Advances in Phytochemistry, Textile and Renewable Energy Research for
Industrial Growth – Nzila et al. (Eds)
© 2022 Copyright the Author(s), ISBN: 978-1-032-11871-0
Open Access: www.taylorfrancis.com, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license
Industrial engineering and operation management in the ready-made
garments industry
O. Bongomin ∗ , J.I. Mwasiagi & E.O. Nganyi
Department of Manufacturing, Industrial and Textile engineering, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya
I. Nibikora
Department of Polymer, Industrial and Textile engineering, Busitema University, Tororo, Uganda
ABSTRACT: Today’s competitive advantage of the ready-made garments (RMG) industry depends on the
ability to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of resource utilization through proper adoption of industrial
engineering techniques. RMG industries have historically adopted fewer technological and process advancements. This is especially true for less developed regions like the East African Community (EAC), although
significant amounts of textile and apparel products are produced in these regions. In most RMG industries,
industrial engineering techniques have not been given enough attention, even though they need to compete
globally and survive in this extremely competitive and dynamic business environment. Presently, only very few
garment industries have comprehended the functions of the industrial engineering department. One of the base
reasons for this shortage is that the garment industries suffer much from substantial inadequacy of information
and literature on the practical application of industrial engineering techniques in garment manufacturing. In
this paper, the application of industrial engineering tools: ABC classification, process mapping, time study, and
brainstorming were demonstrated in a garment manufacturing factory. The empirical data obtained were utilized
to determine the Standard Minute Value (SMV) and prepare an operation bulletin for trousers. The results from
the present study are very useful to the garment industry for setting up a realistic production target and for
measuring the production capability of a trouser assembly line as well as improving its efficiency.
1 INTRODUCTION
The ready-made garment (RMG) industry is not only
one of the oldest, largest, labor-intensive, low-skilled,
low-value, and most global industries but also the
typical “beginner” industry for countries engaged
in export-orientated industrialization (Abtew et al.
2019; Hamja et al. 2019). In 2016, the East African
Community (EAC) pledged to phase out imports of
second-hand clothing within three years to promote
the development of the domestic garment sector (Calabrese, Balchin, & Mendez-parra 2017; Wolff 2020).
But that can be hardly achieved without the proper
implementation of industrial engineering (IE) and
operation management (OM) functions in this sector.
The implementation of the IE and OM functions
in the RMG industry are very crucial for sustainability in the business and need proper monitoring
of success (Islam, Islam, & Gupta 2017). The OM
aims at addressing problems related to low levels
of sales and low turnover, over-inventory, and high
manufacturing costs in textile-clothing companies in
order to improve productivity and competitiveness
(Maralcan & Ilhan 2017). It mainly strategizes at promoting the supply chain integration, adequate demand
forecasting methods, lean manufacturing principles,
∗ Corresponding author
implementation of information technologies, and production planning techniques for the long, medium,
and short term (Cano & Zuluaga-mazo 2019). On
the other hand, IE focuses on reducing the production time, which automatically reduces inventory cost
to a minimum (Jana & Tiwari 2018; Khatun 2013). In
RMG industry, the IE and OM functions are under IE
department (Jana & Tiwari 2018).
In previous studies, IE has been applied in RMG to
harness improvements in productivity (Khatun 2013)
and increases in the agility of garment manufacturing
(Khan, Islam, Elahi, Sharif, & Mollik 2019). Baset
and Rahman (2016) and Hossain, Khan, Islam, Fattah,
and Bipul (2018) applied IE techniques in the garments sector for reducing the cost of Standard Minute
Value (SMV) and lead time to improve productivity by
an implementation of proper line balancing. Howard,
Essuman, and Asare (2019) applied IE as the strategies for determining the production cost and pricing
of garments. Khan (2013) used lean manufacturing
to achieve higher productivity in the apparel industry.
Lean manufacturing has been increasingly used in the
RMG industry to increase productivity for reducing
costs and lead time (Hamja et al. 2019; International
Labour Organization 2017; Khan 2016). Furthermore, Bashar and Hasin (2019) studied the impact of
Just-in-time (JIT) production on organizational performance in the apparel industry.
