Sewing machines are the foundation of the sewing industry. The global sewing machine market reached
$7.1 billion USD in 2024.* We’ll look at applications of Lean and Six Sigma in the sewing industry and
finish with a video of a garment factory in Vietnam.

*Source

Lean Manufacturing in a Sewing Line

In a paper titled “Application of Lean Manufacturing in a Sewing Line for Improving Overall Equipment
Effectiveness (OEE)” authors Shawkat Imam Shakil and Mahmud Parvez discuss the implementation of
Lean in a sewing line, analyzing the layout, process flow and batch size, in order to improve Overall
Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).

The paper includes:

  • Existing and Proposed Process Flows
  • Existing and Proposed Layouts
  • Transportation Time (per Batch) for Existing and Proposed Layout
  • Average Cycle Times
  • Waiting Time for Different Batch Sizes
  • Ideal Cycle Time
  • Comparison of Cycle Time for Each Process
  • Percent Increase in OEE

You can read the paper here.

[Citation: S hakil, S.I. and Parvez, M. (2018) Application of Lean Manufacturing in a Sewing Line for
Improving Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). American Journal of Industrial and Business
Management, 8, 1951-1971.]

Improving Sewing Line Efficiency with Lean Tools

In a case study titled “Applying Lean Tools to Improve the Sewing Line Efficiency: A Case Study” authors
Ahsan Habib and others investigate the changes in productivity, efficiency, capacity etc. in a readymade
garment industry in Bangladesh by applying the 5S Lean tool to the sewing line.

The case study includes:

  • Transportation Analysis: Traditional Line vs Lean Line
  • Operational Breakdown for Jacket Line (Traditional and Lean Systems)
  • Transport and WIP Analyses
  • Space Utilization
  • Defect Analysis
  • Productivity Analysis

Copy and paste the following link into your browser to access the case study.

Implementing Six Sigma to Minimize Sewing Defects

In a paper titled “Implementation of Six Sigma to Minimize Defects in Sewing Section of Apparel Industry
in Bangladesh” authors Jaglul Hoque Mridha and others discusses the use of Six Sigma DMAIC to
minimize the defect percentage in sewing.

The paper includes:

  • SIPOC
  • Frequency of Defects of Inspected Polo Shirts
  • Cause and Effect Diagram for Major Defects
  • Suggested Solutions for Causes of Defects
  • Corrective Actions

You can read the paper here.

Productivity Indicators and SMV Efficiency in a Sewing Factory
See the use of Standard Minute Value (SMV) efficiency in a sewing factory in this video.
You can watch the video here.