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Production Planning & Control: The Management of

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Adapting lean manufacturing principles to the textile

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a a a a
George L. Hodge , Kelly Goforth Ross , Jeff A. Joines & Kristin Thoney
a
College of Textiles, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
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To cite this article: George L. Hodge , Kelly Goforth Ross , Jeff A. Joines & Kristin Thoney (2011): Adapting lean
manufacturing principles to the textile industry, Production Planning & Control: The Management of Operations, 22:3,
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 Production Planning & Control
Vol. 22, No. 3, April 2011, 237–247

Adapting lean manufacturing principles to the textile industry

George L. Hodge*, Kelly Goforth Ross, Jeff A. Joines and Kristin Thoney
College of Textiles, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
(Final version received 17 May 2010)

A research project was conducted to determine which lean principles are appropriate for implementation in the
textile industry. Lean manufacturing involves a variety of principles and techniques, all of which have the same
ultimate goal: to eliminate waste and non-value-added activities at every production or service process in order to
give the most satisfaction to the customer. To stay competitive, many US textile manufacturers have sought to
improve their manufacturing processes so that they can more readily compete with overseas manufacturers. This
study identifies the different tools and principles of lean. The use of lean manufacturing in the textile industry was
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examined in this research through interviews, plant tours and case studies. A model for implementing lean tools
and principles in a textile environment was developed.
Keywords: lean manufacturing; textiles; value stream mapping

1. Introduction Wealth in Your Corporation, Womack and Jones (1996)

To stay competitive, many US textile manufacturers identified how Toyota’s production system is different
have sought to improve their manufacturing processes, from the traditional mass production approach. Once
so that they can more readily compete with overseas the value stream is designed, or redesigned, improve-
manufacturers. Based on Industry Week/ ments can be made by implementing lean tools and
Manufacturing Performance Institute (IW/MPI) techniques appropriate to the particular situation.
Census of Manufacturers, lean manufacturing tech- Lean is concerned with eliminating all types of
niques were the primary methods for improvement waste, which is much more than eliminating waste by
in both 2005 and 2006, explains Blanchard (2006). reducing inventory. Ohno (1988) identified seven types
Abernathy et al. (2000) found that many retailers have of waste in his book Toyota Production System and
incorporated lean principles into their inventory deci- explained that waste is sometimes hard to see, but can
sion analysis by using SKU-level analysis (SKU, stock be classified by: overproduction, time on hand, trans-
keeping unit), which has put increased pressure on portation, over processing, inventory, movement and
suppliers to deliver goods quickly to the marketplace. defective products. All the lean tools work towards
The term lean is accredited to Womack et al. (1990) in common goals of eliminating this waste in order to
the book The Machine that Changed the World, when bring the most value to the customer.
the word was used to describe the Toyota Production Based on a review of the literature, an initial
System. Holweg (2006) claims that this book is one of conceptual model of lean tools and principles was
the most widely cited references in operations man- developed as shown in Figure 1. A total of 20 tools
agement. This article presents the results of an inves- were identified and these were grouped into six
tigation into the benefits and barriers experienced by categories: Visual Management, Policy Deployment,
textile companies in implementing lean manufacturing. Quality Methods, Standardized Work, Just-In-Time
Case studies involving seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu and and Improvement Methods. The focus of all these
shitsuke (5s) and value stream mapping (VSM) in tools is meeting customer requirements which are the
textiles are presented. centre of the model. The initial conceptual model does
The objective of lean is to create the most value for not have any order or hierarchy for implementation of
the customer while consuming the least amount of these tools. This model was then used as a basis for
resources to design, build and sustain the product. interviewing companies about their application of lean
In their book, Lean Thinking – Banish Waste and Create manufacturing.

*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]

ISSN 0953–7287 print/ISSN 1366–5871 online

ß 2011 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/09537287.2010.498577
http://www.informaworld.com
 238 G.L. Hodge et al.