DOI 10.1201/9781003221968-10
75
Industrial Growth – Nzila et al. (Eds)
© 2022 Copyright the Author(s), ISBN: 978-1-032-11871-0
Open Access: www.taylorfrancis.com, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license
Industrial engineering and operation management in the ready-made
garments industry
O. Bongomin ∗ , J.I. Mwasiagi & E.O. Nganyi
Department of Manufacturing, Industrial and Textile engineering, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya
I. Nibikora
Department of Polymer, Industrial and Textile engineering, Busitema University, Tororo, Uganda
ABSTRACT: Today’s competitive advantage of the ready-made garments (RMG) industry depends on the
ability to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of resource utilization through proper adoption of industrial
engineering techniques. RMG industries have historically adopted fewer technological and process advancements. This is especially true for less developed regions like the East African Community (EAC), although
significant amounts of textile and apparel products are produced in these regions. In most RMG industries,
industrial engineering techniques have not been given enough attention, even though they need to compete
globally and survive in this extremely competitive and dynamic business environment. Presently, only very few
garment industries have comprehended the functions of the industrial engineering department. One of the base
reasons for this shortage is that the garment industries suffer much from substantial inadequacy of information
and literature on the practical application of industrial engineering techniques in garment manufacturing. In
this paper, the application of industrial engineering tools: ABC classification, process mapping, time study, and
brainstorming were demonstrated in a garment manufacturing factory. The empirical data obtained were utilized
to determine the Standard Minute Value (SMV) and prepare an operation bulletin for trousers. The results from
the present study are very useful to the garment industry for setting up a realistic production target and for
measuring the production capability of a trouser assembly line as well as improving its efficiency.
1 INTRODUCTION
The ready-made garment (RMG) industry is not only
one of the oldest, largest, labor-intensive, low-skilled,
low-value, and most global industries but also the
typical “beginner” industry for countries engaged
in export-orientated industrialization (Abtew et al.
2019; Hamja et al. 2019). In 2016, the East African
Community (EAC) pledged to phase out imports of
second-hand clothing within three years to promote
the development of the domestic garment sector (Calabrese, Balchin, & Mendez-parra 2017; Wolff 2020).
But that can be hardly achieved without the proper
implementation of industrial engineering (IE) and
operation management (OM) functions in this sector.
The implementation of the IE and OM functions
in the RMG industry are very crucial for sustainability in the business and need proper monitoring
of success (Islam, Islam, & Gupta 2017). The OM
aims at addressing problems related to low levels
of sales and low turnover, over-inventory, and high
manufacturing costs in textile-clothing companies in
order to improve productivity and competitiveness
(Maralcan & Ilhan 2017). It mainly strategizes at promoting the supply chain integration, adequate demand
forecasting methods, lean manufacturing principles,
∗ Corresponding author
implementation of information technologies, and production planning techniques for the long, medium,
and short term (Cano & Zuluaga-mazo 2019). On
the other hand, IE focuses on reducing the production time, which automatically reduces inventory cost
to a minimum (Jana & Tiwari 2018; Khatun 2013). In
RMG industry, the IE and OM functions are under IE
department (Jana & Tiwari 2018).
In previous studies, IE has been applied in RMG to
harness improvements in productivity (Khatun 2013)
and increases in the agility of garment manufacturing
(Khan, Islam, Elahi, Sharif, & Mollik 2019). Baset
and Rahman (2016) and Hossain, Khan, Islam, Fattah,
and Bipul (2018) applied IE techniques in the garments sector for reducing the cost of Standard Minute
Value (SMV) and lead time to improve productivity by
an implementation of proper line balancing. Howard,
Essuman, and Asare (2019) applied IE as the strategies for determining the production cost and pricing
of garments. Khan (2013) used lean manufacturing
to achieve higher productivity in the apparel industry.
Lean manufacturing has been increasingly used in the
RMG industry to increase productivity for reducing
costs and lead time (Hamja et al. 2019; International
Labour Organization 2017; Khan 2016). Furthermore, Bashar and Hasin (2019) studied the impact of
Just-in-time (JIT) production on organizational performance in the apparel industry.
DOI 10.1201/9781003221968-10
75