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IMPROVING WORKING CONDITIONS AND PRODUCTIVITY IN

THE GARMENT INDUSTRY

An action manual

edited by Juan Carlos Hiba

International Labour Office Geneva

Copyright ? International Labour Organization 1998 First published 1998

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Hiba, Juan Carlos Improving working conditions and productivity in the garment industry: Practical ideasfor owners and managers of small and medium-sized enterprises Geneva, International Labour Office, 1998

/Management development guide!, /Working conditions!, /Labour productivity!, !Management', !SmaIl-scale industry!, !Clothing industry!. 13.03.1

ISBN 92-2-110849-X

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Printed in Italy

ILOITUR

Preface

Improvements in working conditions and work organization can result in increased productivity and competitiveness. This has been clearly demonstrated in Asia, Latin America and Africa by entrepreneurs of small and medium-sized enterprises who have taken voluntary action to improve working conditions and productivity.

In 1988, the ILO published two manuals on Higher productivity and a better place to work: an Action manual, addressed to owner-managers of small and medium-sized enterprises, and a Trainers' manual. These manuals have been used in numerous awareness-raising and training workshops, as part of the Office's technical advisory services and for technical cooperation projects. They have encouraged improvements in different types of individual enterprises making products such as iron castings, furniture, footwear, small household appliances, food and beverages, paper, tiles and cement pipes, and glass.

In 1994, it was decided to develop training materials targeted at a particular industry or sector. The garment industry was selected because of its significant contribution to economic growth in many countries and because it is a major source of foreign-exchange earnings. It is also a major employer of women. Improving working conditions and productivity in this industry could thus result in making these small and medium-sized enterprises more competitive, efficient and safer, and also extend better protection to women workers.

This publication follows a similar approach to the manuals on Higher productivity and a better place to work, written by J.E. Thurman, A.E. Louzine and K. Kogi. It shows how to take simple, effective, low-cost action to raise productivity while improving conditions at the workplace. Some of the technical topics covered include handling and storage of materials, lighting, workstation and product design, safe and efficient machine operation, workplace layout, welfare facilities and work organization. The examples given are drawn from actual situations and experiences of owners and managers of small enterprises producing garments. All of them have voluntarily participated in training programmes organized by the ILO. The emphasis is on the implementation of practical, low-cost and locally appropriate measures directly related to productivity. Practical tools for

assessing conditions of work, planning the process of change, involving workers and assessing productivity are also given.

We are indebted to many individuals and institutions for the ideas and examples used in this book. We benefited from their contributions to technical cooperation projects and national programmes such as the project financed by the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) on Improving Working Conditions and Productivity in Smalland Medium-sized Enterprises in the Philippines, the FINNIDA (Finnish International Development Agency) financed project on Training and Information Project for African Countries on Occupational Safety and Health in the United Republic of Tanzania, and the national programme entitled Melhor Ambiente de Trabalho, Major Produtividade (Better working environment, higher productivity) carried out and funded by the Servico Brasileiro de Apoio as Micros e Pequerias Empresas (SEBRAE). In particular, we are grateful to the following for their substantial contributions: the Bureau of Working Conditions and the Regional Offices of the Department of Labor and Employment, the Agro-Industrial Management and Consultancy, Inc., and Mr. William Salter, Senior Specialist, ILO Multidisciplinary Team for South-East Asia and the Pacific, in the Philippines; the Factories Inspectorate (Ministry of Labour), the National Institute of Productivity, the Moshi-Arusha Occupational Health Service (MAOHS), and Mr. Vesa Tornberg, Associate Expert of the FINNIDA project, in the United Republic of Tanzania; and Ms. Regina Heloisa Maciel, Departamento de Psicologia Experimental, Universidade de S?o Paulo,

Brazil.

We also express our appreciation to the hundreds of owners and managers of small and medium-sized enterprises who opened their doors and made it possible to organize the training courses. Their experience and enthusiastic support provided the substance of this publication. Special thanks to employers' organizations, productivity centres, training institutions and ministries of labour that participated in organizing the training courses.

Colleagues in the Conditions of Work Branch provided considerable technical, adminisfrative and secretarial backup to complete this publication. Acknowledgements are

due to Mr. Juan Carlos Hiba, for coordinating the contributions of various individuals and for the technical editing, and to Ms. Simone Didero, Ms. Joan Robb and Ms. Helen Wielander for typing the many revisions to the final text. Prof. Nigel Corlett of the University of Nottingham, Mr. Peter Hasle from the Centre for Alternative Social Analysis in Copenhagen, Mr. Malcolm Pugh, Pugh Management Consultants, United Kingdom, and Mr. Michael Henriques, Entrepreneurship and Management Development Branch of the ILO, all

provided valuable technical comments and useful suggestions to improve the draft. Last but not least, our thanks to the Publications Bureau for their assistance in processing this publication, and to the International Training Centre of the ILO in Turin for the illustrations.

We hope that this publication will lead to improvements in the conditions of work in small and medium-sized garmentproducing enterprises, and thus to a better working life for thousands of workers, especially women workers.