Quality methods include Jidoka, Poka-Yoke and

Lean Six Sigma. Poka-yoke, as introduced by Shingo
(1985a), is implementing simple low cost mistake
proofing devices that detect abnormal situations
before they occur or once they occur stop production
to prevent defects. The Lean Six Sigma approach, as
Taghizadegan (2006) explains, is a data-driven
approach to find the root cause of problems and uses
the define, measure, analyse, improve, maintain and
control (DMAIC) process to organise operating
processes.
Standardised work is the safest, easiest and the
most effective way of doing the job that we currently
know, but the purpose of standardised work is to
provide a basis for improvement on that job. Dennis
(2002) found that the goal should be to optimise the
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utilisation of people instead of machines, because the

flexibility of people provides more benefits than
machine utilisation.
Figure 1. Conceptual model of lean tools and principles. Just in time includes Kanbans, production level-
ling, single minute exchange of dies (SMED) and
cellular manufacturing. SMED is a series of techniques
developed by Shingo for reduction in production
Greif (1995) acknowledges that the goal of visual
changeover time to less than 10 min. Shingo (1985b)
management is to create a work environment that is
has compiled this methodology into his book entitled A
self-explaining, self-ordering and self-improving. In his
Revolution in Manufacturing: the SMED System.
book The Visual Factory, Grief illustrates that this idea
Improvement methods include Kaizen, Kaizen
in a visual management triangle. In this type of
Blitz and VSM. Ortiz (2006) identifies Kaizen as a
workplace, employees can immediately notice out-of-
team approach to quickly tear down and rebuild a
standard situations and easily take corrective actions.
process layout to function more efficiently. Russell and
A vital component of visual management is the 5s Taylor (2002) use the term Kaizen Blitz to describe
organisation system. The 5s tool as Hirano (1996) when a process is quickly changed to eliminate
teaches a structural system to organise any type of activities that have no value. Womack and Jones
business or operation, and 5s represents five steps (1996) found that for almost all companies, value
including sort, set in order or place, shine or scrub, stream redesigns are a critical step to becoming lean;
standardise and sustain. Total productive maintenance the design of the end-to-end value stream must be
(TPM), as introduced by Nakajimi (1988), assigns considered instead of applying tools randomly, to
basic maintenance work such as inspection, cleaning, address an apparent problem. VSM is used extensively
lubricating, tightening, etc., to the operator. This frees in Six Sigma Methodology and Henderson and Larco
up the technicians or maintenance team for productive (1999) recently added the procedure to the list of tools
maintenance, which includes higher value-added activ- which can be used to apply the principles of lean. Seth
ities such as equipment improvement and overhauls, and Gupta (2005) present a case study of VSM as
training, etc. Just as in safety the target is zero applied to an Indian automotive manufacturer show-
incidences, in TPM the target is zero breakdowns. ing both current-state and future-state maps.
Liker (2004) defines policy deployment or Hoshin Several textile companies using lean initiatives were
kanri is the process of bringing the objectives of top identified through the review of secondary sources such
management of the company to the plant floor level. as interviews, white page papers or case studies
Policy deployment is a short-term as well as a long- published. Such companies include: Alice
term process used to identify and address critical Manufacturing, Joseph Abboud, Absecon Mills and
business requirements and expand the ability of the National Textiles.
workforce. Akai (1991) explains that the ultimate Alice Manufacturing began using lean manufactur-
purpose of ‘policy deployment’ is to create a company- ing principles as a way to cut costs, eliminate waste
wide philosophy based on quality being supreme with a and streamline processes (Dodge Reliance 2006). The
customer-oriented approach. company’s management knew of another company,
 Production Planning & Control 239

