BKMEA and EU will sign an agreement next month to implement a project titled 'Capacity building of the knitwear sector through productivity improvement' in this regard for one-year period.

BKMEA President Fuzlul Haque said, "We would create a cell to offer service to our members for productivity improvement."

BKMEA will also develop a guideline on productivity for the knit industry, he added.

BKMEA sources said, more than 30 people will be trained for nine months for developing their capacity as productivity experts. More than half of trained persons will join the productivity cell and others knit factories.

Source said the cell of BKMEA will take service charge from the knitwear factories for providing productivity service.

The programme includes topics like tool and techniques of productivity and efficiency, quality issues, application of quality management techniques in knit production, work study time and method study, factory layout planning, inventory management, machineries maintenance, specialised needs of production management techniques.

One of the knitwear entrepreneurs acknowledged the need for productivity and competitive service.

He said, 'If we reduce the wastage in production by increasing productivity, the cost of production will be decreased'.

The SouthAsia Enterprise Development Facility (SEDF) provided financial support to the Department of Industrial & Production Engineering (IPE) of BUTE as a service provider last year for developing efficiency and productivity to readymade garments.