A pilot training program of Cambodia’s Garment Industry Productivity Center, a USAID-funded project managed by Nathan Associates, has helped three apparel makers achieve double-digit efficiency gains. The manufacturers sent management teams to the GIPC for training in time study techniques and GIPC followed up at the factories by showing managers how to put their new skills into practice.

Measurable Gains

At the factories, trainees applied time study techniques, then adjusted production lines based on study results. “I think we gained 5% just on the advice, and we’re looking for 15% improvement from full implementation,” says Dillard Cheek, general manager of Royal Crown Textiles, a manufacturer of woven fabrics and garments whose industrial engineering department benefited from the training. Likewise, knitwear manufacturer Potamon Garments found the method taught at the GIPC could increase efficiency by an average of 15%, and a new team of Cambodian supervisors is now putting the training into practice.

Continuous Improvement

GIPC is showing Cambodia’s manufacturers that better production management can boost productivity without big investments in equipment or overtime. According to Heinz Reich of Werner International, GIPC’s chief technical expert, “We know that these methods have worked in other countries. Of course, results depend on follow-through. Our pilot project factories were successful because they worked with us to apply the system of planning and controls. If they continue, the improvements will continue also.”

The next general course, Introduction to Time Study and Textile Basics, will begin in late August. GIPC offers training and consulting services to individual factories to improve engineering, supervisory, and management skills, and is developing Cambodians as trainers and consultants in productivity improvement.