Right First Time is lean tools that mean doing the thing right in the first time which can remove eliminate or repair and defects producing in garments manufacturing. RFT percent is one of the key performance indicator tools in Garments quality control. In this article, we will discuss What is RFT, RFT Factors and Calculation in Apparel Industry.
What is RFT, RFT Factors and Calculation in Apparel Industry
Advantages/Benefits/Importance of Producing Right the First time
Reduce cost and penalty of quality failure
Improve quality and productivity
Remove re-work and repairing
Save time and energy
Save defects rectification cost
Improve work accuracy
RFT calculation for Cutting, sewing, finishing, and Quality Control
Right First Time = (Number of passed goods or Lot / Number of total produced Garments or Lot) x 100
For example, If 200 pcs Garments is produced in the sewing section, found 13 pcs defect by QC then first pass quantity is =(200-13)= 187 pcs.
So, Sewing RFT will be = (187/200*100) % = 93.5%
Date
RFT
Defect %
4/11/2017
95.67%
4.33%
5/11/2017
96.54%
3.46%
6/11/2017
96.57%
3.43%
7/11/2017
95.80%
4.20%
8/11/2017
96.20%
3.80%
9/11/2017
96.74%
3.26%
Actual and Target RFT
Date
Actual RFT
Target RFT
Total Check Quantity
1-Jul
93.40%
96%
2500
2-Jul
93.50%
96%
2600
3-Jul
93.10%
96%
2400
4-Jul
94.20%
96%
3000
5-Jul
94.60%
96%
3500
6-Jul
93.50%
96%
2500
RFT Key Factor Areas of Garments Manufacturing
There may have others area you need to count RFT, I am giving here what I know. Surely RFT is a performance measuring tool of quality control.
Kanban Board in Garments Manufacturing Production Floor
What is Kanban? Kanban is a visual card or billboard; Japanese word which meaning Cards or board, a tool of lean manufacturing for visualization entire production teamwork to control production focusing on creating a production system more effective and efficient, focusing mainly in the production and logistics activities. Kanban is a visual system as ‘Signal card’ indicate what to do, items will put when needed, Kanban cards order necessary task, update with time and surely reduce wastage. In this article, you will have an idea of how kanban board in garments manufacturing production floor is used.
Types of Kanban System
Generally, two types of Kanbans or Kanban Cards used in the apparel industry:
Production Kanban
Production Kanban is the first step of Kanban implementation, production Kanban takes the place of standard production orders in material requirements planning (MRP) push.
Transportation Kanban
Transportation Kanban system is very important that carried on the trolley, containers that are associated with the transportation to move through the loop again.
Importance of Implementation Kanban Board in Apparel Industry
Reduce idle time in a production process.
Increase productivity, more effective and efficient production
Visualize work and optimize the flow of the work
Reduce WIP (Work in Process)
Improve workflow
Avoidance of over-production and limitation of stocks
Higher availability of materials
Reduce inventories
Improve communication between management and operational staff
Garments Kanban Board Information Includes
Backlog
To do list
Doing List/ work-in-process List
Work completed List
Plan list
Lot name
Process name
This content also have the answer of below points
Kanban system in Apparel manufacturing
Set up Kanban board in the production floor
Kanban board in sewing floor
If you have any confusion then please let me know.
Management Levels and Their Functions in Textile and Apparel Industry
If you are involved with the apparel industry or you have an interest in working in any levels of management, then you must know the Management Levels in Garments Factory. When you clearly know the Management Levels and Their Functions in Textile and Apparel industry, you can easily decide who is responsible for what. Generally, you can find three levels of management in the Apparel Industry.
Top level management in Apparel Industry
Middle-level management in Apparel Industry
Lower level management in Apparel Industry
Top Level Management in Textile and Apparel Industry
Top level management has the Supreme authority and most of owning a share in a garments factory. Their designation titled as MD (Managing Director), Director, Chairman, CEO (Chief executive officer), COO (Chief operating officer). They are mainly responsible for setting company policy, objective, ethics and employee code of conduct of employees as their job role.
Functions of Top Management in Garments Factory
To establish company policies, define goal and objectives
Set up company structure and form a company’s core ethics
Leading Middle-level management
Appointing mid-level management
Taking strategic decisions and giving direction in a critical situation
Take the decision about Staff increment, employee promotion
Follow up factory profits loss and giving decision any types of financial matters
Keeping good relation with the buyer (Customer)
Follow up factory productivity and quality performance
Middle-Level Management in Textile and Apparel Industry
Middle-level management is called executory level subordinate of senior management but above of lower level management. Generally, in the Textile and Apparel industry, their job titles are Production manager (PM), Executive officer, Officer, Manager etc. Company performance depends on Middle-level management.
