The steps to a properly balanced line are:

• calculation of the labour requirements;

• operation breakdown;
• theoretical operation balance;
• initial balance;
• balance control.
 With good work measurement records, the work
content of a new garment can be calculated.
 The number of people required will depend upon the
probable efficiency of the line selected and the
percentage of the time that they are at work and doing
their own specialist jobs.
 This is the extent to which the manufacture of the
garment is split amongst different operations, in the
interest of greater specialisation and thus efficiency.
 This usually takes the form of the element descriptions
from the Method Study, together with the appropriate
standard times and a note of the type of machinery
required. Special work aids and attachments should
also be mentioned on it.
 The elements are grouped together, to match the
number of people selected, in the calculation of labour
requirements. No allowance is made for the varying
ability of the people who will man the workstations.
 This consists of a list of the people in the section or
factory, which shows their 'expected performance' at
various types of work. It provides both a talent list for
section/team manning and also a means of planning
the growth of the skills of the workforce.
 The expected performance of the people available
must be taken from the skills inventory, in order to
man the line in a way that smoothes out the potential
variations in output between the stations shown in the
theoretical balance. It is usual to select 'floaters' at this
stage, who will help to cope with absenteeism and
imbalance.
 Balance control is perhaps the most vital skill in a
supervisor, with its objective to maintain the highest
output and not just to keep people busy.
 Within limits the greater the number of people who
make a garment, the greater the possibility of
individual specialisation.
 This reduces the training times and permits the use of
special purpose machinery and work aids.
 It also has the effect, in most circumstances, of
increasing individual effectiveness, since people speed
up as they repeat the same cycle many times.
 If enough people are employed in making one style, we
can have several at each workstation. This makes it
easier to plan for a given output and to cover for
absenteeism.
 For an order of any given size, more people means:
 greater efficiency but more work in process;
 more flexibility but greater space requirement;
 faster throughput but increased work handling.
 The problem with sectionalisation is that different
operations may be done at different rates. To provide
some cover against variations in output over short
periods 'work in process' (or 'work in progress' or 'WIP')
is provided between operations.
 If the first operation is performed consistently at a
higher rate than the second one, then the work in
process will build up between them.
 So we try to set the flow through each operation to be
as similar as Possible; checking from time to time to
see how things are going; and then making
adjustments to even out the flow again. This process is
called balancing.
 The key features are:
 work content of the order;
 first start date;
 latest completion date;
 availability of specialist machinery/skills.
 The first step is to allocate enough people to an order
to ensure that it is completed in time.
 It is possible to estimate the work content of a garment
by comparing it with others for which records exist.
The work content of one garment multiplied by the
number in the order gives the work content of the
order.
 The time in which it must be completed is divided into
the work content of the order, to give the required
output in standard hours per hour.
 For example, 1,920 nightdresses must be made in one
40-hour week then required output
 Its estimated work content is 10.00 sm. There are no
difficulties due to work sequence, since it is made on a
transporter.
 Required output = 48 X 10 = 480sm/hour
 For a required output of 480 sm per hour, we need
enough people, at work, on standard.
 We take from the records the current figures for
attendance, utilisation and performance. These may
be modified because of other information and then
become the predicted figures.
 Floaters are required to cover for absenteeism and the
problems of balancing.
 Calculations of this sort are not exact and it is usually
good enough to decide upon the number needed
purely on the basis of the absenteeism. Their
performance is estimated to average 60 % in this
example.
 They must come from the operatives selected and so
we need 10 line operatives.
 Later it will be necessary to check if the people that
we have chosen are likely to give us the performance
that we have predicted.
 First the job must be broken down into operations of
equal size. The elements from the 'operation
breakdown' form the basis for this.
 There does not need to be one operative per operation
('operatives in series').
 A long element could be covered by two or more
people ('operatives in parallel').