Rockwell Automation who had successfully imple- ups by 50% and a reduction of the set up time from 15
mented lean with help from a consulting firm’s to 5 min (NCSU IES 2007).
programme, and decided to use that firm as well. The objectives of this research were:
Alice Manufacturing was attracted to the firm because
. Identify which lean manufacturing tools are
of the combination of lean and Six Sigma used in the
being utilised in US textile companies’ business
programme (Dodge Reliance 2006). After using the strategies.
new programme for about 6 months, the company . Identify barriers and benefits to lean
reported dramatic cultural changes that were positively manufacturing.
contributing to the bottom line, because lean thinking . Develop case studies of lean manufacturing in
had taught employees the value of their suggestions. textiles.
The company has had many successful improvement . Determine a hierarchy, if any, for the imple-
projects, which were at the suggestion of shop floor mentation of lean tools.
employees. The company did not cite exact figures, but
reported that they were more than halfway towards
reaching the goal set when they had started the 2. Methodology
programme (Dodge Reliance 2006). The research was conducted in a multiphase approach
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Joseph Abboud, a US suit maker, began to use lean using both primary and secondary sources. During the
manufacturing principles as a way to lower the first phase, secondary sources, such as professional
company’s manufacturing costs to remain competitive organisations, economic development organisations,
against lower wage manufacturing in other countries educational institutions and scholarly publications
(Langfitt 2007). Before lean manufacturing was imple- were used to develop a listing of potential contacts
mented, each employee stitched together all the pieces and develop a structured interview instrument. In the
of a garment on their own. To implement lean, the second phase, textile companies were first contacted by
company has set up work cells, and they work in phone and e-mail. The result was a convenience sample
teams. Now fabric moves rapidly through production of 11 textile companies that were primarily located in
in a one-piece flow. The employees are now trained in North and South Carolina, USA who were available
various skills; so if pieces back up at one operation, for interviews and plant tours during the time frame
they can jump to another job. The company has found for data collection. The characteristics of these com-
these changes to be successful. The factory increased panies are summarised in Table 1. Interviews were
production, and sales are up by 15% (Langfitt 2007). conducted with senior executives. For 10 of the
Absecon Mills, located in New Jersey, began using companies, the interviews were conducted in person
lean manufacturing techniques as a competitive busi- and plant visits were conducted to identify some of
ness strategy to increase customer satisfaction though the best practices on the shop floor. Following the
better quality and shorter lead times (SMEAL 2005). interviews, five case studies were conducted to gather
As a result of lean, Absecon Mills have reported the additional information. Three of the case studies
focused on 5s and two focused on VSM.
following benefits: a decrease in raw material and
Companies interviewed included both textile man-
finished goods inventory, reductions in lead times and
ufacturers (spinning, knitting and finishing) and com-
improvements in quality (SMEAL 2005).
panies that had cutting and sewing operations. One
National Textiles began their lean manufacturing
company had been using lean for 4 years, but most of
implementation process in 2004 with the help of NC
the companies had only 1 or 2 years of experience.
State University’s (NCSU’s) Industrial Extension
In most cases, company interviews included multiple
Service (IES) lean facilitators. The company’s goal
executives and plant tours included discussions with
was to reduce waste and improve productivity (NCSU
plant floor employees. The majority of the companies
IES 2007). Their first lean event yielded impressive
interviewed are privately held. While several identified
results, including a 30% improvement in productivity themselves as large companies in their fields, most
and 40% cost reduction in that production area would be classified as small to medium enterprises with
(NCSU IES 2007). The project implemented such 500 or fewer employees.
tools as 5s, standard work and flow. The goal of the
second lean event was to improve throughput and flow
between two processes. To accomplish this goal, the 3. Results
project conducted 5s activities, determined cycle time Table 2 summarises the different lean tools used by the
and takt time and conducted a VSM exercise. The companies interviewed. Visual management had been
result was a reduction in the number of unnecessary set used by 10 of the companies and 5s, which is one type
 240 G.L. Hodge et al.

Table 1. Description of Companies interviewed.

Company Area of manufacture Size of company

A Performs spinning, warping, slashing and weaving. Finished product is woven Small
B Plant performs dyeing and finishing, slashing, warping and weaving. Finished product is Large
woven
C Performs cut and sew operations to knit goods. Finished products are knit garments Large
D Plant performs spinning and warping operations which supply an internal customer Large
E Spins a diverse variety of yarns supplying only external customers Large
F Plant performs spinning and knitting operations which supply an internal customer Large
G Performs warping, dyeing, weaving, knitting, and printing. Finished product is either a Small
knit or woven
H Performs cut and sew, assembly, and distribution activities to textile auxiliary products Medium
I Performs warping, weaving, and finishing operations. Finished product is woven Medium
J Plant performs cut and sew, assembly, and distribution of a variety of products with Large
government contracts
K Performs cut and sew, and assembly of a particular type of product under government Small
contracts
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Note: Company size: small, medium or large as indicated by companies own description given during the interview.

Table 2. Lean tool matrix for companies interviewed.

