Notesale: Turn your study into money

Document Preview

Extracts from the notes are below, to see the PDF you'll receive please use the links above

---

Cardiff Metropolitan University
Cardiff School of Management
MBA

The Impact of Team Leader – Group Leader Structure on
Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Submitted in September 2014
By

SANDARUWAN MALINGA MENDIS
Student ID - 20051532 – UWIC-MBA-K-06-41

This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfillment
Of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Business Administration (MBA)

1
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

DECLARATION

This work is being submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

degree of

Master of Business Administration

-----------------------------Signature
Head of the Dissertation Panel

2
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

DECLARATION

This work is being submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Business Administration (MBA) and has not previously been accepted in substance
for any degree and is not being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree
...
(Candidate)
Date

-
...
Deepashika Gunasekara

I acknowledge that the above named student has regularly attended the meeting, and actively
engaged in the dissertation supervision process
...
(Supervisor)
Date - …………………
...
I should thank ICBT campus in holding this MBA program in Sri Lanka,
as it has enabled many students to peruse higher education at a very affordable cost thus opening
doors to many avenues
...
Deepashika Gunasekera who helped and guided me whenever I
needed support and refined my work time and again to make it to this present state
...


Thank You,
Sandaruwan Mendis
...
In MAS Holdings point of view, this would
be the value adders who make sure that the needle is up and running continuously to fulfill the
needs of the company’s global apparel giant customers
...
With the fast paced world, with the society
moving to a rapid consumption culture, the fashion industry is at a peak in vibrancy and speed
...

In this light apparel manufacturing entities need to deliver their products within very short lead
times with no margin for error
...
Issues such as lack of staff for training,
very short lead times for trainings, requirement for rapid response to in the manufacturing support
structure are seen as key issues prevailing in the existing manufacturing unit
...

This research intends to measure the impact of the TL-GL structure on manufacturing flexibility
...
The
research would use a combination of qualitative and quantitative data through multiple data
sources in the process of measuring the impact
...
The output of the research would pave the way for effective implementation of this
structure at other locations, if the need really arises
...
12
1
...
12

1
...
1

MAS Holdings
...
1
...
12
1
...
3 Overview – LEAN Manufacturing
...
14

...
2 Research Problem Identification
...
2
...
16
1
...
2 Identification of the Research Problem
...
3 Research Question
...
4 Objectives of the Study
...
5 Significance of the study
...
6 Limitations of the Study
...
36
2
...
36
2
...
37
3
...
62
Chapter Three - Research Methodology
...
1 Study area/ Scope of the research
...
2 Research Conceptual Frame work
...
3 Hypothesis Development
...
4 Research Operationalization
...
5 Data collection and Measurement
...
6 Research Design
...
6
...
71
Chapter 04 -Data Interpretation and Analysis
...
1 Management Support on Manufacturing Flexibility
...
2 Training and Coaching on Manufacturing Flexibility
...
3 Problem Solving and Manufacturing Flexibility
...
4 Standardized work and Manufacturing Flexibility
...
5

Highlighting Abnormalities on Manufacturing Flexibility
...
6 Succession planning and Manufacturing Flexibility
...
6

– Outcome of Key Informant Interviews (Excerpts from interviews)
...
107
5
...
1 Impact of Training and Coaching on Manufacturing Flexibility
...
1
...
108
5
...
3 The Impact of Standardized work on Manufacturing Flexibility
...
1
...
110
5
...
5 The impact of Succession Planning on Manufacturing Flexibility
...
1
...
111
5
...
112
List of References
...
17
Figure 2: Order composition of the plant 2013 Jan
...
18
Figure 4: Illustration of the changes between one style to another and requirements of preparation in
terms of the elements of production
...
21
Figure 7: Order Fulfillment Levels Year on Year 2012 -2014
...
24
Figure 9: Yearly Plan against actual 1st three day efficiency
...
29
Figure 11: The Current Manufacturing Structure of Linea Clothing
...
34
Figure 13: Apple BOM
...
42
Figure 15: The role of TM, TL and GL
...
47
Figure 17: the span of Support at TL-GL Structure
...
49
Figure 19: The 4P Model of Toyota
...
53
Figure 21: 5S
...
57
Figure 23: 8 Steps Problem Solving
...
65
Figure 25: Conceptual Frame Work
...
72
Figure 27: Service Period of Team Leaders of the non-pilot area
...
74
Figure 29: Service Period of TLs of the pilot area
...
76

8
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Figure 31: Correlation Analysis, Management Support on Manufacturing Flexibility (Pilot area)
...
78
Figure 33: Time spent on, on the job training (non-pilot)
...
80
Figure 35: The answers given for the level of Team Member training and coaching
...
82
Figure 37: Correlation analysis – Coaching and training and Manufacturing Flexibility (pilot area)
...
84
Figure 39: perception on the impact of training and coaching (Non-pilot)
...
86
Figure 41: Nature of Problem Solving (Pilot Area)
...
88
Figure 44: Frequency of Problem Solving (Non-pilot)
...
90
Figure 46: Problem Solving Competence (non-pilot)
...
92
Figure 48: Correlation between Problem Solving and Manufacturing Flexibility non-pilot
...
93
Figure 50: Impact of early integration to STW setting (non-pilot)
...
96
Figure 52: Correlation; Standardized work and Manufacturing Flexibility (non-pilot)
...
97
Figure 54: Correlation; Standardized work and Manufacturing Flexibility (pilot)
...
98
Figure 56: Correlation; Highlighting abnormalities and Manufacturing Flexibility (non-pilot)
...
100
Figure 58: Correlation; Highlighting abnormalities and Manufacturing Flexibility (pilot)
...
101
Figure 60: Correlation; Succession Planning and Manufacturing Flexibility (non-Pilot)
...
103
Figure 62: Correlation; Succession Planning and Manufacturing Flexibility (Pilot)
...
113

List of Tables
Table 0-1: Performance Improvement of Linea Clothing
...
26
Table 0-3: Comparison of the Multi-skill standard against standard
...
31
Table 0-5:The current span of control in the non-pilot area (Support area)
...
70

10
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

The impact of Team Leader – Group Leader
Structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea
Clothing
...
1 Outline of the firm and background of the study

Apparel industry of Sri Lanka is the largest contributor to the national economy as well as it is
the largest foreign exchange earner for the country
...
Source http://www
...
com/showthread
...
1
...
The firm spans its manufacturing operations across Sri Lanka, India,
Bangladesh and Indonesia with 46 world class apparel manufacturing facilities
...
At the on-set of operations MAS
signed several joint venture partnerships with some global apparel brands such as Triumphs and
Nike that enabled the firm to gain the necessary marketing insight and technical know-how that
were necessary in developing as a robust apparel manufacturing firm
...
2 Billion as of 2013
...
1
...
The firm is the largest employer within the Central Province, which provides
employment opportunities for more than 2000 employees
...
With a
capacity of 41 million units per annum and a strong work force, Linea Clothing is driving towards
the goal of becoming the model plant for Lean apparel manufacturing in Sri Lanka
...
The factory commenced its operations as Linea
Clothing (Maldives) Pvt Ltd, MAS Holdings’ first off-shore venture
...
In 2002
the operation in Ratmalana moved to a permanent home in the Kandy Industrial Park while the
Maldives operation continued
...

1
...
3 Overview – LEAN Manufacturing

In 2005 MAS took one step ahead with implementation of Lean Manufacturing process, one of the
philosophies which are practiced by some of the world’s leading manufacturing organizations such
as TOYOTA, DELL, Boeing and Nippon Denso
...
Prior the introduction of
lean practices, MAS was into 19 years of traditional way of mass production which focused upon
mass production of quantities in isolated units across the value stream
...
This can be considered as a total change of MAS approach
towards manufacturing which challenged not only existed processes and work practices but the
mindset of the people as well
...
As in Toyota’s TPS (Toyota Production System), the MAS version of the lean
manufacturing concept is called MOS (MAS Operating System), which could be defined as the
systematic approach of identification and elimination of non-value added activities and waste
through the continuous improvement to make products at the lowest cost in the shortest lead time
and with the best quality to the end-customer
...


