BANGLADESH RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS JOURNAL

ISSN: 1998-2003, Volume: 10, Issue: 3, Page: 291-297, November - December, 2014
Review Paper

IMPLEMENTATION OF 5S AND ITS EFFECT IN A SELECTED GARMENTS

FACTORY: A CASE STUDY
Kazi Aminul Haque, Sudipta Chowdhury and Abdullah Shahw ath 1
Kazi Aminul Haque, Sudipta Chow dhury and Abdullah Shahw ath (2014). I mplementat ion of 5s and its
effect in a select ed garments factory: A case st udy. Bangladesh Res. Pub. J. 10(3): 291-297. Retriev e from
htt p://www.bdresearchpublicat ions.com/admin/journal/upload/1410039/1410039.pdf

Abstract
Bangladesh is t he second largest export er of ready made garment (RMG) products
t railing China. 80% of t he count ry 's t ot al export is cont ribut ed by RMG sect or w hich
is 13% of t he t ot al GDP. Now a day t his sect or faces challenges t o ret ain its
prosperous posit ion due t o uprising of new compet it ors bot h in t he nat ional and
int ernational market. So, continuous improv ement is required t o overcome t hese
challenges. Various lean t ools can be used t o achiev e t his improv ement. This paper
ex periment s application of 5S approach t o a real w orld production scenario at a
garment s fact ory. I nit ially, t he w hole syst em w as analy zed and t his show ed a lot of
incongruit ies in different areas. I mprov ement proposals w ere made based on 5S
and w ere implement ed ov er t he course of next few mont hs. From t he proposed
improv ement proposal, 54.67m2 space w as sav ed w hich result ed in a cost sav ings
of 37887 Taka. Av erage flow dist ance measure w as reduced by almost 665 feet per
day in t he mechanical room. Ov erall reduced mov ement of almost 20% w as
achiev ed in fabrics and accessories room. Labor product iv ity almost increased by
27%, result ing in more t han 13% i ncrease in mult ifact or productiv ity .

Key words: Garments factory, 5S, Partial productivity, Multifactor productivity.

Introduction
The RMG industry in Bangladesh primarily is an export-oriented industry. It is mainly
comprised of knit and woven garments. In fiscal year 2012-13 RMG industry of
Bangladesh accounts for about 80% of the country's total ex port earning which is 13% of
the total GDP. The ex ports basket of this sector in Bangladesh has been leaning towards
EU and the USA. So far the EU is the largest destination for Bangladesh knitwear, worth of
value 7.3 billion dollars w ith share of 69.74% ex ported in the year 2012-13 followed by the
USA w ith 1.13 billion dollars and a share of 10.79%. The total ex port value is 21515.73 million
dollars in the year 2012-13. The success of readymade garment exports from Bangladesh
over the past two decades has crossed the most optimistic expectations. The sector
rapidly attained high importance in terms of employment, foreign ex change earnings
and its contribution to real GDP.
In order to maintain this rapid growth and to fulfill varying customer demand, the industries
must promote some new work practices rather than conventional practices. Applying
LEAN techniques can result in improved productivity, workflow efficiency and cost savings.
There are various lean techniques that can be used to achieve that in RM G sector.
Ex amples may include techniques like SMED (Single-M inute Ex change Of Dies), OEE
(Overall Equipment Effectiveness), TQM (Total Quality Management), Just-in-time (JIT)
manufacturing, Kaizen and so forth. One of the most simple-to-implement ways to
achieve the desired improvement is to practice 5S on the factory floor. 5S is the name of a
workplace organization method that uses a list of five Japanese words
Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu, and Shitsuke.

*Corresponding Author Email: sudiptasust09ipe@gmail.com, k.a.h.tanvir@gmail.com, nahinsustipe@gmail.com

Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, Shahjalal University of Science
and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh.

