Department of Fashion Technology

Regulation 2021

Semester: VI

Course Code : FT3692

Course Name: INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING IN GARMENT
MANUFACTURING

Dr. G. Mohamed Zakriya

Associate Professor
School of Fashion
Technology
 UNIT IV

CO 5 Planning of layout and line balancing – K4

K4

Site selection for textile industry; plant layout - types of layouts suitable for textile
industry, methods to construct layout; line balancing

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Site selection for textile industry

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Labour cost is one of the main constituents of the total cost of production.
It influences the total cost of production. Labour implies both the skilled
and unskilled workers needed for different types of activities. The supply of
un-skilled labour does not create any serious problem because such labour
is available everywhere. Skilled labour is available only at specific centres.

On account of mobility of labour, this factor does not materially

affect the location of an industrial unit. The labour can be attracted by
providing various facilities and incentives like housing, canteen, rest rooms,
incentive wage plans etc.

In actual practice, if required skilled labour is not available in a

particular region, the available labour can be trained in the required skill or
alternatively skilled and trained labour can be migrated from other regions
to the plant. But both these methods are time consuming and involve a lot
of expenditure which ultimately increase the cost of production.

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In order to maintain uninterrupted production, facilities with regard to
repairs of machinery, plant and other components (in case of breakdown),
must be kept in mind before setting a factory. A large scale concern can
afford to install its own repair workshops, whereas small concerns may rely
on various repair shops working near the factory.

A careful thought to all these rules, regulations and provisions of

Act must be given before the establishment of an industrial unit. In order to
develop industries on sound lines, Govt, has declared certain areas as
industrially backward or special economic zones.

Certain concession and subsidies like cheap land, power and tax
concession and subsidised raw materials etc., are provided in order to
develop that particular area. Such measures are undertaken by the Govt, in
order to ensure balanced and regional growth of industries in India. The
area for location should be such as to provide all possible opportunities for
future development and expansion of the industrial unit without involving
extra cost. Every industrial undertaking is established with the aim to
expand
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Factors affecting site selection for manufacturing industry

1. Availability of raw material

2. Availability of labour
3. Climatic condition
4. Proximity of market
5. Transport and communication facilities
6. Availability of water
7. Availability of power and fuel
8. Legal Aspects
9. Amenities and recreational facilities
10. Scope of Future expansion
11. Community attitude

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Conditions on Layout settings:-
1. First, set the locations of the aisles and the entry and exit points for
materials.
2. Remember that the work area is a three-dimensional space. Use the
entire space for greatest efficiency.
3. Consider the atmosphere and comfort of the working environment.
4. Clearly define the main flow (body).
5. When the manufactured product changes, it may be necessary to
change the layout. Be sure to make the layout flexible and easily adaptable
to new needs.
6. Keep it simple so that the process can be easily managed and viewed.
7. Avoid moving materials and goods backwards on the line or across
another path. Arrange the equipment so that materials and goods are
transported to the shortest possible distance and as few times as possible.
So that the operators do not need to transport goods, arrange
transportation paths to follow the flow of production.
8. Use work table extensions and holding tables to smooth the flow.

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Plant layout - types of layouts suitable for textile industry
Basic layouts
(1) Flow forward layout
Materials are taken from a position
behind and to the left of each
operator, who then places the
processed good forward on the table
for the next operator. This method is
suited to large production lots where
each operator uses few pieces of
equipment.

(2) Side-to-side flow

Goods flow from left to right or right
to left in this model. This layout
permits the operator to move more
quickly while operating on several
machines at a time

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Some typical layouts depend on the map of the factory building and the
production systems are shown below.
1. Linear- The sewing area is in the middle of the floor with cutting and
finishing areas on either end of the sewing line.
2. U-shaped - This layout is suited where supply of materials and receiving
of finished goods are done through the same place.
Parts production stations may be placed inside the U. The same worker(s)
can therefore handle both supplying materials and taking the finished
goods away from the line. It is therefore easier to supply materials at the
same rate finished goods come off the line, and thus maintain a constant
number of goods in progress.
3. Comb-shaped- Achieved by combining plural linear lines, each of the
part’s lines is also linear, and the parts lines are connected to the main line
at the point where the parts are needed
4. Block - Plural units are combined to form individual blocks, each of which
comprises the required sewing machines. This format is suited to
organization by production groups or to semi-permanent layouts for small
lot production lines where the goods being produced change frequently
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Methods to construct layout The key aim of every layout is to
maximize utilization of available
space in order to optimize the
material flow, maintaining
visibility or ease of supervision.
The other benefits of a good
layout may be improving on
other productivity factors such
as manpower, machine and
lesser defects. Different
production setups have
different arrangements of
resources depending on a
number of factors such as
product, process, and space
availability, and of course
mindset of the management.
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 1. Packing activity is happening at
different places which may make
the control difficult and may as
well hamper the space utilization.

