International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics

Volume 119 No. 17 2018, 2405-2410

ISSN: 1314-3395 (on-line version)
url: http://www.acadpubl.eu/hub/
Special Issue
http://www.acadpubl.eu/hub/

APPLICATION OF KAIZEN METHODOLOGY FOR PROCESS

IMPROVEMENTIN TEXTILE MILL

1
Jaisankar. S, 2Nalini P, 3Dr. P Sathyabalan,
1
Associate Professor, Department of Management, Kumaraguru College of Engineering, Coimbatore,
Tamil Nadu, India,
2
Assistant Professor, Department of Management, Kumaraguru College of Engineering, Coimbatore,
Tamil Nadu, India
3
Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore,
Tamil Nadu, India
1
jaisankar@kctbs.ac.in

problems through KAIZEN methodology and recommend

ABSTRACT optimum solutions that increases the productivity and quality
Organizations today have started incorporating of the production processes.
methodologies for reduction or elimination of wastages in
various forms therebyfocusing on the value adding activities 2. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
for productivity and quality improvement. One of the Primary Objective:
powerful methodologyis through application of Kaizen  To study and improve the production processes by
(Continuous Improvement). The philosophy behind this identifying problems in various sections of
concept is addressing a problem in a systematic manner for organisation by applying KAIZEN methodology.
achieving an incremental improvement. The methodology has
4 stages viz., Plan, Do, Check and Act, (PDCA) that helps to Secondary Objective:
reduce or eliminate the problem identified. This study focuses  To prepare a Kaizen report proposal for the problems
on improvement in the production processes by identifying identified in various sections of the spinning mill.
problems in various sections of organisation and to reduce or
eliminate the problems by applying KAIZEN methodology.
Based on the Kaizen results, suggestions for improvement in 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
the processes were given. Kaizen methodology was adopted for the study.
All the departments in the spinning process were studied
thoroughly and the problems at various stages of the processes KAIZEN (PDCA Cycle)
were identified in each section. Direct interaction with the
employeesand from the middle level and top level managers
helped to identify the problems in the production process.
These problems were addressed through KAIZEN using
PDCA cycle (also known as Deming Wheel) and optimum
solutions were suggested. 3W1H approach was applied for
improvement in the planning stage.

Keywords: Kaizen, PDCA Cycle, Process Improvement,

Textile mill

1. PROBLEM STATEMENT
The purpose of this study is to identify the problems in
various sections of spinning mill, reduce or eliminate the Fig. 1 PDCA Cycle

