Improving time and action (TNA) plan in apparel industry using integrated production planning and control software - a case study

Abstract

The apparel industry is the most promising sector in Bangladesh, generating more than 30 billion USD per year. This sector has a lot more to offer, but some challenges are hindering its progress. One of the critical challenges is to ensure the on-time delivery of goods completing all the required tasks within the stipulated timeline. For this, apparel merchandisers usually maintain a Time and Action plan, which is composed of all the required activities with their associated timeline to complete. In the conventional method, this Time and Action plan are maintained using spreadsheet programs.However, discrete spreadsheets lead to the delay in the completion of Time and Action events due to many limitations such as lack of user-friendliness, disconnection among departments, lack of dynamicity. An integrated production planning software offersa solution to these shortcomings. The objective of this research work is to assess whether an integrated production planning and control software can improve the Time and Action Hit rate of an apparel company. For this, an apparel manufacturing company is selected where an integrated production planning software was implemented, and relevant data is available. By comparing the TNA hit rate and event delay data, it was found that TNA hit rate was improved after the implementation of integrated production planning software, and the reasons causing the delay in event completion were also reduced. That means the implementation of integrated production planning software is a better option for the apparel manufacturers in Bangladesh to compete in the global market.