Cut waste, raise productivity

People work at a garment factory. With the newest manufacturing system in place, garment producers could save time and reduce waste.Photo: STAR

Fakir Apparels Ltd, a unit of a Narayanganj based garment group, has been able to reduce waste by 25 percent. This was possible because it recently introduced a lean manufacturing system on a pilot basis.
With the new system in place, the unit could save time, reduce waste and cut redundant workers.
“We could save 25 percent in waste as we shifted from the traditional line to a lean manufacturing system,” said Bakhtiar U Ahmed, general manager of Fakir Apparels Ltd.
The unit employs 6,000 people, while the total number of workers in the whole group would be more than 30,000.
“We could definitely save on the cost of production as the number of units produced per hour increased. We plan to gradually introduce the lean system in the other units as well,” he said.
The concept of productivity improvements has become the new mantra in the garments sector, aiming to attain maximum output with minimum inputs to remain competitive amidst severe competition.
Manufacturers are shifting to new production systems when international buyers are continuously pressurising them to cut prices, enhance quality and follow compliance issues strictly.
The cost of production increased manifold over the years for factors like raw material price hike although the end prices of items either remained static or in some cases, declined.
In the lean system, workers sit and work in a team rather than following a line system to produce items. Under the system, workers are trained to be multi-skilled. As a result, the system requires a fewer number of helpers while some others become redundant.
Experts said under a lean production system, a team of workers can produce even 220 pieces of basic T-shirts without much waste or rejection of goods with the same number of workers.
In the traditional system, a team of workers can produce 150 to 160 pieces of basic T-shirts with greater waste and rejection rates per hour. The lean system demands more perfection and excellence.
The garments business has become severely competitive globally for a higher cost of production, quality consciousness, higher costs of raw materials and a shortage of skilled manpower.
Following such fierce competition, everybody wants to save a margin to stay afloat in business.
Since the lean manufacturing system is largely dependent on the culture work, it needs a lot of training for the workers and management to enhance their skills.
“Varying from factory to factory, 3 to 5 percent of the cost of production could be saved under the lean manufacturing system,” said Sadequr Rahman, an industrial engineer who has been working in different factories to set up the lean system.
At least 10 percent in worker efficiency could be increased under the system, he said.
Rahman said his team could save up to Tk 48 lakh in a factory in a month after introducing the lean manufacturing system.
He said manufacturers are interested in setting up the lean manufacturing system as the cost of production has increased over the years, but end prices have not.
At the same time, exporters have to follow strict lead-times. As a result, owners are trying to produce in greater quantities with existing manpower and resources to maintain lead-time, he said.
A senior official of GIZ (German Development Cooperation) said the average productivity rate of the Bangladeshi workforce varies between 30 percent and 35 percent, while in good factories, it varies between 60 percent to 65 percent under a standard minutes value calculation basis.
In many developing and developed countries, the average productivity rate varies between 80 percent and 85 percent. The rate in some cases reaches 100 percent, the official said.
A lack of skills of the workers and management is the main reason for such a low rate of productivity in the factories, he said.
He said many helpers do not know how to operate a sewing machine, but they are working in the factories.
In some cases, the delayed arrival of inputs is also responsible for a lower rate of productivity, he added.

[email protected]