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Transliterated or translated into English, they all start w ith the letter "S". The list describes
how to organize a work space for efficiency and effectiveness by identifying and storing
the items used, maintaining the area and items, and sustaining the new order. Since the
implementation of Japanese manufacturing, these techniques have proven to work well.
Japanese goods have now become synonymous with the top rank products of the world.
A variety of research work has been conducted over the years depicting the significance
of implementing 5S in industrial sector. A research w as conducted in 2010 on the topic of
Implementation of 5S practices in the manufacturing companies: A case study
(Rahman et al. 2010). The researchers ex ecuted 5S rules in two manufacturing companies.
5S checklist was developed for each division for auditing process. Both the companies
associated with the research performed an ex cellent 5S practice. This study proved that
5S is an effective technique in improving housekeeping, health and safety standards in
the workplace as well as environmental performance. The study also concluded that
effort and participation from top management is a must for proper implementation of 5S.
Studies have also been conducted trying to implement 5S tools on the supply chain
network (Bullington 2005). The author in this study has pointed out different measures to be
taken in supply chain strategy of an organization in terms of different S of the 5S system.
Another research has been conducted in India measuring the effect of 5S system in
performance improvement of a small scale industry (Rojasra and Qureshi 2013). The study
found that, w ithin weeks after the implementation of 5S, production system efficiency
improved from 67% to 88.8%. In another study, 5S along with some other lean strategies
were introduced in a metal structures production system (Carvalho 2011). This resulted in a
reduction of lead times, w ork in progress, transports, deliver delays, defects and errors in
assembly line and production system.
This study was conducted with a view to improve the ex isting condition by implementing
5S system on a readymade garments industry named Talisman Ltd situated in Dhaka
Ex port Processing Zone (DEPZ). This case study analyzes the impact of 5S in the work place
and gives a comparative scenario before and after 5S implementation in terms of space
consumption of materials, cost saving, improvement in administrative repair time,
improving labor productivity and so forth.
Methodology
This section describes participated company, different areas related to the study and
tools and techniques used in this study.
Case study
Fashion Club Industry (FCI) Group is a privately owned, UK-based company that was
incorporated in the Dhaka Ex port Processing Zone in Bangladesh in 1997.It is one of the
best factories in Bangladesh producing high quality ready-to-w ear garments at
competitive prices. For instance, they were the first fully Nike compliant factory in
Bangladesh and the first to produce Nike football jerseys. They manufacture a w ide range
of soft-tailored and structured formal outerwear for many of the world's top brands,
including M&S, Zara, Nike and Alex on. The Group consists of four companies: FCI (BD) Ltd,
Talisman Ltd, Alliance Stitches Ltd and FCI Clothing Ltd. The study took place at Talisman
Ltd which is situated in Dhaka Ex port Processing Zone (DEPZ) extension area Ganabari
Savar, Bangladesh. Talisman Ltd was facing problems in running its operation due to
various problems in machine and space availabilities, labor productivity, cleanliness of the
factory floor and so forth. From general observation, it can be seen that lack of systematic
procedures and knowledge were the main reasons underlying these problems.

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Steps of the study

The steps involved in this research w ork are shown in fig. 1.
Observation of the previous condition (before 5S implementation)

Preparing questionnaire

Data collection

Implementation of 5S

Auditing
Fig. 1: Steps of the study
The industry was first visited on May, 2013 before 5S implementation. All the areas w here 5S
would be implemented were visited and the condition of those areas was observed. Then
the industry was revisited in accordance with different stages of implementation of 5s
during a nine month period from July 2013 to march 2014. Data was collected from the
previous condition of the industry (before implementation of 5S) and ex isting condition of
the industry (after the implementation of 5S).
Tools and Techniques
Questionnaire was developed for data collection. Pretest of questionnaire was done on
three operators, one floor manager and two line supervisors. Their comments and
feedbacks were substantial in rectifying and finalizing the final questionnaire. Different
measurements were taken from various working areas in the factory. All the analysis
based on the data w as performed using M icrosoft ex cel.
Results and Discussion
The results are presented showing the improvements in different parts of the factory by
implementing different S of the 5S system on different occasions.
Sort
The whole space available was divided into six zones and unwanted materials in those
zones were identified using red tags. After removing those unw anted items from the zones,
54.67 m 2 space was saved. Table 1 shows the improvement in saving space on the factory
floor.
Table 1: Zone wise saving space
Zone
Zone 1
Zone 2
Zone 3
Zone 4
Zone 5
Zone 6
Total saving space

