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GSD Cutting Room

In addition to the application of GSD in the make-up environment, the system can be applied in the Cutting Room

Benchmarking and Productivity in the Cutting Room

The Problem…

Whilst many professional organisations are more than willing to commit to accurate and frequent measurement of the tasks and operations that occur in the sewing room, few are as willing to do so where cutting related activities are concerned. And yet the cutting room is a key element in the manufacturing process, just as important as any other department involved in the successful delivery of goods. The activities in the cutting environment are just as susceptible to inefficiency, low productivity and poor motivation. So, why is there a reluctance to measure what undoubtedly needs to be measured? Many reasons:

Because the comparatively short cycle work in the sewing room is easy to measure, whilst the activities in the cutting room are long and complex. Accurate assessment of cutting room activities can also therefore be equally long and complex, and measurement of these activities subsequently becomes an arduous task in itself.
Additionally, the longer the task the greater the opportunity for error when measuring, compiling and computing the “Standard Time” for that given activity.

Accurate assessment of cutting activities is therefore perceived to be difficult to achieve, and many organisations question the value of committing valuable human resource to the lengthy task of work measurement in this area.

Equally, the complex calculations related to “frequency of occurrence”, and the difficulties associated to accurate assessment of an operators “performance” (“performance” being far more difficult to “rate” when a given task contains long and multiple elements) may also raise questions as to the accuracy of the final results compiled.

The number of variations experienced within the cutting room (lay depth, length of lay, number of garments per lay, ratio of garments per lay etc… etc… ) can and often do render the results of any earlier measurements inaccurate for that altered state.

Put simply, many organisations see the expense of committing valuable human resource to the lengthy task of measuring cutting activities as ineffective use of that resource. Particularly when measurement of other work areas may be more “productive”, yielding more results, more quickly (this is a common perception, but measurement of the other areas will not necessarily have the same positive effect on output and profitability!)

All good excuses for not wanting to measure activities in the cutting room, but not good reasons! Again the question “Why?”……

Why are they not good reasons? Because the cutting room is the heart of any factory, and if it can’t deliver the right quantities at the right time, then all other activities will eventually suffer or at worst come to a halt.

So, an accurate benchmark (and the reliable measurement of efficiency and productivity that stems from that benchmark) is just as important in the cutting environment as any other department in the factory. In summary, measurement and motivation are as critical in this area as in any other (perhaps, it could be argued, even more so). The need therefore is to find an acceptable means of measurement.

The Solution…?

If one accepts that for these reasons measurement in the cutting room is necessary, one has to examine how that measurement can be undertaken. Conventional measurement techniques have all too often proven to be unsuccessful for all the “excuses” given earlier. Conventional Techniques are time consuming, often inaccurate and very difficult to adjust when the need arises. The need therefore arises for an alternative means of measurement in this area, a measurement technique that is consistent and accurate, and which provides a database of information that is dynamic and malleable enough to accommodate the variations that occur in the cutting environment (without sacrificing consistency and accuracy).

Pre-Determined Motion Time Systems (PMTS) have, for many years been, recognised as just that, consistent, accurate and dynamic in a changing environment. PMTS rely on pre-determined times for known activities at known performance levels, and can therefore accurately predict best method and the optimum time for a given task. They provide a known benchmark and in so doing provide an accurate measure of performance, efficiency and output.

Add the qualities of a tried and tested PMTS to those of a well designed software package that is able to accommodate complex mathematical calculations, and one begins to move toward a solution to the problem of work measurement in the cutting environment.

GSD (the PMTS designed for the clothing industry and a system which has served that industry for over 25 years) and GSD Scimitar Software (written specifically to manage the extensive data required for and to compute the variables encountered in the cutting room) provides exactly that solution. The combination of the two, system and software, provides a level of integrity and accuracy against which one is able to measure day to day activities in the complex environment that is the cutting room.

The Solution…!

“GSD Scimitar” for Cutting Room, offered under licence by GSD (Corporate) Ltd is a Windows based software system, which has been developed specifically for ease of application within the Cutting Room environment. Incorporating the integrity of the GSD database and the very best in logical and dynamic software design, GSD Scimitar provides the solution to work measurement in the cutting arena.

GSD Scimitar ensures consistent and accurate Time Standards for the cutting room, and eliminates the need for time consuming and costly conventional study work.

At the initial stage, the GSD database is used to measure existing practices, and to then improve upon those practices to promote best method and ensure highest productivity levels.

Once a “base line” has been set, and a full set of data has been created for your unique environment, benchmarking becomes easier and easier. The pyramid data structure inherent within the software provides easy access to information and enables the user to predict the effect on Standard Time of the variable elements such as lay length, ply depth, garments per lay, geometric variance, type of spreader, type of cutter….

GSD Scimitar covers all activities in the cutting and preparation areas of manufacturing, including:-

Fabric Inspection Preparation - table, fabric, equipment Pleating Cloth Spreading - Manual Cloth Spreading - Automatic Ripping Cutting - Shears Cutting - Straight Knife Cutting - Circular Knife Cutting - Automatic/Computerised Cutting - Band Knife Cutting - Die Marking In - Manual Quality/Panel Checking Fusing Numbering Sorting Waste Disposal

The process of data construction is similar to that used when applying GSD in the sewing room, and speed of analysis is similar. GSD Scimitar will provide:

1. Accurate, consistent method and time standards in a fraction of the time taken by conventional measurement techniques.

2. A set of GSD Data Blocks, which describe the common activities in the cutting room and which can be modified to meet with the needs of each unique environment.

3. The capability to analyse all operations within any Cutting Room.

GSD Scimitar enables the user to compile Standard Time for individuals, groups of workers, or indeed for costing purposes. Data is stored for subsequent use and can be edited at the users’ discretion. GSD Scimitar, facilitates the dynamic construction of benchmark data, which is then easily modified to adapt to the ever changing requirements of the user and Cutting Room alike.

With specialised formulae to accommodate spreading machinery and cutting equipment, GSD Scimitar is used to generate detailed methods analyses and time standards in conjunction with pattern blocks and material specifications. Fast and accurate, GSD Scimitar is adaptable to all of the variables faced in day-to-day cutting operations and is both reactive and proactive in minimising problems.

The Matrix

When benchmarks and Standard Times have been established for key operations, GSD Scimitar enables the user to generate matrices of standard times for cloth spreading and cutting, taking account of different lay parameters.

The “Matrix” within GSD Scimitar uses a base operation analysis and re-calculates the Standard Time for similar operations using the variables of lay length and depth. Increments for lay length and depth are simply entered by the user and the calculation process initiated. From any GSD Scimitar operation Standards Time can be produced for the given variables, thereby eliminating the need to measure and produce individual time standards for every operation. Accurate standards are therefore available in minutes rather than in hours/days.

Variations taken account of within the Matrix are as follows:

Preparation
Setting Up
Administration
Fabric Width
Fabric Types
Fabric Spreading Methods
Breaks in Rolls
Stepped Lays
Length of Lay
Number of Plies
Ratio of Sizes
Marker Types
Cutting Methods
Straight Distances Cut
Curved Distances Cut
Notches Cut
Corners Cut

GSD Scimitar, when added to GSD Sewing, provides a single data source of Standard Time for each step of the manufacturing process, from fabric inspection through cutting, sewing, examination, packing and despatch.

GSD Scimitar fills the current void in the compilation of easily managed time standards within the Cutting Room.

The complete suite of GSD systems not only provides for the development of method analyses and operation standards, but also encompasses an initial product cost analysis, including labour, materials and overhead costs, with “first attempt” line balancing for manpower and machinery.