Introduction

MAS Active Pvt Ltd which operates under MAS Holdings is one of the leading Apparel
Manufacture for Active wear. MAS Active is dedicated to manufacturer Active wear which is
designed to maximum agility and comfort to sports professionals. Operating in 14 manufacturing
plants which includes 3 in India, USA and China. This is a labour intensive industry with the
collaboration of many sub departments.
The process involved in summary would be as follows
Once the buyer places the order with all specification there would be a pre-production sample
sent to the buyer. Once the Buyer confirms raw material, accessories, etc will be purchased and
production commenced for the bulk order. Once the garment is manufactured it will be moved in
to packing department and then sent for the shipment. Several departments are linked to the
whole process in order to ensure the finished goods are sent to the buyer on time. Some of the
departments would be merchandiser department, sampling division, warehouse, cutting
department, sewing department, each production lines, quality department and packing division,
etc. In addition to the above there are internal departments which supports the production process
such as Administration, Human Resources, Finance division, etc.

Task 1

1.1. Importance of Effective operations Management in achieving

Organizational Objectives

Operation management is the business function for managing a process of creating products or
delivering service in order to satisfy customer needs. The organization mission statement
formulates an overall strategy for the organization and Operations are aligned in order to achieve
the set objectives.it involves planning, organizing, directing and coordinating all the resources,
process within a production process. Operation strategy should be within the organizational
strategy and other functional departments should develop strategies to their respective units that
will accomplish the organization strategy as a whole.
The mission statement for MAS Active is (mission statement) accordingly operations should be
designed and planned in a way to achieve the mission statement of MAS Active. Accordingly to
ensure high quality in products operations should ensure quality control systems are in place.
Profit maximization is achieved through reduction of unnecessary cost of inventory by way of
introducing inventory management techniques and efficient management of transportation and
logistics. In the apparel industry coordination plays a significant role which is deemed as a role in
operational management in order to complete the finished goods on time, in right quality and in
the ordered quantity.
The objective of the organization is to deliver Apparel as per the specifics of the buyer. Due to
changing dynamics in fashion industry the order should reach USA markets on time. If there is
any delay in one part of the process the shipment will reach USA delay and that fashion will not
be in markets anymore and the loss will be borne by the manufacturer. Hence coordination among
each department and support services is crucial in this operation.
Effective operation management is most important to achieve organization objectives. Operation
management does not only focus one operation at a time it needs to monitor and evaluate several
operations simultaneously.
For example in MAS the merchandising team is responsible to liaise with the buyer in order to
obtain all specifics for the product. This includes the colour, density of the fabric, any specific
design, etc. Then these information needs to be communicated to several departments such as
design, fabric store, sample department, etc in order to get the sample ready for the buyeron time.
Once the buyer confirms the sample production will commence. Operational manager needs to
ensure the production facility has the correct raw material quantity on time to start production,
sufficient machinery, trained skilled labour, etc. and plan for any exceptions. Further quality
control measures should be in place to check at predetermined stages of the process to ensure
the high quality is exported to the buyer. This is a quite complex process which requires
communication and collaboration at the highest level. If a delay occurs in one part of the process
will lead to a delay in the entire production.
Operations manager should work closely with all direct and indirect departments to ensure a
smooth process is followed and the most efficient and effective manner thus achieving
organization objective. In doing so MAS has implemented six sigma & lean manufacturing
principals to its production facility in order to minimize waste and bring efficiency to its process.

1.2. Success of Operations Management in meeting strategic

management objective

MAS Active has grown to be a successful manufacturer with secured orders every month due
to its commitment towards quality and on-time delivery. Several years of studies and
experiments has earned MAS Active this success and yet its continuing to improve its
systems and process further.

MAS Active follows Make to Order manufacturing process since production begins once the
buyer places the order. Operational manager should ensure effective and efficient use of
capacity and resource to meet buyer demand. Since unused production lines, wastage of raw
material, delay in delivery will incur and revenue loss to the organization.