Functions of Middle Management in Garments Factory
Lead low-level management /operational staff directly.
Manage both top and lower level management
Appoint low-level management employees
Set production target and taking responsibility of production
Implement company goals, strategy, and policies
Implement all types of customer requirement
Responsible for company profit, losses, and performance to the buyer
Working for top level and customer satisfaction
Contact with all level of management
Lower Level Management in Textile and Apparel Industry
Lower level management is in supervisory level, supervise worker directly. They also are known as operational staff who report directly to the mid-level management. In textile and Apparels industry their job title as Supervisor, controller and in-charge. Low-level management directly connected with work and ultimately responsible for company performance.
Functions of Lower Level Management in Textile and Apparels
A compliance audit is one kind of audit which is specially designed for auditing the compliance issues related with the apparel industry. Different regulatory authorities set different type of regulatory issues. And buyers of garments ask from the company whether they are following their required compliance or not. These issues are checked by the auditing process which is known as compliance audit. After a compliance audit, they provide/ issue certificate. From the Compliance Audit Checklist in Apparel Industry a garments makers will be able to know what are the things buyers may ask from the company.
Compliance Audit Checklist in Apparel Industry
Compliance Audit is very important for garments manufacturing factory. To get an order from the buyer, your company must have to pass social Compliance Audit. Buyer may cancel the order if your company fails to pass the Compliance Audit. In this article, I am giving a checklist for any buyer Compliance audit preparation.
Areas/Categories of Garments Compliance Audit
Licenses, permits and Facility Information
Child and under-aged worker
Forced labor and Discrimination
Freedom of Association and collective bargaining
Right of worker
Disciplinary Practice
Working Hours
Wages, Benefits & Compensation
Workplace Safety
Occupational Health & Welfare
Environment Management
Management Practice & Sub-contractor /supplier control
Training records
Company Policies
Licenses, Permits and Facility Information
Factory profile
Architectural & Structural Drawing Approval
Soil Test Report Approval
Trade license
Factory license
Fire license
Boiler license
Generator permission
Electrical permission/ Sub-station permission
TIN certificate
Export registration certificate and Import registration certificate
Export promotion bureau certificate
Bond license
Rent agreement
Child and under-aged worker
Child labor remediation process
Recruitment policy
Personal file
Agreement with the service provider/sub-contract
Forced labor and Discrimination
Any harassment or discrimination issues
Policy on a prohibition of forced labor
Awareness/Training register
Job responsibility of security guard
Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining
Policy on freedom association
Awareness/Training register
Formation procedure of worker association/trade union
Meeting minutes of worker participatory committee
Register for complain /Suggestion
Grievance handling procedure
Right of Worker
Personal file of worker
Service book
Employee ID card
Disciplinary Practice
Policy on disciplinary practice or rules
Leave Record
Orientation training on factory code of conduct & legal requirement
All kind of policy
Disciplinary action log & record
Awareness/training register
Final settlement
Others legal facilities
Working Hours
Working hour Approval
Working hour record for all section
Overtime hour record
Attendance Register
Declared holiday list
Manpower list
Wages, Benefits & Compensation
Wages/payroll sheet (last 1 year)
Overtime wages sheet (last six months)
Payslips (last 1 year)
Wages Increment record
Maternity Benefit register & Record
Group Insurance with manpower update list
Policy on wages, overtime, payment date, calculation method, leaves & holidays etc.
Garments washing is the process to improve hand feel, appearance and better outlook of garments. That’s why washing plays a vital role in garments manufacturing. Because of various washing defect, rejection of garments increases. We need to reduce the rate of washing defects/faults at a minimum level. Rejection increases the cost of overall manufacturing. For this reason, reducing washing faults is the major concern for all apparel manufacturing industry. One major KPI points are to reduce washing rejection in the apparel industry. I made a list of all types of garments washing defects so that you may have a better idea of garments defects.
