OVERTIME & CONGENIALITY AT WORK Challenges & Remedies Over Time have become common phenomenon in Orient Craft. It ought to be minimized as it disrupts the work-life balance, no matter how menial or sophisticated the work is.

2015

Rajesh Kumar Orient Craft

4/5/2015

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PREFACE

This is my assiduous study on over time problems in D3, Orient craft ,Noida for the

period of 6 months. All reference taken has duly acknowledged. This is self-assigned

work on basic over time reduction and creating holistic working environment. As you

will read you will find this obvious work nature of the old industry. Some may find this

as my creation of utopian work environment, but I will request you not to be

conclusive here without introspection. I don’t expect sudden change but I do hope for

daily diminutive change.

Quoting the Mahatma Gandhi”Be the change you want to see”.

The important point I have mentioned in this document on over time reduction is

critical, but once this being adopted then it can be very productive. Time is today’s

parody when it is less valuable than money; unfortunately it is inconvenient truth in

today’s world when time is valuable for richer and cheap for proletariat.

Nevertheless the driving force here is money; keeping this in mind the management

should enforce the regulation which compensates all the needs without any loss.

Making the factory more organized will automatically reduce the burdensome on

factory, thus bettering the man-machine ratio. As you will read further you will know

the basic paradigm shift in thought process. You might even go for some debate or

equivocally circumscribing it, one thing for sure if you follow some of the point below

you will be astounded with the results within a year, just need firmness in

determination. The other suggestion which seems to be obvious but I have

mentioned like LED lights, PNG, digital thread winder etc. I hope you will love this.

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OVER TIME IN FINISHING DEPARTMENT

The following data analysis is done on the finishing department only. Setting up the

benchmark is purely dependent upon the executive level management. Here I have

taken 75% benchmark from the target.

There are other loopholes which remain un-noticed for long period thus results in

over-time. OT is inevitable. In early 2006 the conditions were more drastic,

compromising the quality. Every month 4 lakhs pieces were packed.

Now with standardization and buyer requirements the quality is paramount in the

industry.

Now as we can see from the data of November total 2, 45,768 are packed.

The buyer has to meet the takt time so it becomes great responsibility for

manufacturers to meet the demand.

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Finishing and Packaging is very important department in factory because it only

decides the final fate of the shipment. It has to undergo through rigorous pressure

for final shipment. It has to ensure quality and quantity equally.

What we are losing here is co-ordination between each department, if one fails to

deliver then it affects others too just like dominos effect.

Major issues:

Tag and trims is unavailable.

Poly bag is unavailable.

Delay in washing.

The re-work (especially in embroidery section).

Touching issues due to distortion of the warp or weft yarn of the fabric.

Poor Dyeing

Dimension Stability of the fabric:

This is the major issue which disrupts the measurement of the garment. The issue

remain unbeknownst to all until the bulk of the garment arrives in Finishing. This

issue is more prevalent in the garment with embellishment. For example in

American eagle Style number #9570 was conflation of 2 problems. One was re-

work (embellishment putting), so piece rate workers (Atta Workers) were called

upon. The other problem was measurement.

Only solution remains right shrinkage testing of the fabric in lab. There should be

another test after embellishing sample to minimize the differences and re-construct

the pattern accordingly.

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ISHIKAWA DIAGRAM FOR PROBLEM ANALYSIS

Over use of chemicals for spotting:

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As far as some buyer requirement is concerned there should not be use of spotting,

but this has become common culture in Orient Craft. From Initial checkers, Final

Checkers to Re-Final checkers and of course spotter, almost everyone use the

spotting machine. Over use of this chemical weakens the fabric surface (distorting

the warp and weft due to coercive force of spotter). It also affects the health of the

person.

Why Spotting is common? To answer that we should go back to Production floor;

where operators, line in-charge are busy in achieving production but neglecting the

oil dripping from machine. Before closing a production line the operator should

needle punch with fabric to avoid any such catastrophic spills on fabric part while

sewing. This should be made compulsory. Needless to say before starting the

production each operator should clean their machine.