1.2.1. Lean Manufacturing

Through the learning of Toyota production System lean manufacturing process was
introduced to MAS as MAS Operating System which is commonly referred as MOS in year
2004. The main objective of setting up MOS is to implement and practice a sustainable way
of eliminating waste while increasing profits, improving the quality of the end product and
 maintain continuous improvement. The tools used in operational management is also derived
through MOS. Following are some of the lean practices introduced to MAS Active

5 s This is originated from Japan which includes the 5 workplace organization

methods. This concept is practiced not only in the production floor but in the whole
organization
Kaizan- This too is originated from Japan which describes continuous improvement in
a process. There are committees set up in each area to identify Kaizan in their
respective process and its linked to their KPI as well
7 waste- There are 7 waste in a garment manufacturing industry. By studying these
types of waste the operational management team has taken necessary actions to
mitigate these wastes.

7 Waste Ways to mitigate waste

Transportation Garments transferring from cutting department to sewing department
and transporting stitched garments from sewing department to
finishing department and packing. There are some transportation that
we cannot eliminate but changing the layout if the operation floor can
minimize the transportation.
Excess Inventory Garment inventory and accessories lying in the operation floor, in
trolleys or at the ware house is considered as a waste and financial
loss to the organization. Maintain inventory in ERP and through
frequent monitoring have been able to reduce the waste in inventory
Excess motion This also can be linked with the workstation layout and further lack of
training / knowledge also may lead to excess motion in the process. By
changing the workstation layout and adequate training MAS Active was
able to minimize the waste
Waiting Waiting time is considered as idle time due to a machine /design
change over or delay in input to the process. When the team studied
the reason for the waste it came to light that delay approvals
contributes significantly for the waiting time. For example, supervisor
waits for the approval to send the quality checked products to the
packing division.
Over Production This is does not incur since MAS Active production system is make to
order hence over production doesnt exists in the process.
Over Processing Thus waste is also at a very minimal level and only seen in quality
checking process. Buyer specify all details required to manufacture
and these information is passed on to the production manager. Due to
buyer specification quality is checked several times at each juncture
Further if the product does not meet the given criteria there is no
requirement to pass it to the next stage in the production flow. Hence
this is an inherent waster to ensure the quality of the output.
Defects This is at a very minimal level due to prevailing quality controls in the
system
1.2.2. Production planning

Production planning is the core in any manufacturing process. This controls the
production time, controls cost by efficient use of resources such as raw material, skilled &
unskilled labour and energy, and maximize efficiency in the entire production process.
In order to achieve the above to have a smooth production process following strategies are
practiced
Production plan- A load chart is a computation done on each production line and how many
productions lines should be used for how many hours in order to complete the order. In order to
derive at the required production lines production manger should compute how many units per
machine can be produced in one 8 hour shift. Any time spent on changeover or any scheduled
maintenance also taken into consideration here and planned effectively in order to minimize
production time and cost. Further the schedule provides the production management with
information of what product to manufactures, which production lines to be used and the shifts to
occupy, skill level required for the production and the fabric store manager the requirement of raw
material needed for each day for each order ensure continuous supply of raw material for
production.

Production plan sample

10-May
11-May
12-May
13-May
14-May
15-May
16-May
17-May
18-May
19-May
20-May
21-May
22-May
23-May
24-May
25-May
26-May
27-May
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29-May
30-May
31-May
1-May
2-May
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4-May
5-May
6-May
7-May
8-May
9-May

Palnt A Order #

Line 1 Order OCS103 Labour Grade B Labour Grade C Labour Grade B

Labour
Line 2 Order OCS116 Labour Grade C Grade B
May day

Labour
Line 3 Order OCS103 Grade A Labour Grade B

Line 4 Order OCS103 Labour Grade B

Line 5 Order OCS119 Labour Grade A

Monitoring control- Once the production plan is shared the production manager should monitor
the progress frequently to ensure that production is flowing as per the plan. Any deviations needs
to be looked and immediate action taken to mitigate any delay. Re planning will require since the
shipping date cannot be shifted under any circumstance. Hence frequent monitoring is required.
At the factory floor this is carried out every hour. The units produced volume is captured in each
line and compared with the planned volume so for any deviations actions can be taken
immediately.
The above tools are used in every stage of the production till the finished goods are shipped to
the buyer. Such as washing division, quality inspection, labelling, packing, etc.
1.2.3. Inventory Management