Companies

Lean tool A B C D E F G H I J K

5s          
Cellular manufacturing   
Kaizen       
Kanban   
Mistake proofing 
Policy deployment 
Rapid Improvement 
Six Sigma      
Quick Changeover (SMED)     
Standardised Work      
Supermarket   
TPM     
VSM         
Visual Management          

of visual management, had also been used by the same . mindset that because textile machinery repre-
10 companies. VSM had been used by nine of the sents such a large asset, the machines should
companies. The 5s was often cited as one of the first always be running.
lean tools implemented.
Changing the culture of the organisation was the
Based on the interviews, barriers for implementing
most frequently discussed barrier. Companies needed
lean manufacturing that were mentioned included:
top management commitment to get started with the
. resistance to change both shop floor employees initiatives. Most of the lean initiatives involved the
and management; shop floor personnel and they needed to be engaged
. shop floor employees are reluctant to offer actively. Lean projects were selected initially to give
suggestions for improvements; some early success.
. disconnect among marketing, sales, product and Based on the interviews, the benefits of imple-
menting lean manufacturing that were mentioned
development;
included:
. shop floor personnel are not native English
speakers; so training needs to be multilingual; . creating smaller lot sizes;
and . reduction of raw materials;
 Production Planning & Control 241

. reduction in product complexity; Tools and equipment to be used frequently during the
. decreased inventory (by 50% in one company); workday were placed and stored close to their point of
. reduced changeover times (from 1.5 days to use making it easy for workers to retrieve these items to
45 min in one example); use when needed.
. increased production (after implementing 5s, Cleaning up and organising the area was an
one company experienced a 16% gain in 1 important goal that top management had in mind
month); when embarking on this 5s event. The floors and
. cleared space for increased production and new machines were given a good cleaning to remove waste
business; and oil. The next step was to ensure that standard
. reduced finished goods inventory; working practices were in place and that everyone in
. increased first pass quality (from 53% to 80% in the area was trained in 5s and understood the goals of
one case); and the organisation. The key procedures were written
. reduction in production time. down and readily available for any worker who had a
question about his/her role in the process.
Concerns were expressed that some of the benefits
In order to sustain the improvements made to the
might not be seen for months or even years.
production area where the 5s event had taken place,
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Five in depth case studies were conducted. Three of

the company used a 5s audit system. This audit system
the case studies involved VSM and two case studies
is used to ensure that 5s is continually carried out
involved 5s. The following sections summarise three of
within the area and that the procedures and activity
the case studies.
boards are kept current.
Another important action taken to sustain 5s was
the weekly meeting established after the 3-day event.
3.1. Case study: Company A – 5s These weekly meetings brought about suggestions for
Company A performs spinning, slashing, warping and improving the process and work environment for the
weaving and produces a wide variety of items from people. At first, workers were reluctant to offer ideas,
draperies to denim, with capabilities to offer full but once some ideas were brought by management for
package. Company A introduced the concept of 5s to encouragement, the ideas came easier to the techni-
their workforce via a consulting firm, which works cians and shop floor workers. Since they began the
with companies to promote industrial development. In meetings, 32 suggestions for improvement actions have
one particular area of one of the company’s plants, the been submitted and approved. These suggestions were
operation was producing three times more waste than given priority by the managers; a suggestion could be
the goal. Production in the department was stopped for given high, medium or low priority. These suggestions
3 days for the initial event. The company chose to halt were documented and put on an action sheet that
production in this area to show their commitment to would get updated as the projects were closer to
the initiative, because they wanted everyone to take the completion. Actions could have a status of either under
event seriously. Everyone working on the 5s crew was investigation, draft, agreed or complete.
still paid his regular wage to come in and work on the Some of the improvements made from these
event; however the event was voluntary. Everyone suggestions included: a retractable air line hook up at
working in the area showed up for the event, and there each machine making the air line easy to locate and
were a total of about 30 people. retrieve when the operator needs to use it, splash
The first step was to sort out the clutter from tables guards on machines and mirrors on each machine
and workstations and equipment to remove items not enabling the operators to see the front end of the
essential to performing the process and any unneeded machine while not actually standing at the front of the
equipment. They used the red tag tactic, to separate machine.
these items from the regular production area. The next Company A saw the reduction of waste even
step was to set locations and limits for equipment and beyond their expectations and goals, as a result of
item storage using indicators. Indicators such as lines the 5s programme. However, the resulting reduction of
and identification signs were also placed to demark waste was gradual and took over 6 months to take
walkways and the different storage areas. For example, effect. Another benefit of the 5s weekly meeting was a
storage locations of empty beams were marked off with greater awareness of the impact of waste among the
lines on the floor, which not only identified to the employees involved. Operators began competing to
worker where to store these items, but also provided a have the least amount of waste in the area. Company A
limit to how many beams could be stored, because plans to continue with the employee meetings, but has
beams were not to be stored past the line of the floor. cut back to bi-weekly meetings at this point due to this
 242 G.L. Hodge et al.