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Standard Operation Procedure not followed consistently.

The entire SOP fails like blocking the aisle with bags of garments, non-filling or

wrong filling of the report.

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DATA ANALYSIS:

COMPARISON OT vs W.H Finishing

Over Time (OT)

Working Hours(W.H)

OT Target 108972

W.H Target 334914

OT Output 66738

W.H Output 179030

OT Efficiency 61.24% W.H Efficiency 53.46%

Table 1

Normal Working Hours starts from 9:00 to 17:45 with 30 minutes of lunch and 15

minutes tea break. Overtime starts from 18:00 hours onwards. As per company’s

policy OT pay is twice that of Normal working hours. This over time can go till 18:00

to 21:00 (1-3 hours) or 2:00 HRS (7 hours) or till 6:00 HRS (11 hours).

Comparing Over Time with Working Hours we find that OT has little better efficiency

than normal working hours in the month of November in Finishing. This is generally

because that limited man power stays for over time. The other factor such as power

consumption increases with time.

The above data suggests that due to late night work the workers could not work

effectively in morning working hours. The lack of enough sleep disturbs the biological

paradigm of the workers. The severe inconsistency in the timing of overtime which

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can be three, seven or even eleven hours leads to difficulties in acclimatization of the

routine.

The pressman and other few workers are hired by the company for the second shift,

in order to meet the manufacturing demand so this has greatly improved the over

time efficiency but at extra cost.

There is another idea to replace the entire work force in second shift work. The

working hours should be divided into two shifts with different work force. The

morning workers will be working 8 hours and they will be more productive.

Setting up the Benchmark:

BENCHMARK 75% for A in W.H

TOTAL TARGET(IN W.H) 180567

WITH DESIRED 75% 135425

ACTUAL OUTPUT(W.H + OT) 123674

Table 2

BENCHMARK 75% for B in W.H

TOTAL TARGET(IN W.H) 154347

WITH DESIRED 75% 115760

ACTUAL OUTPUT(W.H + OT) 122094

Table 3

There should be a benchmark for each finishing department. Like here 75% is being

taken from the working hour target which suggests that there is little or no need for

the overtime given that this 75% target is achieved at first place.

So is it possible to break this jinx of overtime? Before 1950 nobody believed that any

human can run a mile within four minutes, Roger Bannister made this happen in

1954. Nobody believed of climbing the Mt. Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa

Tenzing Norgay broke this myth.

Overtime is inevitable, but it can be reduced.

General Working Process in Finishing:

1) Full Pressing

2) Initial Check

3) Spotting

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4) Machine Alteration

5) Hand Alteration

6) Thread Cutting

7) Final Check

8) Re-Press

9) Measurement

10) Re-Final Check

11) Tag

12) Trim Check

13) Folding

14) Poly bag & Seal

The checker report is compiled by operator himself every hour where he will state

total piece checked, total pass piece and amount of alteration. The Initial check,

Final Check and Re-Final Check Report are like juncture point where whole finishing

process can be greatly analyzed.

Here is from the Finishing ‘B’ data analysis from Line no.3 which will reveal

interesting fact on alteration % and its impact. For the date 17.02.2015 : Working

Time (8 hours).

Initial Check:

Checker Name Piece Checked Pass Piece Alter Alter Percentage

Rajesh Dubey 228 186 42 18.42%

Bhavesh 217 180 37 17.05%

Bablu 232 192 40 17.24%

Jitendra Thakur 248 207 41 16.5%

Mukesh Kumar 244 203 41 16.8%

TOTAL 1169 968 201 17.19%

Table 4

Final Check

Checker Name Piece Checked Pass Piece Alter Alter Percentage

Vinay 352 330 22 6.25%

Ashok Mandal 286 251 35 12.23%

TOTAL 638 581 57 8.93%

Table 5

Re-Final Check:

Checker Name Piece Checked Pass Piece Alter Alter Percentage

Pratap 670 657 13 1.94%

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TOTAL 670 657 13 1.94%

Table 6

The above data clearly shows that at initial checking the alteration percentage is

17.19%. The 5 checker is being used for passing of the 968 piece.