F.J. Dy-Hammar Chief

Conditions of Work Branch Working Conditions and Environment Department

Contents

Preface

V

PART 1

Chapter 1: Introduction

3

What this book is all about

3

How to use this book

5

Chapter 2 Efficient materials storage and handling

7

Better organized storage

7

If in doubt, take it out

7

Avoid placing materials on the floor

7

Gain productive space by introducing multi-level racks

10

Provide a place for each tool and work item

10

Fewer, shorter and more efficient transport and handling operations

12

The more you use it, the closer it should be

12

Provide containers for operation outputs and inputs

13

Use mobile storage

14

Clear and mark passageways

15

Fewer and more efficient lifting operations

15

Don't lift loads higher than necessary

15

Move materials and perform tasks at working heights

18

Make lifting more efficient and safer

18

Chapter 3 Practical workstation and product design

21

Placing materials, tools and controls within easy reach

21

Improve work posture for greater efficiency

23

Design your garments for easy assembly, low waste and high quality

28

Use guides to easily check measurements of pieces and garments

28

Use jigs and other devices to save time and effort

29

Improve displays and controls to minimize mistakes

32

Chapter 4 Productive machine safety, maintenance and environmental control

35

Give your machines a productivity check

35

Machine safety

35

Purchase safe machines

37

Maintain machines properly

38

Teach workers to troubleshoot common machine problems

39

Environmental control measures

42

Clean regularly and properly - do not spread dust

42

Make local ventilation cost-effective

43

Replace a dangerous substance with a safer one

44

Chapter 5 Good lighting for quality products

45

Make full use of daylight

45

Avoid glare

47

Choose an appropriate visual work background

47

Find the right place for light sources

49

Use the right lighting device and fixture

50

Avoid shadows

50

Ensure regular maintenance

53

Chapter 6 Premises suited to production

55

Protect your premises from outside heat and cold

55

Let nature help you

57

Improve the heat reflection of the walls and roof

57

Improve heat insulation

57

Use shades to protect against heat from the sun

57

Let natural air-flow improve ventilation

58

Make better use of horizontal air-flow

58

Utilize the tendency of hot air to rise

61

Improve your floor surface

61

Build flexibility and adaptability into your plant layout

62

Prevent fires and electrical accidents

64

Fire

64

Electrical hazards

65

Chapter 7 Effective work organization

67

Eliminate extra tasks and operations

67

Defeat monotony to keep workers alert and productive

68

Install planned buffers to make the work flow smoothly

68

Ensure work-in-progress is under control

68

The Kanban method

69

Provide adequate training and retraining

70

Design responsible, flexible jobs

70

Specify individual tasks and responsibilities

70

Combine production operations and tasks

70

Set up semi-autonomous or autonomous groups to improve efficiency and reduce supervisory cost 71

Arrange the production layout to meet enterprise objectives

73

Improve the sequencing of your production facilities

74

Choose the most appropriate layout

75

Set up a production progress control system

78

Designing the system

79

Implementing the system

79

Chapter 8 Low-cost work-related welfare facilities and benefits

83

Make sure essential facilities serve their purpose

83

Drinking water

83

Sanitary facilities

85

Be ready for emergencies

86

Make sure that rest means recovery

87

Rest breaks

87

Rest areas

87

Use low-cost facilities to attract and retain the best workers

88

Work clothes

88

Lockers and changing rooms

88

Eating areas

89

Canteens

89

Health facilities

90

Transport facilities

90

Recreational facilities

91

Child-care facilities

91

Birthdays and anniversaries

92

Chapter 9 Ensuring sustainable improvements

93

Develop a complete solution

93

Make sure your ideas will work

93

Mobilize worker support

94

Make improvements which will last

94

Manage change

95

Supervise improvements carefully

95

Make improvement a systematic process

95

Take action

96

Chapter 10 More constructive worker involvement

97

Why should workers be involved?

97

How should workers be involved? Ways and means for a successful approach

98

Provide more information about your enterprise

99

Create conditions for participation

99

Let the workers assess the workplace and express their ideas

99

Implement a small change

100

Set up a core group of workers

100

Involve all workers

100

Provide appropriate training

101

Enrich workers' jobs

101

Organize workers in teams

102

Monitor and review the process

102

PART 2

Section 1 Useful productivity techniques

105

Benefits of productivity measurement

105

What is productivity?

106

Basic productivity measurement

106

How to measure productivity

107

Qualitative productivity indicators

107

Non-standard quantitative productivity indicators

107

Standard productivity indexes

108

How to measure output and input

109

WISE-PMS application in the garment industry

109

Steps in implementing a productivity measurement system

112

Annex to Section 1: Model forms for the WISE Productivity Measurement System

115

Individual production report

115

Group production report

118

Attendance personnel record

120

Delivery performance record

122

Accident record

124

Preventive maintenance record

126

Customer complaints record

128

Energy consumption record

130

Employee turnover record

132

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