Transition to lean production in garment industry: Value stream mapping, line design and balancing

In today?s global competitive environment in which consumer preferences always change, model variety increase thusly production numbers decrease and product life goes down; precondition of the sustainability of garment enterprises depends upon being the foremost. The way to provide this requires being adapted to dynamic structure of the era and being open to new ideas. To this respect, enterprises must optimize their own systems with the systems, techniques and technologies that develop and change constantly. Lean production is a system that provides increase in lucrativeness by bringing down the costs with decreasing or resolving all activities like redundant labour force, material, stock, transportation etc. causing extravagance and not adding any value to production in terms of customers; and that makes productions with the lowest costs but the highest quality and right on time using the sources on necessary times and quantities.The aim of this study is to suggest line design and balancing issues for value stream mapping and production line balancing that show improvement works to ensure resolving of extravagant sources in garment industry. Case study method has been used in this research having descriptive features. Research population consists of enterprises that are active in garment industry and the sample is a garment enterprise selected from Ankara. Data have been gained using observation, interview and document analysis.The study has been made in three main stages that are value stream mapping, time study and line balancing. Available situation map has been generated analysing value stream for ladies-jacket production family, improvement works have been determined via lean production techniques aiming decreasing extravagances in the process to minimum or resolving completely with future situation map. With time study application, standard times of processes in jacket production have been constituted. In order to perform production line balancing, appropriate line design has been made for available enterprise sources. Line balancing problems have been resolved for different production quantities.Oodles of extravagance sources have been spotted in the garment enterprise. To resolve those extravagances or to decrease to minimum, the result that Kanban, 5S, TÜB, MHD, accommodation arrangement and labour education applications need to be performed, has come forward.The fact that 13 stations for the production of daily 80 pieces, 18 stations for the production of daily 120 pieces are adequate, has been landed up in resolved problems while there have been 27 stations in enterprise?s available production line. In the circumstances, 51,86% improvement for the production of daily 80 pieces and 33,4% improvement for the production of daily 120 pieces have been determined to be provided. It has been concluded that the enterprise is able to perform much more productions with its available production line, and in the event that the enterprise uses balanced montage lines, there shall be decreases in labour costs depending on production numbers.