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Source: American Society for Quality, ASQ, USA through the use of Kaizen philosophy incorporating
methodologies of resource wastage minimization, The Kaizen
According to American Society for Quality, ASQ, the plan– philosophy relies on the distinction between value adding and
do–check–act cycle (Fig.1) is a four–stage model for carrying non-value adding activities, and then the focus on improving
out change. The PDCA cycle (also known as Deming Wheel) the productivity level of problematic areas with a series of
has no end and should be repeated again and .is an iterative incremental steps. To add on to this E. V. Gijoa, Johny
process to be repeated again for continuous improvement for Scariab and Jiju Antony states thousands of small & medium
resolving problems. It is based on the scientific method of scale industries are present in India are facing certain
problem-solving and was popularized by Dr W. Edwards problems resulting in shortage of production and quality
Deming, who is the father of modern quality control. issues and Kaizen technique has tremendous effect on
The PDCA methodology provides a simple and effective operations of a firm, including design, distribution, marketing
approach for solving problems. It promotes improvements on etc. and thus all level of a firm’s management.
a small trail basis before implementing on a company-wide
procedures and work methods. KAIZEN 1: Contamination in Raw Cotton
In general, contamination in raw cotton is one of the major
The first stage Planinvolves identification of the problem, problem faced by spinning mills in fabric form.
collection of data, and understand the root cause of the Contamination makes serious visible effects in fabric. Loss of
problem, develop hypotheses on the issues to be addressed, yarn due to poor qualitylead to increase in input cost for
and decide which one to test. production. It is important to remove the contamination before
The second stage, Dois to develop and implement a solution; going into further processes in blow-room section.
decide the parameters for measurement to compare the
resultson the effectiveness of the measuring parameter, next This is the first section of the spinning mill where the raw
test the trial solution, and measure the results. materials are uniformly spread on the hopper feeder lattice
The third stage Checkinvolves confirming the results obtained and ensures the elimination of foreign matters such as iron
through trials and to ensuring the effectiveness of the result, hoops, stones or coloured materials etc.
and to decide whether the hypothesis is proved or not.
At the final fourth stage Act involves documenting the results
arrived, informingthe process changes to respective KAIZEN 1 Objectives
authorities, and making recommendations to implement it if  The Kaizen 1 objective is to remove the foreign
the solution was found successful. If not, repeat the PDCA materials from the cotton before feeding into the
cycle form stage 1. machine.
 To identify the problems and its impact on the yarn
Kaizen generates small improvements as a result of quality and torecommend the organization for
coordinated continuous efforts by all employees. Kaizen elimination of foreign materials.
events bring together a group of process owners and managers
to map out an existing process and identify improvements that ProblemIdentified
are within the scope of the participants.D. Rajenthirakumar, P. Due to contamination in raw cotton, there were serious issues
R. Thyla (2010) in his study states that the tool kaizen is that affects the quality of yarn. Some of the implications are
applied as a way to progress toward lean manufacturing and as shown in Table 1.
a formula to lead the activities of improvement. It has been
increasingly adopted as a potential solution for many S.No. Contamination Problem
organizations, significant increase in quality and productivity
is confirmed and the production flow can be smoothened by 1 Strings/ Fabrics of Increased end breakage
elimination of several non-value added activities.One of the jute rate at winding.
most notable features of Kaizen is that big results come from 2 Seed coats More wastage at
many small changes accumulated over time. spinning poor yarn.
A study conducted by Swapnil T. Firake, Dr. Kedar 3 Plastic wrappers/ Damage to machinery
H. Inamdar (2014)emphasizes the importance to identify the stones parts.
steps required to assess the stages of companies toward the 4 Human hair Increased end breaks at
Lean Production system. Kaizen improvements and 5S are the ring rotor, Poor
two lean tools that are taken into consideration for yarn/fabric appearance.
improvements.In fact, kaizen means everyone involved in Table 1: Kaizen 1 Problems and implications
making improvements. While the majority of changes may be
small, the greatest impact may be kaizen that are led by senior 13 tonof cotton are fed into the machineper day. 500gm to
management as transformational projects, or by cross- 650gm of wastage were found per shift. In total, 1950 gm of
functional teams as kaizen events.Ilham Kissani, Yazid wastage were removed every day inthree shifts.
Chlyah (2016)in their study found that many business 650g of wastage per shift.
organizations have started achieved quality improvement For 3 shifts= 1950g of wastage

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% waste= 1950/13000000= 0.00015. i.e., 0.015%. was compared with before and after implementation and the
waste materials found in the cotton has been reduced.
Plan: 3W1H Approach Applying the Kaizen methodology, the wastage was reduced
What? Contamination in the raw cotton. from 1950grams to 800grams. Therefore, the wastage
When? The problem occurs before the spinning process i.e in percentage at present is 6.15%.
the blow room section. 800grams of wastage for 3 shifts.
Why? Improper manual checking before spinning process. i.e., 800/13000000= 0.0000615.
How? Since cotton is picked manually, human hair, 0.006% of wastage was found after implementing the given
contamination caused by cloth pieces and [4]Irfan Ahmed suggestions.
Mohammed Saleem, Dr. S. Jaisankar (2018) A fabric sheets
are the biggest source of contamination.

