Production model to improve the efficiency of a peruvian cotton knitwear export company using 5s, standardization of operations and autonomous maintenance

Abstract

Nowadays, organizations in the cotton knitwear industry have had to adapt to a client who is not willing to pay an additional cost for activities that do not add value to the product. In Peru, many companies that export cotton knitwear closes every year since they cannot compete with countries such as China and Hong Kong due to their high production costs. This paper introduces a production management model based on Lean Manufacturing techniques and standardization of operations to reduce waste in the production flow, thus improving quality, and reducing production time and costs. So, a Production and Continuous improvement model (PDCA) were implemented. The validation was performed in a representative Peruvian company that exports cotton knitwear, resulting in an efficiency improvement of 10%, reduction of defective products of 20%, and generating savings of almost 5,000 soles monthly.