Share | Team leaders needed in factories: those who can ensure quality, boost production, and dare to take charge!

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Work teams are the direct creators of a factory’s profits. As the core figure, the team leader’s capabilities have a direct impact on factors such as production volume, quality levels, and the stability of the workforce. How can one become an excellent team leader? Here are 6 suggestions – 7 powerful tools for on-site management: ① Team leaders should know how to manage tasks and have the courage to do so, persuading others with logic. ② Make proper preparations before production begins. ③ Manage the production process effectively. ④ Team leaders should understand the concepts of digital management. ⑤ Proactively implement 5S management practices. ⑥ Actively identify the causes of problems to ensure that the same mistakes are not repeated. 1. Team leaders should know how to manage tasks and have the courage to do so, persuading others with logic. Their approach should be based on facts, focusing on the tasks themselves rather than individual preferences, and they should not bring their personal biases into their work. The team leader provides proactive technical guidance to the employees and organizes the work processes in an orderly sequence. In life, one does not avoid employees who face difficulties, is good at offering help, and pays attention to the thoughts and emotions of each team member. When there are fluctuations among the workers, the team leader should be good at communicating to solve the issues together. 2. It is crucial to make proper preparations before production. Starting from the moment the production order is received, whether adequate preparations are made prior to production has a direct impact on quality stability and output improvement. How can a team leader carry out the preparatory work before production? 1. Study the requirements of the production process, create samples prior to production, and communicate with the workshop and the technical department to resolve any issues that arise during sample creation. On the one hand, check whether the process sheet matches the sample garment? If there is any mismatch, it must be verified thoroughly ； On the other hand, by examining the sample, one can understand the requirements of the sewing process and the difficulty level of various steps, while also resolving any uncertainties one may have. 2. Preparation of materials. Strengthening communication with the cutting workshop and inventory management team helps to know the dates when cut pieces will be available and when auxiliary materials arrive at the warehouse. It also allows for the reporting of any problems, so that they can be resolved. This facilitates the coordination of production plans, enhances the efficiency of production, and helps to ensure that production plans are fulfilled and orders are completed. 3. Considerations on the breakdown and scheduling of processes. Following the principle of assigning tasks based on the skill level of team members, and by applying IE principles, the cycle time is calculated, the tasks are carefully divided up, and the appropriate types of machines and workers are assigned. A process scheduling table is also prepared to form an efficient assembly line, thereby preparing for adjustments to the time requirements of each process during actual production. 3. Management and control in production 1. Concept of assembly line layout. When arranging the production processes, the team leader requires that the tasks be divided as finely as possible, with each worker assigned a relatively fixed set of tasks. A batch of fabric pieces moves from the first process to the last process one after another, through a sequential assembly process. Under normal circumstances, it is not possible to have a nested arrangement of classes within classes or groups within groups. 2. Balanced flow. A horizontal, steady flow like that of a river is a fundamental requirement for organizing and regulating production processes. When one processing step affects the flow of another, variations occur to varying degrees, and as a result not many finished products can be produced. Only when the output of each processing step is roughly the same can it be considered an efficient production line. 3. Production with color and code separation. Since the cut pieces emerge as finished products packet by packet, it is required that they be produced in sequence, one color at a time, one size at a time. No production on the assembly line is allowed in any color or with any code; either there should be only one color and one code, or the upstream and downstream sections should use one color and one code respectively during the process of code or color conversion. The goal is to prevent defective products caused by code mixing or color shifts. 4. Measure working hours to determine efficiency and exceed the target output. With the established fixed output, by calculating the required working hours and adjusting the sequence of processes, the 7-day workload can be completed in 6 days. Therefore, team leaders need to think of ways to speed things up or extend working hours to meet the production schedule. 5. Strengthen the management of the quality of semi-finished and finished products. Not only is the quality of semi-finished and finished products checked regularly, but attention is also paid to implementing the quality improvement suggestions put forward by team inspectors and patrol inspectors; it is crucial that words are followed by action, and it is important to verify whether the issues have indeed been resolved. 6. Supervise the work quality of inspectors in the inspection team. Finished products are produced on the same day, repaired on the same day, and group inspections are completed on the same day, thus avoiding backlogs and ensuring sufficient production time for workshop operations. Think about it: if the sewing is done, can the product be shipped if the pressing and packaging aren’t completed? It takes time to complete the task, so the sewing team needs to leave enough time for subsequent production steps – it’s the simplest principle. 