being a slower season. Company A is pleased with the as the facilitator. The teams required the right mix of
success of 5s in that department and would like to people, some working in the area and some that did
implement the programme in other areas of the plant not, because sometimes those not working in an area
as well. could bring new and different ideas. The 5s projects for
Company E have taken a ‘piece mill’ approach, where
a little is done at a time. The plant tool room observed
3.2. Case study: Company E – 5s in this case study was no exception. The facilitator of
the project, who gave the tour of the plant and tool
Company E is a large producer of a diverse variety of room, explained that the project had taken months to
yarn types for commodity consumption. At Company complete.
E, the drive for lean implementation came from What made the tool room at this particular facility
corporates. Company E first implemented 5s in its so remarkable was the detail which had been taken to
plants after two employees attended a 5s seminar. label each part, belt, screw and piece of machinery.
Company E used the help of a local consultant, who Each cabinet in the tool room was labelled with a
was later phased out when the programme had visual icon and a text description of the machine in
developed. The company began by establishing a 5s which the parts stored within belonged. On each
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training programme which moved from plant to plant drawer was an icon and text description of the part
within the company. The 5s teams were established at contained inside the drawer. On the top of each cabinet
the plants, but the ultimate goal is to have every was a catalogue of all the parts stored within contain-
employee trained in 5s. Most plants in the company ing their description, location and reorder information.
have modern automation with few employees. To keep the top of cabinets clear of clutter, the surfaces
Therefore, it was not feasible to pull people off their were not flat but slanted. Therefore, anything placed
jobs for very long periods of time to do 5s events. Thus, on top would slide off. On the wall, there were hooks
the employees on the 5s teams would be expected to to store various belts required by machinery. To ensure
complete their projects while on shift. One key com- that the right belt was stored on the right hook, there
ponent of this was ownership; someone had to take were outline drawings of the belts on the walls with the
responsibility for the suggested project and that person hooks and text descriptions of the belts above the
became the facilitator for that lean team. What enabled hooks.
the 5s implementation to be such a success was that the The company representative who was interviewed,
plant managers and training facilitators have the same reported that the money his company had invested in
vision. the 5s system was in the hundreds of dollars, while the
Company E implemented 5s with all the steps as savings were in the hundred thousands. The 5s project
Company A did. Company E did not pull employees of in the tool room in this case study has eliminated the
their jobs for long periods of time or bring employees waste of ordering a part already in stock, because all
of shift for an event. The 5s coordinator taught the 5s the parts and tools can now be easily found. The
system to the teams, but the responsibility of the facilitator of the 5s project in the tool room believed
project was placed on the facilitator for that team. This that this project would save his company over 40,000
case involves 5s implementation at a particular plant, dollars over the next year in tool and part replacement
which unlike the other two cases was not done on an costs.
area responsible for processing a product, but a tool
room. This case further exemplifies the fact that a 5s
programme can be used anywhere.
The extent that the 5s facilitator, a technician, for 3.3. Case study: Company G – value stream mapping
this project had implemented the 5s system in the tool Company G is a small textile mill, with under 150
room at this facility was remarkable. Company E did employees, producing woven and knit fabrics for a
not use the 5s event format. Rather, Company E variety of end uses. For this case, a VSM training
trained 5s team members in a short classroom format, activity at Company G event was observed which
which provided them literature: 5s for Operators by lasted three 8-hour work days. Seven of Company G’s
Hirano from Productivity Press and then expected the employees participated in the event; among them were
5s facilitator and the team members to take ownership the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Plant Manager,
of the project. The 5s coordinator interviewed revealed Plant Engineer, Customer Service Manager, two
that team and facilitator selection was the key for this Production Managers and a technician. The activity
system of 5s implementation to work. A supervisor or was facilitated by lean specialist from the consulting
technician in the area of the project was usually chosen group whom the Company G is using to help with
 Production Planning & Control 243

