1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Surya Nepal Private Limited (SNPL) is an Indo-Nepal-UK joint venture, which started

operations in Nepal in 1986. Surya Nepal is now the largest private sector enterprise in Nepal

and a subsidiary of ITC Limited, India, the balance shares are held by 20 Nepalese individual &

corporate shareholders and British American Tobacco (Investment) Limited, UK.

The company was awarded the prestigious FNCCI National Excellence Award during 2007 for

being the best-managed corporation in Nepal. The company is also the recipient of various

national safety and environmental awards and with our constant focus on systemic work

processes, both our cigarette and garment factories are ISO-9001: 2000 certified.

John Players is the garment initiative of Surya Nepal Ltd. of Nepal. The company commenced

manufacture of garments with leased capacities under the prestigious John Players label, for ITC

Limited, India, in January 2004 with a strategy to quickly overcome the learning curve, build

sustainable competitive advantage and become a significant player globally.

In the quest to achieve the above, Surya Nepal had to invest substantial sums of money in

upgrading infrastructure including plant and machinery. Considerable time and effort was also

spent in the training of manpower, introducing work processes, work aids, and quality systems to

enable production of international quality garments. Appropriate systems in the area of quality,

logistics and finance had to be introduced to enable efficient monitoring and quick decision-

making. Considerable effort was also undertaken in recruitment training and development of

personnel into a well-knit team, which blended with the value culture and ethos of the company.

The vision is clear – “To make the world wear our quality apparel”. The

company’s mission is focused on “creating competitive advantage for its buyers by providing a

superior sourcing solution”. Nepal, being a LDC, enjoys preferential access to numerous markets

including duty-free access to the European Union & Canada.

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Within the first year of commencing operations, our Garments Division has exported more than

one million popular segment “John Players” branded formal shirts and semi-formal trousers to

ITC Limited for sale in India. The garments have been ranked first in the Product Quality Rating

System (ITC’s internal quality evaluation methodology) as against high-end shirts and

competitive products from Bangladesh and India.

John Players - Nepal Market

Surya Nepal launched the fashionable and youthful men's apparel brand, John Players, in

October 2004. John Player is designed keeping in mind the fashion preference of today's youth

and the most contemporary trends. The brand is currently available in over 70 multi-brand

outlets across the country. John Players now enjoys high recognition from both consumers and in

the fashion industry. The brand won the coveted 'Rising Star Brand of the year' award at the 5th

Annual Images Fashion Awards 2005 in India.

John Players provides a complete wardrobe solution for the fashion and quality conscious male

in Nepal. The range includes formal, casual and party wear shirts, formal and casual trousers,

chinos, corduroy jackets and trousers, sweat shirts, trendy tees, jackets, 100% pure merino wool

sweaters, blazers and suit’s. Also available are trendy denims reminiscent of the 70s rock fusion

era.

John Players is a brand that is looked after and monitored by ITC India. It must adhere to the

standards prescribed by ITC regarding its clothing.

The head office of John Players in Nepal is situated in Kantipath, Kathmandu.

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CHAPTER II

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK OF JOHN PLAYERS

Fig 1: Operations Management Framework of John Players

2.1 Operations Management Framework Of John Players

2.1.1 Planning Phase:

The planning phase is the most important phase in the entire operations management

process. The planning phase consists of two parts:

Sales: The sales plan refers to the final plan of sales. It needs to be planed about

how the sales is to be commenced.

Procurement: The sales plan is the basis for the procurement plan. The major plan

of how much quantity required is done in the sales plan and then the plan is given to

the procuring department that deals with the acquirement of that planned quantity.

2.1.2 Procurement:

The sales department gives a certain required goal as to how much needs to be produced.

The required goods are then acquired either by importing or by locally manufacturing.

Import: Importing is done whether for finished products or for raw materials. The

cost is compared as to which one would be costlier or cheaper.

Locally manufactured: Locally manufacturing refers to the conversion of raw

materials of finished goods. The convertors are nominated by close analysis and

selection to meet the required quality standards.

SalesMerchandise

PlanningImport (FG)Locally Manuacture

ProcurementFabricRM

Warehousing

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2.1.3 Warehousing:

The goods are stored in two warehouses, namely: fabric and raw materials. The

company is now planning to combine the two warehouses.

2.1.4 Dispatch:

The goods are then dispatched to the wholesalers who then supply it to the outlets

according to the order placed.

