Work in Progress

& Line Balancing

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Topics

1. Work in Progress
2. Balancing
3. Reasons of Balancing
4. Balancing: How to Start?
5. Balancing Tools
6. Balancing Matrix

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1. Work in Progress/Process

• Work in process (acronym: WIP) or in-process inventory

includes the set at large of unfinished items for products in
a production process. These items are not yet completed
but either just being fabricated or waiting in a queue for
further processing or in a buffer storage. In manufacturing
WIP stands for something that has been worked on such
that it is no longer viable as raw materials while not yet
sellable as a finished product

• Garment/Parts issued to sewing from cutting and still in

sewing lines are WIP of sewing lines
• Complete parts are only considered as WIP

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1. WIP

• Day1
Starting WIP 200 pieces
Cutting issued to Sewing 5000 Pieces
Output 1000 pieces
WIP 200+5000-1000 = 4200
pieces

• Day 2

Cutting Issued to sewing 5500 pieces

Quality Rejection 100 pieces
Output 2000 pieces
WIP 4200+5500-2000 =7700
pieces

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1. WIP

Front Back

Initial WIP 0 0
Loading 5000 5000
Output 2000 1500
WIP 5000- 5000-
2000=3000 1500=3500

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1. WIP

Front WIP 300

0

Back WIP
300 510 Total WIP
0
0
Assembly WIP
210
0
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1. WIP

• Pocket Hemming=800 Pieces

• Back yoke attach=500 pieces
• Back seat attach=300 pieces
• Back pocket attach=200 pieces
• Total WIP in back section=??

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1. WIP

• WIP is made up of all garments and their parts that are not
completely finished. For example a bundle of shirts that has
everything attached but has no bottom hem.
• We can measure WIP in Units/Pieces or in units of time. For
example, if we know that an operation “A” takes 0.5 minutes per
unit to process and we have 5 bundles of 12 units each then we
have 30 minutes of WIP for that operation (5 X 12 X 0.5).
• In some factories, some operations have days of inventory waiting to
be processed! This is unacceptable for many reasons.

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 High
Inventory/WIP
Inventory Hides Problem

Low WIP forces us to address issues

High
Inventory/WIP

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2. Balancing

• What is a balanced production system?

• System where you meet the production expectations (output)
and find the same amount of work in process at every
operation at any point in the day. To be able to achieve this is
extremely difficult. If we choose to have balanced inventories at
the end of every day that will prove to be a reasonably difficult
challenge.

• How do you keep all operations producing at the same rate?

• This is very difficult since operator’s skills vary. We are able to
balance using multiple operators or Utility operators that “fill
holes” in production.

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3. Reasons for Balancing

Help supervisors undertake regular changes because of :

• Machine break down
• Operator beats target (shortage and excess)
• Absenteeism
• Operator hurt/sick
• Cutting not correct
• Alterations

Benefits of Line Balancing

• Balanced line helps in consistent production
• Keep inventory costs low
• Keeping normal inventory levels lets the operator work all day long giving him/her
the opportunity to increase his/her efficiency
• Keeping the line balanced lets the supervisors improve other areas like quality,
methods improvement etc. because they can use their time better

It is very important that all supervisors put line balancing in their daily
plans
every day.

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4. Balancing- How to start
• Determine how many operators are needed for each operation for
a determined level of production
• Next determine how much WIP we need to anticipate production
problems. We recommend a 1-hour inventory level for each
operation. A good range would be from 30 min to 120 min
inventory level. Any variation outside this range should be
avoided. A variation of this magnitude signifies an unbalanced
line and should be looked into immediately.
•Rules for balancing
• Have at least ½ hour and maximum 2 hours of WIP for each
operation
• Solve problems before they become larger
• Operator should be used in the primary operation/ operation with
maximum capacity
• Shifting should be minimum for 2 hours
•Line supervisors who are directly involved in each line
are most suited to balance their own individual
section/line.
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5. Balancing Tools
•There are a number of tools that can be used for balancing.
These are applied according to the plant’s needs.
•The most basic ones are
• Production Sheets / Gum Sheet
• Inventory levels by operation and bi-hourly production
monitoring
• Production Boards
• Daily sewing report

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5. Bi-Hourly Report

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6. Line Balancing – What to do when?
OUT PUT
HIGH LOW

The Balancing Matrix

Transfer OUT
Transfer IN Transfer IN +
after WIP is
temporarily BBB Follow-up
normal

WIP

Transfer OUT Transfer IN +

No Change
now BBB Follow-up

Transfer OUT to
Transfer OUT to previous operation Transfer IN +
previous Temporarily + Study previous
operation Study previous operation
operation

LOW

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Thank You

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