2. A small fabric store is located

near to Sewing Section 2, which is
far from the main fabric store.
This is resulting into an increased
fabric movement while fabric is
carried for cutting.

3. Embroidery section is located

near to Sewing Section 2; due to
this cut panels which are going to
be embroidered have to travel
comparatively more distance
from cutting section before
coming back for bundling.

4. A good space is occupied by

the old and unused machines.
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1. Embroidery section, CAD and sampling room have been moved near to
the cutting section. This may bring improved control and less distance
travelled in material movement.
2. Old and unused machines have been relocated to the area near to clinic
with a provision of gate opening towards Sewing Section 1. This has
resulted in free space between Sewing Section 1 and Sewing Section 2.
3. Small fabric store has been relocated from Sewing Section 2 (in the area
earlier occupied by CAD and sampling room), near to fabric store and
cutting section. This will result into an easy fabric transaction while cutting
as well as effective supervision.
4. Packing which was happening at different places has been arranged to be
at one place, between Sewing Section 1 and Sewing Section 2 with only 1
entry and exit points.
5. The modifications done (as mentioned in point No. 1 to 4) have resulted
into an increased space availability in the Sewing Section 2 which can
accommodate at least 90 additional sewing machines and makes Sewing
Section 1 and Sewing Section 2 equal in terms of number of sewing
machines accommodated.
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Table 1: Code and operations (for old
layout) Table 2: Code and operations (for modified layout)
Code Location/Operation Code Location/Operation
1 Table for washed pieces 1 Table for washed pieces
2 Measurement table 2 Measurement table
3 Leather patch attach 3 Thread trimming
4 Belt loop cutting 4 Loop cutting
5 Thread trimming 5 Checking
6 Dusting 6 Alteration
7 Checking 7 Alteration checking
8 Hoffman Press 8 Leather label attach
9 Size measurement 9 Dusting
10 Visual inspection 10 Hoffman press
11 Labelling and tagging 11 Measurement, folding and Preparation
12 Poly bagging/packing 12 Shade segregation
13 Scanning 13 Poly bagging/packing
14 Scanning

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Line balancing
Product analysis – Study of garment
Process analysis – Product flow chart
Capacity analysis – Time study, method study, no. of machines and
operators, skill of operator.

A line is defined as a group of operators under the control of one

production supervisor.
Balancing is the technique of maintaining the same level of inventory at
each and every operation at any point of time to meet the production
target and to produce garments of acceptable quality.
It is a function of the work study office to provide management with
information to help the efficient and productive running of the factory, and
part of this information is the process known as line balancing.
Line balancing is a vital key in the efficient running of a line. The objective
of the process is to ‘balance the workload’ of each operation to make sure
that the flow of work is smooth, that no bottlenecks are created, and that
the operators are able to work at peak performance throughout the day.
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This process is intended to reduce waiting time to a minimum, or in fact
with the use of some work in progress to eliminate waiting time
completely.

In operation breakdown we try to equalize the standard time. But still

there will be the difference in the standard time which leads to work in
progress. So, we try to set the flow through each operation to be similar as
possible. Checking from time to time to see how things are going and
then making adjustments to even out the flow again. This process is called
balancing.

Need for balancing

1. Keeping inventory cost low.
2. To enable the operator to work at the optimal pace.
3. To enable the supervisor to attend other problems.
4. To enable better production planning.
5. Balancing production line results in on-time shipments, low cost, and
ensures reorders.
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Goals for balancing
1. Meet production schedule
2. Avoid the waiting time
3. Minimize over time
4. Protect operator earnings

Rules for balancing

1. Have between 3 and 5 bundles of WIP at each operation
2. Solve the problem before they become larger
3. Meet production goals by keeping every operator working at maximum
capacity and make sure he has constant feeding to ensure his capacity is high

How to balance the time?

