Management Mantras

Category CMAI Apparel Posted By admin on Tuesday, September 21, 2010 Comments | Print | Mail it

Management Mantras Timely action

Time and action plans are pivotal for a manufacturing process. In the apparel industry, a well-made and strictly-adhered time and action plan can prove to be quite an asset for the manufacturer. Text by: Manish Dalal Time and Action Plan refers to simple managerial tools that can be used to complete a certain task within the defined time frame. Simply put, it is a list to things that must be done, along with the time by which it should be done, to complete a certain task. In the garment industry, Time and Action Plan, also referred to as TnA, is mostly used for manufacturer exporters who need to submit a TnA for each export order that they receive. However, TnA can be used for various tasks that need to be done. This article will deal with the application of TnA in the production cycle. For garment exporters, TnA is generally a reverse calculation, wherein the date of the shipment is taken as a zero day, and then all the actions that are required to be done to execute the order are listed and the time taken to complete the job is indicated next to it. The date for execution of the job is calculated in an inverse manner and also indicated next to that activity. A typical TnA for an export order, which needs to be shipped on say September 30, 2010 may look like this.

The above is a simplistic model of TnA, wherein broad activities are listed down and date by which they should be completed are marked against them. However, the concept of TnA can be applied effectively for domestic garment manufactures that produce various styles to be sold to various customers. If a detailed action plan is prepared for various activities to be done to complete a production cycle of various cutting orders or job cards that have been issued, then an elaborate system is also needed. In such a system, it should be possible to track the status of each job card in terms of its work done, and expected date of completion of the tasks. The steps needed to manage the elaborate system are listed below: a. Identify what goods will be produced in what sizes for whom and at which production centre A careful and elaborate planning goes a long way in an effective control over the actual events, with a further advantage that the control can be delegated to others in the organisation whose main job will be to ensure that the work is being executed as per the approved plan, and only the deviations are reported to the Top management. Thus, the manufacturing company may plan initially as to the quantum, size ratios, production for and the place where they plan to produce a particular style. This is illustrated in the following screen

The above screen indicates that 180 pieces shall be manufactured of a particular style with 60 pieces being earmarked for Exclusive Brand Outlets (EBOs), and balance for Large Format Stores (LFS). This production shall be carried out at the job worker called Focus, and the material shall be supplied by 12/07/2010. When this planning is done and the fabric for the material is received, the production personnel need to simply send the fabric to the job worker along with the applicable job card, they do not have to refer to the top management again on the arrival of the fabric. Further, when this plan is made, the production quantities planned to be produced at various job workers also get accumulated which can then be compared with the production capacity of the job worker. As the sizes in which the production will occur are also fixed, the marketing module of the application can be configured to take orders in the required sizes only. b. Record the promised date when the production processes required for the production are to be completed

The primary requirement for controlling anything is the systematic recording of things that should happen, and when they should happen. Then only actuals can be compared with the expectations and corrective actions taken. So, as soon as a job card is issued, the manufacturers may take from the job workers the expected date of completion of each tasks, and then record them into their application. An example of such recording is given below.

In the above diagram, for cutting job card no 1028, four processes need to be carried out, and the place and the time by which they shall be carried out are recorded against the job card.

Recording of actual events

The next step is to keep on recording the actual events as and when they occur. So, when the goods under this job card are sent for washing, the fact is recorded in the application, as also when they are received from washing and then sent for finishing. The actual events as and when they happen can then be reported against a specific job card as follows:

The above report tracks the movement of the job card No. 1024 as on date, and also tracks the quantitative and size wise movement through various production processes. For example, for style St-Pin E Black (Lot 1808), 222 pieces were issued for cutting on 13/06/2010, while the actual pieces cut on 13/06/2010 itself were 223, and these were then processed on 14/06/2010.

Stage-wise production status

The next process is to have a report wherein the status of each process for various colors in the same style are listed with actual quantities and actual date when the task was carried out. This is illustrated with the help of the following report:

The above report traces the movement of the style ST-Ralph H/s and its three colours that are under manufacture. It reflects that, say for the Color Earth- Red, 440 pieces have been issued for cutting on 16-6-2010, and yet, 51 days after the issue, 246 pieces are yet to be cut. Of the balance 194 pieces, 126 have reached the finishing line on 24-07-2010, 2 are at the sorting stage while 66 are at the

stitching stage giving a total figure of 194 pieces that have actually been cut. Same analysis can be done for other colours in this style. The above analysis is very helpful in allocating material to the Job workers in line with their production capacities, and then tracking the production to see if any process at the job workers end is remaining idle. With the help of TnA, one can know when the job worker is likely to have how many pieces in the finishing line and how many on the cutting table. This helps in ensuring that the material lying at production stages at the job workers is in line with the expected flow of material.

Conclusion
For the control mechanism to work, it is necessary to record the expected values of various events right till the completion of the manufacturing cycle, and then the actual values can just be compared with the expected. This will greatly reduce the burden of the top management of the medium sizes owner-driven companies, where almost all decisions are referred to the owners. A proper application to implement control is necessary to achieve the above, as against the more common method of control through manual workings on MS Word or excel statements. Implementing such applications will mean better use of the computers in the organisation, and also better control over various production activities, leading to timely deliveries, customer satisfaction, and improved business, with reduced dependency on human factor.