 On the other hand, one or more elements can be
combined together, provided that they require the
same machinery and that the sequence of
manufacture permits this.
 Sometimes an operative can be provided with two
workplaces next to each other. In this case work in
process will still be needed between them.
 Another form of adjustment is to move one part of an
element to another operation. There are obvious
difficulties and it is sometimes worthwhile to make
minor changes in design in order to permit this.
 An operation which is too big will become a
bottleneck in production and the installation of work
aids or special machinery can sometimes be justified
more on these grounds than because of the labour
saving.
 An example of this was when 'integrated sewing units'
were being introduced and were in short supply. Their
installation at a bottleneck operation could cut the
work content by up to 15 per cent.
No Machine Operation Description Work Content
.
Est. Known
1 Whipper Elast. Elasticate, att. lace & elastic to sleeves 0.70
2 O/L Join two back seams 1.00
3 O/L Friller Att. front yoke 0.60
4 O/L Friller Att. back yoke 0.60
5 O/L Join one shoulder 0.35
6 L/S (zz) Att. lace to front yoke 1.00
7 L/S (DF) bind Att. binding & lace to neck & tab 0.70
8 O/L Join second shoulder 0.35
9 O/L Join sleeve seams 0.40
10 O/L Friller Att. sleeves on round 1.40
11 Whipper Whip hem 0.90
12 L/S (zz) Top stitch (3) neck & sleeves 1.00
13 Twin N. L/S Yokes & top stitch each side to hold 1.00
Sub-total 10.00
 When a operation breakdown is completed, then the
management must check that the garment can be
produced with the operations as selected.
Operatives in Long operations performed by Improved
parallel. two or more people. flexibility.
Operatives in series. Long operations split. Greater
specialisation.
Method / The garment, the way in which May be a fall in
construction it is made up or the sequence of efficiency.
changes. operations is changed. Tasks
transferred from one
workstation to another.
Workplace Work study and capital Reduced
improvement. investment concentrated at manufacturing
bottlenecks. times.
Date: Size: Wms. & WX Style: 280
Work Operation Operation description sm
station number content
1 1 Elasticate, att. lace & elastic to 0.70
2 2 sleeves. 1.0
3 3 &4 Join two back seams. 1.2
4 6 Att. front yoke. Att. back yoke. 1.0
5 13 Att. lace to front yoke. 1.0
6 5, 8 & 9 Yoke & top stitch sides to hold. 1.1
7 7 Join shoulders. Join sleeve seam. 0.7
8 10 Att. binding & lace to neck & tab. 1.4
9 11 Att. sleeves on round. 0.9
10 12 Whip hem. Top stitch (3) neck & 1.0
two sleeves
Total 10.0
 Recording the section's assets
 A number of operatives are available, from which the
team may be selected. The company has built up a
record of everyone's performance on different jobs and
we call this a 'skills inventory'.
 The supervisor's role
 Skills inventories can be made up from pay records but
they should be compared with the results of 'capacity
checks'. All supervisors should take responsibility for
the skills inventory for their own section.
 Most will know roughly how many garments each of
their operatives can produce on certain operations Few
will be able to translate this into a BSI performance.
 Developing the assets
 Perhaps the most important aspect of the training of
supervisors in balancing is that it develops their pride
in the skills recorded for their operatives. They can use
the inventory to target improvements in output for low
performers and an increase in versatility for others.
Only the supervisor can arrange things so that
potential floaters have a chance to build up their skills.
 Accuracy
 A skills inventory will be able to predict performance
to a greater accuracy than ±10 per cent.
 Example of a skills inventory
 The following table shows a skills inventory for
thirteen operatives. It shows that Ann and Gail cannot
do very many operations and none well. As far as
possible they should be kept on one type of work, in
order to train them up until they can achieve a
consistent 100 performance. A method check may be
necessary. Kate and Lyn, on the other hand, are likely
to be floaters.
 Skills
Inventory for
Phil's Section
A to M
 Smoothing the flow
 At this stage we can try to match the work content of
the operations to the skill of the operatives, in order to
reduce the variation in output shown on the
'theoretical balance'. The work content per operation
varies from 0.70 sm to double that figure at 1.4 sm (see
Table )
 Required output is l.OOsm/min.
 Initial manning for style 2800.
Work sm i Machine Performance needed (BSI) Operative Expected
station cont. performance
1 0.70 Wh/Elast 0.70 x 1 x 100 = 70 A 75
2 1.00 O/L 1.00 x 1 x 100 = 100 B 100
3 1.20 O/L (fr) 1.20 x 1 x 100 = 120 C 120
4 1.00 L/S (zz) 1.00 x 1 x 100 = 100 D 100
5 1.00 TN L/S 1.00 x 1 x 100 = 100 E 100
6 1.10 O/L 1.10 x 1 x 100 = 110 F 100
7 0.70 L/S (DF) 0.70 x 1 x 100 = 70 G 75
8 1.40 O/L (fr) 1.40 x 1 x 100 = 140 H 120
9 0.90 Wh 0.90 x 1 x 100 = 90 I 100
10 1.00 L/S (zz) 1.00 x 1 x 100 = 100 J 100