organisation and training in their initial lean pro- everyone in the group to see and agree with, along
gramme implementations. with every step and report generated in the information
First, the facilitator introduced himself and asked flow. After everyone had agreed on the material and
everyone in the room to do the same. Afterwards, information flow of the map, the facilitator adjourned
the facilitator briefly explained lean manufacturing to the group for the day.
the group, and the eight types of waste as well as the On the next morning, the facilitator showed the
concepts of value added, non-value added and non- group how they could calculate their lead time in days
value added but required. Then he explained the between each process by dividing the amount in
purpose of VSM, and the group went through an inventory by the takt (customer requirement per
example of a current state map on a fictitious company day). He also explain that the value-added time was
together. After lunch on the first day, the team began the cycle time or the time that was spent at each
work on the Company’s current state map. The first process actually processing a unit of product, which in
step was to decide on which product or family of Company G’s case one unit would be 1 yard of
products should be mapped. The facilitator asked that material. The lead times between each process were
the team choose a product(s) which was produced in then added to get the production lead time, and the
high volume. After the team had decided on the cycle times at each process were added to get the value-
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product, the takt was calculated based upon a 4-week added time, as shown in Figure 2 which is a depiction
forecast from the customer. The team then broke up of Company G’s current state map. A few of the team
into two groups, one to gather information to create members were astounded at how large this number was
the information flow and the other to collect the cycle and did not believe that it could be correct, but the
time, changeover time and machine utilisation per- CFO quickly interjected, explaining that the average
centage and to count the inventory between each inventory turnaround for the company was only 3 days
process of the value stream for this product. Then each less. The percent value added was then calculated by
process in the material flow was drawn out for taking the ratio of value-added time to production lead

Figure 2. Company G’s current state map – product B.

 244 G.L. Hodge et al.
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Figure 3. Company G’s future state map – product B.

time. Company G’s percent value added for this communications. In the future state, the schedule is
product was less than 1% (Figure 2). That afternoon only sent to shipping, where a supermarket will be
was spent learning about designing a lean flow. created. When the stock in the supermarket reaches
Concepts such as one piece flow, kanban, supermar- a certain level, a kanban signal will schedule the
kets, and push versus pull were introduced. The production at the downstream processes (Figure 3).
facilitator then went through an example of a future Other kaizen bursts in the future state map which
state map for the fictitious company that had been target improvement in product flow included creating
used as the current state map example, in order for the just in time warps in this style, so that one loom could
group to understand how creating pull systems can be dedicated to this product and creating continuous
reduce lead time and increase the percent of value- flow through weaving. The other kaizen bursts are
added time. associated with updating and repairing equipment.
The team spent the next morning brainstorming These ideas for improving the process will be
ideas to improve their process, which would prioritised and will then become the basis for sched-
become kaizen bursts1 in the future state map. uling kaizen events.
Figure 3 depicts Company G’s future state map.
One of the major improvements decided upon by the
group was to reduce the paper work from production
control. As Figure 2 shows, there were three different 4. Conclusions
reports that would be eliminated in the future state Based on data collected from interviews and case
(Figure 3) along with two electronic scheduling studies for this research project, a Lean
 Production Planning & Control 245
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Figure 4. Lean implementation model.

