastage time is due to improper arrangement of workstations between fashion tab and loading,
unwanted movements made by checker for checking inner jacket.

AFTER

The continuous improvement is made through the application of kaizen principle the same is
achieved by the modification of layout as follows,

 Installing front ready before sleeves and collar adding that fashion tab and zip attach near front
ready and collar
 Installation of checking table in between the hood and inner finished can eliminate the wastage
of time (30seconds) for an average of 10 jackets.
 By reordering the work stations front ready, collar, sleeve tab, sleeve, fashion tab, zip attach, in
the proposed line design we will save 1minutes for an average of 4 jackets.
 AFTER KAIZEN IMPLEMENTATION, SEWING LAYOUT

The modification of sewing operation layout the major changes is fashion tab to front ready instead
of fashion tab to direct loading then checking then zip to collar instead of zip to loading and checking
which saves two operation in the view of time saving and its sequence so the cycle time saves up to
50% compared to earlier sequence before modification is made which is towards the time saving and
the productivity so that the both the changes are described in the above figures.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

After the application of kaizen principle through the modification of layout for the sewing section of
Columbia 1058 jacket the 15 seconds per jacket is saved and totally for 200 jackets 84 minutes has
saved successfully. Due to which the cycle time for the sewing operation is reduced from 110
minutes to 84 minutes and the number of garments output is increased from 220 to 247 per day is
the achievement of productivity and the same results are shown in the below graph figures.

CYCLE TIME REDUCTION

 PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENT

PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT CYCLE

Plans were made to improve operation, the problems were identified and ideas were made to solve
those problems. Some changes were implemented on small scale. By checking through Data check
sheets and graphical analysis we were confirmed that plan and action will bring desired result. Then
we act promptly to implement the changes though process standardization.

STANDARD OPERATION PROCEDURE (SOP)

Implementation of Standard operation is necessary because of making it possible to identify and

eliminates variation in operator work to sustain gains achieved from past Kaizen activities, to provide
baseline for future Kaizen activities. Creating Standard Operation,

 Conducts cycle time analysis

 Check documents each standard operation
 Display the document
 Ensures that all operators are trained

The objective of SOP is to prepare standard operation sheet for all operation and machine. To
standardize operation procedure time study is require observing the existing method of processes.
Then analyzing the processes slowly and eliminate the unnecessary movement to standardized the
method of processes. A standard method of process was analysed by the line supervisor. Then the
ways or methods of processing were documented. If the operators follow those methods properly,
the non-value added time will be reduced as well as the cycle time within taken time.
5S
For managing cutting wastes of fabric, paper, poly cover waste follow 5‘S system, 5S represents

Japanese words that describe the steps of a workplace organization process. English equivalent

words are shown in parenthesis.

 Seiri (Sort)
 Seiton (Straighten, Set)
 Seiso (Shine, Sweep)
 Seiketsu (Standardize)
 Shitsuke (Sustain)

In simple terms, the five S methodology helps a workplace remove items that are no longer

needed (sort), organize the items to optimize efficiency and flow (straighten), clean the area in

order to more easily identify problems (shine), implement color coding and labels to stay

consistent with other areas (standardize) and develop behaviours that keep the workplace

organized over the long term (sustain).

SORT -Distinguishing between necessary and unnecessary things, and getting rid of what we do

not need.

WASTE SEGREGATION

In this above picture we can see that all wastes are segregated like they differentiate fabric, paper

and poly cover wastes. Remove items not used in area.

SET -

Practice of orderly storage so the right item can be picked out without waste at the right time,

easy to access for everyone. Arrange everything in its right place.

AFTER CUTTING PIECES ARE KEPT IN TROLLEY AND BATCH WISE

SHINE-

Create a clean worksite without garbage, dirt and dust, so problems can be more easily identified.

LIGHT AND WHITE COLOR FABRIC COVERED WITH POLYBAGS

STANDARDIZE –

Standardize mean to setting up standards for a neat, clean, workplace. Standardize best through

'visual management'. Makes it easy for everyone to identify the state of normal or abnormal

conditions.

STORE IS WELL PLACED AND ARRANGED

SUSTAIN -

Implementing and to maintain the established standards over the long term, and making the

workplace organization the key to managing the process for success.