List of Garments Washing Defects
Garments Discoloration
Poor Hand Sanding
Care Label Fading/Damage
Off Shade
Shade Variation
Over Washing
Washing Damage
Washing Spot
High pH Level
Poor Grinding
Lycra Out
Poor Sand Blasting
High Abrasion Effect
Color Bleeding at Pocket Bag and Label
Washing Mark
Poor Hand Feel
Washing Defect Description
Garments Discoloration
If garments or any parts of garments discolored in washing it’s called discoloration. It is one of the common defect problems.
Poor Hand Sanding
Because of improper hand sanding, more or less hand sanding than the actual requirement.
Care Label Fading or Damage
Care label is an important part of garments. Sometimes label fades or damage in washing.
Off shade
All garments have an original buyer required shade/color standard. If washing fails to meet shade standard then it is considered as off shade defect.
Shade Variation
Various types of shade in a lot, when fabrication and washing are the same for a whole lot.
Over Washing
There a certain limit of garments washing time and temperature. Crossing washing limit is considered as over washing and defects have arisen for this is known washing defects of over washing.
Washing Damage
Garments damage in washing is called washing damage.
Washing Spot
Creating a spot in washing is called washing spot defect.
High pH Level
pH level crossed the level of higher pH limit. pH level is the most important factor in garments washing. For higher level, pH quality of garments may reduce.
Poor Grinding
Because of improper grinding, more or less grinding than the requirement.
Lycra Out
Damage Lycra or Lycra coming out in the washing of spandex fabric.
Poor Sand Blasting
Improper sandblasting, more or less sandblasting than the requirement.
High Abrasion Effect
Much abrasion effect than the requirement.
Color Bleeding at Pocket Bag and Label
Generally, different fabric uses for a pocket bag and labels in any garments. Due to garments body, fabric and pocket bag fabric is different, color bleeding occurred frequently in pocket bag and label.
Washing Mark
Garments marked in different washing stages, by the different washing machine, dryer. Long spot mark created in any process of washing is called washing mark defects.
Poor hand Feel
If you find Rough hand feels after washing of garments then that considered as a poor hand feel defects of garments washing.
The condition of RMG Ready Made Garments Export of Bangladesh 2018
Bangladesh is now one of the developing countries in the world. Ready Made Garments (RMG) has a huge contribution to the economic growth of this country. The current condition of RMG – Ready Made Garments Export of Bangladesh seems good because there is a positive growth of export earnings. According to Export Promotion Bureau of Bangladesh (EPB), for the year 2017 to 2018 (July 2017 to April), Bangladesh Apparel Export is growing at the rate of 9% which seems a significant amount.
RMG Export Growth Over the Year 2010 to 2018
Here you can see that the growth rate of RMG export is always fluctuating, the reason behind this is a change in market demand, increase in the cost of making, political condition, market competitiveness, and the exchange rate of USD to BDT.
Year
Total Export Million USD
Growth
2010
14855
25%
2011
19214
29%
2012
19788
3%
2013
23501
19%
2014
24584
5%
2015
26603
8%
2016
28668
8%
2017
29213
2%
Bangladesh RMG Growth for the Year 2017-2018
Ready Made Garments industry is growing at the rate of nine percent compared with the previous year. But in 2016-17 this growth rate was only 2%. So there is a significant positive change in the export.
Total RMG Export Growth 2017-2018
Year
Woven
Knit
Total
Growth
2016-2017
10,785
10,144
20,929
–
2017-2018
11,513
11,321
22,834
9%
Broad RMG Export Category of Bangladesh
Product Type
Million USD
Percent
Woven
11,513
50.42%
Knit
11,321
49.58%
Total
22,834
100%
We mainly divide our apparel product into two broad categories. One is knit and other is woven.
Monthly RMG Export Growth for the year 2017-2018
Although the growth of Ready Made Garments increased in every month there was an exception for the month of September 2017. It is not clear why suddenly growth rate reached to a negative figure.
Main Apparel Export Items of Bangladesh for the Year 2016-2017
Bangladesh is mainly exporting Shirts, T-shirt, Trousers, Jackets Sweater among these Trousers and T-Shirt are exporting a huge amount, which is contributing at the rate of 29% and 28%. So these two products added significant value to the export earnings of Bangladesh.
Item
Million USD
Percent
Shirts
2108
10%
Trousers
6027
29%
Jackets
3547
17%
T-Shirt
5862
28%
Sweater
3362
16%
Total
20905
100%
Bangladesh RMG Export to the World 2017-2018
Most of our RMG is Exported to the European Union, where we export about 65% of our total export of apparel. Our second biggest client is the USA and the third one in Canada.
