Time and Motion Study in Garment Industry
Shafiun Nahar Elma
Industrial & Production Engineer
National Institute of Textile Engineering & Research (NITER), Bangladesh.
Email: shafiun.elma05@gmail.com
What is Time and Motion Study in Garment Industry?
Time and motion study in garment industry is scientific method to increase the productivity, to minimize the wastage and to enhance the efficiency in the garment manufacturing system. It facilitates factories to acquire an understanding of the time that workers require to finish a task and ways that movements can be enhanced to improve performance. The idea stems from industrial engineering practices aimed to enhance productivity and labour efficiency.
In the garment industry, seconds are critical as they are directly linked to meeting shipments and quality standards. Any delay in sewing, cutting or finishing can have a negative impact on the overall production line. In the garment industry, time and motion study can assist the management to eliminate unnecessary movement, minimise idle time, and ensure a smooth flow of work. The International Labour Organization (ILO) states that the work study techniques are useful for industries to increase the productivity without huge investment.
This is the method adopted by factories to set standard time for operation. Standard time is the actual time a trained person needs to perform a particular task under normal conditions. This process provides better planning, balancing of lines and production target setting. To achieve lean manufacturing and operational excellence, time and motion study in the garment industry is now regarded as a necessary tool.
Classification of Textile
The textile industry is a vast manufacturing industry that encompasses the manufacture of fibre, yarn, fabric, wet processing and apparel manufacturing. All sections rely on efficiency and productivity. All these departments are related to time and motion study in the garment industry as each step needs an apt workflow and manpower management.
The textile trade can be broadly categorized into yarn engineering, fabric manufacturing, wet processing and garments manufacturing. Every segment is optimized by industrial engineering techniques for output and cost of operation. As per the Textile Institute, optimizing processes in the textile industry is important for improving efficiency and minimizing waste.
Purchasers are looking for lower costs, quicker lead times, and higher quality goods in modern garment factories, which are highly competitive. This situation makes the time and motion study in garment industry more important than ever. When work study techniques are successfully applied in a factory, unnecessary movements can be reduced, and operator performance improved, thus increasing productivity.
Yarn Engineering
The first important step in textile manufacturing is called yarn engineering. It consists of fibre opening, cleaning, blending, carding, drawing, and spinning. Machine efficiency and the movement of operators are critical to the productivity of spinning mills. Time and motion study in garment industry also helps in spinning operations, as the latter helps to keep the continuous fabric production.
Blow room
The blow room section is used to open and clean fibers before spinning. In this department, employees are involved in the transport of cotton bales, machine operation, and material flow. Motion study can minimise walking and manual handling. Good workflow management during spinning preparation can help increase efficiency and decrease labour fatigue, Cotton Incorporated reports.
Motion studies are frequently used to redesign factories’ machine layouts. Machines can be configured correctly to increase worker productivity. There is also less physical wearing out and higher productivity as the movement is reduced.
Fabric Manufacturing
Fabric manufacturing is the process of turning yarn into fabric, which is done by weaving or knitting. The production efficiency in this section has a direct impact on the speed of garment production. In the garment industry, time and motion study can help in identifying delays and minimizing machine down time for fabric production.
Weaving
Weaving is a technique of intertwining warp and weft yarns so as to create woven fabric. Weaving units: operators check the looms, change the bobbins, and mend yarn breaks. The use of motion study should minimize the redundant movement of the operator from one machine to another. The Indian Textile Journal states that proper movement of the operators can greatly enhance the efficiency of the loom.
Time study is also utilized in factories to establish the standard time for changing yarn and maintaining the machines. The production stability and fabric quality can be improved by the procedure of work study; thus, it is essential to have a proper work study procedure.
Knitting
Fabric is made by interlooping yarns as in knitting. There is a need for continuous monitoring and quick troubleshooting in both circular and flat knitting machines. Time and motion study in the garment industry can help to enhance the machine utilization and labor productivity of knitting units.
If the factory uses an operator movement analysis, it can minimize delay due to material moving or machine setup. Improved workflow also helps to minimise production disruptions. The smoothness of garment factory fabric supply in sewing production can be achieved by efficient knitting operations.
Wet Processing
Wet processing involves pretreatment, dyeing, printing, and finishing. This section is very significant as it affects the performance and the appearance of the fabrics. Wet processing units in garment industries can save waiting time and enhance the efficiency of the workflow using time and motion study.
