Home | About Us | Archive | Subscribe Now | Feedback.

Welcome nift2007| Sign Out

| HOME | NEWS TRACK | TECH TRACK | TECH TALK | TECH REVIEW | TECH INNOVATION | TECH EVENT | | TECH BYTES | TECH RESOURCES | TECH EXIM | BOOKS AND TECHNICAL BULLETINS | Nam e of the Article

....TECHTALK

Apparel manufacturing is not a rocket science is often quoted by many to emphasize the fact that apparel industry neither requires scientists nor use many scientific theories and techniques. Operations Research (OR) and/or Quantitative Techniques (QT) are interdisciplinary branch of mathematics which use methods like mathematical modelling, statistics, and algorithms to arrive at optimal or good decisions in complex problems which are concerned with optimizing the maxima (profit, faster assembly line, greater yield, etc.) or minima (cost loss, lowering of risk, etc.) of some objective function. In the field of operation research, there are many interesting scientific theories which are also taught in several professional programmes in apparel production technology which may bring substantial benefit to users. In his new series of articles, Dr. Prabir Jana, Professor, National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi explains some operation research tools, and how and where these tools can be used effectively.

PERT/CPM Operation Research Application in Apparel Industry

Some of the common problems faced in apparel manufacturing are: How to estimate the duration of any activity; How to estimate the order lead time; How to identify activities with zero tolerance that requires special attention to avoid delay in final delivery; How to identify and rationalize leave sanction of employees to ensure minimum impact on performance or even prioritizing purchase of items for bottleneck activities. Is there any scientific technique, or is gut feeling and past experience the only solution? The Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) and Critical Path Method (CPM), are tools in operation research designed to provide scientific solution to above queries. While PERT was able to incorporate uncertainty in estimating task duration by making it possible to schedule a project while not knowing precisely the details and durations of all the activities, in CPM a single estimate for activity time was used as if they were known or certain. While PERT is intended for very large-scale, one-time, complex, non-routine projects with probabilistic time estimates, CPM is suitable for optimizing project lead time for regular repetitive projects with deterministic (certain) time estimates. However, over the time PERT and CPM have been merged into a single technique conventionally referred to as PERT/CPM.

How does PERT/CPM Work?

PERT charts depict events, activities, duration and dependency information to complete a project. Each chart starts from an initiation node (which is also called an event) and from which the first activity, or activities, originates. If multiple activities begin at the same time, they all start from the same node or branch, or fork out from the starting point. Each activity is represented by a line which states its name or

branch, or fork out from the starting point. Each activity is represented by a line which states its name or other identifier, its duration, the number of people assigned to it, and in some cases the initials of the personnel assigned. The other end of the activity line is terminated by another node also called event which identifies the start of subsequent activity. While events consume no time, and use no resources, an activity is the actual performance of a task and hence it consumes time, requires resources (such as labour, materials, space, machinery), and represents the time, effort and resources required to move from one event to another. For example fit sample making is an activity that ends with an event fit sample sent for approval. The estimated time (TE) taken to move from one event to another is calculated as the weighted average of optimistic time (O) or minimum possible time required to accomplish an activity, pessimistic time (P) or maximum possible time required to accomplish the same activity and the most likely time (M) time required to accomplish the activity (TE = (O + 4M + P) 6). As against this the Lead time is the time by which a predecessor event must be completed in order to allow sufficient time for the activities that must elapse before a specific PERT event is completed. Each activity is connected to its successor activities forming a network of nodes and connecting lines. The chart is complete when all final activities come together at the completion node. When slack time (excess time and resources available in achieving this event) exists between the end of one activity and the start of another, the usual method is to draw a broken or dotted line between the end of the first activity and the start of the next dependent activity. In the PERT chart, the Critical Path is the longest possible continuous pathway taken from the initial event to the terminal event. It determines the total calendar time required for the project; and, therefore, any time delays along the critical path will delay the reaching of the terminal event by at least the same amount.

