Manufacturing excellence: The only way

With fierce competition in the market, the requirement of low cost products has increased. Unfortunately, cheap labour is not the only requirement to achieve this goal. Cost advantage comes through superior product quality, innovative design, customisation, on-time delivery, technology innovations and finally admirable after sales service. All these factors culminate to customer satisfaction. The ability to deliver on these parameters is what constitutes manufacturing excellence.

The key components of manufacturing excellence are as under:

1. Operational excellence: When we talk about manufacturing, we need to consider that technology is very important in the industry; in many cases, technology is taking over jobs that people used to perform. This trend makes managing quality even more important because we are removing the human ability to control that quality. 

The future of operational excellence for manufacturing is not in words like productivity, efficiency, and standardization. It will be in concepts like growth, innovation, and customization.

 2. Manpower: Manpower flexibility, involving a flexible attitude, multiple skills, and ability to perform a variety of jobs, facilitates uninterrupted work and optimal utilization of resources.The problem faced by the manufacturers is to retain the tailors as they are not paid enough salary because of the advancement in the technology.

 3. Market Intelligence: The apparel industry is very dynamic in nature, as in this industry every season sets off with a new trend. For example:- in Middle East the weather remains the same throughtout the year therefore the demand of production is less but in Europe, the season changes rapidly. There the demand of production depends on the season. There are latest designs and technologies being introduced everyday, which has changed the approach towards merchandising and production. It has become important for apparel manufacturers to adopt the latest technologies and styles of production to establish their credentials in the market

4. Continual Improvement: Continuous improvement is all about leading by doing and empowering employees to make continuous improvement.

To remain competitive in the international market it is important to simultaneously improve quality and productivity on continual basis