7. Keep a proper record in the ‘Team Work Log’. It’s better to write things down than to rely on memory. Keeping a diary of the various events that occur in the team throughout the day – categorizing them by aspects such as production volume, quality, members’ opinions, work discipline, and 5S workplace management – is very helpful for reviewing one’s own work performance over the day, clarifying thoughts, and improving management skills. 4. Team leaders must have an understanding of digital management. Numbers are not just empty slogans; they represent a scientific basis for measuring the outcomes of tasks and for persuading people with logic. 1. To increase output――Since each step in the production process is defined, and the time required for each step, that is, the labor hours, can be measured, the output volume of the finished products can be determined relatively. Two numbers appear here: working hours and quota output ； Due to differences in the skill levels of team members and variations in efficiency, the amount of time required for work varies. Therefore, team leaders* regularly measure the time taken for tasks, and use the average time as a guide to help those members who work more slowly or are less efficient improve their skills and productivity. This ensures that the team meets its production targets. With these targets in place, any remaining issues can be identified and resolved, thereby enabling the team to meet or even exceed its production goals. 2. Used to control quality – the proportion of rework in random inspections of semi-finished products and group inspections of finished products serves as a standard for measuring product quality. Therefore, a team leader is not only responsible for organizing the production process and finding ways to increase output; it is also their important duty to control quality and reduce defective products. On the one hand, it is necessary to continuously strengthen random inspections of semi-finished products, checking the quality of each batch of semi-finished products at every production stage, and recording the proportion of products that require rework; meanwhile, team members should be informed and assisted on how to operate in order to prevent defective products from being produced ； On the other hand, the supervision team checks the quality of work, determines the proportion of rework in the finished products, and addresses any quality issues that arise in the finished products promptly. Otherwise, by the time a large number of products have been produced it will be too late to make any corrections, leading to serious consequences. Improving quality is not just theoretical; it involves actually controlling the proportion of rework on semi-finished products, reducing the amount of rework on finished products, with the subsequent stage overseeing the previous one and the previous stage being responsible for ensuring quality in its own work. 3. To reduce waste—the actual number of pieces cut by the cutting machine serves as the basis for determining the amount of sewing work to be done by the team. Basic requirements for team leaders corresponding to the actual sewing count and the stitching count. As a team leader, one must know how many fabric pieces are received for this order, how many finished products will be produced, and check whether the numbers match There is no reason to have fewer pieces than the actual quantity specified; if there are quality issues with the cut pieces, they can be replaced, and if a package contains fewer pieces than required, the cutting machine can be used to make up the difference ； If the actual quantity is less than the planned amount, it’s either because the defective cut pieces have been placed randomly without being matched properly, or someone has taken the finished garments; therefore, the team leader needs to have a clear understanding of these figures in order to oversee the daily work of the team. 5. The team leader should take the initiative to implement 5S. What is 5S? Organize, tidy up, clean, keep things neat – good manners. It is necessary to help team members develop the habits and awareness of maintaining a clean and tidy working environment, keeping tools and fabric pieces neatly arranged, and properly managing hazardous items such as scissors and needles. A good team leader will regularly supervise and promote 5S in the production area, and never give up until the team members develop the habit. On the one hand, this is a visual improvement project that **helps** factories receive orders; on the other hand, it is an effective way to reduce contamination of fabric pieces and prevent mislabeling. 6. Take the initiative to find the reasons; the same mistake should not happen twice. Everyone makes mistakes from time to time. It’s not the mistakes themselves that are scary; what’s scary is failing to identify their root causes, so that the same mistakes occur again in the future. When a problem occurs, ask several more times why Keep asking until the root cause is identified, and then address it; only in this way can the problem be solved and prevented from occurring again in the future. The problem has been identified: the inspectors and team leaders are not fulfilling their duties properly. Providing technical guidance and conducting random inspections at each stage of production is something that team leaders should do on a daily basis. Since they fail to do this, it’s necessary to repair these batches of goods. After everyone works together to complete the production, the inspectors and team leaders need to improve their skills, pay attention to every detail, so as to prevent such issues from occurring again in the future.