In Final Check Alteration Percentage is reduced drastically to 8.93%. The 2 Checker

were able to pass 638 pieces. At Re-Final stage Alter percentage was reduced to

1.94%.

Here is line no. 3 data of 17th February, 2015. Man power = 33.

17 Feb, 2015 Working Hours(8 hrs)

Over Time(7 hours)

Aggregate

Target 1419 1242 2661

Required Productivity

43 37.6 40.3

Output 800 500 1300

Efficiency 56% 40% 49%

Achieved Productivity

24.24 15.15 19.69

Table 7

The above data shows that Efficiency and achieved productivity of the line number 3

reduced greatly. This reduction led to overall impact on the aggregate value. This

clearly suggests that after 8 hours of work there is clear slacking of output in over

time. To make this point more affirmative let’s look at the data of the same line on

day before i.e. 16th February, 2015. Man Power = 30

16 Feb, 2015 Working Hours(8 hrs)

Over Time(7 hours)

Aggregate

Target 1290 1129 2419

Required Productivity

43 37.6 40.3

Output 770 500 1270

Efficiency 60% 44% 53%

Achieved Productivity

25.6 16.66 21.16

Table 8

Here again there was over time of 7 hours and the output was almost same which is

surprising because day before this day was Sunday 15th Feb (rest day).

The question arises that did over time really have good impact on the work

performance? At least this micro study for line no. 3 negates any such speculation.

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There is clearly wide disparity in Required Productivity and Achieved Productivity.

This shows that a long hour of work isn’t helping the worker’s well being and the

output level.

We can infer few points from above Table 4 5 and 6 that alteration percentage is

reduced in finishing itself through Hand alter, Machine, Spotting or Mending. Looking

at the alteration percentage from initial to re-final we find that at least 138 pieces

more should have passed given the man power capacity of 33. This is clearly

unnecessary piling of the work.

BENCHMARK 75% for in Working Hours(17th Feb)

TOTAL TARGET(IN W.H) 1419

WITH DESIRED 75% 1064

ACTUAL OUTPUT(W.H +OT) [8+7 HRS] 1300

WITH DESIRED 75% (W.H+OT) [8+2 HRS] 1419

Table 9

Here we can see that 7 hours Over Time was un-necessary for the achieved output.

Clearly extra 5 hours output is asking too much from the workers. The same could

have been achieved if with only 10 hours of work.

This is just a little sample. Over time has become imperative for the workers. It pays

twice the amount of normal working hours. The driving force is of course extra

money. Even though company may not loose enough money due to Over Time but

they are surely creating un-holistic working environment.

The lack of enough sleep deters the human ability to function well. This can result

into serious fumble which can jeopardize the quality of the work.

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Bottom Seam unravelled missed by the initial checker

These are only few errors which I have covered. There are many daily quality

problems occurring due to negligence.

From the paper of John Pencavel “THE PRODUCTIVITY of Working Hours”

A new study by John Pencavel of Stanford University, also shows that reducing

working hours can be good for productivity.

Economists have suspected for some time that longer work hours could eat into

productivity. John Hicks, a British economist, reckoned that “probably it has never

entered the heads of most employers that hours could be shortened and output

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maintained.” Hicks reasoned that with longer hours, output per hour would fall. As

workers slaved away for longer and longer, they would lose energy, which would

make them less productive.

Mr Pencavel looks at an unusual data set: research undertaken by investigators of

the British “Health of Munition Workers Committee” (HMWC) during the first world

war. Britain was desperate to maximise productivity, given the almost insatiable

demand for weapons and ammunition. HMWC had to provide the government with

advice regarding the health and efficiency of workers in munitions plants: how could

productivity be maximised? As part of its investigations, the Committee

commissioned studies within munitions factories into the link between work hours

and work performance.

It concluded, after much investigation, that British munitions workers needed shorter

hours. Mr Pencavel analyses at the data collected by the committee and sees if their

calculations were up-to-scratch.