Space saving (m)

0
2
2.43
0.8
25.13
24.31
54.67

In zone 1 no space w as saved because small quantities of items were removed from that
zone w hich occupied a little space. All store rooms were allocated to zone 5 and zone 6.
Most of the unw anted items were found in those store rooms. So, comparatively huge
amount of space had been saved from zone 5 and zone 6.
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This saving space resulted in an additional cost savings of 4735.95 US dollars or 37887.6
Taka which is showed in table 2.
Table 2: Zone wise saving cost
Zone
Zone 1
Zone 2
Zone 3
Zone 4
Zone 5
Zone 6
Total saving cost

Total cost (USD)

14.5
142.3
132.79
26.4
3541.43
878.53
4735.95

Total cost (BDT)

1160
11384
10623.2
2112
283314.4
70282.4
378876

Set in order
In mechanical room, set in order was applied to four boxes; tool box , folder box , PPE
(personal protective equipment) box , files & tool box. At first, average usage frequency
per day was monitored which is shown in figure 2

Fig. 2: Box usage frequency

Based on the findings a new layout for the mechanical room was suggested and
implemented in the factory floor w hich is show n in figure 3

Folder box
Tool box

File & tool box

PPE box

Work table

Fig. 3: Mechanical room layout

This new layout resulted in a reduced flow *distance measure of 2286.8 feet from 2952.06
feet per day.
Set in order was also applied in the fabric store. Before the implementation of 5s, there
was no sequence of arranging the racks for storing fabrics. But during the study period,
racks w ere rearranged according to the order volume of the buyer. Fabrics of higher
quantity ordered were placed in initial racks w hile fabrics of lower quantity ordered w ere
placed in last racks so that fabrics could be delivered w ith least delivery time. Rack
allocation was subjected to change each month with change of buyer and order
quantity. This resulted in a reduced movement of 18.96%. Table 3 gives a clear
representation of this scenario:

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Table 3: Rack allocation for buyers

Buyer
Benetton
Kappahl
Matalan
Sainsburry
Tchibo
C&A
G.W
IZOD
Mim

Order quantity
(piece)
1263
4303
24032
6173
16034
8924
6370
8209
1247

Rack
(before)
1
1
2,3,4
5
6,7
8
9
10
1

(Before and after set in order)

Rack (after)
10
10
1,2,3
9
4,5
6
8
7
10

The same was done for accessories store; the new layout w as proposed and
implemented based on the average quantity required/day. This also resulted is a reduced
overall movement of 20.13%. The previous and new allocation of the accessories in store is
showed in table 4.
Table 4: Rack allocation for accessories
Items
Thread

Average quantity
required/day (bag)
3120

Wash elastic
Elastic tape
Button
Zipper
Organic fabric

80
60
660
326
115

(Before and after set in order)

Rack(before)
Rack(after)
1,2,3,4,
5,6,7,8,9 ,10
11
11
12,13
14
11

1,2,3,4,
5,6,7,8,9 ,10
14
14
11,12
13
14

Shine
Before 5S implementation there was no particular cleaning schedule. Cleaning was done
in an irregular manner. During 5S implementation a cleaning schedule w as prepared. The
items which required cleaning were identified. A particular tim e interval was allocated
after w hich these items must be cleaned. The cleaning scedule for all items is given in
table 5.
Table 5: Cleaning schedule
Item
Floor
Floor mat
Sew ing table
Curtains
Waste bin
Metal disposal box
Hangers
Water jar
Rubber gloves
Flags
Machinery & equipment