2.2 Garments department of Surya Nepal

Fig 2: Garments Department of Surya Nepal

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2.2.1 Merchandising and procurement:

It refers to the step in Operations where the raw materials for the fabrics are procured. It

contains the following activities:

Maintaining the supply chain

Procurement of finished goods and fabrics

Adhere to the requirements given by the sales plan

Make a procurement plan

Procurement plan is made for trims (containing thread, buttons, fusing etc.) and fabric. It mainly

contains the plan to either import or to locally manufacture.

Under importing, the ratio between finished goods and fabrics is decided.

1. Production and Quality:

Under the production and quality section, the department looks after the following activities:

1.1 Production which is locally manufactured

1.2 Maintain John Players and Springwood quality standards.

1.3 Timely deliver the goods to the market

1.4 Choose the converters; i.e. those who convert the raw materials to finished

products.

CHAPTER III

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INVENTORY MANAGEMENT

Inventory Management is the supervision of supply, storage and accessibility of items in order to

ensure an adequate supply without excessive oversupply.

It can also be referred as internal control - an accounting procedure or system designed to

promote efficiency or assure the implementation of a policy or safeguard assets or avoid fraud

and error etc.

The overseeing and controlling of the ordering, storage and use of components that a company

will use in the production of the items it will sell as well as the overseeing and controlling of

quantities of finished products for sale. A business's inventory is one of its major assets and

represents an investment that is tied up until the item is sold or used in the production of an item

that is sold. It also costs money to store, track and insure inventory. Inventories that are

mismanaged can create significant financial problems for a business, whether the

mismanagement results in an inventory glut or an inventory shortage.

Successful inventory management involves creating a purchasing plan that will ensure that items

are available when they are needed (but that neither too much nor too little is purchased) and

keeping track of existing inventory and its use. Two common inventory-management strategies

are the just-in-time method, where companies plan to receive items as they are needed rather

than maintaining high inventory levels, and materials requirement planning, which schedules

material deliveries based on sales forecasts.

3.1 Inventory Management in John Players:

3.1.1 Warehousing:

The warehouse of John Players are divided into two parts; namely: Fabric and Raw

materials.

In fabric warehouse, the finished clothing are stored.

In raw material warehouse, garments, trims, fusions and buttons are stored

John Players is planning to combine these two warehouses into one so as to increase

mobility and reduce costs.

3.1.2 Stock On Hand:

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John Players maintains a stock at hand report. The employees at the warehouse report

regularly to the head office about the stock at hand. The SOH (Stock On Hand) report is

then analysed and planning is done whether to make manufacturing or importing plan.

The Stock on Hand report contains report about the finished goods as well as raw materials,

known as RM Book of Stocks. For eg: 21,000 shirts are there in the warehouse.

For every item, there are different Units of Measurement (UOM). Fabrics are measured in

either yards or meters depending upon the supplier.

It also categorises the stock based on the price level.

The SOH report is the main determining factor regarding the procurement plan.

The inventory in John Players refers to the following:

Fabrics

Buttons

Fusing

Finished goods

The inventory management of John Players are divided into two parts; namely: Finished goods

and Raw materials.

Under finished goods, procurement plan is done.

Procurement plan:

John Players works under the plan that there are 2 seasons for production as well as

consumption. The seasons are:

SS (Spring Summer)

AW (Autumn Winter)

The planning under the Procurement Plan is done on the basis of these seasons. This

department makes the plan to look after the final procurement of the goods. The sub

departments under this are:

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Season Planning

Under this, the planning about the production is made. Here, planning is always

done a season prior so as to be ready to supply in the exact required season.

Sales Planning

Under this, the plan regarding the sales and sale strategies is formulated.

Raw material plan:

This plan concerns about the raw material management. In the John Players warehouse,

certain amount of inventory is maintained in certain amounts. The amount may vary

according to plan and the items to be maintained may also vary.

CHAPTER IV

FORECASTING

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Forecasting is a prediction of future events used for planning process. It is not possible to make

decisions in production scheduling, purchasing, and inventory levels until forecasts are

developed that give reasonably accurate views of demand over the forecasting horizon.

Management need accurate forecast to ensure supply chain management. Accurate forecast

allows schedulers to use capacity efficiently, reduce customer response times and cut inventories.

Managers need forecast to anticipate changes in prices or costs or to prepare for new laws or

regulations, competitors, resource shortages or technologies.

Forecasting is necessary for companies like John Players that manufacture items for inventory.

Manufacturers will use material forecasting to ensure that they produce the level of material that

satisfies their customers without producing an overcapacity situation where too much inventory

is produced and remains on the shelf. Equally, the forecast must not fall short and the

manufacturer finds them without inventory to fulfil customer’s orders. The cost of failing to

maintain an accurate forecast can be financially catastrophic.

