The more countries I visit, the more I realize that the problems faced by the industry are more or less the same… It is just the culture of the place and peoples’ happiness levels and aspirations that make the small differences in productivity and efficiency levels of the factory.
I have closely observed the industry in India, Bangladesh and now Vietnam…, and one thing is very clear, factories in all these countries need technology management interventions at all levels.
Though there are only a few Vietnamese apparel manufacturing companies in Vietnam with production being dominated by the Chinese, Taiwanese and Korean companies, the problems in terms of management are the same. My understanding after talking to some experts working in the industry is that irrespective of where the country of origin is, all require some kind of production management intervention, similar to what Indian or Bangladeshi companies require.
On the hindsight, it seems that although most of the countries from where garmenting has shifted from – like Korea, the US, Europe and even Japan – have progressed immensely as nations, but garment factory management skills have remained at the same level when they left the country… Case in point is the numerous foreign-owned factories in Vietnam, where systems of effective management are still ‘old school’. These companies have moved out of their respective countries too long back to imbibe any new system.
Technology upgradation is easy as latest machines are available to all, but how to optimize factory resources, including the machines, is another ball game. I strongly feel that to grow, factories require latest intervention in production management as much as any other input, perhaps the need is even more…!
At StitchWorld, it is our effort to provide insights into such production management systems and tools. In this issue we bring to you an article ‘Quality Engineering – An emerging concept to ease quality worries’! which discusses in detail the concept of quality engineering as opposed to quality control as the new mantra to ensure quality of product during the production process.
The various technology interventions for button wrapping from basic machines to fully automatic ones, is the focus in our technology segment. In another interesting read, an ex-NIFTian shares his journey to create a unique business model to support designers with samples and small production runs.
I have closely observed the industry in India, Bangladesh and now Vietnam…, and one thing is very clear, factories in all these countries need technology management interventions at all levels.
Though there are only a few Vietnamese apparel manufacturing companies in Vietnam with production being dominated by the Chinese, Taiwanese and Korean companies, the problems in terms of management are the same. My understanding after talking to some experts working in the industry is that irrespective of where the country of origin is, all require some kind of production management intervention, similar to what Indian or Bangladeshi companies require.
On the hindsight, it seems that although most of the countries from where garmenting has shifted from – like Korea, the US, Europe and even Japan – have progressed immensely as nations, but garment factory management skills have remained at the same level when they left the country… Case in point is the numerous foreign-owned factories in Vietnam, where systems of effective management are still ‘old school’. These companies have moved out of their respective countries too long back to imbibe any new system.
Technology upgradation is easy as latest machines are available to all, but how to optimize factory resources, including the machines, is another ball game. I strongly feel that to grow, factories require latest intervention in production management as much as any other input, perhaps the need is even more…!
At StitchWorld, it is our effort to provide insights into such production management systems and tools. In this issue we bring to you an article ‘Quality Engineering – An emerging concept to ease quality worries’! which discusses in detail the concept of quality engineering as opposed to quality control as the new mantra to ensure quality of product during the production process.
The various technology interventions for button wrapping from basic machines to fully automatic ones, is the focus in our technology segment. In another interesting read, an ex-NIFTian shares his journey to create a unique business model to support designers with samples and small production runs.