1. Know work available at the start of the day
2. Plan transfer needed to compensate for any known absenteeism
3. Check attendance at the start of the day
4. Make additional assignments to compensate unexpected absentees
5. Make periodic checks during the day to check production

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Points to be noted when making balancing
1. Meet production target by usage of
a. Regular operators
b. b. Utility operators
c. c. Shuttle operators
2. Work flow should be constant throughout all operations
3. Avoid over time
4. Determine human resource
5. Check absence daily
6. Assign utility shuttle operators based on need
7. Update daily production every two hours
Balanced production system
It is a production line where the line targets are achieved in all the operations with
same amount of normal WIP at all workstations, at any point of time in the day.
How to keep all operations producing at the same rate?
1. This is very difficult to achieve as the operator’s skill vary.
2. We should balance using utility operators to cover the gaps in production.
3. We should keep operators at the expected level of production, or higher if
possible.
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Calculation of labor requirement
Before a new style comes onto a line, it is necessary to establish the
operation sequence, the time, the type of equipment and the attachments
required to manufacture the order. Management must have this
information before the commencement of the order, so that the line can be
balanced and laid out in such a way as to maximize productivity.
Method 1: Calculate how many operators will be necessary to achieve a
given production rate per hour.
Method 2: Calculate how many garments can be produced by a given
number of operators
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One should know the total: work content of garment, standard time, estimated
production per day, efficiency of operator,
pieces per machine = 480 min/SAM.
Labor required = Estimated production per day / pieces per machine

Operation breakdown
Using either technique, there is certain information required before
commencing the calculations:
1. The number of operators in the line
2. Sequential list of operations by method study
3. The standard minute values for each operation
4. Output required form a given group of operators

We require the following information

 The size of the group an operation sequence The standard time for each
operation. The total standard time for the garment, type of machine
 Machine attachments
 Process name/code
 Work aids
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 Elements are grouped together as shown
Table shows the operation break down
in Table to match the number of people
for shirts assembly sections with
selected in the calculation of the labor
machinery and SAM details.
requirements

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Sectionalisation advance of open breakdown (Operator break down):
1. Makes greater possibility of individual specialization
2. Reduces training time
3. Enhances the use of special purpose machine and work aids attachment
4. Increases the efficiency of operators – they get rhythm of working.
5. Make easy to cover the absenteeism – because of more people involved.

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Initial balance
From the skill inventory chart, chose the right operator whose efficiency
matches the target output mentioned in the man/machine chart of theoretical
operation balance sheet.
Floaters used to balance the time due to absenteeism and imbalance.
The method of calculating the line balance is as follows:
1. Add up the operation time for the whole of the style.
2. Establish what percentage each operation is of the total time.
3. Work out what the theoretical balance is by using each operation’s
percentage of the total number of operators on the line.
4. Round the theoretical balance to the nearest half an operators on the line.
5. List the type of equipments required for each operation at the side of your
rounded figure.
6. Where you have “half” operators, combine similar equipment to get “full”
operators.
7. If you have an odd “half” operator, this obviously will be rounded up (The
operator could be used to help balance the line in situations such as
absenteeism, machine troubles, etc.).

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8.You can now calculate the number of garments that would be produced per
hour on each operation by multiplying the number of operators by 60 minutes
and dividing by the total minutes for the style. This will give you the theoretical
number of garments that will be produced through each operation.
9.You may now wish to use your knowledge of the skill levels of each operator
to establish which operators will give you the best possible output per
operation. This exercise is continued until all of
the operations in the style have been
completed.
After the calculation of the actual
number of operators required, we
then round this number up or down
to give us the actual allocation of
operators to the nearest half an
operator.
The output for each operation is
calculated by multiplying the
minutes worked by number of
operators to be used and then to
divide the total by the standard time
KCG for the operation.
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 Line imbalance
When operating a line, supervisor will be
concerned with eliminating any problems
which arise throughout the day; as even with
the most carefully planned style and best
organized production floor, it is impossible to
balance the production from operator to
operator (Seminar textbook, 2000).
Due to factors such as machine breakdown,
absenteeism, different performance levels
between operators, the supervisor have to
constantly to re-assess the balance between
operations and this is one of the supervisor’s
most important functions.
The experienced supervisor will know there is
a problem on the line, by the variances in the
work in progress levels; but there are certain
factors which the supervisor can look for to
help the balancing of the line.

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Categories of lost time are
• Waiting for work
• Machine trouble
• Doing other people’s
repairs,
• Doing samples,
• Power failures,
• Meetings.
• Since the above points
cannot be controlled by the
operator, the time spent is
subtracted from the
attended minutes of the
operator.

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