Potential Application Areas in Apparel Manufacturing

Incidentally like any project management, apparel manufacturing is also a network of activities executed sequentially and/or parallely. PERT/CPM can be applied very effectively to any stage in apparel manufacturing. Right from order receipt to delivery of goods, whole merchandising and manufacturing activities can be optimized through PERT/CPM; in this case the critical path will decide the order lead time. But, in common use it is found that only pre-production activities, (i.e. from order receipt to start of cutting) or production activities (i.e. from cutting to goods shipped out) are scheduled using this technique. Any new project, e.g. developing new collection for a season, expansion of factory capacity, setting up new facility or even a performance improvement project by a consultant can be mapped and followed up using PERT/CPM for timely outcome. For projects and activities that are happening for the first time, activity estimation can be done by asking experts the optimistic, pessimistic and most likely time and calculating the expected time (TE). However for applications like in a sewing line (working in progressive bundle system) accurate SMV (standard minute value) of activities can be used as activity time to develop PERT/CPM and identify critical sewing/non-sewing operations for monitoring production, WIP and absenteeism in those operations to exercise smarter control.

Pert Network

Activity code Activity description Predecessor Optimistic(a) Most likely(m) Measurement chart a 2 4 making Sampling fabric b 3 5 sourcing c Pattern making a 4 5 d Marker making a 4 6 e Sample making b, c 4 5 f Labour costing d 3 4 g Material costing e 3 5
Work Breakdown & Calculation of TE

Pessimistic(b) TE (a+4m+b)/6 6 7 9 8 9 8 7 4 5 5.5 6 5.5 4.5 5

SMV Conventional Line with NVA Operations

PERT/CPM Application in Sewing Line

As an example, the garment breakdown of shirt is first documented in tabular form with preceding and succeeding operation written against each operation. The preceding operation for beginning sewing operations (like front pocket hemming, collar runstitch, back-yoke join, etc.) is cut parts supply and marked as nil. Once the table is complete, a PERT chart may be drawn which shows that multiple sewing operations starts simultaneously, then all converge to assembly. In the given example front and assembly section is critical path and thus shown in red colour. Critical path helps calculate the realistic time that a garment will take to be completed. The sewing operations in critical path are very important and cannot afford any delay, as every single minute delay in any critical path operation will delay the garment output also by same time. Operations in critical path should be loaded with cut pieces on priority basis during style changeover. Supply of accessories to operations in critical path should be supplied on priority basis to avoid any possible delay (Refer in detail SW May 2003 issue).

Implementing PERT/CPM in pre-production activities

Apparel pre-production consists of many activities, however to simplify the explanation, only few activities of apparel manufacturing are being considered. Whether one uses a software application or analyses the plan manually, one has to do the following steps to implement PERT: Divide the project into smaller activities Sequence and identify dependencies between activities, i.e. where one activity cannot start until another has finished Estimate a timescale for each activity (TE) Draw a PERT chart and indicate critical path Slack time calculation

Divide the whole project into individual activity

Taking sampling as the project for which PERT chart is being constructed, the whole project is divided into seven activities and codified for easy reference hereafter (a to g in the following table).

Sequence and Identify dependencies between activities

All activities are sequenced, like which activity will follow next, and so on. Then relation/dependencies between them are established, i.e. where one activity cannot start until another has finished. This is generally done in a tabular form (shown below), where codes of predecessors are written against every activity. Activities like Measurement chart making does not show any predecessor in the column; that means this activity does not depend on completion of any other activity and can start at the beginning. There may be more than one activity in predecessors column; for example sample making activity cant start unless sample fabric sourcing (b) and pattern making (c) is completed, that is why it has two predecessors.

Estimate a timescale for each activity (TE)

In above process every activity should have a predecessor and successor task. Secondly, estimating timescale of each activity is very important and one has to calculate the expected time by using the formulae described above. For example, to find out the expected time for pattern making activity, one can either conduct a cycle study to find out how much time that particular activity takes or ask the expected duration of the activity from the concerned person. Then identify all necessary allowances applicable and categorize the allowances (allowances are the margin of time allowed in an activity) based on avoidable and non-avoidable allowances. The cycle time without adding any allowance can be considered as optimistic time (O), add non-avoidable allowances with cycle time to arrive at most likely time (M), and add non-avoidable as well as avoidable allowances with cycle time to arrive at pessimistic time (P). If the activity is such that cycle time study is not possible then one can ask three persons associated with the job what they think is the optimistic, most likely and pessimistic time and then average out to arrive at estimated time (TE). In the following example of sample making project there are seven activities, labelled a through g. Measurement chart making and sampling fabric sourcing can be done concurrently (a & b) while others cannot be done until their predecessor activity is complete (pattern making cannot begin until measurement chart is complete). Additionally, each activity has three time estimates: the optimistic time estimate (a), the most likely or normal time estimate (m), and the pessimistic time estimate (b). The expected time (TE) is computed using the formula (a + 4m + b)/6. The project review, approvals, user reviews, and so forth all take time and should never be underestimated when estimating activities. It is not unusual for a review to take 1 to 2 weeks. Obtaining management and user approvals may take even longer. When drawing up the plan, it is important to include activities for documentation writing, documentation editing, project report writing and editing, and report reproduction.