Fig.2 Segregation process after Kaizen 1

ACT:The solution resulted in good improvement, the

Fig: 2 Cotton with foreign materials
suggestionwas implemented from the first stage of the input
process in blow-room section.With the given solution, the
The waste particles found in the cotton. The colour of the
percentage of wastage was reduced from 0.015% to 0.006%.
cotton indicate impure cotton.
KAIZEN 2: Unbalanced raw cotton feed
DO:Develop and implement a solution. The possible
There is animbalance between quantity of raw cotton
suggestions were given for the problem identified.
supplied for processing and the machine capacity in blow-
room.
S.No. Contamination Problem Improvement
1 Strings/fabrics Increased Avoid use of Problem Identified
of jute end hessian. Use This problem occurs in the blow room section while feeding
breakage of cotton the raw cotton to the machine.
rate at cloth. Shortage of material occurs when the machine runs at 115 rpm
winding. instead of 110 rpm.Hence the machine works 23 hours in a
2 Seed coats Increased Pre cleaner at dayresulting in shortage of material for remaining one hour.
wastage at ginning.
spinning KAIZEN 2 OBJECTIVES
poor yarn. 1. The objective is to maximize the machine utility.
3 Plastic Damaged to Better 2. To balance the machine capacity and supply feed.
wrappers/ machinery housekeeping.
stones parts. S.No. PROBLEM IMPACT
4 Human hair Increased Use of caps, 1 Machine runs at high speed Machine utilization
end breaks at education/ than usual speed. is reduced.
ring rotor, training. 2 High load in the machine. Damage to
Poor machinery parts,
yarn/fabric demand for cotton.
appearance.
Table 3: Kaizen 2 Problems and implications
Table 2: Kaizen 1 improvements
PLAN: 3W1H Approach
CHECK:Once the implementation has been started, the What? Material demand and Machine capacity imbalance
performance of the solution is tracked over time. The problem

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When? When the contamination in the cotton is removed, it is between the roller increases or decreases, there will be
then fed into the machine for carding process. The machine deviation in the weight of the yarn which the quality.
must be loaded according to its capacity. If it is loaded more
than that, there arises a problem. [5]Manikanda Prasath K., The problem was identified in carding section. There are
Balaji M(2017) totally 20 machines in the carding section. In that, problem
Why? When employees try to reduce their work pressure. occurrence in machine 9.
How? When employees operate the machine at high speed, the
machine utilization is reduced and the manpower is wasted. KAIZEN 3 Objectives
1. The primary objective is to produce yarn of good
DO:Develop and implement a solution. The possible quality without deviation in the weight per meter.
suggestions were given for the problem identified. 2. To continuously check the machine and the clearance
between the roller.
S.No. PROBLEM IMPACT IMPROVEMENTS
1 Machine runs Machine Daily production PROBLEM IDENTIFIED
at high speed utilization increases so that Carding is one of the most important operations in the
than usual is reduced. machine will be spinning process as it directly determines the final features of
speed. running for 24 hours. the yarn. Some of the effects that occurs due to low
2 High load in Damage to Physical checking by maintenance in this section are:
the machine. machinery the quality  Sliver variation problem
parts, department.  Loss in yarn strength
demand for Sensor for the  Thickness of the yarn will be high and it is difficult
cotton. capacity. for the machine to cut the yarn in spinning process.
Table 4: Kaizen 2improvements  Uneven sliver which causes higher breakage.

