Management Brief Ref: Fast React_Evolve_Management Brief_Critical Path

ARE YOU IN CONTROL OF YOUR

PRE - PRODUCTION PROCESS?
The Fast React Guide to Critical Path Management Part 1
Why is Critical Path (CP) more important
now than ever before?
Two of the most recent trends in the relationship between
apparel manufacturer and their buyers have been:
Suppliers taking on more product design &
development, including sourcing, testing and
approval of materials.

Reduction in lead times, where the standard for new

product is now around 90 days, with some buyers
are aiming for 60 days, 50 or even 40 days, from PO
receipt to ex-factory.

To understand the best way to cope with both increased

complexity and shorter lead times it is important to
understand what typically happens now.
All too often, most of the pressure occurs in the final 30
days during the production phase.
That is to say, in most businesses, it is during the
production phase that most of the fire-fighting takes
place to maintain delivery deadlines and compensate for
any delays and slide in the approval process and material
supply that should have happened in the preceding 30 to
60 days.
If your business suffers from any of the following problems,
then you could benefit from a closer look at your Critical Path
(CP) process:
Delays getting information from buyers
Too many late samples / approvals
Poor coordination between departments, suppliers
and buyers
Poor on time delivery of materials
Delays to start cut dates vs. planned start dates,
leading to lost production capacity

In some cases the fault may actually lie with your buyer or
supplier, BUT its the garment manufacturer who often takes the
majority of the pain, so pro-active management of your buyers
and suppliers timelines is essential, wherever possible.
NB: Even if delivery deadlines ARE ultimately being achieved,
this is often at a very real and high cost to
the business.
Constant firefighting and stress inevitably reduce efficiency
and quality levels, increase working hours and add unnecessary
excess costs.
With the identified trends towards shorter lead times and
garment vendors assuming more responsibility for product
development, things are definitely not going to get any easier!
With the additional constant pressure on production costs and
profit margins, plus the need to achieve on time delivery to
retain customers and avoid penalties, apparel manufacturers
really have to get tight control over the pre-production process.

What exactly does CP involve?

Pre-Production Milestones, Critical Path Management (CPM),
Time & Action (T&A) - there are many names, but they all
describe the same process, i.e. that of ensuring that all the
required activities in the process from order enquiry through
costing, BOM creation, fit and style approval, material trim and
garment testing happen on time so that production can start
on time.

The critical path tools enable users to quickly identify

potential problems, empowering them to take
corrective action before problems arise. This has greatly
increased the efficiency of communication. As a result,
Fast React has allowed us to reduce lead times, improve
our efficiency and improve our on-time
delivery performance.
Alex Lui, Project Manager - Lever Style (China)

Excessive use of overtime and firefighting to make

sure you deliver on time

Fast React Systems Ltd Europe

Tel: +44 (0)1332 668942
Email: info@fastreact.com Web: www.fastreact.com

Fast React Systems Ltd Asia

Tel: +66 (0)2 664 3326
Email: info.asia@fastreact.com Web: www.fastreact.com

Management Brief Ref: Fast React_Evolve_Management Brief_Critical Path

ARE YOU IN CONTROL OF YOUR

PRE - PRODUCTION PROCESS?
The Fast React Guide to Critical Path Management Part 1
The 5 Key Steps of Critical Path
Management and Common Fashion
Industry Problems
STEP 1. Define the activities, durations &
persons responsible.
This is the easy part!
Identify what tasks need to be completed,

in the correct sequence, from start i.e. product
development / receive PO to completion i.e. shipping
& payment for the order.
Consider where parallel activities can be performed
to save time.
Consider if one activity is dependent on another i.e.
part of a chain.
Agree on the shortest reasonable time (days

required) in which you can complete the process
(including a reasonable safety margin or buffer).
The person or department responsible to follow up.
In order to ensure consistency of process, a template based
approach to CP is required to deal with the necessary
variations, but still retain a company-wide standard.
This approach is difficult to achieve if you use email and
spreadsheets because these methods dont promote a
standard and consistent approach as each user simply
develops their own working methods.
The complexity in the fashion industry arises from having
many separate projects (each style is a project) ongoing
at the same time. Each buyer and product type requires
different activities and lead times, so it is essential to
set very clear priorities for each variant (the template
based approach).

