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| Sunday, 6 February 2005 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Call to develop productivity to face challenges Sri Lanka will face a worse catastrophe if the garment industries don't get the workers involved to develop productivity and quality to face the challenges posed by the industry globally said Principal Consultant of GTA and GIMI Sri Lanka, Gihan Thalgodapitiya. He was speaking at the awareness seminar held prior to the launch of the Factory Improvement programme 3, an initiative by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), The Employers Federation of Ceylon(EFC) and The Joint Apparel Associations Forum (JAAF). He listed about 14 items that industries should comply with if they are to be competitive with the global industry. Among are increasing efficiency, reducing defects, overhead costs, employee dissatisfaction, order lead time, application of industrial engineering, improve material utilisation, development of worker management relationships, merchandising and pre production planning, effective supply chain management, enhanced use of attachments, elimination of waste, better health and safety standards as well as organisation and management development. He said that production efficiency in Sri Lanka is not even half of what it ought to be. At present it is about 30-40 percent while it should be about 60-65 percent. Reduction of defects and overhead costs are also a must. For eg a factory in China which has 2,000 machines has three managers while a factory in Sri Lanka with the same number of machines would have around 150 managers. Thalgodapitiya said that merchandising and pre production planning lacks professionalism which results in the production floor being blamed whereas the real culprits are the merchandisers. Therefore much attention should be paid to this area which needs a touch of professionalism. Sri Lanka cannot afford expensive attachments but there are many attachments we can afford and they will make a world of difference and enhance productivity as well. Thalgodapitiya said "it is a do or die battle as it is the Rakshava for many thousands of people if the garments industry suffers a setback due to the our country not being competitive. Charles Bodwell FIP ILO Thailand said the main difference between leading edge factories and others are that they manage facilities systematically. They also maintain good production control, quality control practices and Human resource practices. In addition they continually improve their systems and facilities and are eager for change. Consultant and FLA Auditor, Sri Lanka Edwin Deva said that at present compliance audits lacks transparency which leads to gaps in relationships between buyers or buyer representatives and the vendors, therefore encourage transparency. Most brands have started looking for ownership of what they buy and we have a definite advantage on health and safety aspects as most factories maintain these aspects, but continually improve, he added. Buyers at present want to develop partnerships and it is crucial as pricing and efficiency, therefore develop the partnership taking advantage of the plus factors, he said. Most of all work on the most stringent standards as this will help you to cater to all makes be it Marks and Spencer or Tesco or any other brand. Consultant Factory Improvement Programme(FIP) ILO, Colombo Jayantha De Silva introduced the FIP. It is a project of the ILO initiated under the Management and Corporate Citizenship Programme in Geneva. IT was originally funded by the US Department of labour for 10 countries in the Asian and South American region. The objectives of the FIP are to improve the standards in 8-12 factories in the areas of continuous improvement, quality, workplace cooperation, productivity enhancement, HRM gender and discrimination as well as occupational safety and health, share best practices, develop local managers and workers and ensure that factories benefit from increased productivity as well. The program adopts a modular approach which includes a residential training and continuous assessment as well. Two programmes have been held while the third will get off the ground in March. |
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