Simulation based approach to evaluate modular manufacturing system in the apparel industry

The Sri Lankan garment industry needs to become competitive to face the quota-free global challenges, and it is imperative for the garment industry to acquire most appropriate and advanced technology, as well as modern operations management techniques. Many Sri Lankan apparel manufacturing companies are moving towards lean concept, especially into modular manufacturing from traditional line production systems. Recent interactions with local apparel manufacturing companies revealed that most factories could not achieve desired results through modular systems, due to various causes such as resources and capacity issues, operational issues and production strategies and commitment. Furthermore, it appears that many apparel manufactures are uncertain about the outcomes of the modular system with respect to their own situations before implementing in a real system. Therefore, it is very important to compare performance and operational characteristics of the modular system, over the line production systems before adoption of such changes. These changes are costly and time consuming in the real situation, and many manufactures are resistant to these changes, especially while production are running for existing orders. This paper discusses how computer simulation model as a testing ground to show comparison of the production performance in two systems; line and modular, before they are implemented as real systems