How to Reduce WIP in Garment Manufacturing Industry
Nikita Thakre
Marketing I.E. Officer at Pratibha Syntex, Indore
Email: nikitathakre602@gmail.com
What is WIP?
The full form of WIP in garment industry is work in progress or work in process. There is no difference between the both. WIP refers to inventory that has started its work but is not finished yet. The process of turning an unfinished garment into a finished garment such as cutting, sewing, trimming and finishing is called work in progress or WIP. WIP is very important process for garment manufacturing industry. It helps to monitor production and efficiency of line and helps to increase it. To maintain the WIP, proper line balancing should be done because the WIP affects the production. If there is more WIP in the line then there will be less output which will also affect the efficiency of the line.
Why WIP is Important in Garment Manufacturing Industry?
WIP is a very important process for the garment manufacturing industry. This process can help in calculating the accurate cost of a product.
WIP is also a very important process for making a profitable pricing strategy of a product.
It helps to increase production and per person productivity.
It also helps to monitor line efficiency and helps to improve it.
If you have knowledge about WIP then you can identify in advance whatever quality issue is coming in the production line. So that quality issues can be controlled on time and the quantity of defective finished products can also be reduced. Which helps us in improving the overall quality.
By having more information about the WIP, we can calculate that what is the overall production in the company? What is the per person productivity? How much SAM is produced? And we can prepare a good strategy to increase production in future.
How We Can Reduce WIP in Garment Manufacturing Industry: WIP affects the line production, per person productivity, efficiency of any line. If there is a bottleneck at any operation in the line, the production of that line will be affected. If there is a bottleneck on any machine, so less pieces produced from that machine. Which reduces the production and also reduces the efficiency of the line. Therefore, labour productivity can be increased by reducing the WIP on this bottleneck operation.
Some points are given below which help to reduce WIP in garment industry:
a) Pre-production planning:Pre-production planning is an important step before starting any production. Whenever any style is added to the line, a PPP meeting is held before it. There is a lot of discussion about which style of manufacturing will be done, how much manpower will be required, how many machines will be required. Along with this, line efficiency, target, etc. are also discussed. Pre-production planning helps in reducing the lead time while setting the line. And also helps to reduce WIP.
b) Make correct Line-Layout: To reduce WIP in garment industry, it is very important to have a proper line layout. If all the machines are allocated at the right place then the chances of creating a bottleneck will be reduced along with the lead time will be reduced so that the line will run in proper flow, WIP will also be reduced and production will be increased. Also the efficiency of the line will improve.
c) Line balancing:Line balancing also helps to reducing the WIP. If line balancing is correct then the target can be achieved with the number of operators allotted in the line. Which reduces the possibility of bottle neck formation in the line. Which help to reduce WIP and lead time in garment industry.
d) Method study: Method study is the way to do any work in right manner. If any operation is performed with the correct method, the process time is reduced and production increased. For this, you should study the operation on which the bottleneck is being formed and the correct work method should be applied to reduce bottle neck on that operation also monitor hand movement, handling, motion for better improvement, attachments, work aids, gauges, and folders should be provided.
e) Capacity: Through capacity study we can identify which operator has higher capacity. The bottleneck can be reduced by studying the capacity of our operation and comparing its capacity with the target and adding as many machines as required.
f) Add extra machine: The easiest way to increase production in any line or reduce the bottleneck is to add machines. But I personally not suggest this step instead of that we can try to improve method. We can do the time study of the operation on which the bottle neck is being create, compare it with the target, you can add the machine as per the need.
g) Operators skill development training: It is important that operators should be multi-skilled, so that when production of any style starts, operator’s learning time can be reduced. So that lead time and WIP will also reduce.
h) WIP record sheet: By maintaining WIP sheet, we can identify the bottlenecks and worked on solution so that we can reduce lead time of manufacturing.
How We Calculate WIP in Garment Manufacturing Industry? We can easily calculate the cutting, sewing, washing and finishing WIP using the formula. Some examples are given below which will help us to understand the calculation of cutting, sewing, washing and finishing WIP.
Cutting WIP = Total cutting quantity – Total input cutting in sewing line.
For example, Let us assume that a total of 8000 pieces were cut and 3500 pieces were input into the sewing line, then,
Cutting WIP = 8000-3500 = 4500pieces.
Sewing Line WIP = Total no. of pieces input in line – Total number of finished garments output from line
Let us assume that 7000 pieces were input into the sewing line and 2500 pieces were produced of it, then,
Sewing Line WIP = 7000-2500 = 4500 pieces.
Washing WIP = Total Garments sent to washing – Total washed garments received from washing.
If 10000 pieces were sent for washing in the washing section and 7500 pieces were received after washing then,
Washing WIP = 10000-7500=2500.
Finishing WIP = Total Garments received from washing – Total packed garments quantity
If 10000 pieces were retrieved from carrying section and only 8000 pieces were packed, then,
WIP of finishing section = 10000-8000=2000.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, Work in Progress (WIP) is a crucial aspect of the garment manufacturing industry, representing inventory in various stages of production. It plays a pivotal role in cost calculation, pricing strategy, production monitoring, and quality control. Efficient management of WIP through pre-production planning, proper line layout, line balancing, method study, capacity assessment, skill development training, and record-keeping can significantly enhance production efficiency and reduce lead time. By employing simple formulas, WIP in cutting, sewing, washing and finishing stages can be accurately calculated, aiding in decision-making and process optimization. Overall, understanding and effectively managing WIP is essential for improving productivity, quality, and profitability in the garment manufacturing industry.
Founder & Editor of Textile Learner. He is a Textile Consultant, Blogger & Entrepreneur. Mr. Kiron is working as a textile consultant in several local and international companies. He is also a contributor of Wikipedia.