Implementation Model (Figure 4) was developed. used to develop standard operating practices and set
A hierarchical approach to implementing lean is cycle times to meet customer requirements. The final
proposed. All levels contribute to the overall goal of level is Just-In-Time tools, such as kanbans, super-
improving customer satisfaction, which is shown as the markets and quick changeover, which reduce waste
top of the model. Implementation of lean manufactur- such that the customer gets the right product at the
ing should begin with Policy Deployment tools to right time, directly impacting customer satisfaction.
initiate cultural changes. Resistance to change by both Just-In-Time builds on the stability and standardisa-
management and shop floor workers was most often tion of the previous levels and is most closely linked to
cited as a barrier to implementing lean. Policy customer satisfaction.
Deployment methods get the workforce actively VSM is shown outside of the pyramid, as it can be
involved in the lean process. The next level is Visual used for all levels of the Lean Implementation
Management. A 5s programme was the first tool used Model. In the literature, value stream mapping was
by many companies. 5s projects can be used through- identified as an initial tool. However, based on the
out the manufacturing facility and are not limited to interviews, it was not always found to be useful as the
just the production line as the case study for tool room first tool used. The sides of the pyramid are shown as a
redesign demonstrated. Visual Management based cycle of arrows because implementing lean is a
projects build a foundation of stability in the process continuous process that involves all the levels and all
and may provide early successes with using lean tools the efforts should focus on improving customer
such as 5s and TPM. The next level is to develop satisfaction.
Continuous Improvement based projects. Shop floor Lean manufacturing principles have been imple-
personnel are able to identify areas for improvements mented in many different industries for a number of
and use tools such as Rapid Improvement analysis and years. Widespread application of lean was not found in
mistake proofing devices. Building on the continuous textile companies. Based on interviews and case stud-
improvement efforts, Standardised Work tools are ies, implementation of lean was relatively recent to
 246 G.L. Hodge et al.

many textile companies with visual methods being the North Carolina State University. Kelly was fortunate to be
selected as an Institute of Textile Technology Graduate
most frequently utilised. Fellow and graduated with the Class of 2007. In the summer
Lean Manufacturing is a strategy that does not of 2006, Kelly interned with Guilford Fibers in Fuquay-
require a large investment in automation or informa- Varina, NC in their process engineering department. Kelly
tion technology; that does not require employees with returned to the College of Textiles at North Carolina State in
advanced analytical training. Lean manufacturing is a the fall of 2009 to pursue her PhD with the Textile
Technology Management programme.
strategy that can be implemented in both large and
small companies where all employees can be involved Jeff A. Joines is an Associate
in improving operations to meet the customers’ needs. Professor in the Textile Engineering,
Chemistry and Science Department at
NC State University and is currently
Acknowledgements the Associate Department Head for
Undergraduate Studies. He received a
The authors thank the Institute of Textile Technology for BS in Electrical Engineering and BS in
providing financial support for this research. This article is Industrial Engineering in 1990, a MS
based on the thesis by Kelly Goforth, submitted in partial in Industrial Engineering in 1990 and
fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of PhD in Industrial Engineering in 1996, all from NC State
Downloaded by [University of Illinois Chicago] at 07:56 13 April 2013

Science in Textiles at the College of Textiles, North Carolina University. He received the 1997 Pritsker Doctoral
State University in May 2007. Dissertation Award from Institute of Industrial Engineers.
He was awarded the 2006 NC State University Outstanding
Teaching Award and the 2009 Gertrude Cox Award for
Note Innovative Excellence in Teaching and Learning with
Technology. His research interests include evolutionary
1. Rother and Shook (2002) Kaizen bursts as icons used in
optimisation, object-oriented simulation, simulation-based
VSM to highlight improvement needs at specific process
scheduling and supply chain optimisation.
and which are critical for the future state map.

Kristin Thoney is an associate profes-

sor in the Textile and Apparel,
Notes on contributors Technology and Management
Department at NC State. She is also
George L. Hodge is an Interim
Associate Department Head and
Assistant Dean in the Graduate
Director of Undergraduate pro-
School at North Carolina State
grammes for the TATM Department.
University (NCSU) and an associate
She joined the faculty in 2000
professor in the Textile Engineering,
after earning a PhD in industrial
Chemistry and Science Department,
engineering and operations research. from NC State. Kristin
where he teaches courses in Textile
also has a MS in operations research from NC State and a BS
Supply Chain Management. His
in mathematics from Valparaiso University. Her research
areas of research include: lean
interests include logistics, production scheduling, inventory
manufacturing, e-business, data mining, information quality
management and other types of supply chain modelling
and enterprise integration. He has served on the boards of
involving optimisation and simulation approaches.
APICS Textile and Apparel Specific Industry Group and
Computer Integrated Manufacturing in Higher Education
(CIM/HE). He received his PhD from NCSU in Industrial
Engineering, MS in Industrial and Systems Engineering from References
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