Installation of a sensor that detects if the machine is loaded or With manual checking, the deviation in the strength of yarn
not i.e., “yes” or “no” sensorthat sense the capacity of the after carding process occurred on an average5 times in a week
machine and indicate if the machine is loaded high. (includes all 3 shifts). [3] Prajoona Valsalan and 2O. Shibi
(2017)That is 6 yards of fibre weighs more 27grams say 27.4,
CHECK:Once the implementation has been started, the 27.3 grams.
performance of the solution is tracked over time. The problem
is compared before and after implementation. With the help of
provided suggestions, the waste materials found in the cotton PLAN: 3W1H Approach
has been reduced. What? The inward and outward flow of cotton.
 Physical checking by the quality department to check When? After the blow room, the cotton are fed into carding
the machine capacity has been successfully machine. During the process, the gap between the machine
implemented in the organization. roller increases or decreases.
 When the daily production increases, there occurs a Why? Improper maintenance
problem of high productivity and storage. How? Due to overlapping of roller, closer setting and machine
depreciation.
ACT:If the solutions give good improvement, the suggestions
are implemented or else the PDCA cycle is carried out from DO:Develop and implement a solution. The possible
beginning with different solution.With the given suggestions, suggestions were given for the problem identified. High sliver
the heavy load in the machine has been reduced with regular variation problem may also be due to maintenance problem.
checking. The idea of installation of the sensor has been taken So high concentration on maintenance is required. If
to the higher officials for the approval. maintenance of machine is there, more efficiency and better
quality will be achieved. Routine maintenance schedule was
KAIZEN 3: Deviation in Yarn Weight changed. Number of days for checking is reduced from 30
days to 25 days for machine 9.
Inward and outward flow of cotton is the major problem that
occurs in the carding section. The inward flow of cotton CHECK:Once the implementation has been started, the
depends on the pipeline pressure and the outward flow of performance of the solution is tracked over time. The problem
cotton determines the quality and strength of fibre. The quality is compared before and after implementation. With the help of
of the yarn is calculated by weight per meter calculation. i.e., provided suggestions, the yarn is checked with weight per
6 yard of fibre should weigh 27 grams.This is achieved by meter calculation. The deviation in the strength of the yarn has
checking the clearance between the roller in the machine. The been minimized from 5 to 3 times a week including all 3
gap between the roller should be 0.3cm i.e., 3mm. If the gap shifts.

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[3] Prajoona Valsalan and 2O. Shibi,” Analysis of

Submicron Adder Circuits”, International Journal of
Pure and Applied Mathematics (IJPAM), Volume
117 No. 7, 2017.

[4] Irfan Ahmed Mohammed Saleem, Dr. S. Jaisankar A

Study On Kaizen Based Soft-Computing In Electric
Vehicle Manufacturing Processes, International
Journal Of Innovations In ScientificAnd
EngineeringResearch, Volume5,no5,.2018.

[5] Manikanda Prasath K., Balaji M., “A green supply

chain agility index for e- commerce business: an
indian perspective using interpretive structural
modeling,”,”journal of advanced research in
dynamical and control systems”, volume 9.,no6
,2017
Fig 3. After Kaizen 2 implementation
[6] Rajenthirakumar D, Thyla PR, Transformation to
ACT:Recommendations were implemented and was carried lean manufacturing by an automotive component
out from the beginning of the process.With the given manufacturing company, International Journal of
suggestions, the deviation in the strength of the cotton was lean thinking, 2011
reduced from 5 times to 3 times in a week in all 3 shifts.
[7] Swapnil T. Firake, Dr. Kedar H. Inamdar,
Productivity improvement of automotive industry
4.CONCLUSION using LeanManufacturing, International Journal of
Three Kaizen improvementattempts were made in the Science, Engineering and Technology, Vol.2, 2014
production process of the spinning mill. Problems identified in
two sections viz., Blow-room and Carding of the textile mill [8] http://asq.org/learn-about-quality/project-planning-
and the problems were solved successfully by applying the tools/overview/pdca-cycle.html
Kaizen methodology. Incremental improvements in all the
three processwere achievedthat saved production costs to the
organisation. It was understood that small improvements [9] http://theleanway.net/the-continuous-
collectively will contributefor significant changes in
improvement-cycle-pdca
improvement in process quality and productivity. It is
concludedthat application of Kaizen method across
organisation will lead tosmall improvements resulting in
[10] https://www.ibef.org/industry/textiles.aspx
productivity improvement.
[11] http://www.indiantextilemagazine.in/tag/indian-
5.REFERENCES spinning-industry

[1] Gijoa E V, Johny Scariab and Jiju

Antony,Application of Six Sigma Methodology to
Reduce Defects of a Grinding Process, Quality and
Reliability Engineering International, John Willey &
Sons Ltd., 2011

[2] Ilham Kissani, Yazid Chlyah, Improvement of the

Production Process via Kaizen: Case Study of A
Wiring Company, International Conference on
Industrial Engineering and Operations Management,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 8-10, 2016

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