Company Overview
A leading lingerie manufacturer, XYZ Apparel Ltd., faced challenges in meeting production deadlines due to inefficient scheduling, frequent bottlenecks, and delayed material arrivals. To overcome these issues, the company adopted the Critical Path Method (CPM) for production planning.
Problem Statement- Despite having an advanced ERP system, the company struggled with:
Delays in order completion.
Lack of coordination between departments.
Increased production costs due to last-minute adjustments.
Inefficient resource allocation leading to idle time and overtime.
CPM Implementation in Production Planning
Step 1: Identifying Key Production Stages
The production process was divided into the following tasks:
Material Sourcing & Inspection (5 days)
Fabric Cutting (3 days)
Printing/Embroidery/Moulding (if required) (4 days)
Sewing & Assembly (10 days)
Washing & Finishing (6 days)
Quality Inspection (3 days)
Packing & Shipment Preparation (2 days)
Step 2: Determining Activity Dependencies
Fabric Cutting can only start after Material Sourcing & Inspection.
Printing/Embroidery can begin only after Cutting.
Sewing & Assembly depends on the completion of Printing/Embroidery.
Washing & Finishing starts after Sewing & Assembly.
Quality Inspection and Packing & Shipment are sequential.
Step 3: Constructing the CPM Network Diagram
A network diagram was created to visualize dependencies and identify the critical path.
Example Dependencies:
A → B → C → D → E → F → G
Where:
A = Material Sourcing
B = Fabric Cutting
C = Printing/Embroidery
D = Sewing
E = Washing
F = Quality Inspection
G = Packing & Shipment
Step 4: Identifying the Critical Path
Total duration (critical path): 5 + 3 + 4 + 10 + 6 + 3 + 2 = 33 days
The critical path (A → B → C → D → E → F → G) was the longest sequence of dependent tasks, meaning any delay in these activities would delay the order.
Step 5: Optimizing the Process
Parallel Processing:
Started Printing/Embroidery on partial fabric batches to overlap with Cutting.
Conducted Quality Inspection in parallel with Washing to reduce idle time.
Resource Optimization:
Increased workforce in Sewing & Assembly to reduce time from 10 to 8 days.
Improved material procurement lead time, reducing Material Sourcing from 5 to 4 days.
Buffer Time Allocation:
A 2-day buffer was added after Quality Inspection to absorb any unexpected delays.
Final Optimized Critical Path
Total reduced time: 33 → 29 days (4-day reduction)
Results & Benefits of CPM Implementation
✅ On-time order completion improved from 70% to 95%
✅ Production lead time reduced by 12%
✅ Improved coordination between departments
✅ Reduced last-minute overtime and cost overruns
✅ Better visibility and proactive risk management
No comments:
Post a Comment