Region
Million USD
Percent
EU Countries
14735
65%
USA
3929
17%
Canada
713
3%
Others
3457
15%
Total
22834
100%
Top 10 European Union (EU) Countries Bangladesh Export their RMG
Germany
UK
Spain
France
Italy
Netherlands
Poland
Belgium
Denmark
Sweden
Export of RMG by Bangladesh in European Union (EU)
Here look into this list that for the last 10 month EU countries is contributing 14734.69 million dollars. So there is no question of EU is the largest buyers of garments in our country.
List of Machinery for Knit Composite Dyeing and Garments Factory
Knit Composite Factory
Generally knit composite receive yarn from spinning. The process starts with yarn dyeing and finishes with fully knitted garments ready to send to the customer. Different stages and process involved in a knit composite factory. In this article, I made a List of Machinery for Knit Composite Dyeing and Garments Factory which will be required for doing the process of a composite factory. Machinery and Equipment may have different brands sourcing from the different country, its varies from factory to factory but working principle is more or less same.
One of the highest manufacturing industry is garments manufacturing industry where different types of garments are manufactured. Calculate Garments cost of making time to time is the right decision because the main motive of garments manufacturer is to make a profit where they manufacture garments and then sell it. But the problem is, what should be the required price of that item and how to calculate the garments cost of making. To solve this problem first, you have to know the cost of garments making then add your markup price to set the selling price. Here cost of making means the cost of manufacturing garments. Monitoring garments making cost is necessary so that trends of the cost of making can be identified and you can actually know whether your garments making cost is increasing or decreasing. Based on your change in garments cost of making you may take decision accordingly.
Calculate Garments Cost of Making
Pre Requirement of Calculation of Garments Cost of Making
Before you start your costing you need to know the followings:
Fixed Cost are those cost of garments manufacturing which are fixed in nature. With the increase of a number of unit of production, your per unit fixed cost will be reduced. Some example of fixed cost is; salaries and wages, interest expense of bank loan, a rental expense of your factory building, depreciation expense of your fixed assets etc.
Variable Cost of Garments Making
Variable cost is the cost which is change over an additional number of unit of production. But per unit variable cost is fixed. The variable expense of garments making is; Utility (Electricity cost, Water cost, steam cost, Air cost) Expenditures, transportation cost, repair, and maintenance expense etc. Here the most crucial variable cost is utility cost. We need to carefully handle utility section to minimize utility cost.
Hourly Total Production Capacity of Garments Machinery
To identify hourly total production capacity, you need to identify the total number of machine and capacity of each machine. After that, you need to multiply the hourly capacity with machine number.
Daily Production Capacity of Garments
For calculating daily production of your garments, you need to multiply your hourly effective production capacity into working hours each day.
Monthly Production Capacity of Garments
To calculate monthly production capacity you have to multiply your daily production capacity with the number of working days in a month.
Costing of Utility of Garments
Electricity: To get electricity cost you need to identify the total kW consumption of your factory and then multiply total KW with Price of per Kw electricity. Remember the cost of electricity is much higher in case of fuel generator and local REB compared with Gas Generator.
Water: Water cost is the cost of collecting water and the filtering cost. Normally in textile and garments, De-Mineralized (DM) water is used.
Steam: First identify total consumption of steam per machine each hour and then multiply with the number of machines.
Compressed Air: In case of air you have to identify the compressed air cost for per cubic meter then multiplies with the total consumption.
The formula of Calculating Garments Cost of Making
Monthly Garments Cost of Making (GCM) = (Monthly Total Cost of Garments Operation)/Monthly Total Output Produced by the Factory.
Here Total Cost include both fixed and variable Cost of your garments factory for one month
Monthly total Production is the output produced by the factory.
Example: Suppose Your Factory Costing Related Information are;
Salary & Wages Expense Tk. 20,000,000
Monthly Interest on Bank Loan Tk. 100,000
Depreciation Expense is Tk. 50,000
Rental Expense of Building is Tk. 200,000
Transportation Cost is Tk. 150,000
Repair & Maintenance Expense is Tk. 50,000
Utility Expense is Tk 100,000, where Electricity Cost is Tk 500,000, Steam Tk. 200,000, Water Cost is Tk. 100,000, Chiller Cost Tk. 100,000, Compressed Air Cost is Tk. 100,000.
Cost of Garments Making Per Piece of Garments = (21,550,000/936,000) = Tk. 23.02 (Piece)
After reading this hopefully you understand how to calculate garments cost of making. If you have any confusion then please let me know, I will try to clarify further.