Fast React Systems Ltd Europe

Tel: +44 (0)1332 668942
Email: info@fastreact.com Web: www.fastreact.com

STEP 2. Set Targets and Priorities for each activity

This is probably the most difficult yet most important part of the
whole process.
Each activity on every style/order should have a clear target
date and priority so each department is working through the
many styles/orders/activities in priority sequence i.e. the sample
room, merchandisers, purchasing, sales team are all working in
a coordinated manner.
Most businesses set these targets based on the delivery date
with a fixed period assumed for the production normally 1
month.
Example 1: Target setting based on fixed lead times
before the delivery date
However, this approach is MUCH too simple and doesnt work
effectively. Heres why that is:

Most businesses have many orders with the same

delivery date i.e. at the middle and end of each month.
This is because the buyers often work in these time
buckets and also want to consolidate shipments to
save transport cost.

Using the above method, if 30 orders each have

the same delivery date, then those 30 orders will all
have the same target dates for each activity (assuming
similar product types) but of course it is impossible
to complete 30 samples or order / receive 30 lots of
fabric or trims on the same day.

This means that there is no clear priority for these 30

orders, so each department will set their own priority
and that priority will never be the same across all
departments and suppliers!

Fast React Systems Ltd Asia

Tel: +66 (0)2 664 3326
Email: info.asia@fastreact.com Web: www.fastreact.com

Management Brief Ref: Fast React_Evolve_Management Brief_Critical Path

ARE YOU IN CONTROL OF YOUR

PRE - PRODUCTION PROCESS?
The Fast React Guide to Critical Path Management Part 1

The result is when we want to start production the

activities will not be coordinated and some activities
are likely to be complete on each order, but few

orders may be complete and ready for production.
Certainly the most important ones i.e. those needed
first to meet the earliest planned start dates are not

obvious to anyone.

In practice, we also dont need 30 days for every

production order. The time required will vary
according to the style detail, order quantity, available
capacity etc.

So how do we set realistic targets dates

and priorities?
Example 2: Target setting to achieve clear priorities
In the above example we can see 4 different orders all with
same delivery date, but in reality they will all have different
critical path targets.

IMPORTANT: The delivery date is not the key driver

for most activities! Consider the relationship between
the pre-production activity, the production process
and the delivery date. For example, fabric is not
related to final delivery date, it is related to the start
cut date.

Production start dates are typically the key driver.

The start date for each order will depend on may
factors such as:
-
-
-

-


-

Style difficulty i.e. SAM or SMV

Order quantity
Capacity available, including how many sewing
lines will be used
Seasonal demand between high and low

season i.e. are we pulling forward some orders
to smooth capacity loading
Production processes required and their
constraints i.e. are embroidery or washing
required? Will they be in house or subcontracted?

In order to get clear priorities for each order, we need to

understand and take into account various key factors:

Fast React Systems Ltd Europe

Tel: +44 (0)1332 668942
Email: info@fastreact.com Web: www.fastreact.com

Fast React Systems Ltd Asia

Tel: +66 (0)2 664 3326
Email: info.asia@fastreact.com Web: www.fastreact.com

Management Brief Ref: Fast React_Evolve_Management Brief_Critical Path

ARE YOU IN CONTROL OF YOUR

PRE - PRODUCTION PROCESS?
The Fast React Guide to Critical Path Management Part 1
This technique of setting priorities based on actual

demand (required start dates) is often referred to as
PULL system or JIT (Just in Time) in Lean terminology

Be careful though as often the process is complicated

by buyer rules. For example a common situation is
that buyers request that some activities e.g. fabric
order is issued ASAP (as soon as possible) after the

receipt of the garment PO.

This means that some activities are pushed in terms

of target date from the point of order receipt, but we
still need a pull system for activities such as receipt

of fabric to align with start cut dates.

