ANALYSIS AND IMPROVEMENT OF WESTECS BLAZERS EXISTING PROCESS BY LINE BALANCING

A.S.M.Abdullah 1030382060 Md. Shafiqul Islam Masud 1010405560 Muhammad Showket Ali 1010608060 Hasnat Md. Adnan 1010420560 Mohammad Motaher Hossain 1010349060

Westecs is a Bangladeshi company. Established in 1990. Westecs has 15 outlets in Bangladesh.

Process
Cloth Selection: Cloth selection is the first and vital step of the process. Generally finished cloths are imported from China. Company basically selects deep color to make a corporate blazer but for the party users light color is preferable. Moreover blazers cloth should be genuinely colored to minimize the risk of turning frayed. Cutting: Cloths are basically cut by scissors. This section should be very much experienced as cloths may be cut down from any vital portion accidentally. This whimsical action will result most as that cloth can not be utilized for the further use.

Smoothing : To stitch a blazer perfectly prepared cloth should be fold flawlessly. Extended threads are removed in this section. If the cloth is not so smooth sewing machine can not stitch efficiently. Not only that but also machine jam may be occurred

Toning

In this section surface cloths are matched with the inside cloths. Inside cloth should be very much soft and foam-covered. If the inside cloths color does not match with the surface portion dissatisfaction also may raised.
:

Table Section : After all the cloth portions are arranged in matching process the assembly starts. In this section drying, fixing, folding, drawing margin etc are done according to the design. Also different types of fastening such as snap buttons, zipper etc are assembled in this section. Sewing : In sewing section the assembled parts from the table section are stitched for final joining and decorative purpose by button and zipper stitching. Dry Washing : In this section the finished products are checked to remove extended threads, pen marks of cutting pattern. Shining is also done in this section. Q/C : In final quality checking a quality officer checks the blazers according to the benchmark. Packaging : Blazers are packed by safety poly bags.

Existing Process Flow Chart

A
Cloth Selection
20 min

B
Cutting
20 min

C
Smoothing
30 min

D
Toning
20 min

E
Bottleneck
Table Setting
100 min

I
Packaging
20 min

G
Quality Checking
20 min

F
Dry Washing
80 min

Sewing
50 min

Existing Process
A G B C D E F H I

CT = 100 min % Idle = 28% % Utilization = 72% Output per month = 124 Blazers Labor cost per unit = 895 taka

Improvement Techniques
1. Creating Parallel Station. 2. Reducing Cycle Time. 3. Increasing Output Capacity. 4. Combining Tasks.

Approach 1: Introducing combined tasks and parallel stations

A B C

F
D E

CT = 80 min % Idle = 25% % Utilization = 75% Output per month = 156 piece Labor cost per unit = 712 taka

Output (per month)

200 100 0 E xiting A pproac h proc es s 1 124 156

L abor c os t (taka) per

1000 500 0 E x iting proc es s A pproac h 1 895 712

Approach 2: Increasing stations of combined tasks

A B C D E F G D E F G H I
CT = 70 min % Idle = 14.2% % Utilization = 85.7% Output per month = 178 pieces Labor cost per unit = 922 taka

Output (per month)

200 150 100 50 0 E x iting A pp 1 A pp 2 proc es s 124 156 178

L abor c os t (taka) per

1000 500 0

895 712

922

E x iting A pp 1 A pp 2 proc es s

Approach 3: Setting up parallel stations of single task to reduce cycle time

E A B C D E F

G H G I

CT = 50 min % Idle = 10% % Utilization = 90% Output per month = 249 pieces Labor cost per unit = 570 taka

Output (per month)

250 200 150 100 50 0
124 156 178 249

L abor c os t (taka) per

922 712 570

1000 500 0

895

E x itingA pp 1 A pp 2 A pp 3 proc es s

2 p Ap

ng

iti

Ap

Ex

Ap

Approach 4: Increasing parallel stations of single task

E F A B C D E F E G G H I
CT = 40min % Idle = 18.14% % Utilization = 81.86% Output per month = 312 pieces Labor cost per unit = 541 taka

Output (per month)

350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0
312 249 156 124 178

L abor c os t (taka)
922 712 570 541

1000 500 0

895

3 p

ng

tin

pp

pp

pp

pp

iti

Ap

Ap

Ap

Ex

xi

Ap

Approach 5: Combining tasks and setting parallel stations of combined tasks

D
A B C D

E F

I
CT = 40min % Idle = 10% % Utilization = 90% Output per month = 312 pieces Labor cost per unit = 917 taka

E
F

C D E

Output (per month)

350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0
312 249 178 312

L abor c os t (taka) per

1000 500 0

895 712

922 570 541

917

156 124

Ap

Ap

Ap

Ap

Ex

Ap

Ex

iti n Ap g p Ap 1 p Ap 2 p Ap 3 p Ap 4 p 5

4 p

ng

iti

Approach 6: Lowering number of parallel stations by combining tasks E F G

D
A B C D

I
CT = 42.5 min % Idle = 5.9% % Utilization = 94.1% Output per month = 293 pieces Labor cost per unit = 1144 taka

C D E F G H I

D
Output (per month)
400 300 200
124 156 178 312 249 312

F
L abor c os t (taka) per
1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0
1144 895 712 570 541 922 917