The researchers collected a huge amount of data (most of it on women, who

dominated the munitions industries). It was easy to measure hours worked. It was

also pretty straightforward to measure output, since lots of the workers were paid on

a piece-rate basis. Mr Pencavel crunches the data and concludes that there was a

“non-linear” relationship between working hours and output. Below 49 weekly hours,

variations in output are proportional to variations in hours. But when people worked

more than about 50 hours, output rose at a decreasing rate. In other words, output

per hour started to fall (in the jargon, “the marginal product of hours is a constant

until the knot at [about 50] hours after which it declines”).

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Further Suggestion:

The Over Time disrupts the work-life balance, especially when the job is

monotonous. Proper gap of time should be given to balance the work cycle.

The reason workers willingly work in overtime is clearly for extra money. So this

proves that their basic pay is not good enough. Majority of the workers live near

factory in Mamura. This gives the reason why they are able to work for long hours.

Hourly salary of Helper is Rs 37.5

The daily salary is Rs. 300

The Monthly Salary Rs 7800

Let say, with daily over time of average 5 hours

Total OTs Hours in a month = 26 x 5=130 hours

OTs Hourly Salary = Rs 75

Monthly Salary in OTs = Rs 9750

Therefore, Total Salary for the month = Rs. 17550

Note: This is just an example considering the monthly OT 130 hours for an individual

worker. The government policy clearly states that maximum OT hour per year should

not exceed by 200 hours.

This is more than most of the staff. The power consumption is yet another matter of

concern.

If the minimum wage of the workers is raised by 10-30% then this over time problem

can be reduced greatly. This social experiment should be conducted delicately to

achieve the work flow. This can only happen when a habit of good work life is

created. Doing the work for 15 hours was never the habit at first place in every

human’s life. They were only able to acclimatize. If this is possible then why not

regular 8 hour shift. This will improve the socio-economical equilibrium and human

development Index (HDI).

To balance the Assets and Liabilities certain un-necessary elements should be

eliminated. Over Staffing is yet another challenge here. The factory clearly exceeds

the Man Machine ratio. There are around 800-900 running machine and more than

2700 workers. The Man machine ratio is 3.2:1 which is beyond standard norms of

2.54:1.

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LED LIGHT

Replace the fluorescent tube light with Light Emitting Diode (LED).

Switching to LED lights in factories not only saves energy, it boosts productivity and

increases profits, a new study shows.

Current Tube light used in Factory.

Tube light Power = 36 watts which gives Brightness with 2450 lumen.

For 8 working hours tube light will consume = 36 x 8 watt hours

= 288 WH

Convert this unit into standard KWh = 288/ 1000 KWH

= 0.288 KWH

Currently price per unit is = Rs 7 per KWh

So price for 1 fluorescent tube light for 8 working hours = 0.288 x 7

= Rs 2.016

Now take one LED

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Power = 20 watts with brightness with 2100 lumen.

For 8 working hours LED will consume = 20 x 8 watt hours

= 160 WH

Convert this unit into standard KWh = 160 / 1000 KWH

= 0.16 KWH

Currently price per unit is = Rs 7 per KWh

So price for 1 fluorescent tube light for 8 working hours = 0.16 x 7

= Rs 1.12

Difference = Rs 2.016 – 1.12

= Rs 0.896 can be saved

In Both Finishing A and B we have 500 Tube Light. If we replace this by 500 LED

then daily 8 working hours saved amount will be = Rs 0.896 x 500

= Rs 448

Amount saved in 26 working days will be = Rs 448 x 26

= Rs 11648

Amount saved in a year = Rs 139776

Another advantage of LED is that it helps to keep factory cooler. When

workers are more comfortable, they produce more and are less likely to be

absent. This has been proven in a study on 25 garment factories in Bangalore

from 2010-2013.

Heat stress stops the body’s capacity to exert, so workers are less able to

complete the target. Due to climate change, finding ways to keep factories

cooler will become increasingly challenging in Delhi NCR region especially

during summer time.

