You Can't Add Value Until You Get This Thread

The Lean Manufacturing consultant had never been in a sewing factory before. But that didn't stop him from promising to double our productivity after a thirty minute tour.

"What a scam artist," I thought.

"If you promise to stay in Jersey and maintain employment levels the Department of Labor will foot the bill."

"Sign me up this instant," I said.

Dozens of us began training to identify, locate and destroy non-value-added work, and permanently create an environment hostile to the return of this parasite.  Our first mission was to increase the productivity of our embroidery machines so they could keep pace with our manufactured goods.  Embroidery machines automate logo stitching and only add value while sewing.  We discovered that between orders—around ten times daily—these 20 sewing-head machines could be idle for two hours while operators worked hard to “get the thread.”

Within weeks we reduced the embroidery machine downtime from two hours to thirty minutes just by eliminating the wasteful, non value added work done "getting the thread".

Before:

• Supervisor would ask for grey thread 
• Operators--many with language barriers-- would sift through sealed boxes labeled “charcoal”, “pewter”, or “asphalt” and bring options back for supervisor approval.
• Operators would return cones and find twenty cones of the color grey approved (which were boxed by the dozen).
• Cones would be dusted off and hand carried in two or three trips to the machines. The ends of the threads would be located and needles would be threaded. Then operators would move to the next color.

We brainstormed how to reduce the time between orders and implemented dozens of ideas:

• Inventory was taken of the thread and supervisors began issuing requests for specific colors by number.
• Labelling of the thread was standardized to include the color family "Yellow" and the thread mill's product name and number "Canary 1234."
• Threads were stored in groups of 20 in clear plastic Ziplock bags and placed in colored bins that represented the color family. Thread ends were to be stored in a notch inside the cone.

Now the supervisor could give an operator a request for 3 thread colors, and the operator could locate the three colors immediately and carry them to the machine in one trip. No counting, cleaning, or untangling would be necessary.

This would not have been possible without two policies: First, we assured the operators we would not lay them off after the reduction in work. Second, we set up an incentive system to share the productivity gains.  So--how did we actually save any money? It sounds like our labor costs increased!  Well, they did--but in embroidery our productivity ultimately tripled, eliminating the need for any subcontracting and blowing our capacity wide open. Its amazing what a big improvement in turnaround time can do for sales.

We repeated this elimination of non value added work throughout the factory over the next two years, increasing profits and wages in tandem every step of the way.