Company case Productivity enhancement of Saville Row Limited

Presented by: Ahmad Elsayed Mohammed Saville Row Limited-Bangladish- is a company that is involved of manufacturing women, men and children woven trousers, shorts and pants. The companys main market is EU accounting for %78 of the business and USA accounting for %28 of the business. Certified for quality management system ISO 9000:2000, the company is the manufacturer for leading brand names and retail chains. As an activation for making conscious efforts to build capability to handle value added products, the company went through a competitiveness enhancement program CEP under the consultancy of Rajesh Bheda Consulting (RBC) - an Industry's knowledge partner for performance enhancement. The challenge: To implement concepts of industrial engineering and work study in a factory that does not have qualified industrial engineering /work studies staff. CEP implementation steps: 1- Assessment of production level and share results and overall approach for productivity improvement. 2- Formation of factory improvement team (FIT) for steering the productivity improvement program. 3- Detailed review of production system and applied measurement system and select a pilot production line for implementation and training of basic concepts. 4- Design of engineered methods and layout to improve productivity of pilot line. 5- Execution of engineered methods and layout with hands on training and hand hold of the internal team with constant measurement of the results during implementation. 6- Gradual roll out of the experience and learning to other departments. 7- Assessment of results and draw of future roadmap. The results: The program lasted for 8 weeks with the intervention of RBC experts and resulted in the following productivity improvements of the shown styles:

Style

Particulars Avg. Daily output (08 Hr. day)

Before improvement 536 90 5.96 600 90 6.67

After improvements 560 78 7.18 680 78 8.72

Improvement(%)

1517 Ladies Trousers

Avg. Manpower used Productivity per person per 8 Hr. Shift

20.55

DB2103 Ladies Trousers

Avg. Daily output (08 Hr. day) Avg. Manpower used Productivity per person per 8 Hr. Shift

30.77

Success factors: 1- Top management commitment-that was clearly communicated to the factory management team from the first day. According to the director- Mr. Osama Taseer: the core strength to the company is the human resource and I wanted my employees to evolve and learn new techniques to contribute for the organization competitiveness. 2- High involvement of factory management team- The factory management team understood the advantages of learning new methodologies, scientific principles of IE and problem solving skills for improving the productivity and competitiveness of the organization. As a result the factory team, starting from GM to supervisors, whole heartedly participated in the training program and experimented with the tools learned and ideas provided by the experts. 3- Production team learned and implemented the work study techniques- A conscious decision of not employing qualified IE staff during the implementation of the program was taken. This was done to ensure that the production team learns these techniques and takes ownership of implementation. This decision ensured production team's full involvement and capacity building. A receptive working team was the biggest asset which was tapped to Saville Row's advantage. 4- Regular project progress review and constant communication- with people being appreciated for their effort and participation. 5- Implications for the factory and the buyers- the buyers are willing to associate with for learning organization that can cope with fast changes of market demands. Conclusion: The commitment to change and improvement through training the human resource shown by Saville Row team makes such organizations special for international buyers. Partnership with such organization can prove to be winwin relationship between buyers and suppliers. Date of browsing: 15/9/2011

Source: http://rajeshbheda.com/casestudies%20productivity %20improvement%20at%20Saville%20Row.html

This case was Extracted form key note paper of Dr. Rajesh Bheda presented at Chittagong Fabric Apparel and Accessories Show (CAFAXPO-09) Seminar, Jan 2009