Overall the Profit margin will be maintained with this simple measure.

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Replace the diesel fuel with PNG for Boiler Room.

This is another way to meet the standard of Green Factory.

At Present diesel as a fuel is being used in D3 Unit of Orient Craft for running the

boiler room.

Hourly Diesel consumption = 35 litre

Price of Diesel= Rs 46 per litre

PNG Price at present in Delhi NCR

Rs. 27.30 for consumption up to 36 scm in 60 days (scm is standard cubic metre)

Rs. 48.75 per scm for consumption above 36 scm in 60 days

1 scm = 1 cubic metre @ standard atmospheric pressure and temperature

1 cubic metre = 1 litre

Energy density of Diesel Fuel by Volume = 10,700 Wh/L

Energy density of PNG = 7216 Wh/L

Where Wh is Watt hour and L is Litre

Clearly for the same volume of fuel Energy density of Diesel will be more than that of

PNG.

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Hourly Diesel consumption per Boiler is = 35 Litre

Energy generated by 35 Litre is = 35 x 10700 Wh

= 374500 Wh

So, the quantity of PNG for burning same amount of energy = 374500/7216 L

= 51.89 L

As per the Delhi NCR price of PNG the for 1 scm of PNG = Rs 48.75

1 scm can be denoted as 1 cubic metre @ standard atmospheric pressure and

temperature

1 L of PNG cost = Rs 48.75

51.89 L will cost = Rs 48.75 x 51.89

= Rs 2529.63 [Rounded to Rs 2530]

Same 35 L diesel fuel burning same amount of energy will cost = Rs 35 x 46

= Rs 1610

PNG and Diesel Differ by Rs (2530 -1610) = Rs. 910

Ignoring the other externalities and this price PNG is better option. Below are the

benefits of PNG.

Benefits of Pipeline Natural Gas

Uninterrupted Supply: PNG is being supplied through pipe 24X 7. PNG offers the

convenience of ensuring continuous and adequate supply of PNG at all times,

without any problems of storing gas in cylinders.

Convenience: Since the supply of PNG is continuous. Further there is no storage

space required. In case of Commercial and Industrial consumption, the customer is

relieved from storage space for the fuel and fuel inventory management as they don’t

need to monitor the fuel stock and material handling.

Safety: Natural Gas is a safe fuel. In case of leakage, NG being lighter than air

disperses in the air.

Economy: PNG is economical to LPG and any other liquid fuels. Further in the case

of PNG, billing is normally after a cycle of fortnightly /monthly /quarterly after the use

by the consumer whereas the consumers pay upfront for any other fuel used by

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them. Thus there is savings on account of release of working capital for the

commercial and industrial sector and deferment of expenses for the domestic sector.

Eco friendly fuel: PNG is one of the cleanest burning fuels, and helps improve the

quality of air. When natural gas burns completely, it gives out carbon dioxide and

water vapour. These are the very components that we give out while breathing!

Briquettes Boiler:

It is cheaper than diesel and PNG. Briquettes are manufactured from Bagasse which

is residue of sugar cane after sugar extraction. The Bagasse is dried in the sun and

extruded, this compaction gives bulk density up to 1100 Kg/m3. Being cellulosic in

nature briquettes can easily burn without forming a clinker. It can easily substitute

the diesel with an equivalent ratio of 2.7: 1 Kg/litre on the basis of calorific value.

This usually results in saving of more than 60% in operating cost.

Digital Thread Coning:

Non-digital thread winder

Conventional machine can’t provide the precision of thread length

requirement.

Since I.E Department works on accuracy, thread consumption is no

exception.

It needs to be replaced with digital thread coning.

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DIGITAL THREAD WINDER

Exact winding of thread from one cone to another.

Small and compact - uses little power.

Profitable any size factory

Saves thousand of rupees annually.

Excel Format for recording thread coning

THREAD CONING CHALLAN

S.NO. NAME DEPT. MAIN CONE COLOR RE-CONE(unit) SIGN.