13
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Lean Manufacturing concepts and tools were first piloted at Linea Clothing in 2005
...

The below table demonstrates the productivity improvement gained after lean management
concepts were introduced at Linea Clothing
...
34

0
...
19 Million

2
...
2 Km

450m

Inventory Points

09

04

Total employees
involved in Material
travelling process

80

10

Travelling Distance

Table 0-1: Performance Improvement of Linea Clothing

Source – Internal
Initially the Linea Clothing plant did process mapping to identify all the wasteful and non-value
adding activities
...
These activities were eliminated to create a lean layout which
flowed material from raw materials warehouse through cutting and sewing operations up to the
finished goods area seamlessly without any obstructions
...

The reduction of non-value adding spaces also released space that could be utilized for value
adding (sewing)
...
This allowed
14
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Linea Clothing to generate more capacity (Standard Hours) utilizing the same space available for
its operations
...
19 Million Standard Hours to 2
...

Whilst, reducing the non-value adding space, the manufacturing process also became efficient and
adaptive to increased number of style changes through the evolution of its lean manufacturing cell
...
The new modular manufacturing units has a
higher machine: man ratio (9 sewing machines to 6 Team Members) which allows a higher level
of Multi-skilling and job rotation that improve overall efficiency levels (from an efficiency of
66% in 2005 to an efficiency of 78% in 2013%)
...
The focus of improving the supply
chain revolved around improving the built in Quality Levels (Jidoka) of the materials
...
The advantage gained were early
detection of quality issues that prevented variation encountered at the shop floor
...
And are kitted order wise at
the central location before they are dispatched to the plant
...
The incoming material is constantly tracked through web portal (material call out solution)
and M-track (a GPS tracking solution)
...


Another Lean Initiative done with the suppliers are the in-house shop solutions that produce
accessories such as labels and price tickets at the Linea Clothing Premises
...
All these initiatives have reduced the raw material stock holding
levels and improved the working capital cycle (dock to dock) from 32 days in 2005 to 18 days
...
The initiative has enabled Linea Clothing to be competitive in the global apparel
15
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

manufacturing sector and offer superior product quality to its customer; Victoria’s Secret Pink
...
Whereas
now the same style garments could be delivered with a manufacturing cycle of 12 days
...
In 2014 alone, Victoria’s Secret was able to save 40 Million USD
through reduce mark downs
...
2 Research Problem Identification
1
...
1 Symptoms of the Research Problem
During the past one and a half years Linea Clothing has experienced the difficulty to facilitate the
customer's requirement for flexible manufacturing capacity
...
To
meet this quick demand the manufacturing entities should possess processes and technologies that
are conducive to absorb such changes
...

In general MAS produces Victoria’s Secret Pink Lingerie according to the seasons
...
With the
RAPID undies program this lead time would be shrunk to 12 to 14 days, drastically reducing the
overall manufacturing lead time
...
The introduction
of the format saw the seasonal orders getting reduced and a gradual increment in the RAPID orders
...

In addition to the stated scenario, the customer presented another newa delivery format named
Read and React (R&R); the birth of a new delivery concept From June 2014 onwards
...
The R&R program will require Linea Clothing to manufacture
lingerie within a cycle of 5-7 Weeks
...
This implies that, assuming the
plant’s weekly manufacturing capacity being a 600,000 Pieces (units of garments a week) 80% or
more of the manufacturing capacity of Linea Clothing will be under flexible manufacturing
capacity (approximately around 480,000 Pieces produced under flexible manufacturing capacity)
(See Figure A and Figure B)
...
These are;
Explained through the four elements of manufacturing introduced by Toyota (4Ms and E)
Man
The sewing pattern, methods of a garment differs with its construction
...
Flexible manufacturing
entails short product quantities and high number of changes from one style to another style (style
is a specific garment pattern with unique construction)
...
Making Team Members skilled in a short time frame is a challenge for Linea
Clothing
...
As an example for style A construction Overlock sewing machines, flat-lock sewing
machines and bar tack sewing machines would be used
...
Further the machine setting such as gauges, folder widths will differ one style to another
considerably
...
An essential requirement for Team Member training on new styles
...


Source - Author
Method
As the construction of a garment differs from style to style, the method of sewing also differs
considerably
...
Hence another requirement is to
standardize the methods of sewing prior to bulk manufacturing within a short lead time
...
Variety of materials used also indicates the requirement for acquisition
materials within a short lead time
...
Resultantly the high number of style changes forced the
20
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

manufacturing staff to train Team Members in a very short period of time to the required skill
level
...


Figure 5: Illustration of the increase of style changes Year on Year

21
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Figure 6: Challenges posed by the high number of style changes on the overall manufacturing environment

Source - Internal
With all these concerns in hand, Linea Clothing has experienced difficulty in meeting the demand
for flexible manufacturing
...

The Order Fulfillment is the actual number of garments produced against the order placed quantity
...
If the orders fall short of this set target it is considered as an opportunity loss to the
organization (See Figure 7) and (Figure 8)
...
1%
100
...
7% 100
...
9%
100
...
2%
100
...
6% 100
...
1% 100
...
6%
99
...
8%

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Linear (100
...

In 2012 the Target level for the Order Fulfillment was 99% and except for the early part of 2012
(February, March and April) Linea Clothing was able to achieve its Order Fulfillment target
...


23
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Ontime Delivery Year on Year
102%
100
...
0%
98%

99
...
4%

99
...
4%

99
...
3%

100
...
6%

99
...
0%

99%

99%

100
...
0%

96%

97
...
0%

94%
92%

92
...
00 mid night on the GAC date (Goods on Consolidate)
...
The Onetime
Delivery (OTD) target in 2012 was 98% and Linea Clothing was able to achieve this stipulated
target consistently
...
Yet with the advent of flexible manufacturing capacity coming to play, Linea
Clothing has been unable to deliver its shipments within stipulated cut off time lines and situation
has got even worse in the early part of 2014
...


24
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

1
...
2 Identification of the Research Problem


Several brain storming sessions were done by the plant management to understand the root
causes behind the lack of manufacturing flexibility seen and the following statements
summarizes their findings; Insufficient Technically skilled staff to train Team Members
prior style changes
...




Very Short lead time available for training
...
To achieve the
required quality level in the right quantity the Team Members have to be trained within the
ever more short time period
...




Manufacturing unit not conducive to be facilitate Team Member multi-skilling
...

The Zig Zag shaped manufacturing units does not promote Team Member’s job rotation
and thus hinders the potential of Team Members to become skilled in several sewing
operations
...

The current team structures of support service departments does not facilitate real time
problem solving of issues that occur at the manufacturing floor
...
Resultantly issues rise to an expanding magnitude before they are
resolved hindering the agility of the manufacturing unit to adapt to the dynamic nature of
the current manufacturing context
...
2
...

Below is an illustration of the comparison of the technical staff head count against the rise in the
number of style changes in 2013 and 2014
...
staff
Head Count
17
20

Trainees per Technical staff member per
month
127 Team Members
192 Team Members

Table 1-0-2: Training Requirement Year on Year

Source - Internal
Assumption - Training requirement (12 Team Members of a module)
...
Yet the over the period of last year a significant increase of the
technical staff in line with the increasing demand has not happened
...
Although
sometimes the technical staff had to attend other activities related to new style deployments and
shop floor engagement the staff managed to train this number heads with difficulty
...
With the increased number of style changes
the number of Team Members to be trained by a technical staff per day has risen to 09 heads
...

When adequate training is not received to Team Members on the standard operating methods
(through Job Instruction Training), critical quality points to be adhered, it is very difficult to
achieve the desire quality (appearance of the garment, measurements and fit) at the right output
levels at the inception of the style
...
Thus the new style 1st three day efficiency hit rate is not achieved
during the first three days of production
...
e
...
As shown above although the plan to achieve the first three day
efficiency has increased year on year a drop in the actual performance could be seen
...

In April 2014, One Fishbone Root Cause Analysis of a management eight step problem solving (a
systematic problem solving approach) on the drop of productivity drop during the first three days
of a style change over revealed that one of the main reasons for the efficiency and quality not be
achieved is the lack of effective Team Member training prior style change overs
...