Forecasting in John Players:

Forecasting is done by the sales department as they are more proximate with the sales team in the

organization that can provide valuable inputs and insights to be used in forecasting The

Company uses its proprietary model coupled with other assumptions for forecasting. Key inputs

used include:

• Previous years’ volume data: Such data are compiled from internal sales record and

extrapolated using other assumptions that follow.

• Inflation: The Company adjusts its unit selling prices based on inflation expectations in short

and long term so as to model future sales.

• Seasonality: John Players works under the plan that there are 2 seasons. The seasons are: SS

and AW.

• Assumptions: Forecasting is based on certain assumptions based on management’s experience,

knowledge and judgement.

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• Outlets: Further, in order to forecast total sales volume in the next quarter, the company makes

forecast by each point of sales (outlets) and aggregates them.

CHAPTER V

SALES OVERVIEW

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The planning for sales is a very important as well as challenging process for any organisation. In

a manufacturing company such as Surya Nepal, the sales consist of the outflow of clothing and

generation of revenue from it. An organisation has to create an individual product production

schedule and match the customer’s order through the sales and operations planning activities. It

links the company’s strategic capacity planning into detail process.

5.1 Sales Procedure in John Player

After passing all the quality checks required for approval, the products are then sent to the

warehouse for storing. From there, they go to the outlets for sale.

The flow of cash is exactly opposite than that of the flow of goods. The goods move from

warehouse to outlet where as the cash moves from outlet to headoffice.

5.2 Types of Outlets

John Players are distributed in the following types of outlets:

5.2.1 EBO (Exclusive Brand Outlets):

These types of outlets are the ones that sell only John Players shirts. There are over

70 outlets all over Nepal.

5.2.2 LFR (Large Form Retailers):

These are the types of outlets that sell different types of products. For eg:

Bhatbhateni, Saleways etc. sell other various types of products but they also sell John

Player garments.

5.2.3 MBO (Multi Branded Outlets):

These types of outlets refer to the ones which sell only garments but they sell John

Players garments too. These types of outlets are very common. They sell various

brands of garments.

CHAPTER VI

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

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A supply chain is a network of supplier, manufacturing, assembly, distribution and logistics

facilities that perform the function of procurement of materials, transformation of these materials

into intermediate and finished products, and the distribution of this product to customers.A

supply chain consists of three types of entities: customers, a producer, and the producer's

suppliers. The extended supply chain includes customers’ customers and suppliers’ suppliers.

Supply chain management oversees and optimizes the processes of acquiring inputs from

suppliers (purchasing), converting those inputs into a finished product (production), and

delivering those products – or outputs - to customers (fulfillment).Importance of Supply Chain

Management in Modern BusinessesBy Razamith SovereignSupply Chain Management (SCM) as

defined by Tom McGuffog is "Maximizing added value and reducing total cost across the entire

trading process through focusing on speed and certainty of response to the market." Due to

globalization and ICT, SCM has become a tool for companies to compete effectively either at a

local level or at a global scale. SCM has become a necessity especially for manufacturing

industry when it comes to deliver products at a competitive cost and at a higher quality than their

competitors. Here is some of the reason SCM has become important to today's manufacturing

industry: -Competitive Edge through Core Competencies. Today's business climate has rapidly

changed and has become more competitive as ever in nature. Businesses now not only need to

operate at a lower cost to compete, it must also develop its own core competencies to distinguish

itself from competitors and stand out in the market. In creating the competitive edge, companies

need to divert its resources to focus on what they do best and outsource the process and task that

is not important to the overall objective of the company. SCM has allowed company to rethink

their entire operation and restructure it so that they can focus on its core competencies and

outsource processes that are not within the core competencies of the company. Due to the current

competitive market, it is the only way for a company to survive. The strategy on applying SCM

will not only impact their market positioning but also strategic decision on choosing the right

partners, resources and manpower.

The supply chain management of Surya Nepal pvt.ltd. of its john players products are studied

which includes the product initiation stage to finished product stages.

TIME LINE OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

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PURCHASING ORDER TO SUPPLIER

(20-30 DAYS)

SHIPMENT OF RAW MATERIALS

(3-5 DAYS)

STORAGE FIRM WAREHOUSE

(45-60 DAYS)

MANUFACTURING AND ASSEMBLING THE FINISHED PRODUCTS

(5-7 DAYS)

DISTRIBUTING THE FINISHED GOODS

THIS WHOLE CYCLE TAKES 2-3 MONTHS AND THE AVERAGE 2000-3000 UNITS OF

SHIRTS ARE MADE PER MONTH.

