Streamlining Process in the Separation of Preexisting Textiles for its Reutilization in Garment Production

Abstract

The study presented below had the main objective of streamlining the textile separation process for its subsequent reutilization in the production of new garments. This particular fashion design company located in Tegucigalpa, Honduras has 3 permanent employees which are trained to carry out the tasks of textile separation in the same way. Through the time-taking phase in this study, it was demonstrated that they carry out the textile separation process in approximately the same amount of time and will be considered as such during the study. For the fulfillment of the study, a video of the whole operation process was recorded and meticulosity analyzed through which 22 activities were identified which were equivalent to 88.967 minutes of production time. Through the analysis of the 22 activities and registration of their times, two critical activities were identified. Although multiple operations were identified to require a prolonged period, the two activities that require the greatest amount of time are the process of unstitching the seams of the right and left leg, which requires 20 minutes each, to be completed. An improvement plan was developed using SMED in which a reorganization of the activities and swap of the original tools was proposed. This decision was made under the premise that a reorganization of the operations will reduce time and unproductive actions for the operation. Thus, improving the total time of the operation but keeping costs to a minimum, resulting in a reduction of 51.1% of the total time. Using geometry, it was possible to calculate the area of the recovered textile from the original garment. The total area for each garment equals 9, 776 +/- 5% cm2. At the same time, the area of one yard of commercial textile was calculated and found to be equal to 8, 229.6 cm2. Based on the times and areas discovered, it was possible to calculate that the time required for the separation of a single yard of recovered textile following the original strategies would take 73.773 minutes. However, when implementing the improvement plan, the total time required for the separation of one yard would be reduced to 36.039 minutes. This data is relevant because it will facilitate the calculation of the time needed to separate additional yards. This way the company would be able to estimate the amount of time they will need to produce enough recycled textile to produce a greater number of garments.