1 ABC SAMPLING 2 BLACK 2 A

2 XYZ MERCHANDISE 3 WHITE 6 X

3 RVK IE 1 TEAL 7 R

TOTAL 6 15

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Human Development Index (HDI)

As per the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) report India ranked 135

with 0.586 just closer to Bangladesh ranking 142 with 0.558.Sri-Lanka- the hub of

garment factories ranking 73 with HDI rating of 0.750.The development of country is

only possible when individual development is attained. There are 3 criteria in HDI

which fulfils the development criteria.

1) Health or Life expectancy Index

2) Education Index

3) Income Index

Directly company can help its workers by raising income. This will not be enough as

other factors will be compromised. To understand the whole scenario once we have

to delve into Dan Pink ted talk on “Puzzle of Motivation”. It is traditional concept that

in order motivate a person you ought to raise the money by giving incentives, bonus,

and commission or even over-time bonus. This form of money is like bait once you

get into it you will gain something but loose the time. This is a fleeting motivation, it

comes and goes. Where there is cognitive skill required to perform a task there

money as a motivation fails whereas money act as a motivational source for labour

work. This is a reason why double over time, incentives are successful in Garment

manufacturing unit for both workers and staffs.

Dan pink said in his TED talk that three things which matter most for any individual

for performing his duty they are:

a) Autonomy

b) Mastery

c) Purpose

Autonomy means giving full-fledged control over particular work. There is a lack of

this quality due to frequent interruption. This slows down the working process.

Mastery is something which takes years of experience in particular task repetitively.

The workers will attain the mastery in their work. Not to forget that work is

sectionalised in many parts. Mastery is achieved through proper channelled training

program.

Purpose can only be realized with big goal set. This can only be enhanced with clear

objectives. For example; Regular meetings and motivational sessions between

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manager, supervisors and workers repetitively reminding the workers about

importance of the producing garment, a sense of purpose meeting the expectation

level. The human have greater proclivity of deviating from the set target, the reason

can be reclusiveness, monotonous work nature, personal problem or even conflation

of all. This badly affects the achieved productivity. Sometimes too much intervention

from the manager and supervisors disturbs the working culture. So monthly basis

one motivational session is must for every individual in factory. The daily meditation

or prayer session prior to production will be helpful in meeting the right momentum

and expectation level. So if the production starts from 9:00 am morning so 8:45 am

prayer should start without delaying the production time. This prayer session is not

merely for an individual but for whole team progress as well.

INCENTIVES FOR THE OPERATORS

There is further argument on increasing the salary of the workers to at least 12-15

thousand per months. This seems bit more innocuous to some extent only caveat

point is willingness to achieve the target (to surpass the margin) by the operators.

The whole point of discussion is to increase the productivity and reduce the over

time. To explain this case let us take one instance from the OB.

STYLE # 94032

DRESS DESC. SHIRT

BUYER MACY’S

MACHINE SAM 28.94

MACHINE USED 47

PRODUCTIVITY 16.59

TARGET EFFICIENCY 100%

TARGET PER 8 HOURS 776

HOURLY TARGET 97

i) Setting the individual operators target will ascertain them to achieve the

target. After achieving the target before the time period the piece

completion should be based upon piece rate within the working 8 hours.

So if a line target was 776 in 8 hours and with cohesive team effort they

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were able to achieve the 776 in 7 hours only then extra left 1 hour should

be based on piece rate.

ii) The other option is to distribute the incentives for an individual effort. This

will deter the over time to some extent.

The garment industry is a best example of cooperation game theory where

group of players (in this case operator, supervisors, managers) may enforce

cooperative behaviour; hence the game is a competition between coalitions of

players rather than between individual players. The players choose the strategies

through consensus decision making.

Daily or Weekly based Incentives:

For every day there is a production planning, if any production floor achieve

within a time limit without compromising quality then incentive should be

announced for the particular day for concerned Line. There is no doubt that this

can only be achieved with competitiveness and corporation between the

production floors.