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Fig 3: Supply Cycle

(a) Suppliers

Surya Nepal Pvt.Ltd. has only international suppliers. The international suppliers for

materials like fabrics, buttons, trims and accessories are imported from India only.

(b) Distributors

Distributors are responsible agents to sell the products in the market, along with this they

advertise their products. Surya Nepal Pvt.Ltd itself plays a role of distributor and deals with

around fifty wholesalers all around Nepal. These distributors Surya Nepal Pvt.Ltd (john

players) products all around Nepal to various wholesalers and retailers.e.g Bhatbhateni are

major market for the sale of john players products.

(c) Wholesalers and Retailers

Almost fifty Wholesalers and Retailers all around Nepal order Surya Nepal Pvt.Ltd products

i.e. john players shirts. These all will be manufactured by the Surya Nepal Pvt.Ltd.

(e) Customers

Customers of Surya Nepal Pvt.Ltd products i.e. john players shirts are mostly professionl

people.

supplier(john players)

manufacturer

distributorwholesalers

customers

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6.1 Cycle View of Supply Chain management.

The cycle view of john players supply chain consists of five different stages of cycles that

run between two stages each of the supply chain. It consists of the planning stage, Customer

Order Cycle, Replenishment Cycle, Manufacturing Cycle and Procurement Cycle.

Fig 4: Cycle view of supply chain

planning

procurement cycle

manufacturing cycle

repleinshment cycle

customer order cycle

Management teamSupplier

manufacturer

retailer

customer

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6.1.1 Planning

Cycle of supply chain starts with the planning of the sale of products. Management team

forecast about the annual sale. They calculate the demand of raw materials and the divide

for the monthly sell. After planning about the requirement needed it goes for the

procurement cycle.

6.1.2 Procurement Cycle

The Procurement Cycle takes place between the Manufacturer Surya Nepal Pvt.Ltd and

the Supplier. It consists of the following four phases:

Order components based on production schedule: As per the production schedule

prepared by Surya Nepal Pvt.Ltd it determines the supplies required for production

and uses e-mail to send its orders to its suppliers.

Production Scheduling: The suppliers after receiving the order from Surya Nepal

Pvt.Ltd, prepare a production schedule to meet the order.

Manufacturing and Shipment: The suppliers then start manufacturing of the

components such as fabrics, buttons, trims and accesories etc and use different

transportation mediums to deliver their products to Surya Nepal Pvt.Ltd facilities.

6.2 Procurement cycle of FUDCO supply chain:

procurement cycle

order component based on

production schedule

receiving

manufacturing and shipment

production scedule

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Fig 5: Procurement cycle of FUDCO supply chain

6.2.1 Manufacturing Cycle

The Manufacturing Cycle takes place between the wholesaler and the Manufacturer. It

consists of the following four phases:

Order Arrival from wholesaler or retailer: In this phase the retailer e-mails the

manufacturer Surya Nepal Pvt.Ltd stating the products and quantities of those

products required. All orders are placed via e-mail.

Production Scheduling: Surya Nepal Pvt.Ltd after receiving the order of the

distributors plans a production schedule to fulfill their demand if its current

warehouses do not have the required number of products. According to that schedule

the next production plan is carried out.

Manufacturing and Shipment: Surya Nepal Pvt.Ltd the starts manufacturing the

products in huge numbers and contacts different transportation mediums such as

trucks, vans (sometimes airlines) to deliver its products to the distributors.

Receiving: The manufacturer receive the products and verify the products as per

their order and issue complaints if any shortage or damaged products are received.

6.3 Manufacturing Cycle Surya Nepal Pvt.Ltd Supply Chain

Fig 6: Manufacturing Cycle Surya Nepal Pvt.Ltd supply chain

6.3.1 Replenishment Cycle

The Replenishment Cycle takes place between the Retailer / Wholesaler and the

Distributor. It consists of the following four phases:

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Retailer / Wholesaler order trigger: In this phase the Retailer / Wholesaler use

fax, phone or human resources to order required products in large quantities from

the best distributor. In most cases the retailers contact the closest distributor or

the one offering the largest percent of discount.

Retailer / Wholesaler Order Entry: To fulfill the Retailer / Wholesaler order, the

distributor first records all the product order and prepares an invoice.

