FAQ about Sewing Lean
What is Lean thinking?
Lean thinking is a manufacturing system for reducing lead time and therefore increasing profits. It does this by continuously finding and reducing or eliminating the time it takes to perform "wasteful” activities. “Wasteful” activities are those which do not change the form, fit, function or fashion of materials and therefore do not add value for your customer. The time saved in reducing these results in savings.
What is Lean’s objective?
The objective of Lean thinking is to reduce costs and increase profits. This is done by improving products and processes continuously without adding more money, more people, more equipment, more inventory or more space. It is about doing simple things to make everything easier and better; including life. This quote from Maya Angelou sums it up:
“Do the best you can until you know better; then when you know better, do better.”
What are some cut and sew activities that add value?
Value is added in sewing manufacturing when the knife is cutting through material, the needle is moving up and down through fabric, ink is being applied to the piece during printing, an iron is pressing the garment and it is being folded and put in a package. These are the things your customer wants and is willing to pay for.
Does that mean everything else doesn’t add value?
Other activities, such as moving material and parts, maintaining unnecessary inventory, bundle tickets, inspections, unneeded movements, idle time, fixing repairs and setting up machinery are non- value adding activities.
How can we eliminate those? Some are a part of how we operate.
Some things cannot be completely eliminated. For example, parts have to be brought to the sewing machine and subsequently to the needle. The best course is to continuously reduce the time it takes for these. This is done by being on the production floor, observing and understanding the processes and involving workers to find creative solutions.
Why choose Lean Thinking?
Lean thinking improves customer and personal satisfaction. When you are thinking Lean you know exactly what your customers want and how to deliver it to them. Just as important is the confidence it brings to everyone by the knowledge that they can resolve any problem
What tools and techniques will we use? Lean has so many of them.
The type of tools and techniques to use is different for each industry and each company. A high volume, low mix shirt maker for example, will use different tools than a low volume, high mix manufacturer of promotional items. Lean principles apply, however, to all situations no matter the industry, product or company size.
I heard lean is all about one-piece flow. How can that work when we use bundles?
While one-piece flow is the ideal, it is not always the answer. Sewing has some inherent traits which often inhibit one piece flow. These include operators sitting while working and quick process times. Here, small-batch flow might be a good alternative.
What about teams or modules?
Teams generally lower inventory, improve quality, reduce lead times and lower cost. However, there are lots of things to consider when converting to teams. For example: What type of team works best? How will the workers be paid? How will their improved results affect the rest of the operation?
Won’t operators lose efficiency if they need to perform more than one job?
Some individuals' efficiencies will fall and others will rise. However, overall productivity will improve dramatically as will your on-time delivery percentage and quality. The goal of lean is to make the whole enterprise more profitable by eliminating waste.
We pay individual piece rate. How can teams be paid on that system?
Adapting piece rates, or other bonus pay systems, has to be handled on a company by company basis. There is no one set of rules. Each company has its own culture, goals and work-force personality that must be considered in determining a bonus system. However, it is usually counter-productive to pay each operator solely on individual performance while working in a team.
I don’t think we are big enough for such a big change.
There is no minimum size for a conversion to lean. The key is management commitment. Smaller companies converting to lean usually get it done more quickly and realize the benefits sooner than larger ones.
Have your own questions? Send them to me and they will be answered promptly.
What is Lean thinking?
Lean thinking is a manufacturing system for reducing lead time and therefore increasing profits. It does this by continuously finding and reducing or eliminating the time it takes to perform "wasteful” activities. “Wasteful” activities are those which do not change the form, fit, function or fashion of materials and therefore do not add value for your customer. The time saved in reducing these results in savings.
What is Lean’s objective?
The objective of Lean thinking is to reduce costs and increase profits. This is done by improving products and processes continuously without adding more money, more people, more equipment, more inventory or more space. It is about doing simple things to make everything easier and better; including life. This quote from Maya Angelou sums it up:
“Do the best you can until you know better; then when you know better, do better.”
What are some cut and sew activities that add value?
Value is added in sewing manufacturing when the knife is cutting through material, the needle is moving up and down through fabric, ink is being applied to the piece during printing, an iron is pressing the garment and it is being folded and put in a package. These are the things your customer wants and is willing to pay for.
Does that mean everything else doesn’t add value?
Other activities, such as moving material and parts, maintaining unnecessary inventory, bundle tickets, inspections, unneeded movements, idle time, fixing repairs and setting up machinery are non- value adding activities.
How can we eliminate those? Some are a part of how we operate.
Some things cannot be completely eliminated. For example, parts have to be brought to the sewing machine and subsequently to the needle. The best course is to continuously reduce the time it takes for these. This is done by being on the production floor, observing and understanding the processes and involving workers to find creative solutions.
Why choose Lean Thinking?
Lean thinking improves customer and personal satisfaction. When you are thinking Lean you know exactly what your customers want and how to deliver it to them. Just as important is the confidence it brings to everyone by the knowledge that they can resolve any problem
What tools and techniques will we use? Lean has so many of them.
The type of tools and techniques to use is different for each industry and each company. A high volume, low mix shirt maker for example, will use different tools than a low volume, high mix manufacturer of promotional items. Lean principles apply, however, to all situations no matter the industry, product or company size.
I heard lean is all about one-piece flow. How can that work when we use bundles?
While one-piece flow is the ideal, it is not always the answer. Sewing has some inherent traits which often inhibit one piece flow. These include operators sitting while working and quick process times. Here, small-batch flow might be a good alternative.
What about teams or modules?
Teams generally lower inventory, improve quality, reduce lead times and lower cost. However, there are lots of things to consider when converting to teams. For example: What type of team works best? How will the workers be paid? How will their improved results affect the rest of the operation?
Won’t operators lose efficiency if they need to perform more than one job?
Some individuals' efficiencies will fall and others will rise. However, overall productivity will improve dramatically as will your on-time delivery percentage and quality. The goal of lean is to make the whole enterprise more profitable by eliminating waste.
We pay individual piece rate. How can teams be paid on that system?
Adapting piece rates, or other bonus pay systems, has to be handled on a company by company basis. There is no one set of rules. Each company has its own culture, goals and work-force personality that must be considered in determining a bonus system. However, it is usually counter-productive to pay each operator solely on individual performance while working in a team.
I don’t think we are big enough for such a big change.
There is no minimum size for a conversion to lean. The key is management commitment. Smaller companies converting to lean usually get it done more quickly and realize the benefits sooner than larger ones.
Have your own questions? Send them to me and they will be answered promptly.
