The analysis of personal and delay allowances using work sampling technique in the sewing room of a clothing manufacturer

Abstract

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to study the operator activities in garment industry and the percentages of distribution of operations and to analyze the personal and delay allowances by observing the operations and deriving the ratios within a manufacturing period. Design/methodology/approach - A work sampling technique is used. Relevant reports (1978-2004) are studied to give the basis and methodology of the technique. In accordiance with work sampling techique, the operations to be observed in a sewing room are defined, the number of observations and observers required for each day and the procedure for making observations are determined and the distributions of work flows are calculated. Findings - It is found that 72.7 per cent of working time in an general sewing room was spent for productive activities and 23.2 per cent for personal and unavoidable delay allowances. Practical implications - Work sampling technique gives information about personal and delay allowances in a work flow of any sewing room. When the distributions of activites are determined, it is possible to find which activities are most responsible for low efficiency. For this purpose, standard operations time in a sewing room should be determined by time measurement studies and work flow should be organized. Originality/value - This paper deals with an actual sewing room and gives general information about the distributions of activites in work flow which should be used for organization of any sewing room.