293

100 0

xi tin A g pp A 1 pp A 2 pp A 3 pp A 4 pp A 5 pp 6

A g pp A 1 pp A 2 pp A 3 pp A 4 pp A 5 pp 6

xi

tin

Approach 7: Increasing stations of combined tasks

E A B C D E F F G

CT = 45 min % Idle = 11.11% % Utilization = 88.89% Output per month = 277 pieces Labor cost per unit = 1137 taka

D E F G H I

E
Ou tp u t (p er mo n th )

F
L abor c os t (taka) per
1500 1000 500 0
895 1144 1137 922 917 712 570541

400 300 200

1 24 1 56 1 78 31 2 249 31 2 293 277

100 0

tin A g pp A 1 pp A 2 pp A 3 pp A 4 pp A 5 pp A 6 pp 7

E xi A ting p A p1 p A p2 p A p3 p A p4 p A p5 p A p6 pp 7

xi

Approach 8 (100% EFFICIENT PROCESS)

A A A A A A B B B B B B C C C C C C D D D D D D E E E E E E F F G

I
CT = 40min % Idle = 0% % Utilization = 100% Output per month = 312 pieces Labor cost per unit = 1760 taka

G
F F F F G

I
0% Id le

100 % Utiliz ation

Output (per month)

400 300 200 100 0
124 156 178 312 249 312 293 277 312

7 pp A

tin g

pp

pp

pp

pp

pp

pp

xi

pp

Approach 9 (100% EFFICIENT PROCESS)

E A B C D E E F F F F F F G G G G G G H H H H H H I I I I I I
L ab o r c o s t (tak a) p er
400 300 200
124 156 178 312 249 312 293 277 312 277

CT = 45min % Idle = 0% % Utilization = 100% Output per month = 277 pieces Labor cost per unit = 1755 taka

D E E E

O u tp u t (p er mo n th )

2000 1500 1000 500 0

895 712 922 570 541 917 1144 1137

1760 1755

100 0

xi tin g A pp 1 A pp 2 A pp 3 A pp 4 A pp 5 A pp 6 A pp 7 A pp 8 A pp 9

8 pp A

tin

pp

pp

pp

pp

pp

pp

pp

xi

pp

This 100% utilization is always not viable!

WHY??
Fatigue of the workers Higher setup cost Difficulty in space allocation for so many parallel stations

Searching For Approach: Balance between output and cost.

Cycle Time and Utilization Rate

C ycle time (min)
120

% Utilization
120% 100% 80% 60%

100 80 60 100 40 20 0
Approach 1 Approach 2 Approach 3 Approach 4 Approach 5 Approach 6 Approach 7 Approach 8 Approach 9 Existing process

80

70 50 40 40 42.5 45 40 45

40% 20% 0%

72%

94.10% 88.89% 100% 100% 85.70% 90% 81.86% 90% 75%

process

Approach 1

Approach 2

Approach 3

Approach 4

Approach 5

Approach 6

Approach 7

Approach 8

Findings: As cycle time is reducing % of utilization is increasing. So there is a inverse relationship between cycle time and utilization

Approach 9

Exiting

Utilization Rate
% Utilization
120% 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 72% 75% 85.70% 90% 81.86% 90% 94.10% 88.89% 100% 100%

Approach 1

Approach 2

Approach 3

Approach 4

Approach 5

Approach 6

Approach 7

Approach 8

We have found approach 8 and approach 9 to be 100% efficient leaving no idle time. However, 100% efficiency is impractical considering the human factor. Approach 6 is 94% efficient followed by approach 3,5and 7 offering almost 90% efficiency. Approach 3, 5, 6 and 7 are quite good solutions. But, we have to consider others factors before taking a decision.

Approach 9

E xiting proces s

Output Level
Output (per month)
350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 124 156 178 249 312 312 293 277 312 277

ch 1

ch 2

ch 3

ch 4

ch 5

ch 6

ch 7

ch 8

pro c e s s

A ppr oa

A ppr oa

A ppr oa

A ppr oa

A ppr oa

A ppr oa

A ppr oa

A ppr oa

The existing output is around 124. As we improved we reached an output level of 312 for approach 4, 5 and 8. After discarding approach 8 and 9 due to their 100% efficiency and approach 4 for lower utilization rate, we are left with approach 5, 6 and 7 as probable solutions.

E xiting

A ppr oa

ch 9

Whats About COST?

L abor c os t (taka)
2000 1800 1600 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0

1760 895 922 570 541 917 1144 1137

1755

Labor cost is increasing with the rise of utilization rate.

712

A pproac h 1

A pproac h 2

A pproac h 3

A pproac h 4

A pproac h 5

A pproac h 6

A pproac h 7

A pproac h 8

The current cost level is Tk895 per blazers. Approach 4 requires lowest labor cost of Tk541. Approach 3 is second followed by approach 1 with both offering labor cost below Tk360. As we have seen previously, approach 4 is only 80% efficient whereas approach 3 is 90%.

A pproac h 9

E x iting proc es s

Output VS Labor cost

Existing Output/ Labor cost 1.124 AP1 1.75 AP2 1.6 AP3 3.52 AP4 4.62 AP5 2.72 AP6 2.05 AP7 1.95

4.62

Although Approach 5,6 and 7 have higher utilization rate(90% or above) , their Output is low against the labor cost. Approach 4 has highest output against labor cost despite a moderate utilization rate(82%) Approach 3 is second highest with 90% utilization rate

Recommendation

The choice depends on company policy

If the company focus on profitability then approach 3 and 4 is the best solution. If the company focus on efficiency then approach 5,6 and 7 is the best solution.