The complexity and large number of variables involved

in calculating these priorities means that the traditional
tools used by manufacturers i.e. email and many separate
spreadsheets cannot work without a huge manual workload
on the planning and pre production team
As a result we see that in most business they use a too
simplistic approach to target setting (delivery date, minus
30 days for production minus required lead time for each
activity). They then have to constantly firefight and manage
exceptions to try to achieve on time production start
and delivery.

One area that had previously been a headache for

us was the coordination between marketing, planning
and production - numerous meetings were needed to
accurately quote delivery dates for customer inquiries.
With Fast React weve already been able to bring all these
functions together in one centralised system and respond
to customers in half the time it used to take us previously.
Mr. Rohan Goonetilleke, Managing Director - Textured
Jersey (Sri Lanka)

STEP 3. Update Task Status Daily

Once clear targets have been established these need to be
communicated to the different people responsible, this will
also include people outside the business such as suppliers,
buyers and subcontractors.
It is essential that each activity owner has the latest
priorities and can also feedback to the planning and control
team the latest status.
So, on a daily basis, activity owners must:

Update each activity, when completed

Where an activity cannot be completed on time,
advise an expected completion date i.e. how
many more days are required.

Of course the key challenges are:

Lots of data - even a medium size factory making

saying 30 styles per month, with 3 months of firm
orders, plus 3 months of new styles in development
has 180 styles to manage at any one time.

Assuming only 20 key critical path activities to

manage on each style that adds up to a huge 3,600
separate activities to manage.

If we also then consider different colours, plus

separate material items, the number of activities to
follow up could easily be tens of thousands.

Frequent changes - A change to one activity on

a style can create a knock on effect on many others
i.e. if the sample approval on style A fails and need
to be resubmitted that can lead to many other
changes i.e. style A cant proceed to the next step of
pre-production and start cut may be delayed.

As a result, style C may need to be pulled forward

and the critical path for that style needs to be
completed sooner to get it ready for production in
place of Style A.

So now we can begin to see clearly why many

companies struggle to gain control of the CP update
process.
To achieve that control requires good tools, a
disciplined approach and a repeating cycle of
communication:

Fast React Systems Ltd Europe

Tel: +44 (0)1332 668942
Email: info@fastreact.com Web: www.fastreact.com

Fast React Systems Ltd Asia

Tel: +66 (0)2 664 3326
Email: info.asia@fastreact.com Web: www.fastreact.com

Management Brief Ref: Fast React_Evolve_Management Brief_Critical Path

ARE YOU IN CONTROL OF YOUR

PRE - PRODUCTION PROCESS?
The Fast React Guide to Critical Path Management Part 1
Do you have good visibility, coordination
and discipline?
Revise the
plan and
repeat the
cycle

STEP 4. Manage The Exceptions, Fast Track &

Re-plan
Once the status of each activity is known, the planner can
report and manage the exceptions.

Set clear
targets and
priorities

If the above steps are carried out effectively, then it is

reasonable to assume that the 80/20 rule will apply i.e. 80% of
activities will be ok, but 20% will still
raise issues.
The planner is now a key problems solver, if there are delays
on the CP, there may be several solutions,
for example:

Share the
status and
highlight
problems

Update
actual or
expected
completion

. or are your departments disconnected?

Most business try to handle the above process through a
combination of lots of emails, spreadsheets and sometimes an
ERP system.
Those separate methods dont share data or updates result
in huge amounts of manual work and a visibility/coordination
nightmare.
In reality, due to the high volumes of data and regular changes
on status mistakes are made, priorities are not clear and
problems are not seen soon enough.

Prior to installing Fast React, the systems in place

were cumbersome and disjointed giving us poor visibility
and reporting.
Fast React has greatly improved visibility, centralised the
information flow across departments within the business
and improved response times. Once we were up and
running with FastReact the system immediately started
to deliver tangible benefits to the business.

Fast Track - It may be necessary to cut lead times

on other activities in order to complete the critical
path in time. CP lead times should always include a
small amount of buffer (vs. the minimum achievable
lead time) to allow for this.