INDEX BOARD
REDUCING WASTE
The main objective of lean is to reduce wastes. If sewing floor defective garments are regarded as
wastes. So, if defects are reduced wastes are also reduced. It also improves quality and efficiency of
garments. There are different types of defects in sewing floors. Some defects are given below,

 Stitch density uneven

 Down stitch
 Open stitch
 Wrinkle
 Uneven stitch
 Piping damage
 Wrong insertion of puller
 Binding damage
 Bad thread tension
 Webbing damage
 Pleat
 Broken stitch
 Zipper waviness
 Over stitch
 Stitch on bending head
 Loose thread

CORRECTIVE ACTION FOR DEFECTS

Top five problems in sewing section

QUALITY ISSUES ACTION TAKEN

1.Wrinkle  Parts should be joint carefully.
 Heating of fabric from a specific distance can
be effective.
2. Zipper waviness  Zipper joint with fabric should be done
correctly.
 Marking on zipper should be effective
3. Wrong puller insertion  Advice operators to put more attention while
inserting puller.
 Alter operators for reducing monotonous

4.Broken stitch  Tension of bobbing cage and needle thread is

adjusted
 Advice to trim thread attentively
5.Uneven stitch  A little more attention can solve this problem
partially
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Kaizen implies that strong small, incremental changes are routinely applied and sustain over a long
period which results in significant improvement. At first, the plant layout, machine tool
arrangement, production flow, labour skill, work environment of the sewing floor was taken into
observation.

RESULTS FOR BEFORE KAIZEN IMPLEMENTATION AND AFTER KAIZEN IMPLEMENTATION WITH
COMPARATIVE RESULTS

SLNO. OBJECTIVES BEFORE KAIZEN AFTER KAIZEN RESULTS

IMPLEMENTATIO IMPLEMENTATIO
N N
1 Line efficiency 54 61 7% increased
(%)
2 5S Score 2.67 3.83 1.16 units
increased
3 SOP Non-value added Value added for Process
some operations standardized

For the quality improvement in above categories, the basic kaizen techniques PDCA,SOP, 5S scoring,
root cause analysis was used by us. By applying PDCA, whole improvement process were planned
sequentially, the required corrective action were taken. Those actions were checked, calculated and
analyzed that it can be implemented for improvement. By applying SOP the process were
standardized and cycle time were balanced by reducing non-value added activities. Thus working
environment and job safety were improved. After implementing kaizen 5S scoring was increased by
1.16 units. The performance of output is highly dependent on working environment. Improving the
working environment by making it clean and worker friendly the operators were self-motivated to
the works. So, the output was increased day by day. Line efficiency was improved 7% after
implementing Kaizen. Hence Kaizen improves productivity along with the improvement of quality
and reduction of waste.
LEAN SIGMA

India-based Apparel Manufacturer Gokaldas Industry Adopts LeanSigma® and Increases On-time
Delivery, Enhances Productivity and Grows Sales During Global Recession.

CLIENT
One of India’s largest apparel exporters for several major apparel brands. Private Equity owner,
Blackstone Group, wanted to accelerate value creation.

CHALLENGE
 Improve profits by 15 to 20% without adding resources or losing market position. Key client,
Nike, suggested adopting lean but GEX’s leadership was sceptical of applying lean in the
garment industry.
 The biggest challenge relates to worker absenteeism. Serena explains that when it comes to
choosing between family events and going to work, family wins most of the time, especially
because the garment industry workforce is comprised mostly of women.
 Another cultural challenge is that India is a highly structured and segregated culture in many
ways. Socially, there is the well known caste system, and in the workplace, the tradition of
bosses holding power and dictating instructions to workers remains.
 At the employee level, training of mid-managers planted lean thinking at the group-leader level
because it was apparent the new practices would have to be accepted among mid-managers
before plant-level employees could be properly trained.

SOLUTION
 After attending a TBM “CEO Boot Camp,” GEX invited TBM to conduct an assessment and
subsequent productivity-improvement action plan. This included four weeks of lean training for
three chief operating officers, all of whom received lean certification.
 To help combat high absenteeism, GEX created The Lean Fund, which allows employees to earn
and save a bonus when their production line exceeds the 70 percent efficiency target.
 GEX appointed dedicated continuous improvement officers to each site. The company now has
65 such officers at 15 locations. The officers have helped to bridge the gap between the ultra-
traditional workplace cultures of India and lean management’s emphasis on employee
empowerment.
 Sewing Line - Before Lean/After Lean A 60 percent drop in WIP inventory contributed to a
substantial reduction in lead time, something that GEX’s customers greatly value because it
helps them meet their business goals.
 Cutting: Before Lean/After Lean Implementing a cellular design was a significant step toward
improving first-time quality and balancing flow to takt.

RESULTS
 Improved productivity by 35%, made significant strides in on-time delivery and first-pass yield.
 Increased sales by 2% during a severe economic downturn.
 Competitive position was strengthened, lead time improved, and absenteeism and attrition was
reduced.
 Work in process inventory: 2.5 days to 1 day
 Productivity: A 42% improvement by going from 2.1 units per-person/per day to 3 units per-
person/per-day
 First-pass yield: 85%–92%
 Changeover improvement: 40%