Development of a customizable production line layout planning system for Sri Lankan fast fashion apparel industry

Abstract

Fast fashion apparel industry is having a significant growth in international markets. Frequent fluctuation of customer demand with smaller batch quantities and, short lead-times, are the key characteristics of fast fashion apparel products. Main target markets of Sri Lankan ready-made apparel industry are rapidly adapting the fast fashion strategy. In order to retain and attract the customers of Sri Lankan ready-made apparel industry, it is essential to address the frequent problems related with fast fashion apparels. This research addresses the increased changeover cost related with production line layouts, which is the major problem in terms of fast fashion apparels. The developed production layout planning system uses dynamic cellular manufacturing concept as the basis. A comprehensive literature review, case study on a selected factory, and questionnaires were used to determine the essential features included in the developed system. The developed system consists of two mathematical models, an algorithm and a computer program to determine the optimum layout solutions that minimize the costs of machine set-ups, machine relocations, material handling, and workload balancing. The developed system is validated using case studies conducted in five apparel manufacturing factories that are currently producing fast fashion apparels. According to the validation results, the developed system is capable of achieving significant cost saving percentages compared to current state in the selected factories.