Retailer / Wholesaler Order Fulfillment: Then the distributor then uses its human

resources to collect the required number of products and pack them in bundles. It

also chooses the appropriate transport medium to send the goods to the Retailer /

Wholesaler.

Retailer / Wholesaler Order Receiving: Finally the Retailer / Wholesaler receive

the sent goods, count them to check they are in the right number and stock them

in his store.

6.4 Replenishment Cycle of Surya Nepal Pvt.Ltd supply chain

Fig 7: Replenishment Cycle of Surya Nepal Pvt.Ltd supply chain

6.4.1 Customer Order Cycle

The Customer Order Cycle takes place between the Customer and the Retailer or the

Wholesaler. It consists of the following four phases:

Customer Arrival: In this phase the customer comes to a retail shop or a wholesale

store and requests for his desired product.

Customer Order Entry: To fulfill the customer order, the retail / wholesale shop

owner first enters the product’s name and quantity desired by the customer.

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Customer Order Fulfillment: Then the retailer / wholesaler then searches for the

product in his shop so as to fulfill the customer request.

Customer Order Receiving: Finally the shop keeper gets the product and gives it to

the customer in plastics or in some cases in cartons.

6.5 Supply Chain Strategy of Surya Nepal Pvt.Ltd

Fig 8: Supply chain strategy

Surya Nepal Pvt. Ltd aims towards being efficient by following the strategies given below:

(a) Minimum Cost: Surya Nepal Pvt. Ltd focuses on providing its products at minimum possible

competitive cost. It strategy are to sell less quantity in marginal profitable price with better

competitive quality.

efficient

mass production and customization

minimum cost

new techonology

outsourcing

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(b) Mass production: Production of products in line assembly fashion, so that hundreds of

products are produced at a time. In fact, the production facility of Surya Nepal Pvt.Ltd can

produce 2500-3000 shirts per months.

(c) New technology: use of the new technology has provided the greater efficiency to the

production in large scale.

(d) Outsourcing: john players products are outsourced from the India. About 40-50% products

are outsourced as finished goods and remaining received as raw materials for the own

manufacture.

6.5 Challenges in operation of Supply Chain

6.5.1 Political Environment:

The adverse political environment of the country is the major hurdle in the operation of

Supply Chain. Frequently occurring strikes and unstable situation creates problem in the

operation of Supply Chain. The frequent occurrence of Nepal bandas has had a very

negative impact on Surya Nepal Pvt.Ltd and its supply chain parties. The unstable

political situation makes it difficult for Surya Nepal Pvt.Ltd to deliver its products to

distributors and get its supplies on time.

6.5.2 Accessibility:

Another major challenge is accessibility of resources, accessibility to probable markets

and customer segments. The infrastructure in Nepal is very poor. The limited availability

of roads and highways makes it impossible for Surya Nepal Pvt.Ltd to provide its

products in many areas and exploit local resources.

6.5.3 Load Shedding:

Load shedding is one of the biggest problems for a manufacturing company like Surya

Nepal Pvt.Ltd. Productions in both facilities are facing problems due to electricity

shortage. Also, there has been high expense made on huge generators that can support the

entire facility production. Surya Nepal Pvt.Ltd places and receives all its orders through

the internet so electricity is necessary not only for production but also for order arrival

and order fulfillment.

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CHAPTER VII

CAPACITY PLANNING

Capacity is defined as the ability to hold, receive, store or accommodate, it is viewed as the

amount of output that a system is capable of achieving over a specific period of time. Capacity

determination is required to meet the current and future demand.

Surya Nepal plans the production process one year before for the garments of John Players. It

takes nearly 3-4 months to produce a batch of garments. Surya Nepal produces monthly 2000-

3000 pieces of garments. New patterns are brought by the suppliers to the company and the

designer team finalizes the patterns and places the order. Even though the market of Nepal is

complicated and changing continuously, it doesn’t affect the demand of John Players because it

is a branded company and it focuses on being flexible as per the changing need of the market.

Since 50% of the garments are directly imported from India, the other half is produced in Nepal

through various manufacturing companies. One of the manufacturing companies is located in

Bhaktapur.

For the equipment and machineries, Surya Nepal evaluates various manufacturing company and

chooses the best one. The manufacturer has to meet the minimum standard set by them and John

Players. It evaluates the location, plant layout, machine technology, quality system, etc. Surya

Nepal first asks the manufacturer to develop a sample according to their standard of John

Players. If they are satisfied with the sample, the company and the manufacturer go into an

agreement and then places the order.

7.1 Process System

John Players focuses on low volume production and high variety. It has a hybrid process

which means it produces before customer orders and also produces according to customer

preferences.