Dyeing
Dyeing is an important process in the textile industry. Operators mix chemicals, load fabric into dyeing equipment, and supervise dyeing equipment. Motion study is used to be able to arrange tools and chemicals at the work station in factories. This decreases the motion of the operator and increases process speed.
The American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists has established that process management in dyeing can have a positive impact on productivity and resource usage. Time and motion study in garment industry can reduce the time delays in the factories that use time and motion study.
Apparel Manufacturing
Apparel manufacturing is the last operation of the textile industry, which involves cutting, sewing, inspection, and packing of apparel items. This department employs time & motion study to a greater extent in the garment industry because the working of sewing operations is repetitive, and they use more manpower.
In industrial engineering, teams at garment factories monitor workers and calculate their standard minute value, and then enhance line balancing. The time study records the time required for each operation, and the motion study records the motion used to accomplish the task. They complement each other to improve factories’ productivity.
The International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications states that work study can be useful to enhance the efficiency of the sewing line, which eliminates the bottlenecks and idle time. The same techniques are also applied in factories for the purpose of overtime reduction and to make the factory operators more comfortable.
Cutting
The cutting section makes panels for garments for sewing. Fabric is spread and markers laid, parts are cut and bundled. In the garment industry, time and motion studies can help to minimize delays in spreading and cutting operations.
For instance, at a factory, it might be noticed that people are walking back and forth to get cutting tools. Once the motion analysis is done, management can position tools in closer proximity to the workstation. This minor adjustment boosts productivity and saves time!
The standard time of the fabric spreading and cutting operation is also provided by time study. Standard time is accurate, aiding in the planning of production and allocation of manpower.
Sewing
The labor-intensive department in garment industry is the sewing. Operators repeat some tasks throughout the day. In the garment industry, time and motion studies play a great role in the lines of sewing, as small improvements in sewing can produce a large increment in productivity.
A factory manufacturing polo shirts observed low production in the following operations in the sleeve attachment. The problem identification was done by the team of industrial engineers in the garment industry. They noted that operators had to take additional time to reach for pieces of the garment when they were placed far from the sewing machine.
At the end of the study, management re-arranged the workstations and implemented a more efficient material handling system. The number of operators was reduced considerably. The time required to attach a sleeve was cut down from 1.2 minutes to 0.9 minutes. Nearly 20 percent more was produced each day with the same number of people.
This example illustrates the use of time and motion study in garment industry to enhance productivity and minimise unnecessary efforts. It is also very useful for factories to have reduced operator fatigue and achieve quality control.
Digital tools and video analysis are now commonplace in many global apparel manufacturers’ work study practices. These technologies enable higher accuracy levels of data and enhance the production planning of managers. Data-driven manufacturing is becoming a growing factor in the apparel industry, according to McKinsey & Company.
Conclusion
Time and motion study in garment industry plays a crucial role in enhancing productivity, minimizing waste, and optimizing operations. It can be used to set up the standard time, optimize the workflow, and eliminate unnecessary movement in factories. The technique works on all the textile areas like spinning, weaving, dyeing, cutting, and sewing.
Garment manufacturers are under constant pressure to shorten the lead time and enhance the quality of their garment production. Time and motion study in the garment industry is a feasible solution in this competitive environment for achieving better performance. To boost production without significant investment, factories can make improvements in workstation design, minimize idle time, and optimize production lines.
As the example in the sewing section illustrates, there is a significant amount of productivity potential in small adjustments in movement and process. That is why the industrial engineering departments are playing an increasingly important role in today’s garment factories.
The time and motion study in garment industry will continue to significantly contribute to the management of productivity and sustainable growth in the garment industry, as the global apparel industry is moving to lean manufacturing and automation.
References
[1] “pertecnica.net,” [Online], https://www.pertecnica.net/textile-process-optimization-training/
[2] “Researchgate.net,” [Online]. Available: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272892472_Process_control_in_textile_manufacturing
[3] “Researchgate.net[Online]. Available: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/339490321_Productivity_Improvement_Through_Time_Study_Approach_A_Case_Study_from_an_Apparel_Manufacturing_Industry_of_Pakistan
[4] “textileindustry.net”[Online]. Available: https://www.textileindustry.net/time-study-in-garments-industry/#google_vignette
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.