Manufacturing unit not conducive to be facilitate Team Member multi-skilling
...
In
a labor intensive industry, the agility/ flexibility of the manufacturing unit depends on the skill
level of Team Members who perform value adding work
...
The multi-skill level of Team Members is critical in dealing with short run
order quantities and high change over frequencies
...
Thus as the multi-skill level of the team increases, their capacity increases
to absorb many number of style changes without significant impact quality or targets
...

Although this is the case the current manufacturing unit; the Zig Zag sewing machine lay out is
not conducive in creating multi-skilled Team Members
...
Team Members do a specific part of the value adding process and
send the work-in-progress (WIP) to the next operation
...


28
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Figure 10: demonstrates the lack of opportunity of the Zig Zag layout for Team Members job rotation

Source: Internal
The operations are laid out in a Zig Zag format
...

Team Members build a WIP (Work in Progress) of components of the garments (roughly around
5- 10 Pieces) and move them to the next work station, to the next Team Member
...
Further due to the wide area
of the modules it becomes difficult for an individual to assist and support the Team Members
...
Thus the environment itself is not supporting the multi-skilling
...
Often
the heavy operations (for operations that take considerable time above the takt time of the module,
two or three Team Members are utilized)
...
The
element of quick response and resolving issues real time is hindered
...

Support Structure of Manufacturing and Support Services not quick responsive to real time
problem solve resolve issues that occur at the shop floor
...
This is illustrated in the
following Figure;

30
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Figure 11: The Current Manufacturing Structure of Linea Clothing
...

The composition of the manufacturing structure is given below;
Manufacturing structure

Scope

Assistant Manager

22 – 24 Zig Zag Modules ( 800 Team Members Approximately)

Production Executive

12 -14 Zig Zag Modules ( 250 Team Members Approximately)

Team Leader

18 to 20 Team Members ( one Zig Zag Module)

Table 0-4: The current span of control in the non-pilot area

Source - Internal
As the above table shows each layer has a high number of heads to assist
...
This is evident in the time taken for problem solving
...
The Team
Leaders due to their considerably large geographical area has limited control over variations that
occur at the manufacturing unit
...
Often 45 minutes to 1 hour is
taken to recover from issues and regain output
...
For example due to lack of on time problem solving of Team Leaders the
aggravated issues are heaped upon Production Executives
...

The same applies to the Support Services structure
...
For example, due
to the high number of sewing machines that falls under the responsibility of a single mechanic,
when an andon is triggered at the event of sewing machine break down the mechanic is unable to
attend the breakdown immediately as he is attending similar such issues of his area at that particular
time
...


32
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

From the manufacturing facility’s stand point to overcome the problems identified the top
management of MAS Holdings thought to experiment a new manufacturing concept within its lean
framework
...
A concept that has military
origins and has applied in manufacturing and project management contexts
...
This means that all layers of the organization are focused on supporting
its subordinates
...
One of
the pioneer firms that implemented this structure
...
This Team
Leader was assigned to a manufacturing unit and was responsible for the output of the respective
manufacturing unit
...
The figure
often balanced and often sewed with other Team Members of the Team and was limited to a
documentation and a reporting job
...
The job trainer only involved in
resolving technical issues related to methods
...
With this light Linea Clothing has piloted the TL-GL Project on behalf of all
plants of MAS Holdings and has proceeded in the following levels so far (see figure 12)

33
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

12: TL - GL Journey
Source - internal
The Researcher would explore that whether the problems stated above could be overcome by the
elements of the TL – GL structure thus improving the flexibility of the organization
...

The impact would be measured both in the pilot area and non-pilot area of the plant
...
3 Research Question
The Research question is “Is there an impact of the Team Leader and Group Leader structure
on manufacturing flexibility?”

34
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

1
...


Secondary Objective


Identify the Critical success factors of the concept

1
...
MAS Holdings is the first to test pilot the TL – GL
Concept within the country and may probably be the only instance where the concept has been
implemented with the aid of a structured guidance by a firm who has actually implemented the
concept such as the consultancy of Toyota Kentucky members who have been exposed to the
concept in a practical settings and the Toyota Production System
...
Thus
it is vital to realize the foot print of this concept in the manifesting process as well as understand
its recipe for success in terms of key elements or factors is vital to the sustainability of the concept
...
6 Limitations of the Study
The researcher see the following points as limitations of the study
...




Short time period since implementation yields limited data
...




Manufacturing facilities have different competency levels
...
1 The Lean Manufacturing Concept

A organization that apply lean methods and techniques to a product-production and business
processes has four main goals

1
...
Product and service quality is the primary way a
company stays competitive in the market place)
...
Maclnnes, 2002)

2
...

According to the Memory Jogger there are seven types of wasteful activities
...
Maclnnes, 2002)

Over-Production
“The worst type of waste, overproduction occurs when operations continue after they should have
stopped
...
Maclnnes, 2002)

Waiting
“Also known as queuing, this term refers to the periods of inactivity in a down-stream process that
occur because an upstream activity does not deliver on time
...
Maclnnes, 2002)

Transport
“This is the unnecessary movement of materials, such as work in progress (WIP) materials being
transported from one operation to another
...
Maclnnes, 2002)

36
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Extra-processing
“Extra operations risen from rework/ reprocessing/ defects/ over-production and too much or too
little inventory
...
Maclnnes, 2002)

Inventory
“Any excess inventory that is not directly required for your current customer orders
...
” (L
...
” (L
...
Reduce Lead time
“Lead time is the total time it takes to complete a series of tasks within a process
...
” (L
...
Reduce total costs
“Total costs are the direct and indirect costs associated with production of a process
...
” (L
...
2 Flexible manufacturing

37
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Flexible manufacturing strives to be responsive to consumer demand for small orders and short
lead times
...

http://www
...
com/articles/FAdetails
...
2
...
According to the American Apparel
Association in a modular manufacturing unit “processes are grouped into a module instead of being
divided into their smallest components
...
” (F
...
Saricam, 2006)
...
Further productivity is improved due to low levels of work-inprogress (WIP) within the system and due to the multi-functioning of operators
...
2
...
“Gemuneden and Lechler (1997)
have defined team performance as the extent to which a team is capable to meet the established
quality, cost and time objectives
...
Thus for a team to perform well Pathirage
illustrates the requirement of a key factor, that is setting the right support structure with clear
direction and scope “Management is largely responsible for the determination of organization
structure (e
...
, information flow, decision-making processes, and job assignments)
...

This means that setting clear communication channels, defining levels of support, empowerment
to make decisions and clear and standard specification of job roles/ assignments have clear impact
of performance
...
2
...
Manufacturers
can contract all or part of the production process to smaller contractors and there are intermediaries
(known as jobbers) that buy and cut fabric, contract for clothing assembly, and sometimes design
clothing (Teper, 1937, p
...
Manufacturers use the contracting process to stabilize their own
production and to meet peak demand, relying on jobbers to invest in fabric and manage contracting
...
From the surface, it seems that apple and Samsung are head to head in
competitive rivalry in the global smartphone market
...
“Apple Inc
...
” It is a hardware company (it designs its own
hardware), a software company (it owns, develops and optimizes its software), a services company
(it equips its products with services such as the iTunes and iCloud) and a retail company (it
provides consumers with a unique retail experience)—as opposed to other computer, tablet or
smartphone companies that only design or make the hardware
...
Rather than depending on coupling hardware with third party developed
software / apps it provides a seamless solution through their own design and development, which
make their product so unique customer experience
...

“…while Apple closely controls the design and development of its products, it neither
manufactures nor assembles the parts itself to produce any of its products
...
”
39
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

This means that apple has outsourced manufacturing operations to supplier partners who are
specialized in hardware components manufacturing
...

“While it vertically integrates the design and development process, it outsources its production to
other electronics firms”
...


The Bill of Material (BOM) of the iPhone 5 shows how it has achieved effective cost efficiencies
by utilizing specialized component manufacturers, yet controlling the design and development
specs for these equipment
...