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The process system of John Players under Surya Nepal are as follows:

Fig 9: Process System

Material Testing

Process Quality Inspection

Audits

PQRS (Product Quality Rating System)

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Stage 1: Material Testing

Fabric: In this stage, firstly they get fabric from the suppliers. After selecting and testing the

fabric, it is passed and then product order is done.

Trims and Accessories: In this stage, the company selects the best supplier for accessories

such as buttons, thread, etc. If any physical problems exists, then it is returned.

Stage 2: Process quality inspection

In this stage, the quality of the products are inspected in between the production process. In this

stage the checking of threads, attachments of cuff, etc. is done.

Stage 3: Audits

In this stage, the factory finished garments are checked at the stage of packing. It is done before

sending to the distributors. The packed products in the warehouse is also inspected.

Stage 4: PQRS

This is the last stage in which across brand evaluation is done. After the garments are send to the

outlet, their products and the products of other brand such as Peter England, Zara are evaluated.

7.2 Product Design for John Players

John players is a leading and known brand for it's unique designs and quality looks in Nepal

where in the urban areas men's clothing fashion is associated with western current civilization.

Though john players is an Indian brand half outsourced from India and half manufactured here in

Nepal, the design and fashion of the clothing is much less affected by the Indian fashion and

more of the western countries including some asian nations like China, Korea, japan, etc.

As the designs are not massively customized and are kept to provide a unique touch to every

single production, they are carefully and exclusively designed to meet the current demands of the

market focusing of it's brand rather than to supply with heap monotone production. Designs are

decided by a range of architects selected by the company to provide with their customized

designs.

Now this brand selects a series of steps before selecting a specific design in every production

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Fig 10: Product Design Chart

RA APPROVED

FABRIC SLECTION FROM LRBD NOMINATED

FABRIC SUPPLIERS

FABRIC TESTING

FROM LRBD

PI/PO PROCESS

FABRIC INHOUSE IN

RWH

FABRIC TO UNDERGO 100%

INSPECTION

4 POINT SYSTEM. IF IT FAILS, INFORM TO

HOD

DESIGN AND POTO SAMPLE

DEVELOPMENT

GPT APPROVED

W/O AND COSTING

ISSUE OF INSTRUCTIONS AND

MATERIALS

Process Design Chart

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ISSUE OF INSTRUCTIONS

AND MATERIALS

PRE PRODUCTION

MEETING

SIZE SET DEVELOPMEN

T

MANUAL FABRIC CONSUMPTION

CHECKING

IF DEVIATION AGAINST W/O THAN REVISED

THE W/O

APPROVAL FOR BLUCK

CUTTING

SPREADING AND

CUTTING OF FABRIC

FUSING OF CUT PANELS

TICKETING AND

BUNDLING

CUTTING ROOM AUDIT

ISSUE CUTTING TO STITCHING

STITCHING OF CUT PANELS

TO GARMENT

INLINE CHECKING

OF GARMENT

END LINE CHECKING

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END LINE CHECKING

BUTTON HOLE/

ATTACHED

THREAD Trimmin

g

100% GARMEN

T LOOSSE CHECKIN

G

PRESSING

FINAL CHECKIN

G

PACKING &

FOLDING

FINAL INSPECTION

PREPARATION OF

PACKING LIST

AQL AUDIT

PQRS

SHIPMENT PASS

PACKED GOODS

TRANSFER TO RWH

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7.3 Design process for John players’ product

7.3.1 RA approved

Firstly a meeting is done with a range of architects professionally involved on the design

and fashion world for the case of fabric selection patterns. The decision is made on whether

to use the existing patterns, existing patterns with a hint of changes or new designs to

introduce into the market. The decision on the design is approved by the RA department.

7.3.2 Fabric selection

Shortly afterwards, the fabric is decided on the basis of the decision and quality that will is

approved by RA and the selection is done of the fabrics that is on display by the suppliers.

7.3.3 Fabric Testing

This step is done by the authorized testing department, where the 100% approved testing is

done for the quality of the fabric to be used on production.

7.3.4 Fabric In-house

After the step of testing is done, then the fabrics purchased are stored in the warehouse to

be used when in production.

7.3.5 Fabric inspection

The checking of the fabric used is done in this step to see if the fabrication is perfect for the

design and if passed fabric patterns are addressed.

7.3.6 Design selected

Then a appropriate design is selected according to the fabric and patterns selected. For this

process an array of talented and fashion top notched people are made involved to select a

design that suits the current season and preferrance of the focused people.