Cleaning frequency in a time interval

10
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Time interval
1 day
2 weeks
1 day
1 month
1 day
1 week
1 month
1 month
1 week
1 month
1 week

Standardize
It consolidated the work done in the first three steps. File label, register labels, cabinet
label, tool box label and office labels w ere standardized. Each label had particular color
and particular position to be attached. Material, length, w idth of different items used in
the production floor was standardized. Different marking color w as introduced and
standardized in different areas of the factory floor such as red color in reject area, green
in pass goods area and so forth.

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Sustain
After the implementation of 4S; operators, supervisors and floor managers were asked to
continue this process. On December, 2014 the previously implemented 4S areas were
inspected to find out the incongruities with the proposed system. A checklist was
developed for this purpose and the result had been found to be satisfactory. On March,
2014 audit was done for the second time and the condition still ex isted on a satisfactory
level.
Partial and multifactor productivity
After the implementation of 5S on the factory floor, it resulted in an average labor
productivity of 5.06 from 3.96. This showed an overall improvement of 27.7%. Labor
productivity w as calculated for a one month period before and after the implementation
of 5S and the result is shown in figure 4.

Fig. 4: Labor productivity comparison

Material productivity remained almost constant over the study period though it slightly
peaked after the implementation of 5S. Average material productivity increased from
2.49 to 2.62 over the study period. The reason behind it was that, implementation of 5S
during the study was mainly focused on making tools and materials more easily accessible
to workers which enhanced labor productivity rather than trying to reduce the wastage
and material cost. This slight increase in material productivity came as a byproduct of the
implementation of 5S,
As labor productivity became significantly high after the implementation of 5S in the
factory it had a positive impact on the multifactor productivity of the factory. The result is
show n in figure5.

Fig. 5: M ultifactor productivity comparison

Conclusion
In this work, improvements in various functional areas in a garments factory were
demonstrated using 5S. The results showed that 5S methodology can be effectively used
in the garments sector. At first the w hole system was analyzed and based on that 5S was
implemented. After the implementation of 5S, 54.67m 2 space w as saved w hich is w orth
approx imately 4735.95 USD or 37887.6 Taka. In mechanical room, due to improved layout
average flow*distance was reduced to 2286.8 feet from 2952.06 feet. In fabric and
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accessories room also, change of rack allocation resulted in an overall reduced

movement of about 20%. A cleaning schedule was provided for the first time. This all
combined together brought about 27% increase in labor productivity and 13% increase in
the multifactor productivity level for the factory. These findings are useful in serving as a
good example for RMGs, w hich do not normally apply scientific approaches to increase
their production. They should adopt similar techniques like 5S as preliminary tools to
enhance productivity and competitiveness.
Acknowledgement
Support and cooperation from Fashion Club Industry (FCI) Group is highly appreciated
and acknow ledged.
References
Bullington, K,E.(M ay 2005)Lean Supply Strategies: Applying 5S Tools to Supply Chain
Management, 90th Annual International Supply Management Conference
Carvalho, R; Alves ,A; and Lopes, I (July 6 - 8, 2011); Principles and Practices of Lean
Production applied in a Metal Structures Production System, Proceedings of the
World Congress on Engineering 2011 Vol. I
Rahman,
M ,N,A; Khamis ,N,K; Zain, R,M ;, Deros, B ,M ; and Mahmood, W,H,W;
Implementation of 5S Practices in the Manufacturing Companies: A Case Study,
American Journal of Applied Sciences 7 (8): 1182-1189, pp.1184-1186, 2010.
Rojasra, P,M ; and Qureshi, M ,N, (M ay - June 2013); Performance Improvement through 5S
in Small Scale Industry: A case study, International Journal of Modern Engineering
Research (IJMER), Vol. 3, Issue. 3, pp-1654-1660

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