40
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Figure 13: Apple BOM

-Source- http://www
...
net/apples-iphone-5-cost
...

Further apple is the most profitable entity
...


This model has also enabled apple to be flexible and responsive in terms of product availability
...
(This
excludes the shipping and transfer times)
...
forbes
...


41
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Figure 14: Market Share of Smartphone in the US market by maker

Source - http://macdailynews
...
The vertical integration practices has certainly enabled apple to be a flexible brand
that delivers consistent value in a rapidly changing environment with ever changing customer
interests and technological advancements
...
2
...
During its early years, Boeing practiced mass scale production techniques to produce its
B -17 Flying fortresses and B-29 Super fortresses (during Second World War)
...
“In its traditional format, the manufacture and assembly of aircraft, either commercial
or military, often followed the basic principles of mass production
...
” (A
...


Clardy explains that with the post-cold war era, with the reduction of demand on military aircraft
Boeing initiated changes to its manufacturing approach
...
During the 1990’s when it developed the F/A 18 Super Hornet
with the newly acquired lean principles, the team structure of aircraft assembly redefined itself to
a Self-Directed Work Teams
...
The team as a group
is responsible for what used to be done by the supervisor alone
...
Clardy, 2001)
...
In a particular work area called domains, there may be several
such teams working alongside
...

“The production of the plane is divided into several domains, such as inner wing assembly, forward
fuselage installation, and final assembly
...
(Page 6, A
...


Clardy further states that, the Superintendent acts as a Team Leader for the entire domain instilling
stability and control
...
Further they acts direction setters with planning and
futuristic thinking
...
But since the teams are selfmanaging the core of the superintendent’s role shifts from the traditional duties of planning,
driving and control, to that of coaching, support and facilitation
...
Clardy, 2001)
...

(Page 7, A
...
” Clardy explains that the role of the Director is to facilitate the
Superintendents and resolve issues with the involvement of other parties of the supply chain
...
This is achieved by the structure which is mentioned above
...
Several SDWTs are over looked by a Superintendent
who acts as a facilitator, coach and a problem solver
...
This manufacturing structure has enabled Boeing to be agile and competitive in
the aircraft manufacturing industry
...
2
...
Toyota’s unique approach to
manufacturing” (Page 7, Liker 2004)
...
Thus the Toyota Production System is viewed as an
integration of all the lean manufacturing tools and culture that underpins all the behavioral
practices
...

The Team Leader and Group Leader Structure is the organizational arrangement that articulates
the Toyota Production system
...
With this realization,
the Team Leader – Group Leader Structure intends to support “Value adders” within the
manufacturing cell and by support functions across the organization” (Tony)
...
According to Tony, each role has a pre-defined/ designated
job roles
...
For example the
role of the Group Leader is set to assist his / her Team Leaders
...

A Team Leader (TL) is considered a value adder who heads and is responsible for a single
manufacturing unit/ cell
...
In the event of an absence of a TM, the TL will assume the value
adders’ position
...
The GL will be responsible for the productivity and quality of all product
produced and acts as a problem solver who resolves issues risen from manufacturing by liaising
with the Team Leaders or other Group Leaders from support departments
...

Thus the nature of processes as well as the manufacturing unit or the shop floor design may
determine the TM: TL ratio
...
Then the upper level staff member needs
to attend this issue and resolve this
...
Support services
activities job roles starts from specialist levels
...
The 4P model broadly breakdown the Toyota Production
System in to four Main areas; Lon Term Philosophy, Process, People and Partners and Problem
Solving
...


49
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Figure 19: The 4P Model of Toyota

Source – Toyota Way (Liker, 2004)

Principle 05 –Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time

At Toyota, the instance when an abnormality is identified within the process flow it is highlighted
using an andon cord
...
“ the andon in
all assembly and engine plants is called a ‘ fixed – position line stop system
...
The Team Leader has until the vehicle moves in to the next work station zone to respond”
...
Liker, 2004)
...
The Team Leader and Group Leader roles
specified by Tony includes the following job roles;
50
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing



Team Leader - Identify Abnormalities and highlight to relevant parties

The Team Leader is responsible for identification of abnormalities in the value adding process
within his/her control or geographical span
...
Furthermore if these issues
are not addressed at this minute stage they will escalate in magnitude and impact a wider span of
processes


Group Leader - Assist TL to identify Abnormalities and highlight to relevant parties

The Group Leader’s Job role goes a step ahead of the Team Leader’s job role, where the scope
expand to highlighting issues that are caused due to external factors to support services such as
raw materials and Engineering
...
“A Group
Leader should use the visual controls such as production target boards, machine breakdown lights
and andon lights to identify abnormality of a process
...
(Tony, 2013)
As of Tony’s comments the identification of issues real time and attending is key to be flexible
with rapid changing manufacturing conditions as regardless of the production conditions it will
continue the process flow without stoppages, thus resolving them whilst moving forward
...

In The Toyota Way, a standard is defined as an activity that could be replicated; “Use stable
repeatable methods everywhere to maintain the predictability, regular timing and regular output of
your process” (Pg 145, Liker, 2004)
...
”
https://kaizeninstituteindia
...
com/2013/12/

From these definitions, it is evident that a standard can be defined as a best practice that has been
commonly agreed upon
...
Each activity was then further subdivided and designed as a series of tasks (Content)
...
As each of the machines was moved, the
way the tasks were actually done was compared with what was expected according to the original
design, and discrepancies were immediately signaled (Outcome)
...
Spear and K
...
Also standardized work would also
be the platform for improvement” (Tony 2014)

52
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Figure 20: How a standard works

Source - https://kaizeninstituteindia
...
com/2013/12/

“It’s impossible to improve any process until it is standardized
...


-

Team Leader - Audit Standardized work (Audit STWs and identify improvements
and implement
...
By auditing the process he/ she will be able to identify any
deviations in the actual performance of work against stated standards
...


-

Group Leader - Audit Standardized work (Audit STWs and identify improvements
and implement , Teach Team Members using JIT)

53
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Whilst conducting the same activity of ensuring that the standardized work is performed across
several different work cells through standardized work audits the Group Leader also provides
feedback to the Team Leaders so that they can better their work processes
...
Along with the Technical staff, the
Team Leader and Group Leader would try out the various drafted standard work before it is
finalized for mass production
...
This reduces the variation resulted by
modification of work methods after they are introduced at bulk production” (Tony, 2014)
...
The
TL – GL structure would facilitate the roll out and actual performance of work standardization and
rigorously improve upon them
...


As the above statement explains, the visual controls are vital to identify abnormalities in the work
flow and tools such as kanbans, Min/ Max levels helps value adders identify these issues
...


The Team Leaders and Group Leaders are entrusted with the practice of these visual control so
that problems do not escalate to a wider magnitude, transcending their own work area
...

“The Leader and the Group Leader take ownership of the visual displays and visual Controls of
their geographical area
...


Further the value adders should also practice 5S, a work place organization practice that will also
highlight any abnormalities of the process
...
The 5S’s together create a
continuous process for improving the work environment” ( page150 Liker, 2004)
...


Figure 21: 5S

55
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Source

-http://www
...
com/weekly/2012-08-06/productivity/kaizen-5s-framework-

for-standard-business-processes
Add Value to the Organization by developing your people and partners
P9 – Grow Leaders who thoroughly understand the work, live the philosophy, and teach
others
“Toyota’s history, key leaders have been found within the company, at the right time, to shape the
next step in Toyota’s Evolution (Page 150 Liker, 2004)”
...
As the above
statement explains, Toyota rarely hire people at the mid-point, instead it develops individuals of
the organization to grow with it
...


According to Tony Chamblin the career progression of a Team Member would be as following
(include the career progression ladder)
...
A similar promotion structure is also implemented at Engineering, Warehouse /
Logistics and Quality Assurance
...
As Tony Explains the reasons for almost
100% internal promotion to the Group Leader level is of two folds;
1
...

2
...

The as explained above the Group Leader role requires the depth technical know-how to actually
perform all the task with the specific span of control
...
“The ground realities of the job, all scenarios that the Team
56
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Member would be exposed to would only be captured by stepping in to the shoes of a Team
Member themselves” ( Tony, 2013)
...
The Team Leader – Group Leader Structure
is encompasses the development of robust teams that embraces Toyota way; the Toyota culture
...