The prime motivational substance here is money. It is a driving force which runs the

production.

Comparing the Labour laws policy of India, China and United States

INDIA CHINA USA

MINIMUM WAGE

(US$/MONTH)

94 182.5 1242.6

MAXIMUM OVER

TIME LIMIT YEAR

200 hours per year 432 hours per year NONE

Premium pay for

Over time

100% 50% 50%

Government

Approval required

for downsizing?

YES NO NO

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Minimum wage of Indian labour is low when comparing to China and USA. The OT

pay policy of India is twice. There are two reasons for this:

i) There is a peak and down season in any manufacturing sector, garment

factory is no exception. The old rigid law of India for downsizing needs

government’s permission which delays the functional processing time in

company. This delay can lead to hiding some information from

government. So company still has to pay its workers even if there is less or

no work at all.

ii) For the record sake if minimum wage of labour is increased considering

the actual total OT hours and comparing with amount of company’s

expenditure. Raising the minimum wage and reducing OT hours by 50%

can greatly influence the working environment. This will at least deter

workers for working in OT hours and same output can be achieved in

normal working hours. The company pays double in over time. This

encourages workers every day to work for long hours. There is thing call

life and work is not only things to do.

For this there is need for highly skilled work force, operators who can work in

tandem. This is possible through improving the training facilities for the operators.

For attaining the mastery in the art of stitching operation strong bench strength ought

to be created by the company considering the at least 18 months in advance.

Moreover if any possible work downtime of work happens (and company still has to

pay their workers) then this downtime can be utilized for training program for the

operators for sharpening their skills.

In factory minimum wage for semi-skilled is Rs 6400 which is around $90-100 twice

that of standard in other sector in India.

The absence of a common minimum wage, labourers in India faces arbitrary and

fluctuating basic wages that are too little to sustain their families.

Factory’s act 1948 section 59 states that a worker works in a factory for more than 9

hours in any day or more than 48 hours in any week, he shall, in respect of overtime

work, are entitled to wages at the rate of twice his original rate of wages. Also a

worker can work only 200 hours overtime per year.

As per ILO convention the night work has negative effect on workers health, the

above ILO convention requires measures for

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i) Protecting workers health

ii) Compensating them appropriately(night work premium)

iii) Providing opportunities for occupational advancement

iv) Ensuring their safety and protecting maternity

Downsizing during downtime

India’s labour law are restrictive in nature and hurt investment in the manufacturing

sector. The Industrial Disputes Act has rigid provisions such as compulsory and prior

government approval in the case of layoffs, retrenchment and closure of industrial

establishments employing more than 100 workers. This clause applies even when

there is a good reason to shut shop, or workers productivity is very low.

Few measures under three circumstances:

There can be 3 measures which company can take to reduce the overtime. The

workers socio-economic well being should be the prime motives secondary as profit.

Both can be achieved if there is total transparency in the work system.

1) Taking contract from the buyer in advance at least 12-18 months in before

with proper planning specifying the order quantity to be manufactured. If a

factory exceeds the order size limit then the exceeded amount order should

be given as per piece rate or contract basis. In short high order quantity more

work so greater stratification of work as per shift to meet the production time.

2) If the further opportunity persists from the executive management level taking

the order as per 2 or 3 running shifts in a factory to fulfil the order completion.

3) Reducing the working hour.ILO does support this move for reducing working

hours. During the great depression, ILO adopted another convention which

called for reduction in working hours(40 hours per week) in a manner so that

wages/living standard of the workers is not affected negatively in

consequence. Reduced working hours are also considered as one of the best

measure to reduce the unemployment in an economy. Every year in India 7

million people seek employment in labour intensive industry. Although

employment elasticity of the garment manufacturing industry is better than

other sector.

