How Sewn Products Manufacturers are Unlocking Hidden Value

Mastering Data is the Key to Realizing Greater Value Today

One is hard-pressed to find a manufacturing vertical more sensitive to costs, turnaround time, productivity and agility than fashion and sewn products. Then there’s the absolute need to deliver on-time, in-full, without defects and at competitive prices. Is there any wonder why this industry continually faces some of the most pressing demands to increase business value?

After decades of cost-cutting, speed to market, efficiency and quality initiatives, today’s sewn product producers have few options to find the continued improvements demanded by their brand and retail customers, social/governmental compliance, and product consumers.

So, how are today’s leaders meeting these demands? They are closely examining current operations and transforming them into a digital model that enables them to uncover value hiding deep within - think Smart Factories, Manufacturing 4.0 and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) initiatives. In all cases, it is becoming clear that manufacturers must learn how to capture and use operational data more effectively to sustain their success.

David Brousell, Co-Founder of the Manufacturing Leadership Council, recently opined, “The value that we will be able to generate from the digital model, whether that value is expressed in time, productivity, customer satisfaction, speed or in hard dollars, will be determined by our ability to master data not only to improve what exists, but to also identify what might not yet exist – but could.”

Best Laid Plans

Ask any sewn products manufacturer, and they will tell you that the realities of the plant floor regularly fail to match even the most sophisticated plans, including those that consider essential factors like available capacity, dependencies, constraints and available material and labor resources.

Delays and unplanned costs can start even before production begins when setup time takes longer than planned. Once production starts, certain operations take longer than expected, leading to workflow imbalances. Absenteeism, machine downtime, quality issues, and other excess time and costs can disrupt production plans and block business value creation.

Unfortunately, many manufacturers cannot quickly visualize, measure, analyze and resolve these value-robbing deviations. This is where data mastery comes in.

Collecting and analyzing machine and production workforce performance data across various lines and multi-plant operations enables producers to gain valuable insights into planned versus actual costs, the impact of off-standard time and costs, planned/actual operation times, viability of established standards, consistency of work methods, quality impacts, efficiency gaps among operators, equipment reliability, and more. With visibility into all these data points, factories become more consistent, productive and agile.

The Digital Shop Floor

It is also critically important that the production information be collected and reported accurately and timely. A real-time shop floor control (SFC) system, like CGS’ BlueCherry® Shop Floor Control (SFC), provides real-time data collection, workforce and management performance feedback through tablet-based dashboard displays and integrated analytics. Managers and executives can easily monitor Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and track production milestones remotely on any web-enabled device. 

A shining example of data mastery is Sri Lanka-based Star Garment Group. The 45-year-old manufacturer, who joined the Komar family of companies in 2016, is a full-service provider of a broad range of fashion apparel. No stranger to transformation, whether it’s 3D design or the latest sewing technology, Star continually invests in technology to ensure quality without compromise, most recently digitizing their factory floor by adding the BlueCherry SFC solution.

Hidden Value - Found

Before rolling out the SFC technology, Star relied on a batch process to obtain plant floor data. There was a day’s lag time between when events occurred in the factory and when workers and managers received information about that day’s production. Supervisors and mechanics would troubleshoot problems and make decisions based on experience, instincts and informal processes.

Before using SFC, Star did not know exactly how much off-standard time occurred during a shift or day. Star Managing Director Arumugampillai Sukumaran explained, “Now we can solve issues as they happen. When you make decisions quickly, your productivity increases and costs are reduced.”

After the company started measuring this time, it was shocked by how it added up. “It was unbelievable - the number of off-standard minutes and hours every day,” Sukumaran added. By gaining greater visibility into this non-productive time, Star’s team jumps on solving the root causes of the problems much more quickly. Since rolling out SFC, Star has eliminated 90 percent of this non-productive time and achieved double-digit productivity increases.

Shining Light on Hidden Value

As the example shows, manufacturers can often spot previously hidden value in plain sight once armed with real-time data. And there is no better place to start than reducing non-productive time. It holds great potential but requires collecting and analyzing data that does not exist in traditional analog processes and operations. Sure, any one incident of lost time is observable, but adopting a digital business model allows producers to see data in aggregate and pinpoint root causes and trends.

Once non-productive time is reduced, other areas of opportunity include reducing cycle times, quality defects, machine downtime, and more. Accurate cycle time measurement and monitoring can reveal differences in production lines, plants, operators and machines, and trends over time. The deeper analysis made possible through digital transformation can lead to training opportunities, equipment improvements, process changes, and more accurate and reliable time standards.

Real-time tracking enables manufacturers to identify and resolve quality issues quickly, minimizing defects, time, and materials lost to repairs and rework. By integrating SFC with the latest sewing equipment, CGS enables manufacturers to monitor machine downtime, streamline machine setup, and identify more detailed operational and construction details.

Data Mastery Drives Value

Improvement opportunities based on data mastery build on each other to improve on-time, in-full deliveries, reduce cost, improve productivity, and increase manufacturing value.  

Remember that meeting planned targets is not the endgame; it’s about continually finding new opportunities to improve operations. Uncovering hidden value requires collecting all relevant data, presenting the information in an easy-to-analyze format, and, most importantly, translating it into meaningful actions. This is critical to becoming a more profitable, competitive and agile manufacturer in today's fashion and sewn products business.

Unlock the Hidden Value with BlueCherry Shop Floor Control

Are you ready to unlock the hidden value in your sewn products manufacturing operations? CGS’ BlueCherry® Shop Floor Control, can help you harness the power of data mastery to drive your business forward. By implementing a real-time shop floor control system like BlueCherry SFC, you can collect and analyze valuable data on machine and production workforce performance, allowing you to make informed decisions and optimize your operations.

With BlueCherry SFC, you gain real-time visibility into planned versus actual costs, off-standard time and costs, operation times, work method consistency, equipment reliability, and more. By monitoring these key performance indicators, you can identify inefficiencies, resolve issues as they happen, and drive productivity and agility throughout your organization.

Take the first step towards unlocking hidden value and revolutionizing your sewn products manufacturing operations. Discover how BlueCherry Shop Floor Control can empower your business with real-time data insights, increased productivity, and improved agility. Don't miss out on this opportunity to drive profitability and gain a competitive edge.

Contact CGS today and embark on your journey towards data mastery and manufacturing excellence.