Figure 22: John Shook's Lean Transformational Model

Source – John Shook, www
...
com

57
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

The lean transformational model resembles a structure of a house
...
Upon this the two pillar process improvement and to support continuous
improvement; capability improvement will be built to achieve desired goals of the organization
...
Thus by
improving the knowledge of individuals as a team the quality of work would be optimized
...

As Liker explains at Toyota the words “Genchi genbutsu” is interpreted to mean going to the place
to see the actual situation for understanding
...
The
importance of analyzing an issue through first-hand experience at the source is encouraged at every
level of the organization
...
The
observation technique Ohno used later became popular as the Ohno circle
...


Tony Chamblin emphasizes the role of the Team Leaders and Group Leaders as problem solvers
of the shop floor
...
“The Team Leader has to real time problem solve using 5 why analysis
...
” (Tony, 2013) ( 5 why
– is a problem solving tool, which asks why’ 5 times to go for the capture the root cause)
...
The countermeasures developed will alter the
current operational standards
...
They’re referred to as “countermeasures,” rather than
“solutions,” because that would imply a per- manent resolution to a problem”
...
Spear and
K
...
Further, when a problem transcends the scope of the Team Leader, the Group Leader steps
in to liaise with support function Group Leader such as engineering and Raw materials to resolve
issues that spans to other areas of the value stream
...


59
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Figure 23: 8 Steps Problem Solving

Source - Internal

Principle 13 Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all options;
implement decisions rapidly
...
This is explained in the
Harvard Business Review article; Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System of Stephen
Spear
...
Spear and K
...

Rule 1- How people work; (structure every activity)
...
(S
...
Brown, 2004)
Rule 2 – How People connect (Connect each and every customer supplier relationship); “Every
customer-supplier connection must be direct, and there must be an unambiguous yes-or-no way to
send requests and receive responses”
...
Spear and K
...
(S
...
Brown, 2004)
Rule 4 - How to improve (start improving at the lowest level possible) “Any improvement must
be made in accordance with the scientific method, under the guidance of a teacher, at the lowest
possible level in the organization”
...
Spear and K
...


Team Leader and Group Leaders have a role in adhering to these guidelines when the make
decisions to change processes for the betterment
...
This prompts, Team Leaders and Group Leaders to review standard work and
The Origins of the Team Leader Group Leader Structure is rooted in the military
...
The small teams consisting of several highly trained and skilled
individuals as a special operations team proved to be effective in conducting deep infiltration
missions in to enemy territory, anti-terrorism missions and anti-drug missions
...


3
...

The following Variables extracted from the literature review are identified as the in-scope for the
conceptual frame work
...
It has realized the impact of the
manufacturing layout on being flexible at manufacturing in the evolution from a minutely
subdivided unit/ batch production to a grouping of work and creation of work cell that creates
collaboratively produces a product
...
The direction the
management provides, organizational structure the management facilitates and the clear definition
of the operational boundaries such as boundaries such as defining specific job roles has clearly
impact on performance and flexibility
...
The following elements of the Team – Leader
group Leader manufacturing structure can be considered as its components;
Coaching and Mentoring (Job Instruction training)
Under Toyota’s principle of “Develop Exceptional people and teams who follow your company’s
Philosophy”
...
The Team Leader and Group Leader roles facilitate the
continuous learning culture
...

Standardized Work to create stability

At Toyota it is seen that a lot of concentration is set to the establishment of work standards and
their adherence to them
...
At the product
development stage
...
The Team Leaders and Group Leaders
provide the manufacturing know how with best practices, making the product design conducive
for mass scale manufacturing (Design for manufacturability)
...
Further at bulk manufacturing the
Team Leaders and Group Leaders conduct standard work audits to make sure the set standards are
continuously followed and improved upon
...
Through this
approach it is intended that when a problem is identified the operations have to be halted so that
whatever the problem is resolved at that point and would not expand in magnitude expanding to
other processes
...


63
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Real time problem solving
The Principle; “Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation (Genchi genbutsu
)” up holds the value of seen the issue as and when it occur at the point of occurrence
...
As explained the Team Leaders and
Group Leaders use various problem solving tools such as eight steps problem solving, asking of 5
Whys, Fishbone root cause analysis and Pareto Charts for their day-to-day problem solving
initiatives
...
The superintend
dent also has role to play on coaching and guiding Team Members to develop their problem solving
abilities
...
Thus this aspect would also be inquired in the research
...
)

64
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Chapter Three - Research Methodology
3
...
To analyze the
impact of the concept
...
Thus the study intends to
capture how the elements of the TL-GL structure function in the pilot area and the non-pilot area
and how it impacts to the manufacturing flexibility of the respective area
...
The scope
of the research would be on the as following
...
2 Research Conceptual Frame work
The conceptual frame work of the research would be as of following;

Figure 25: Conceptual Frame Work

Source – Author

The researcher would inquire how the elements of the Team Leader structure would impact will
influence the flexibility of the manufacturing unit
...
Another measure would be the QCO performance
(Quick Change Over Performance) that could be measured by the QCO time ( Time Taken to
change from one style to another style) and 1st three day Hit Rate ( efficiency of the module
measured against a target efficiency ladder)
...
3 Hypothesis Development
In order to measure the impact and the validity of the elements of the TL-GL structure on
Manufacturing Flexibility, the following hypothesizes will be tested
...
Thus the hypothesizes would be as following;
66
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Hypothesis 01 – There is an impact of Team Member Multi-skilling on Manufacturing Flexibility
Hypothesis 0– There is no impact of Team Member Multi-skilling on Manufacturing Flexibility

Hypothesis 02 – There is an impact from Real time Problem Solving on Manufacturing Flexibility
Hypothesis 0 – There is no impact from Real time Problem Solving on Manufacturing Flexibility

Hypothesis 03 – There is an impact from Standardized work on Manufacturing Flexibility
Hypothesis 0 – There is no impact from Standardized work on Manufacturing Flexibility

Hypothesis 04 – There is an impact from Highlighting Abnormalities on Manufacturing Flexibility
Hypothesis 0 – There is no impact from Highlighting Abnormalities on Manufacturing Flexibility

Hypothesis 05 – There is an impact from succession planning on Manufacturing Flexibility
Hypothesis 0 – There is no impact from succession planning on Manufacturing Flexibility
Hypothesis 06 – There is an impact from Management Support on Manufacturing Flexibility
Hypothesis 0 – There is no impact from Management Support on Manufacturing Flexibility

67
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

3
...

Hypothesis

Data capturing Mechanism

Indicator

Hypothesis 01 – There is an impact
of Team Member Multi-skilling on
Manufacturing Flexibility

Questionnaire to the Value adders

The validity of the hypothesis will
be
determined
through
the
Correlation coefficient R values

( Q1), (Q2), (Q3) (Q5) (Q6) (Q7)

Positive correlation coefficient
Open ended questions set for
qualitative input

0 – 1 = the Hypothesis will be
proved

Likert scale used for quantitative
measurement

Hypothesis 0– There is no impact of
Team Member Multi-skilling on
Manufacturing Flexibility

Negative correlation coefficient

Key informant interview

Hypothesis 02 – There is an impact
from Real time Problem Solving on
Manufacturing Flexibility

Questionnaire to the Value adders
(Q8) (Q9) (Q10) (Q11) (Q12) (Q13)
(Q14)

-0 – -1 = the Hypothesis would be
null

The validity of the hypothesis will
be
determined
through
the
Correlation coefficient R values
Positive correlation coefficient

Hypothesis 0 – There is no impact
from Real time Problem Solving on
Manufacturing Flexibility

Open ended questions set for
qualitative input
Likert scale used for quantitative
measurement

0 – 1 = the Hypothesis will be
proved
Negative correlation coefficient

Key informant interview

Hypothesis 03 – There is an impact
from Standardized work on
Manufacturing Flexibility
Hypothesis 0 – There is no impact
from Standardized work on
Manufacturing Flexibility