Drawing PERT chart and indicate critical path

Once these steps are complete, one can draw a PERT chart. The critical path is the path that takes the longest to complete. To determine the path times, add the task durations for all available paths. The duration of path adf is 14.5 work days, that of path aceg is 20.00 work days and same of path beg is 15.5 work days. So the critical path is aceg and the critical time is 20.00 work days; which means if everything goes as per plan sample making will take minimum 20 days to complete. It is important to note that there can be more than one critical path (in a project more complex than this example) or that the critical path can change.

Slack time calculation

The slack of an event is a measure of the excess time and resources available in achieving this event. Positive slack (+) would indicate ahead of schedule; negative slack would indicate behind schedule; and zero slack would indicate on schedule. Start and finish are milestones and by definition have no duration; therefore they can have no slack. The activities on the critical path by definition have a slack of zero; e.g. LFa - EFa = 4 - 4 = 0. Activity b has an LF of 9.5 and an EF of 5, so the slack is 4.5 work days. Similarly, slack for activity d is 5.5 work days and for activity f is 5.5 work days. Therefore, activity b can be delayed by 4 work days without delaying the project. Likewise, activity d or activity f can be delayed 5.5 work days without delaying the project (alternatively, d and f can be delayed 2.75 work days each). This has a very important bearing on decision by merchandiser whose work is how much importance. Persons doing activity b, d, or f can actually take leave equivalent to slack time without any adverse effect on total sampling time of 20 days. However if any person in activity a, c, e or g falls sick by even half-a-day, total sampling time will be extended by half-a-day.

extended by half-a-day.

Software solutions
PERT charts are usually drawn on ruled paper with the horizontal axis indicating time period divisions in days, weeks, months, and so on. It should be appreciated that software applications help in otherwise cumbersome manual calculations. Even though PERT applications are in-built with many apparel industry specific ERP or planning softwares, there are several standalone free to use desktop applications and open-source web-based applications available specifically for PERT/CPM applications. While these can be used as it is and customized for more user-friendliness. Several such software are KPlato, Open Workbench, TaskJuggler, Rational Plan, Concept Draw, etc. for desktop applications and dotProject, Eventum, Open Project Database, Project.net, ProjectPier for Open-Source web-based applications.

Conclusion
Commonly, spreadsheet applications (MS-Excel or equivalent) or flowcharting software (Microsoft Visio) are used as base for PERT/CPM network. Even though the chart may look alike, unfortunately the important functionalities like dependency, lag time etc. are not possible in Excel and thus such computer applications are mere documentation rather than decision support systems. In a situation where apparel industry executives are already overworked and pressed for time arriving at a rational decision considering all alternatives is very difficult, and often decisions are taken merely based on past experience and gut feeling. PERT enables one to take rational scientific decision. Imagine that number of pre-production activities for average order ranges from 50 to 60. Typically a group of 5-6 people (merchandisers, sampling in-charge, etc.) handle minimum 15-20 such orders at a time. The resultant number of options is beyond manual capability and only intelligent software programs can handle.

History
PERT model was invented by Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. under contract to the United States Department of Defenses US Navy Special Projects Office in 1958 as part of the Polaris mobile submarine-launched ballistic missile project to analyze and represent the tasks involved in completing a given project, especially the time needed to complete each task, and identifying the minimum time needed to complete the total project. PERT was developed primarily to simplify the planning and scheduling of large and complex projects. During same time a research team led by Morgan R Walker and James E Kelly at E.I. Du Pont Inc. developed CPM network to improve planning, scheduling and reporting.

Go Back Email this Article to a friend - Click Here

93,424

| HOME | NEWS TRACK | TECH TRACK | TECH TALK | TECH REVIEW | TECH INNOVATION | TECH EVENT | PRO- SOLUTIONS | TECH RESOURCE | TECH EXIM | ABOUT US | ARCHIVE |

Copyright 2009 StitchWorld.net All Rights Reserved.