Bangladesh being one of the largest textile producers in the world, the apparel manufacturing industry has to deal with the pressure to produce the maximum possible in the face of low product quality and sustainability standards. This paper examines a case of process improvement in a Bangladeshi apparel industry, which has a middle-scale, by implementing proper use of Value Stream Mapping (VSM), which is a strong Lean Manufacturing tool. A current-state VSM was established through careful time studies and data collection of a T-shirt production line and indicated the many non-value added activities that occurred such as the high waiting time, the unbalanced workflow, and the large amount of work-in-progress (WIP) inventory. On the basis of these observations, a future-state VSM has been put forward with the incorporation of lean intervention like line balancing, standardized work, and better information flow. Future state simulation has shown that there was the possibility that the total lead time would be reduced by 35 percent and overall production efficiency to improve by 25 percent. The current study demonstrates the empirical viability of VSM in the Bangladesh apparel manufacturing industry and gives recommendations that can be implemented by factory managers and policymakers to achieve competitive advantage in the rapidly-changing international market. The paper also fills a research gap in that it portrays an empirical documented case in academia to fill the gap hitherto, in the literature of Lean implementation in the apparel and other manufacturing industries in developing countries.
Ripon et al. (Wed,) studied this question.