-0 – -1 = the Hypothesis would be
null

Questionnaire to the Value adders

The validity of the hypothesis will
be
determined
through
the
Correlation coefficient R values

(Q15) (Q16) (Q17) (Q18) (Q19)
(Q20) (Q22)

Positive correlation coefficient
Open ended questions set for
qualitative input

0 – 1 = the Hypothesis will be
proved

68
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Likert scale used for quantitative
measurement
Key informant interview

Hypothesis 04 – There is an impact
from Highlighting Abnormalities on
Manufacturing Flexibility

Questionnaire to the Value adders

Hypothesis 0 – There is no impact
from Highlighting Abnormalities on
Manufacturing Flexibility

Open ended questions set for
qualitative input

(Q23) (Q24) (Q25) (Q26)

Likert scale used for quantitative
measurement

Negative correlation coefficient
-0 – -1 = the Hypothesis would be
null

The validity of the hypothesis will
be
determined
through
the
Correlation coefficient R values
Positive correlation coefficient
0 – 1 = the Hypothesis will be
proved
Negative correlation coefficient

Key informant interview
-0 – -1 = the Hypothesis would be
null

Hypothesis 05 – There is an impact
from succession planning on
Manufacturing Flexibility

Questionnaire to the Value adders

Hypothesis 0 – There is no impact
from succession planning on
Manufacturing Flexibility

Likert scale used for quantitative
measurement

(Q27) (Q28)

Key informant interview

The validity of the hypothesis will
be
determined
through
the
Correlation coefficient R values
Positive correlation coefficient
0 – 1 = the Hypothesis will be
proved
Negative correlation coefficient
-0 – -1 = the Hypothesis would be
null

Hypothesis 06 – There is an impact
from Management Support on
Manufacturing Flexibility
Hypothesis 0 – There is no impact
from Management Support on
Manufacturing Flexibility

Questionnaire to the Management
(Q1) (Q2) (Q3) (Q4)(Q5)(Q6)

The validity of the hypothesis will
be
determined
through
the
Correlation coefficient R values
Positive correlation coefficient
0 – 1 = the Hypothesis will be
proved

69
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Likert scale used for quantitative
measurement
Key informant interview

Negative correlation coefficient
-0 – -1 = the Hypothesis would be
null

Table 0-1: Research Operationalization

Source - Author

3
...
Furthermore the collection of qualitative data will also give a deeper
understanding and rich insight on the functionality of the Team Leader – Group Leader Structure
...
For value adders (TLs and JTs / GLs) to obtain the value adder perception on the concept
...
For Management – Inquire about the management involvement and support on the TL-GL
structure
...
These questions are intended to capture qualitative information on the topic
area
...
The rating would start from 1
...
Strongly agree,
quantifying the answers of the respondents
...

Data analysis would be done with the feedback that are received from the respondents using the
IBM SPSS Statistical package and data would be visually presented in meaningful formats
accordingly
...
6 Research Design
The research will be a case study based on the operation of Linea Clothing, Kandy
...
The descriptive
analysis will go to depth detail in the analysis of unravelling the impact of the TL – GL structure
on manufacturing flexibility
...
6
...

Sample selection procedure- Value adders Questionnaire
Non-pilot area – 90 Respondents
Pilot area – 10 Respondents
Since the study is limited to a single business unit, the researcher has the ability to take the response
of all the relevant individuals of the study
...
Thus
all the respondents would be selected to be in the data collection initiative (Census approach)
...

Sampling procedure – judgment based non-probability sampling
...


Chapter 04 -Data Interpretation and Analysis

Figure 26: Age distribution of the respondents of the non-pilot area
...
The mean of a respondent (TL
or a JT/ GL) stands at 26 years
...
The mean of the service period of TLs stands above 4 years
...
The mean age of Team Leaders
stands at 25 Years
...
50 Years

Figure 29: Service Period of TLs of the pilot area

Source: Author

75
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

The mean of the service period of TLs stands at 4
...
The mean of the Service period of
GLs stands at 7
...


4
...
The questions inquired the management’s role in the manufacturing
support structure within the TL-GL framework of facilitation to overcome issues, level of
engagement with the subordinates
...


Figure 30: Correlation Analysis, Management Support on Manufacturing Flexibility (Non - Pilot area)

According to the Pearson’s Correlation the R value of 0
...
This indicates that there is a weak positive relationship between the
variables
...


76
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Question 4, Question 5 and Question 6 inquired on the impact of Management involvement
within the TL-GL structure on Manufacturing Flexibility
...

Correlation analysis between the Management Support within the TL-GL structure and
Manufacturing Flexibility
...
528 suggests that there is a weak positive
correlation between the level of management support of the TL-GL structure and the current state
of manufacturing flexibility
...


77
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Figure 32: Scatter Plot, Correlation Analysis, Management Support on Manufacturing Flexibility (Pilot area)

4
...
The
questionnaire intended on capturing the value adder’s perspective on the Team Leader – Group
Leader structure in the piloted modules and the non-pilot shop floor, thereby trying to obtain a 360
degree view on the concept
...
The semi-structured question contained
qualitative output measuring the daily involvement of the TLs and GLs on teaching and
coaching commitment towards their value adding core at their advent to the shop floor
...
more than one hour per day
b
...
conducts training if the time permits
d
...
(25 respondents
- 28%) and d
...
The means that TLs and job day schedules have a poor time
allocation on people development/ training during the early engagement period of a new Team
Member extensive support on developing their skills rapidly
...
(See figure 32)

Figure 33: Time spent on, on the job training (non-pilot)

In the TL-GL Pilot area respondents have given their majority answers on a
...
(4 respondents – 40%)
...
and d
...
The TLs and GLs of the pilot area have allocated a considerable amount of time to
improve the skills on newly recruited Team Members so that they could bring them parallel to the
running productivity of the module within the shortest lead time
...
During a Quick Change Over
from one style of garment to another the Team Members have to be trained on the methods of
sewing of the upcoming style for the realization of optimum capacity, further to this TMs have to
be continually trained while on the job (whilst sewing) to improve their methods for maximum
effectiveness
...

The questions contained a likert scale that contained the answers of
1
...
Disagree
3
...
Agree
5
...
This
indicates that TLs and JTs do not have an active involvement in the process of on-going skill
development and enhancement of Team Members
...
314 demonstrates a significant correlation
between the factors coaching / training of Team Members on manufacturing Flexibility in the nonpilot area
...
Thus the R value demonstrates the low
involvement in continuous training of Team Members is a contribution to lack of manufacturing
flexibility in the non-pilot area
...
The prominence given to Team Member training within the TL and Job Trainer job role
and work scope is low
...
639 demonstrates a strong positive
correlation between Coaching and training and Manufacturing Flexibility
...

Training and Coaching and Manufacturing Flexibility Scatter Plot (Pilot area)

83
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Figure 38: Training and Coaching and Manufacturing Flexibility Scatter Plot (Pilot area)

The scatter plot diagram shows that there answers of the respondent polarized above an average
of 3
...

The fifth question (Q5) inquired on the current state of the multiskilling level of the
manufacturing units
...
The reason to understand their point of view on
their effort also clarified their actual commitment to the task of training and coaching individuals
as it comes down finally to this boiling point where the perception of the reality of an individual
leads behavior
...
(See figure 38) Yet a
considerable lot of TLs and JTs disagree that there is a direct relationship between their training
and coaching and resultant multi-skilling of value adders as a cohesion to manufacturing
flexibility
...

On the other hand in the pilot area, all the respondents replied that there is a relationship between
training/ coaching Team Members and manufacturing flexibility
...


4
...
The questions inquires on the real time nature of problem solving
...
Problem solving tools used as soon as a problem is occurred
b
...
Problem solving done if the time permits
d
...
(30 respondents
In the non-pilot area (figure 40) theSolving (non-pilot)

– 34%) and d
...
This demonstrates that the lack of priority given to problem
solving
...
( 6 respondents
– 60%) and answer b
...
This shows the priority given to resolve issues at the
point of occurrence itself
...
The question probed to unravel how they think about
problem solving as tool to overcome challenges at the shop floor
...
Strong impact to manufacturing flexibility
b
...
Low impact to manufacturing flexibility
d
...

