The Supervisor plays a very important role in any manufacturing industry especially when we talk about the Garment Manufacturing Industry. Given the fact that the Garment Manufacturing Industry is a labour-intensive sector, the Supervisors act as a bridge between the management and the pillars of the industry, that is the operators. Hence, given their importance, any industry needs to have a technically sound Supervisor. Committed to solving industry problems through technology and training, Methods Apparel Consultancy has come up with a special initiative Pro-SDP (Professional – Supervisor Development Programme).
This program is being implemented in one of the prominent clusters in the subcontinent, the Okhla Garment and Textile Cluster (OGTC) in which over 200 Supervisors will be trained over one year. The training is all about the overall development of Supervisors, which gives them an insight into how to deal with real-me problems in a more structured way. It is important to note that the industry in the past has focused more either on targeting the operator or the higher management and no due importance vis-a-vis training was given to the Supervisors, however, realizing the importance of the middle management in the Sewn Product Industry, Pro SDP was designed keeping in mind the needs and requirements of the Supervisor.
The first two weeks focus extensively on strengthening the fundamentals of the Sewn Product Industry, to build a solid foundation. The program starts with a general introduction and Pre-assessment of candidates since we need to know their capacities, experience, and current state to establish their potential learning gaps. This is extremely important for trainers to gauge the level of trainees so that the learning pace and subjects can be adapted to the learner’s aptitude.
After pre-assessment, an ice-breaking session is done to establish communication between the participants and the trainer so that a level of comfort can be attained. An overview of the complete program is given to the participants and we have an open session where they list down their exceptions and learning outcomes from the program. Our first module is focused on opening their minds and aspiring them to become creators rather than followers, through various videos, activities, and storytelling. The urgent need to change themselves is created and they become much more receptive to new ideas.
Once the minds are open, they are ready for learning, up-skilling, and re-skilling. Their roles and responsibilities along with their positioning in the value chain are discussed in detail. We begin to engage them more through brainstorming sessions and activities so they can give their best to become a beer version of themselves. Other important aspects that we have covered in this training are Lean Manufacturing, Industrial Engineering, and Line Balancing. It is mesmerizing to see them learning how to calculate operators’ capacities, check their efficiencies, and balance their lines through data-driven facts.
They feel empowered and enabled with this newly acquired knowledge and many participants become confident that they can improve their work efficiencies through the techniques they have learned. Learning to improve methods through the Passing the ball activity is the turning point for most of the participants as they work as a team to improve the me for passing the ball and normally bring it down to less than 5 seconds from 45 seconds.
Another eye-opening session is through the Kaizen video which we use to teach them the principles of continuous improvement. Learning and applying the PASTA tool is another simple, yet powerful tool that they use during their practical training to make improvements to their operations.
Line balancing, throughput me, factory planning, and managing WIP are taught through a simulated computerized game based on the theory of constraints. Designed by Goldratt, the business Management Guru, this game captivates their interests and teaches them about the real factors and reasons responsible for achieving targets, how the availability of data and line balancing can do wonders in real-life scenarios and what are the most important factors to run a profitable organization.
Since communication and motivation play a very important role in training, we have dedicated a session to focus on communication, motivation, team building, and setting a growth mindset.
There were times when the energy level was low among the participants as their sing capacity is limited, so we did many activities to level up their energy and by doing so, we taught them many lessons such as TEAMWORK, MOTIVATION that a Supervisor must have to becomes effective.
Continuous formative assessments are an integral part of this program, and this is embedded in the training through daily homework and structured assessments from me to me. The regular assessments help us to check the participant’s levels and whether they are improving or not. From me to me, we have taken special care by giving them extra me on certain concepts which were hard to grasp.
After the theory training, the Practical sessions are even more intense. The class is divided into groups of 5 to 6 people and allocated to specific lines on the shop floor. All the teams work towards being the best implementing teams, there is an air of healthy competition between the teams. We handhold and guide each team to make improvements in the lines. We are also faced with many challenges during this phase, sometimes absenteeism is more than expected or at times the interrupted supply chain breaks the rhythm of the improvements. There are also times when we are faced with man quality issues but together as a team we have overcome and shown significant improvements to the management.
In general, each team must produce a current method and an improved method for doing the job thus we can quantify the real change that occurs as a result of their efforts. Teams have been able to save more than 3 to 4 minutes on each product along with 2 to 3 people which were saved during rebalancing or as a result of method improvements. The line layouts were made beer to improve transportation, and many examples of 5-S were created by the team. Overall, the participants became more independent, and their approach became solution-centric rather than problem-centric as a result they started taking their own decisions.
Each team is evaluated continuously throughout the practical sessions to check on their team management, how they are teaching operators, and their creativity quotient by implementing improved methods on the lines. In case there is a style change, the teams get a chance to practice QCO Principles and bring down the line setting me considerably.
On completion of practical training, the teams have to put together a presentation that summarizes their learnings and practical achievements in the presence of their management; finally, all participants are awarded certificates for successful completion of training.