7.3.7 Sample development

Then a preferred sample is developed according to the design selected.

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7.3.8 GPT

In this step the garment preference test is done with a research team working for it where

the preference is tested by sending the samples or the few bundles of production into the

market.

7.3.9 Issuing of the materials

If the garment’s sample is approved and preferred in the market, then the required materials

are issued with discussions with the workers, like cost of making and things required.

7.3.10 Pre-production meeting

Different styles have different converters, location and manufacturer. They give specific

styles to specific styles and thus with provided materials a pre-production is done of the

designs and fabric choosed.

7.3.11 Size set development

Size, small, medium, large, washing, non-washing all are developed as per need and in

defferent quantities.

7.3.12 Manual-fabric consumption

Fabric consumption is the most consumed and most costly part of the product. 70-75%

fabric cost is of the fabric and 30% is of the production cost.

7.3.13 Fusing and cutting of the fabric

Fabric , layer cutting starts in the mass volume, fusing is done afterwards. One layer

consists of different part in the cutting layer where the process is done after the approval

for block cutting.

7.3.14 Ticketing and bundling

Then a suitable tag mark is tied in each one of them, with standard logo, price and the

description of the material and shirt, and also bundled up in suitable categories of shirts

and t-shirts.

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7.3.15 Cutting room audit

The products are then in random audit pattern again to check for the cutting standard.

7.3.16 Issue cutting to stitching

Then the main carving are done by stitching, buttoning, finishing, pressing and thread

cutting which actually gives the major module and design to the products. Every part has

different worker in them like buttoning department, collar department. Then the stitching

of the cut line patterns to main line garments are readily produced.

7.3.17 Inline checking of garment

In inline checking of garment, quality of the finished product is checked and an overall

view is done to the finished product.

7.3.18 End-line checking

Then the end-line checking of garment is done by 100% checking the inside and outside

of the garment.

7.3.19 Button-hole attached/ Thread trimming

Then touching up works like button attaching, hole making and remaining thread

trimming is done to give the product a smooth finish.

7.3.20 Final checking and trimming

Again a final trimming is done to sure not leave any thread attached to the clothe and also

final pressing and measurement check is done.

7.3.21 Packing and folding

Then the finished shirt is packed and folded in a given standard display by the designer.

7.3.22 Final inspection

Then for the final inspection is done in order for it to be so dispatched.

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7.3.23 Preparation of packing list

Then the preparation of transfer to retailer, documentation, quality audit report is to be

done.

7.3.24 Shipment pass

Then the final good is delivered to the outlets concerning the selling of john players'

clothing through where the various designed shirts with different fabric used are provided

to the customers.

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CHAPTER VIII

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT

8.1 Quality

Quality is a consistent commitment to certain standards that achieve uniformity of a product

in order to satisfy specific customer or user requirements. ISO 8402 1986 standard defines

quality as "the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears on its

ability to satisfy stated or implied needs." Thus, quality is simply the degree of excellence of

something.

8.2 Total Quality Management

A core definition of total quality management (TQM) describes a management approach to

long-term success through customer satisfaction. In a TQM effort, all members of an

organization participate in improving processes, products, services and culture in which they

work. It consists of organization-wide efforts to install and make permanent climate in which

an organization continuously improves its ability to deliver high-quality products and

services to customers. The brand, John Players falls under the premium quality.

8.2.1 Total quality for John Players is:

• Meeting Customer’s Requirements

They have always tried meeting customer's demand. As for Nepal, at times when Korean

fashion entered the country, the firm tried to bring style of fitting shirts, jeans etc. Entries

of slim fit attire were brought in the market to meet customers demand.

• Freedom from Failure (Zero Defects)

They target zero defect approach for their products and past operations have also gained

in zero defect result.

• Consistency

They improvise the quality of their product and hunt for the competitive market.

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• Continuous Improvement

They keep assorting their product according to consumer demand. For instance, along

with men’s clothing line as John players, they also managed to introduce clothing line for

females as Miss Players.

• Quality in Everything they do

They check quality right from the start. Quality in manufacturing, fabric, raw material,

process quality, sewing and so on defines their standpoint of total quality.

8.3 The Road Map of Quality Assurance

Stage 1: Material testing

Fabric Testing – The testing is done In LRBD, which is a one of the division of

ITC.

Trims & Accessories Testing- This is also done from LRBD Nominate

Suppliers.