Poor performers go to jobs with a low work content. High performers go to jobs
with a high work content.
 Other considerations
 • The floaters are excluded. We take note of the need
to provide experience for certain people.
 • We try to put people into jobs at which they will have
the best chance to perform well.
 Allowing for utilization
 The effect of poor utilisation is to reduce the output
from the line. When we select operatives we must
allow for the output lost when utilisation is less than
100 per cent.
 Allocating operatives
 At each operation the work content in sm multiplied
by the expected output in garments per minute will
give the performance required for a perfectly smooth
output. For example, at operation 1 the performance
needed is
 0.70 X 1 X 100 = 70 BSI
 Performance needed/sm = Garments/Minute X 100
 Checking the initial balance
 Over- and under-production is calculated with reference to
the expected output. For example, the expected output is
60 garments/hour and the output at operation 10 is 51. This
represents a shortfall of 9 and this operation is a bottleneck
which must be watched carefully.
 Add up the output from each operation and divide by the
number of operations. Compare this with the 'expected
output' for the section.
 Add up the individual imbalances, allowing for sign. The
answer should be the same, when divided by the number of
operations.
Date: Size: Wms. & WX Style: 2800
Work Sm Operative Machine Expected Expected ± Gmts
Station cont. Perf. Gmts/hr /hr
1 0.70 A Wh/Elast 75 64 +4
2 1.00 B O/L 100 60
3 1.20 C O/L (fr) 120 60
4 1.00 D L/S (zz) 100 60
5 1.00 E TN L/S 100 60
6 1.10 F O/L 100 55 -5
7 0.70 G L/S (DF) 75 64 +4
8 1.40 H O/L (fr) 120 51 -9
9 0.90 I Wh 100 67 +7
10 1.00 J L/S (zz) 100 60
Floater K 60
Floater L 60
Total/Av 10.00 60.1 +1
 'Expected garments per hour' (for operative chosen) – 60.1
 Expected output per hour was set at -60.0
 Average imbalance per hour is therefore -+0.1

 Actual output
 Expected output/hour set at -60 Gmts
 Actual output/hour -60.1 Gmts
This is well within the expected accuracy of the information used.
 Exercise
 rework the calculations above but with a required
output of 60 garments per hour. In this case the labour
can be drawn from the whole of Phil's section, not
merely that shown on the previous skills inventory but
also that included below Table.
 The attendance, utilisation and average performance
figures are as before but, if the average performance for
the operatives selected is much different from the
figure assumed for the initial calculation, the number
of operatives will need to be adjusted accordingly.
This, in turn, will mean a new theoretical balance.
Skills Inventory for
Phil's Section N to Z

