Over the last few years, there has been an increased thrust on training and skill development, but very little effort has gone into looking at training needs of senior and middle management. Further, whatever workshops or training sessions are organized are either technology provider-driven or by consultants who are promoting their services. Both these avenues while providing knowledge leave much to desire. Backed by the industry need and demand for workshops that are more holistic and interactive, Apparel Resources, India has initiated a series of training sessions on varied industry-focused topics.
The initiative saw the first two-day workshop entitled ‘TQM Implementation in the Textile and Apparel Industry’ on 14th & 15th February, 2015 at the Apparel Resources premises, Delhi. The workshop had a special impetus on implementing TQM and best practices in the apparel industry. The event was attended by delegates from some of the key players in the apparel manufacturing and service industry, including Orient Craft, Radnik Exports, Matrix Clothing, Neeti Clothing, Pawan Enterprises, Jai Jui Charitable Trust, Lucky Lark Cluster Welfare, besides an enthusiastic student of NIFT, New Delhi.
The feedback from the delegates has been very motivating. While most were impressed with the quality of the workshop, Sanjay Maindola, Production Manager, Matrix Clothing, found the workshop very helpful. “It provided us with the means to reduce our production expenditure and overhead costs. We will surely find ways to implement all the information gathered here, at our factories,” he added firmly. His colleague H. Purty, Manager Quality Assurance, Matrix Clothing added, “The various learnings from the session has helped us in identifying defects within the system, reducing costs, finding bottlenecks within each department and trying to highlight the same and training the lower management to define processes further to achieve the ultimate goals of quality. We have learnt to take ownership of products, identify flaws and attain better quality within the factory.”
The event was attended by delegates from some of the key players in the apparel manufacturing and service industry like Orient Craft, Radnik Exports, Matrix Clothing, Neeti Clothing, Pawan Enterprises, Jai Jui Charitable Trust and Lucky Lark Cluster Welfare. Conceived as a small intimate group of participants, there were interactions and one-o-one dialogues, giving it an edge over other similar efforts. Encouraged by the response it has received, Apparel Resources will now embark upon many more workshops on-demand to widen the ‘knowledgebase’ on best industry practices.
Conceived as a small intimate group of participants, there were interactions and one-o-one dialogues, giving it an edge over other similar efforts. Sandeep Kataria, AGM Quality Department, Orient Craft shared that though the topics and tools discussed are already in public domain and have few tools already been implemented at their factories, but every professional has his own perception, which adds value to one’s understanding. “Through these seminars, you get additional information on all topics; you can add them to your knowledge pool, clear the incorrect concepts and take from the seminar all that can prove beneficial to your factory. Through this workshop, I have been able to enhance my knowledge-base exponentially,” he said.
For a student, the workshop was an eye-opener. “It has been very helpful for me as till now 5S and TQM were just big words; I wasn’t much aware of their practical implementation. Through this workshop, I have understood how these can be successfully applied in factories to attain best possible results,” said a NIFT student, Sheenam Jain.
The workshop started with an ice-breaker initiated by Chandrark Karekatti, Head – Projects and Training Apparel Resources, India. This was followed by a keynote presentation on the current buzzword in the manufacturing industry – ‘Continuous & Sustainable Improvement’. Detailed roadmap was presented on the various aspects of TQM system along with its implementation in apparel manufacturing. The interactive game based workshop, introduced the participants to concepts of Work Place Management (5S), Visual Controls, Daily Work Management (DWM), Error Proofing, Quick Wins and Six Thinking Hats among others. The presentation was detailed to explain how various TQM tools can be applied to apparel manufacturing. The concept of industry’s best practices that help transform factories into ‘world class manufacturing’ was also discussed. Adequate and optimum utilization of people, processes and technology to generate best results, was advised. Key advantages of a Quality System, like reduced people dependency, right first time, reduced non-conformance, standardization and improved process flows were discussed. Participants were also briefed on various components of variation in the traditional measurement system. Concepts of ‘Measurement System Analysis’ was discussed with active participation of delegates on utility of these tools in needle trade.
In the second half, Chandrark shared his experiences on implementing Quality Improvement programmes across factories in India, Bangladesh and Africa. He also explained initiatives like Autonomous Maintenance, Total Productive Maintenance and tools for controlling potential failure modes like ‘Failure Mode Effect Analysis’ (FMEA). Interactive discussion was held on how the apparel industry has been shaping up in the last decade and how it can be further pushed towards greater heights. Insights were shared on how to beat the cost factor, improve quality/productivity and building self-sustaining and process-driven system.
Through ‘Technology Forum 2015’, Apparel Resources focused on road map for achieving ‘breakthrough improvements’ in the apparel industry. Encouraged by the response it has received, Apparel Resources will now embark upon many more workshops on-demand to widen the ‘knowledge-base’ on best industry practices.