Lean conversion of an apparel assembly line: a case study

Abstract

To be competitive and meet ever increasing demand of apparel buyers to reduce cost, supply smaller quantity order at shorter lead time as well as increasing labor cost in the local market has forced the local manufacturers of Bangladesh to improve labor productivity, quality, to reduce lead time and produce small order quantity efficiently. Tools and techniques of Lean manufacturing may play an important role in their quest for meeting ever increasing demand of customers profitably. Lean manufacturing requires keeping far less than half the needed inventory on site, results in many fewer defects, and produces a greater and ever growing variety of products. Lean consists of best practices, tools and techniques from throughout industry with the aims of reducing waste and maximizing efficiency to achieve the ultimate customer satisfaction. The present study focuses on improving line efficiency, throughput time of an assembly line through identifying wastes using value stream mapping and other analyses, identifying opportunities for improvement and required tools and techniques of lean manufacturing and industrial engineering to implement. An assembly line in an apparel factory is considered to implement this study as well as line efficiency, throughput time, machine utilization, space utilization, WIP and other performance parameters are compared before and after implementing the tools and techniques of lean manufacturing and industrial engineering. Though outcomes of 5S and visual management are difficult to quantify, these tools are foundations for lean implementation.