Quick Solutions to Speed to Market & Better Efficiency (Stitchworld March 2006)
Krishan Kumar, Integra Apparels and Textiles and Gokal Chittaranjan, LT Karle, have in operation the Fast React system for production planning. Their observations on the usefulness of the software and the key modules to support production process throw light on why the industry needs to look at options and embrace technology for better working and faster lead-times.
Production Planning with ‘Fast React’
Quick Solutions to Speed to Market & Better Efficiency
From Stitchworld magazine March 2006
StitchWorld has discussed in detail production planning (September 2005 issue) and the importance of following preset schedules to achieve the twin goals of speed to market and better efficiency in the production process. Krishan Kumar, Integra Apparels and Textiles and Gokal Chittaranjan, LT Karle, have in operation the Fast React system for production planning. Their observations on the usefulness of the software and the key modules to support production process throw light on why the industry needs to look at options and embrace technology for better working and faster lead-times.
Given the nature of the garment manufacturing business, it is very difficult to create schedules and ensure consistent adherence to such schedules. In fact, the unpredictable nature of business leads to constant crisis management situations whereby valuable time and money is lost in rescheduling and re-working processes. One of the most popular systems that understands and provides solutions to the erratic working schedules of the industry is Fast React from UK, used by over 250 apparel and textile consumer in 27 countries around the globe.
The Fastreact product range provides a high level of visibility, coordination and flexibility to Manufacturers, Buying Offices and Retailers alike; immediate benefits combined with rapid implementation ensure swift return on investment.
Though many factories overlook the importance of pre-production planning, the essence of successful adherence to lead-times lies in controlling and monitoring activities involving the time factor, ensuring that the various elements of materials, samples / approvals and documentation are in place at the right time before the actual production starts. The Fast React system provides a visual tool to manage production planning and available capacity. Critical path updates are fed directly into the latest production plan and provide a definite and decisive method of coordination and control. This method allows management of both in-house production and production at other units / sub contractors in coordination with activities in the critical path.
Speaking on the effectiveness of Fast React in pre-production analyses and planning Gokal Chittaranjan, LT Karle says, “Every module of the system is useful; however the module that thoughtfully connects the critical path (pre-production processes) to the complete macro planning is very useful. The strip codes are a great help as you can get a complete perspective at a glance.”
The days of single production lines are nearly over and with every production line working on different products / styles, the control of effective processing of each individual line can become a major challenge for any supervisor. However the Fast React system displays the status of all running orders concurrently, making it possible to anticipate bottlenecks and work out solutions in advance to avoid breakdown of the production line in any of the products / styles. This ability is very useful, says Krishan Kumar, Integra Apparels, “We find that the planning board is the most used feature at our facility since it enables us to quickly and accurately plan and re-plan processes, besides providing a fantastic bird’s eye view of all orders simultaneously.”
The unique Fast React system enables the user to re-plan immediately on failure of earlier set schedules; it also advises on the possibility of success and failure of the re-implemented scheme with alternatives and estimates the resultant variation in scheduling thereby giving advance warning to the possible cascading effect of the reworked solution. The usefulness of the system is obvious. Says Krishan Kumar, “Replanning is a fact of life and the beauty of the system is that it allows quick replanning in a matter of minutes. User-friendly alerts enable us to quickly resolve an issue before it blows up into a major issue.” He also feels that the accuracy of the plans has doubled since using Fast React. However Gokal offers different viewpoint, “The accuracy of planning remains unchanged when using the system, since re-plans are dependent on extraneous activities and not on the original plan created.”
One of the benefits definitely is the efficiency of planning and the time saved in doing a similar exercise manually. “We earlier planned with similar efficiency on Excel spreadsheets. The overall speed has certainly improved. Also, the transparency in planning is better and improved visibility
is available in other areas of the overall plan like machine capacity, operational capacity in various activities like cutting, embroidery, washing, etc.,” says Gokal.
Adds Krishan Kumar, “The most remarkable area of improvement using the system is in time saving and accurate monthly plans are generated in a matter of few hours for as many as 14-18 production lines.”
Another advantage in favour of the Fast React System is the fact that it can conveniently share data with other IT solutions, which both companies have used to their benefit. Though there are many solutions in the market and both companies investigated a few before deciding on Fast React, the transparency in operation which the system provides worked in favour of the system. Both companies are satisfied and the return on investment has been phenomenal. Says Krishan Kumar, “We expected payback in 18 months time and we are on course to better that.”
Gokal is even more enthusiastic, “Fast React typically quotes a ROI of under one year. However, considering our monthly wage bill, a 2% improvement of our monthly efficiency (by just improving our planning) can provide a ROI under 3-4 months (I have only considered direct wages- not overheads, increased sales, etc).