In the pilot area the responses suggests that the TLs and GLs see the importance of problem solving
to overcome recurring issues
...


(7 respondents –

70% ) and b
...
The question was targeted at TL
who are supposed to give temporary Counter measures to issues through 5 why root cause analysis
(a problem solving tool that ask why five times to arrive at the root cause)
...
More than 10 times
b
...
Less than 5 times
d
...
(26 respondents- 29%) and d
...
This indicates that the problem solving is done on an
irregular or time to time basis
...


Figure 44: Frequency of Problem Solving (Non-pilot)

Source - Author
In the pilot are the respondent answers mainly concentrated on answer a
...
(2 respondents – 20%)
...

89
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Figure 45: Frequency of Problem Solving (Pilot)

Source - Author
The question 10 (Q10) explores the frequency of problem solving of Job trainers and Group
Leaders
...

Thus it is the responsibility of the JT/GL to arrive at Permanent Counter Measures to eradicate
them
...

With consideration of the non-pilot area, currently the JTs do not practice 8 step problem solving
...

The question 11 (Q11), inquired the respondent opinion on real time problem solving and its
impact towards manufacturing flexibility
...
yet they failed to note the importance of problem solving on stopping the issue
at the point of occurrence itself, The GLs from the pilot area emphasized the role of problem
solving in improving the quick response of the manufacturing unit and elimination of the
possibility of problems that may reoccur or increase its magnitude due to problems being left
behind unattended
...
The answer options were presented from
a
...
Weak
c
...
Competent
e
...
Several TLs also have responded as their problem
solving capabilities being weak (9%)
...
The problem solving capability of the TLs and GLs are polarized in the very competent (60%)

91
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

and competent area (20%)
...


Figure 47: Problem solving competence (Pilot)

Source - Author
The question 13 (Q13) and question 14 (Q14), focused on the inquiry of the TL and JT/GL
perception towards the current state of problem solving and their impact (creation of new
standards) and tis impact to manufacturing flexibility
...

Correlation analysis between real time problem solving and Manufacturing Flexibility

Figure 48: Correlation between Problem Solving and Manufacturing Flexibility non-pilot

92
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

PS – Problem Solving Chart
Flx_Manu – Manufacturing Flexibility
According to the Pearson’s correlation, the R value of the inter-relationship between the variables
has a significant positive correlation of 0
...
This means that the lesser
number of problem solving and the sporadic nature of problem solving could has an inter-relation
to the current state of manufacturing flexibility of the non-pilot area
...
This means that within the non-pilot area
...


Figure 49: Correlation between Problem Solving and Manufacturing Flexibility non-pilot

93
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

In the pilot area, according to the Pearson’s correlation, the R value of 0
...


The TLs and GLs are content on the level of problem solving done at the pilot area and its
frequency
...
The answers of the TLs and GLs are polarized in 3 and 5 (see chart Q)

94
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

4
...
The respondents in the non-pilot area replied as
following ;

Figure 50: Impact of early integration to STW setting (non-pilot)

Source - Author
This indicates that some are skeptical or does not see the potential of early integration of the TL/
JT role in the standard work (STW) preparation
...

The question 16 (Q16), inquired on the respondents knowledge on the purpose of STW
setting
...
Select methods that are more suitable for manufacturability
...
To overcome issues in the standard methods of sewing, before they are finalized and
practiced at the floor
...


Both a
...
No significant impact

95
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

The respondents of the non-pilot area have given the following set of answers;
Most number of respondents have seen the immediate benefit as a, which is obvious but has failed
to realize the potential on overcoming issues in standards (answer b
...
Thus the expected answer for this question was answer c
...


Figure 51: Purpose of STWs (non-pilot)

Source - Author
Question 17 (Q17), Question 18 (Q18) and Question 19 (Q19) focused on the pilot area on
their new practice on Standard work evaluation (auditing)
...

For these questions the respondents have answered positive where
...

Also the respondents have suggested that the evaluation of the process also reduces the damages
that occur in the outcome; product
...
Likert scales were used on these
questions
...
Although the preparation standard work for new styles is universal in the factory,
the results also shows the lack of continued evaluation of standards in this area
...
50 (moderate
agreement with practices), (see figure 52)
...
609 suggests that there
is a positive correlation between standardized work and the current of state of manufacturing
flexibility of the modules
...


Figure 54: Correlation; Standardized work and Manufacturing Flexibility (pilot)

The scatter diagram also shows the results being scatter across the scale (See figure 54)
...
5 Highlighting Abnormalities on Manufacturing Flexibility

The question 23 (Q23) and Question (Q24) explored on TL and JT/GL attitude on identification
of abnormalities and its impact on Manufacturing Flexibility
...
339 signifies a positive correlation ship between identification of
abnormalities and the current state of manufacturing flexibility in the non-pilot area
...
The answers that were given by the TLs and JTs are scattered
(see figure 56) in the scale shows that there is a variety of opinion on how TLs and JTs should
highlight abnormalities in the work flow in order to resolve them
...
198 indicates a weak positive
relationship between the two variables
...
This
indicates that there is lack of focus and attention is given to develop the eye calibration on
identification of abnormalities (see figure 58)
...
The questions were open ended
...
Further the importance and the prominence that should be given to
identification of problems is also not emphasized in respondent answers
...
6 Succession planning and Manufacturing Flexibility
The Question 29 (Q29) and Question 30 (Q30) focused on the inquiry of mechanisms that are
in place to identify and develop people to the next level of the organization
...


101
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Figure 60: Correlation; Succession Planning and Manufacturing Flexibility (non-Pilot)

According to the Pearson’s correlation, the R value of 0
...
This means that there is only a
weak connectivity between the initiatives that are in place and the level of manufacturing flexibility
of the non-pilot area
...
952 suggests a very strong
positive correlation between the activities undertaken for succession planning and its impact on
the state of manufacturing of the area
...
6 – Outcome of Key Informant Interviews (Excerpts from interviews)

Informant 01 – Production Assistant Manager

1
...
The quicker you problem solve
...

The support of the management is needed for the effective problem solving
...
It takes time to develop people
...


2
...




The structure will improve flexibility and adaptability of the organization
...
What should be the next step to improve the TL – GL structure?


Implementation of the TL – GL structure only in the manufacturing is not enough
...
So that everybody has the same understanding
...
What are the critical success factors of the TL-GL STRUCTURE?


Succession Planning is the key in rolling out the concept to other areas
...




Also people in areas should have the same understanding and knowledge for the success
of the structure
...
What is the contribution of TL-GL structure to be a flexible manufacturing entity?


TL-GL structure lets an Organization to be quick adaptive, aligning with the demands of
the external environment
...


3
...




Roll out the concept other operational area, so that everyone would have the same
understanding and knowledge
...
1
...
The training intends to
improve their sewing methods and handling, eliminating the possibility of them learning through
a trial and error method which impair the productivity and flexibility as a manufacturing unit
...
In the data analysis, it was shown that training
is intended for the purpose of Team Member preparedness for the upcoming styles and resultantly
them becoming multi-skilled in several operations over a period of time
...
639,
clearly indicates the strong positive relationship between the current coaching and training effort
and the outcome towards manufacturing flexibility in the pilot area
...

On the other hand, the non-pilot area received low scores for their commitment to training and
coaching
...
Even though he on-the-job training of New Team Members through the job instruction
teaching method is a critical activity which directly affects the productivity and flexibility, it is
overlooked
...

The phenomenon is conveyed through the manufacturing flexibility of the non-pilot area
...
The respondents
from the non-pilot area had a confusion whether training does really impact on the flexibility of a
manufacturing unit
...
Thus adding
107
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

to this the current job role of Team Leaders and Job Trainers of the non-pilot area does not have a
clear job description on their responsibility towards training Team Members continuously
...

5
...
2 Impact of Problem Solving on Manufacturing Flexibility
...
In the non-pilot area, the researcher saw that problem solving get delayed to be
completed
...
This scenario also indicates the urgency
of problem solving, where problems are not let to expand its magnitude, reach out to other areas
and affect the productivity of the overall process
...