Note: All these costing information is arbitrarily taken, so these values are not actual costing value.
Calculation of Earnings and Loss for Garments Industry
Calculation of earnings and loss for garments industry is required to monitor whether factory operation is generation expected revenue or not. Based on your calculation of earnings and loss you can set production target to meet your expected level of profit for your business.
As sewing is one of the main operation of garments, you can take sewing as a factor and calculate earnings accordingly. You can use same formula for calculating profit or loss of your industry after shipment of your final product.
Let’s see the calculation at a glance.
Suppose, Your Factory’s last 3 Month Expenditure= 1466400$
So, Per month Expenditure = (1466400$/3) = 488800$
So, Daily Expenditure = (488800$/26) = 18800$ [if fty run 26 days per month]
Your fty produced = 8800 Units per day
Per GMTS CM= 2.20$ (It’s vary style to style, you need to calculate style wise from buyer given CM)
Then, Daily Earnings = (8800 X2.20$) $ = 19360$
So, Your Daily Earnings = (19360$-18800$) = 560$
Template for Calculating Earnings and Loss for Garments Industry
I have developed an excel template to calculate earnings and loss for your convenience. You can use this template for any industry; specially for your daily garments production. I hope this will give you well understanding. You can download this template for free, just click on daily production & CM earnings report.
This template can be very helpful for any Garments professional. Based on the output of this template you can prepare your report maintaining professionalism.
You will get not only earnings and loss report but also production report. In this way it will be helpful for everybody to see actual status of a factory. If you face any problem of understanding then please do not hesitate to contact with me.
Quality Improvement Techniques in Apparel Industry or Garments Industry
As quality is one of the key success factors, managers always try to devote their effort for improving the quality of garments. In this article we will show you how quality improvement techniques in apparel industry can be ensured. Not only productivity but also quality improvement getting most importance in apparel industry. Without ensuring quality you should not make shipment of your goods to the customer’s destination. We have seen that sometimes our valuable customers reject the goods or hang the payment because of low quality goods which is not in accordance with the specification. Although there is continuous efforts is given but there may have some problem which is not correctable/repairable. So it would be a right decision to take all precautionary measures to avoid unexpected fault of your garments and ensure right quality.
Garments Quality depends on these Quality Factors
If you want to ensure quality and continuous improvement then you have to avoid the following defects of the garments.
Fabric defect
Trims and accessories defect
Cutting defect
Construction and placement Defect
Seam and Stitching Defect
Finishing defect
Packing defect
Let’s have a short discussion about these quality factors/matters
Fabric Defect
Fabric cost is at least 60% out of total garment Cost. Apparel Industry inspect fabric roll for quality matter. If your fabric roll fail in inspection you should return to fabric supplier and replace with the quality one. If your finished garment contains fabric defect, you are the one who will be responsible for that not fabric supplier.
Trims and Accessories Defect
Apparel industry should check all trims and accessories after in housed. If they found any problem, they should return to suppliers for replacement.
Cutting Defect
As per Running shade and Selvage report, marker will make for bulk cutting. Otherwise garments will contain part shading. All cut components should match with marker.
Construction and Placement Defect
You will sewing garments as per buyer’s approved sample for bulk production. All stitching of every process should same as sample. Different parts placement should accurate. Up-down is not acceptable.
Seam and Stitching Defect
All sewing machine should fit for sewing with accurate tension. Otherwise there are possibilities of skip stitches, puckering. Garments should be clear of some other stitching defects like: broken stitch, over stitch, down stitch, jam stitch, and joint stitch.
Finishing Defect
After pressing Garments there should be no crease mark, puckering. Keeping good appearance is also necessary for garments.
Packing Defect
There are zero tolerance any types of packing defect. Incorrect size, incorrect PO, incorrect quantity, folding defect include in packing defect. You should be careful about these defects.
Inspection
You should check your quality of 100% garments in finishing. If repairable of defective garments, you should repair it quickly as you can. Before final inspection, you can do pre-final or shadow inspection to see quality of your packed garments. If you found lots of defect in packed garments, you should re-check all garments and take effective measures to resolve the quality problem of garments.
Finally quality improvement is a continuous process that’s why you have to give your effort continuously and this will be possible through proper monitoring every steps of garments manufacturing. If you can ensure monitoring and take immediate action to resolve the defects then obviously you product quality will be improved.