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Suggestion for Government:

The government has most important role to play when it comes to policy making and

implementing for the sake of socio-economic well being of labours. Clearly, over time

has bad impact on working culture and individual well being. The labours are one of

the vulnerable sections of the society. It is unfortunate that big manufacturing unit

take advantage of the proletariat. Albeit financially they get more for overtime pay,

but they have to compromise their social and recreational life. According to labours

law in India maximum overtime limitation is 200 hours per year. Here are few things

which government can do.

i) The payment should be hourly basis and per hour minimum Wage law

should be implemented for the Workers, just like other developed

countries like USA and Canada. This can be beneficial for the company as

company saves the when there is no work to do, but it also takes the

chance that another company will hire away its most talented workers.

ii) Every year state government should review inflation rate and minimum

wage and announce the minimum wage at the start of every year. This

automatically translates more savings for the people.

iii) Every year the central and state government should check which sector is

growing which isn’t and do the balancing act.

iv) The law have to have defined minimum wages till senior level jobs as this

will help employers/employees to decide the opportunities. Also it is not

law that the company pay the workers as little as possible. It is a choice

made by executive level manager and owners who want to keep the

highest possible percentage of a company’s wealth for themselves. In

another word it is an act of selfishness.

IMPROVING THE WORKING CONDITION

As per Action Manual Edited by Juan Carlos Hiba improving the working conditions

can increase the productivity. It is natural human unconscious mind set; the place

where clutter is least yields better results.

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Dampness

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CURRENT AISLE IN FACTORY

SUGGESTION:

A night vision reflective paint should be used for showing the proper channelling

of the movement between the aisles. It will be very useful in the time of emergency

especially during night if there is any power cut due to any natural or man-made

calamities like thunder, storm, fire etc.

Reflective paint arrow for emergency

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FINAL WORDS:

To reduce the over time, we have to increase the productivity. This can only

happen when we make working environment more congenial.

This congeniality can only be achieved with combined team effort of workers

and management. A daily 15 minutes meditation session (during tea break)

should be conducted by the employee for the employees. The session should

not only be stress buster but also raising the consciousness level of an

individual.

I personally feel that from the inception this garment manufacturing sector is

being treated inferior to the other sector when it comes to Labour. The people

work here not because it was one of their choices but because they had no

choice. This is one of the reasons why in India we have so many un-organized

sectors (94%unincorporated yielding just 57% of India’s national domestic

products as per 2006 survey). This inferiority and wide disparity can be

assuaged by institutionalizing the sector for operators. Invest more in training

programmes for the skilful operators, creating bench strength thus making

more organized.

The Proper R & D should be seriously conducted. Top of the Production (TOP)

should be made with clarity next Pilot run, getting approval on time then

production should commence.

So my final point is to reduce the overtime hours and increasing the minimum

wage as there is no well defined law in India that company can’t pay their

workers above minimum wage. If the company earns profit due to their

workforce, in unequivocal transparent manner the company should raise the

pay for their workers. This can only happen when comparing all balance sheet

data. India has one of the world’s lowest minimum wage policies. It is no

mystery why India’s senior managers and owners describe the decision to pay

labours as little as possible as a “law of capitalism”- because doing this mask

the fact that they are making a choice.

Concluding this caveat document with Juran’s principle of Quality of ‘doing it

right for the first time’ and minimalist motto “In today’s world less is more”.

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Strong Training program

Strong bench strength

Reducing manpower

Planning done as per capacity of factory

Assiduous R&D on time

Proper cutting of the fabric

Production on time with quality

Daily/weekly incentives

Reducing OT’s hours by 50%

Increase minimum wage

Daily prayers or meditation session for at least 15 minutes for raising consciousness level.

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Reference:

1) Finishing Department D3 Orient Craft, Noida

2) International Labour Organisation

3) From the paper of John Pencavel “THE PRODUCTIVITY of Working

Hours”

4) 1914 survey by Economist John Hicks

5) Amartya Sen work on Human Development Index

6) Government of India

7) Indraprastha Natural Gas

8) Central electrical authority

9) (www.everything2.com)

10) Business Insiders

11) Das Kapital by Karl Marx

12) Cooperation Game Theory

13) Nash Equilibrium by John Nash

14) Dan Pink Puzzle of Motivation TED Talks