Enter BSI performance

on top line. Enter date
& style then
garments/hr on
bottom line for initial
balance.
 What comments would you make on the skills
inventory for the additional operatives?
 For what operations would an underbed thread
trimmer lockstitch machine be appropriate and, if this
reduces the work content by 5 per cent what effect
does this have on the balance?
 Keeping the section balanced
 Even if it were possible to achieve a perfect 'initial balance',
changes in performance and causes of off-standard time
would soon throw it out of balance. Of course, short-term
changes are taken up by 'work in process' but the amount
of this is limited by the cost of financing the stock and by
the floor space that it takes up.
 Indication of trouble, by obvious build-ups of work before
a bottleneck operation or operatives sitting idle, is a
warning that something has gone wrong. Modern
supervision requires a more subtle approach, which makes
it possible to plan ways of avoiding lost production.
 Production checks
 For this reason it is usual to institute regular checks of
output and 'work in process'. Hourly checks may be
necessary for key operations or when a new style is
started. However, they are time-consuming and they
must be kept to a minimum. Two- or four-hourly
intervals are normally quite adequate. When
management insist on too high a frequency of checks,
supervisors will cheat or neglect their other work.
 Balancing calculations
 At the start of each day absentees must be noted and the initial
balance amended accordingly. When hold-ups occur, due to off-
standard time, it will be necessary to calculate the effect that this
will have had and to see what has happened to work in process.
Even the normal fluctuations in output which occur during the
day may require the supervisor to adjust the manning.
 Supervisors will resist the new approach. It is much easier to deal
with crises when they occur than to anticipate and avoid them.
Moreover, most supervisors will find that the arithmetic which is
involved is new and difficult for them. The provision of pocket
calculators or cheap home computers will take away most of this
difficulty and quickly repay the investment involved.
 What will be the finish WIP at operation 4, if the start
WIP was 50 garments?
 Balance calculation sheet. Period 8 am to 10 am
operation Manning Output Output Cumulati Input Change in Start WIP Finish
Number 1 hr 2hr ve output 2hrs WIP WIP
1 J 100 200 200 200
0 50 50
2 B 90 180 180 200
+20 50 70
3 C 105 210 210 180
-30 50 20
4 D 100 200 200 210
 A difficulty arises when we attempt simulation, by means
of paper exercises. Readers become confused as to the
position of the Work In Process (WIP). It is generally better
to show it on the form actually between the work stations,
as it would be in practice.
 At operation 1: the input and output are equal and so
there is no change in the WIP.
 At operation 2: the input is 200/2 hrs. and the output
180/2 hrs. Input less output = +20 and so the WIP grows at
20 garments/2 hrs. to 70 garments.
 At operation 3: the input is 180/2hrs. and the output is
210/2hrs. Input less output = - 30 and so the WIP decreases
at 30 garments/2 hrs. to 20 garments.
 Movement of operatives
 Output is lost every time an operative is moved to a
new job. Anticipation of problems is the best way to
keep this lost output to a minimum and line operatives
should never be moved for less than an hour except in
an emergency. Even floaters should be given a
sufficiently long run to work up their speed and spells
of less than an hour should be rare. On occasions it is
more efficient to arrange the manning so that an
operative has no work to do, if this means that people
are employed at the work which they do best.
 With the manning planned (see Table 5.5) and all
operatives at work, Kate must make up the shortfall at
Operation 8 by working

Lyn must make up the shortfall on Operation 6 by working

 Since more people are at work than planned, they
should spend the rest of the day on normal balancing
and build up the work in process rather than get out
more garments from the section. The emphasis must
always be on keeping to the planned output from the last
station.
 Hon is a key operative. If she were off, Kate and Lyn
together would produce only 32 + 21 garments per hour,
against a target of 60. There would be a shortfall of 7
garments per hour and no floaters. As a precaution it might
be a good idea to reduce the work in process between
operations 9 and 10 and increase it between Operations 8
and 9.
 Rules for work in process
• Keep to the section target.
• Concentrate it after bottlenecks.
• Build it up when more people are at work than planned and
all is going well.
• When possible move it towards the end of the line, so that it
can be got out quickly if necessary.
 Guidelines for supervisors
 Know your hourly targets;
 the potential performance of each operative on each
operation; the standard manning; the permitted work in
process in the section.
 Make regular production checks for throughput and
inventory (WIP);
 more frequent checks on key operations; plans to deal
with absenteeism and breakdowns in advance; regular
capacity checks on each operative; manning changes
based on the calculated effects.