Revise Plan - If the CP is linked and driven from

the latest plan, it can be possible to reschedule the
production start date by swapping order/style
sequence in the plan.

Quick and easy coordination between departments

when changes are genuinely required is key to
avoiding extra cost.

In so many businesses, CP status is not visible to the

planner, so they are often planning BLIND with no real
visibility or advance warning of problems in
pre-production.
The result is often the worst case scenario, where
failures in the CP process mean that the start production
date will be pushed back.
This in turn often means having to sacrifice profits and
efficiency by arranging overtime, changing the plan so the
style runs on several production lines or subcontracting to
catch the delivery date.

Matt Arrowsmith, Chief Operating Officer

Asia - AllSaints (UK)

Fast React Systems Ltd Europe

Tel: +44 (0)1332 668942
Email: info@fastreact.com Web: www.fastreact.com

Fast React Systems Ltd Asia

Tel: +66 (0)2 664 3326
Email: info.asia@fastreact.com Web: www.fastreact.com

Management Brief Ref: Fast React_Evolve_Management Brief_Critical Path

ARE YOU IN CONTROL OF YOUR

PRE - PRODUCTION PROCESS?
The Fast React Guide to Critical Path Management Part 1
Conclusions

STEP 5. Measure your actual performance KPI &

Continuous Improvement
As with any key part of the business process, actual critical path
performance should be recorded and reviewed.

Without good tools and a systematic and determined approach

to CP it will be more and more difficult to complete the
increasingly complex product development process in the
shorter and shorter timescales required.

This enables you to check that your timelines are realistic

and identify where and how you could reduce them. Key
Performance Indicators (KPI) should include:
Total order lead time from various key points for
example from receive order to ready to ship or
receive order to ready to cut.

Do you really know your actual achieved maximum,
minimum and average lead times for different
products?

Achievement against target i.e. what was

the average number of days +/- that activities were
completed compared to the target date.

The consequences of not managing the process, i.e. increased

costs of overtime, subcontracting, firefighting in production
(efficiency and quality losses) or, in the worst case, late delivery
are simply not sustainable with todays tight profit margins.

From this analysis, you can understand which

activities can already be achieved in a shorter time
and which still need process improvement to achieve
existing targets.

Right First Time Analysis on approvals. Knowing

what % of all approval fail (by activity, buyer and
product type).

Critical Path Management will be an increasingly important part

of every fashion businesss tool kit.

When failures and lateness do occur it is important

that reasons can be recorded. This will greatly
improve the ability to analyse each season and
identify what areas should be focused on to ensure
better performance next time.

Typically fashion businesses have little time to review their

achieved performance. As soon as one season is over they
must rush into the next.
More importantly, the time consuming process of collecting
and analyzing the history of a season is almost impossible
when information is scattered over 1000s of emails,
spreadsheets or even or hand written notes. So we often
keep repeating the same mistakes season after season!!

Fast React Systems Ltd Europe

Tel: +44 (0)1332 668942
Email: info@fastreact.com Web: www.fastreact.com

Fortunately, there is already a proven solution both to managing

the complex challenges of critical path AND keeping this aligned
with the latest planned production start dates. The critical path
planning tools from Fast React Systems are fully integrated into
its industry standard capacity planning system providing a
simple answer to these complex industry challenges.

Fast React has given us full integration of our planning

and pre-production activities...
a 6.5% improvement on factory efficiencies due to
improved planning and the ability to react quickly and
earlier to supply issues, thus avoiding unnecessary line
idling.
The proactive warnings that Fast React provides in
advance of a problem has been key to managing this
process more effectively.
Carl Morley, Supply Chain Director - Crystal Martin
(Sri Lanka)

Next Month we will look at how Fast React

provides practical tools to achieve the 5 steps of Critical
Path Management and solution to the common problems
mentioned in the article.

Fast React Systems Ltd Asia

Tel: +66 (0)2 664 3326
Email: info.asia@fastreact.com Web: www.fastreact.com