The main objective of inventory management is to ensure continue flow of raw material to the
production lines. In Apparel manufacturing many components of inventory is transferred to several
divisions and Output in one production flow will be an input to another production process. For
example raw material inputs to the cutting division and once the material is cut according to the
set specification that flows to the sewing department, etc.
In MAS all inventories are managed through the SAP the ERP system in Material Requirement
Planning (MRP). The ERP is interlink from sales order module and production planning module.
Since the production method is make to order the raw material is also purchased for a particular
order hence there cannot be unnecessary access fabric r accessories in warehouse. Inventory
levels are monitored more frequently to ensure the inventory cost is kept at minimal. Through
Lean MAS Active has been successful in monitoring inventory at predefined time period within
the process to minimize waste and maintain the correct inventory level to make to order.
Insufficient or excess raw material is a cost to the company. Tight controls are maintained wen
issuing raw material to production where all RM issues should be post through the ERP, so at any
given time the material movement can be monitored against the orders

1.3. Effective Quality Management in achieving organizations objectives

Quality management is similar to the heart of the organizations manufacturing process Since
MAS is in to 100% export products should meet all specification of the buyer from the fabric to
the thread, hem, stiches, packing etc. In MAS Active quality inspection is carried out at the time
fabrics reach warehouse and afterwards at every output before input to the next process. MAS
Active has invested significantly in order to minimize quality issues. Profitability been another
objective is MAS Active quality of the products plays a vital role in securing buyer relationship and
future orders. Quality management also controls the cost due to poor quality. The main objective
of quality management is ensure customer satisfaction which is linked to the organization
objective.
Top management is responsible to maintain higher standard of quality in all outputs. Therefore
quality objectives are set aligning to organization objectives and periodic reporting on quality and
attending to quality meeting is compulsory. Through quality assurance organization as a whole is
confident of their products and
Following are some of the benefits driven from Quality Management

Achieve consistency in the quality of the products. This can be done by critically evaluating
quality defects and taking corrective actions to improve its quality
Improve customer satisfaction which will in turn secure future orders to the organization
and increase profitability
Access to new market through reputation for quality products in the industry and this helps
prevent trade barriers in the global market
 Through quality assurance and continuous process improvement cost of production will
be controlled by less rework
.

1.4. Success of existing Quality Management processes in meeting

organizations strategic management objectives

As mentioned before MAS Active has invested vastly in Quality Management Process and
through MAS Operating system (MOS) many quality control tools are practiced in day to day
operations.

Further to the above MAS Active use Six sigma tools in its manufacturing process. Through this
MAS Actives main objectives is to achieve zero defect product output. In any manufacturing
process Six sigma quality standard is 3.4 defects per million output. Through various analysis,
computation, six sigma helps to improve its process and drastically improve the bottom line as
well. In MAS Active they have introduced six sigma practices in all sub division which is inked to
the final production. That is from Merchandising to packing department and similar to other quality
tools this is a continuous process. Through implementation if Six Sigma MAS Active were able to
achieve below within two years of time after implementation.

Increased productivity by 20% per production line

Improved quality. Re do work was reduced by 8% from 12% at the initial year
Reduced operation cost by 20%
Higher buyer satisfaction

1.4.1. Process flow diagram

Process flow diagram is a pictorial diagram which represent a process of
production. This is commonly used problem solving tool especially in lean manufacturing concept.
Through a process flow non value addition steps, duplication tasks, unnecessary motions, re work
can be identified as well as stages where quality controls should be implemented. Below shown
is a flow chart in the production process. MAS Active implemented this not only to its production
but to other supports services such as finance, human resources activities, marketing,
merchandising, etc. Shown below is a high level process flow on the entire process and each
process will have their own process flow displayed in their department.
1.4.2. Pareto Chart

Pareto Chart is used in quality management considering the principal of 80% & 20% rule
on productivity. In other words 80% of output is derived with a 20% if input. This is mainly used to
identify the frequency of quality defects and focus on the most significant quality issues.
Addressing the high quality defects frequency can improve the quality and minimize a significant
cost for quality defects. This chart also gives a clear state of quality defects in the whole process.
1.4.3. Fish-bone Diagram

This is also a commonly used diagram in Quality Management. This also refers to as cause
and effect analysis. This is a useful way to study the entire problem rather focusing only one
part of the problem. This enables a brainstorm session to map all possible failures in the system
and ranking each of them. In mas this forms a part of Lean/MOS and it is a continuous process
of study to improve its production.