Stage 2: In-process -Quality inspection

Cutting Inspection –In factory location

In-line Inspection –In factory location

End-line Inspection –In factory location

Final Inspection –In factory location 

Stage 3: PQRS

PQRS (product quality rating system), is a reporting program that uses a

combination of incentive payments and payment adjustments to promote reporting of

quality information by eligible professionals. PQRS Check own product

performance. PQRS is also used across brand evaluation.

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8.4 Improving quality through TQM

8.4.1 Purchasing consideration

Quality of inputs can affect the quality of the firm’s work. The firm must emphasize not

only the cost and speed of delivery to the supplier but also on the quality of product. JP

focuses on quality of their fabric right from the purchase of the inputs. The quality

inspections are made accordingly. They have also directed to keep number of suppliers so

that they do not have to rely just on few.

8.4.2 Product and service design

In order to improve the quality, they also focus on product and service design. For

instance, in order to improve the quality they focus on minimal variations. However, due

to requirement of competitive market they manage to keep variety of products in low

volume.

8.4.3 Process design

The design of the process used to produce a product greatly affects its quality. They have

well equipped machineries to transform raw materials into finished goods, which cover

larger part of process design. Along with that, there is auditing in every process. Such as

assessment while cutting the fabric, stitching, adjusting buttons, pressing etc makes their

process design up to the mark in terms of quality improvement.

8.4.4 Benchmarking

Benchmarking is a process of comparison against competitive products and principles in

order to standardize the product. In context with John players, they make comparison

with some famous brands like zara, peter England etc. They try to adopt what they are

lacking. Therefore, it can be considered that these brand names are the major players in

the market. In addition, benchmarking is not only limited to competitors rather

comparison is made with world standards as well.

8.5 Acceptance sampling

It is a form of inspection of goods in order to determine what percentage of the total lots

or batch of goods confirm to the required specification. There are certain criteria while

performing acceptance sampling. Like, defects up to some approval point are passed

otherwise rejected. Whatever product they manufacture here in Nepal, they manage to get

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two samples i.e.: one for Surya Nepal and another for their main franchise in India.

Acceptance is based on quality level and trims quality. In addition, there is quality report

in each shipment and only after proper inspection, they are released to retailer. Sampling

for local market is done in Nepal itself to formulate acceptance sampling.

For acceptance sampling, they follow AQL approach, which is a quality assurance level

for them. AQL stands for acceptance quality level, which refers to maximum acceptable

percentage of defectives defined by producer. A lot containing almost all good quality,

containing less number of defective items is called Acceptance Quality level (AQL).

8.6 AQL Calculation Process

AQL Inspection is carried out on packed shipment.

Statistical table MIL-STD-105D is used for the purpose.

The table is referred for pulling out the sample lot from the shipment.

The lot to be inspected is divided as per the number of colors in the shipment and as

per the size ratio in each color.

Garments are taken out randomly across the colors and sizes in the shipment.

Defects found are categorized into major and minor defects.

8.7 AQL Checklist

Major Defect

• No button

• Non Barcode, size Label, wash care

• Missing main label, Brand Label

• No bar tack

• Joint stitch

• Needle hole

• Spots mark

• Open stitch

• Measurement checking

• Fraying of the material

• Rough stitch

Minor defect

• Broken stitch

• Joint stitch

• Wavy stitch

• Raw edges

• Skip stitch

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8.8 International Quality Standards

Under international quality standards there are series of standards agreed upon by the

International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The quality standards that are followed

by John players are as follows:

8.8.1 Four point system

Normally, four point system is used for inspection of finished garments. John players

use this technique for fabric inspection as per quality standard.

The 4-Point System assigns 1, 2, 3 and 4 penalty points according to the size and

significance of the defect. No more than 4 penalty points can be assigned for any

single defect. Only major defects are considered. No penalty points are assigned to

minor defects. In this system, one should inspect at least 10 per cent of the total rolls

in the shipment and make sure to select at least one roll of each color way.

8.8.2 Garment Performance Test (GPT)

Under appearance, visual observations are made regarding any changes in the fabric after

washing. Defects like puckering, pilling, free movement of zipper etc are examined. Four

tests are performed under it, namely:

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dimensional stability

appearance

seam slippage

button pull test

8.9 Tools of TQM

Flow chart

The major tools they use for total quality management is flow chart also known as the

process chart. It is used for following purpose

- For product design and process design

- Style, mood and fit of garment

- Cutting Audit Procedures

- Sewing to Finishing

8.9 Quality awards and certificates

8.10.1 ISO 14001-2004 Certificate (November 2005)

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8.10.2 ISO 9001:2000 Certificate- Garments (October 2005)