From the research data it can be concluded that the competence on problem solving tools need to
be further improved in the non-pilot area for maximum effectiveness of the initiative
...
The questions did also explored the actual effectiveness of the problem
solving initiative itself by renewal or modification of standards
...
358 and the pilot area received an R value of
0
...
Both areas demonstrates a significant correlation
to the current state of Manufacturing Flexibility
...

Added to this in the non-pilot area, a confusion on the perception on the purpose of problem solving
was seen where only 66% of the respondents saw problem solving as a tool that impacts
manufacturing flexibility, compared to all the respondents responding positively that there is a
considerable impact from the tool
...


108
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

By consideration of all the above facts it can be concluded that the Hypothesis 02 – There is an
impact from Real time Problem Solving on Manufacturing Flexibility is proven
...
1
...
In the question number 15 (Q15), TLs and JTs were confused on the
purpose of the early integration of setting up STWs
...
In the pilot there was no
confusion and all respondents confirmed their positive opinion on their early involvement in the
STW preparation process
...
Most respondents from the non-pilot area selected the option a, which deemed have the
immediate impact of setting proper STWs, that is selection of the most suitable manufacturing
methods to the process
...

In the measurement of the impact of the STW preparation against the Manufacturing Flexibility,
the non-pilot area received an R value of 0
...
609
(according to the Pearson’s correlation)
...
The new practices trialed in the pilot area such
as the standard work audits done by the Group Leader and the Team Leaders are have positively
contributing to the positive correlation of the standard work setting and the current state of
manufacturing in the pilot area
...
With due consideration of all the above facts it can be concluded that Hypothesis 03 – There
is an impact from Standardized work on Manufacturing Flexibility is proven
...
1
...
339 in the non-pilot area and 0
...
This
signifies that there is a weak positive relationship amongst the two variables
...
This is not captured in the research data
...

This is seen as an area for improvement since early detection of a problem is vital in minimizing
the impact of an issue
...

5
...
5 The impact of Succession Planning on Manufacturing Flexibility
The succession planning intended on identification of potential individuals who are suitable for
the next level operational before the actual need arises
...
A potential TL or a GL must undergo specific learning and
development and exposure before they can actually take job and perform at the expected level
...
The correlation analysis
revealed an R value of 0
...
952 for the pilot area
...
With the inquiry, it was seen that there
was lack of a systematic process to assimilate a potential individual for these roles before the actual
need arises so that effective training and curriculum could be given to enhance the role
...
On the other hand in the pilot area the correlation test achieved a
very strong positive relationship of 0
...
It was seen that the pilot area consisted of very
systematic approach to selecting and developing individuals to suite the job roles stipulated
...


110
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

5
...
6 The impact of Management Support on Manufacturing Flexibility
Manufacturing Support structure
The researcher intended to inquire on the impact of the management support on flexibility
...
The questions involved
how the management involves with their subordinates to overcome issues and improve
productivity
...
471, conveyed a weak positive correlation between the variables
...

Management Involvement
The questions 4, 5 and 6 explored areas of inquired on the impact of Management involvement
within the TL-GL structure on Manufacturing Flexibility
...
According to the Pearson’s correlation the two variables received an R value of 0
...
The responses suggested that there is significant
opportunity for improvement through increased involvement of the Management in their span of
support
...


111
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

5
...
With all the findings relevant to the research it can be stated that
following can be considered as the critical success factors of the TL-GL structure in general
1
...
From the data analysis it was seen that there was a high relationship
of the initiatives on selection of TLs and GLs and grooming them to their expected competence
levels after before the actual vacancy arises
...
Thus the HRD function should
continuously liaise with manufacturing functions
...
This may be Team Leaders, Group Leaders, Value Stream Managers who
has a significant / unique set of skill which could be difficult to replicate in a short period of
time
...
Thus these roles must be identified prior and
individuals selected with time for trainings
...
Then it is the responsibility of the process owners and the HRD to develop relevant
preferred skills of the roles thus making the selection effective and development of training
materials
...


2
...
Problem solving should happen real time and
effectively, moving on to permanent counter measures thus reducing the issues encountered by the
value adding core
...

113
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

In the data analysis it was seen that the frequency of the problem solving and the understanding of
the importance of the problem solving was lacking in the non-pilot area
...

The Management should be more involved in the problem solving initiatives as indicated in the
research data,
3
...

In a TL-GL structure it would be a role of lead by example where the Management should involve
in problem solving and supporting their subordinate effectively
...

The following diagram Figure 64 shows the ideal model for TL- GL structure,

64: The ideal TL-GL structure
Source -Author

114
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Standard work should be the platform for all processes
...
The management should involve at each and every level of the organization to provide
insight and coaching
...


List of References
A
Alan Clardy, Teams at Boeing: Military Aircraft Production at the St
...
2014
...
[ONLINE]
Available at: http://www
...
com/weekly/2012-08-06/productivity/kaizen-5s-framework-forstandard-business-processes
...


F
What Production Constraints? Apple's iPhone 5s At 24 Hour Availability And Retina Mini Now At
3-5 Days - Forbes
...
What Production Constraints? Apple's iPhone 5s At 24 Hour
Availability And Retina Mini Now At 3-5 Days - Forbes
...
forbes
...
[Accessed 20 September 2014]
...
skyscrapercity
...
php?t=492042&page=8
Apple’s iPhone 5: What Does it Cost to Make?
...
Apple’s iPhone 5: What Does it Cost to
Make?
...
famousbloggers
...
html
...


K
December | 2013 | Kaizen | Six Sigma | Lean Management | Training & Consulting | Operational
Excellence
...
December | 2013 | Kaizen | Six Sigma | Lean Management | Training &
Consulting | Operational Excellence
...
wordpress
...
[Accessed 20 September 2014]
...
Liker, (2004) – The Toyota Way – 20th Edition, Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi, (2-42, 67- 93,
148- 165)

M

R
...
(Pg 6-7)

O
Survey - One System / One Voice
...
Survey - One System / One Voice
...
onesystemonevoice
...
html
...

P

Y
...
Pathirage, L
...
A
...
Jayawardena1T
...
Rajapaksha Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture
University of Peradeniya

R
Ramon V
...
: A Study in Contrast in Vertical Integration in
the 21st Century
S
Steven Spear and H
...
Spear, Learning to Lead at Toyota, 2004, Harvard Business Review
Y
www
...
com – John shook’s lean transformation model

116
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

Appendix 01 –
Questionnaire for the Management

Guideline for answering this questionnaire;






The participant must answer all the areas of this questionnaire
...

The answers that you state will be held strictly confidential and anonymous
...

For multiple answer circle the most relevant answer that suites you
...
Your Designation 2
...
Number of Years in Service -

Topic Related Details

1
...

b
...

d
...


Fully Disagree
Disagree
Moderately impactful
Agree
Fully Agree

2
...
Fully Disagree
117
Impact of the Team Leader-Group Leader structure on Manufacturing Flexibility at Linea Clothing

b
...
Moderately impactful
d
...
I am competent in my problem solving skills (8 steps , 5 why, pareto, Fishbone);

a
...

c
...

e
...
I am happy about my contribute to standardization of problem solving initiatives

a
...

c
...

e
...
I am happy on the progress of problem solving at my operational area, plant

a
...

c
...

e
...
The Manufacturing structure the management facilitates improves manufacturing flexibility

a
...
Disagree
c
...
Agree
e
...
The Management Support structure set up the TL-GL structure Improves QCO Performance

a
...

c
...


Fully Disagree
Disagree
Moderately impactful
Agree
e
...
Support Structure Set up through the modular manufacturing units improves QCO performance

a
...

c
...


Fully Disagree
Disagree
Moderately impactful
Agree
e
...
Management Involvement through coaching and Teaching/ problem solving improves multiskilling

a
...

c
...


Fully Disagree
Disagree
Moderately impactful
Agree
e
...
The modular manufacturing set up improves multi-skilling

a
...

c
...


Fully Disagree
Disagree
Moderately impactful
Agree
e

---