It was held at the conference hall of the Small Industries Serverices Institute (SISI), New Delhi on 9th July 2005, was attended by Mr. Vijay Mathur, Director AEPC, Mr. Ravi Kapoor Director SISI, OGTC members, module participants and the trainer Mr. Vineet Budhiraja. It was a unique program in a lot of ways and many firsts are associated with this module, first time ever it was a program of the industry, for the industry and by the industry. The program not only included class-room sessions but also units visits.

VISION:

The vision of the programme from Concept to Consumer belongs to the two industry veterans Mr. M.K. Mehra and Mr. R.C. Kesar, who are the guiding force behind OGTC. Before finalizing everything they organized a half-day session for the owners of the OGTC members to gauge the substance and then shaped up a winning formula of classroom sessions and floor visits over a period of 12 weeks (Once a week-every Saturday).

MODULE DETAILS AND COVERAGE:

How to Measure Productivity, How to set targets, How to make Operation Bulletin, How to conduct Time Study, How to Calculate capacity and efficiency,Defining Standard Time for Operation / Garments, Operator Rating, Importance of Allowance in Efficiency and Productivity, Calculating Allowances and Tools for Methods Study:- Process Chart, Left / Right Hand Chart.

Apart from the above listed technical topics, soft issues such as attitute improvement, change management were also covered in the form of role-plays and exercises.

Methodology :

Lectures, Stimulations, Role-Plays, and Discussions. Every week the participants would be given a task to be completed on the floor, and results/impact/difficulties would then go through a rigorous interaction in the class.

The participants visited each other's unit once during the module, with a task of identifying the positive areas and areas that need improvement. This exercise actually came across as an eye-opener for the participants.

PARTICIPANTS SELECTION CRITERIA :

The brief given by Mr. R.C. Kesar to the owners for identifying the participants from their respective units was, select the "most busy, most important and most efficient people" and the owners stuck to that and it was amazing to note that all these important people were there at all sessions on-time all the time.

IMPACT :

In the formal summing up session Ms. Kawal Preet G.M. (Operations) M.M. Exports, Mr. Param G.M. Pee Empro Exports, Mr. U.K. Handa G.M. (Coordination) Orient Fashion, Mr. Dinesh Dubey Factory Manager Radnik Exports made formal presentations to highlight the learnings from the module. In nut-shell following observations were made during the presentations:

1. Across the units productivity increase of 15% to 60% was noticed in specific areas.

2. Apart from the techniques, the participants have achieved a new vision, which makes them think in the direction of possible rather than impossible.

3. A cultural change has started to take place in the respective units.

4. Improvement is a continuous process.

5. There is more in sharing than keeping it a secret.

THE ROAD AHEAD:

The participants felt a sudden vacuum at the end of the module, and they themseleves came up with a suggestion of continuing this interaction in the form of a Productivity Club or so, so that the learning becomes a continous process. Every participating and nonparticipating member expressed their views about the programme. But the final word very rightly came from the President of the Cluster Mr. Tony Uppal of Pee Empro, who noted that this is a very small initiative towards macro level shake which the Indian Garment Industry needs in order to be competitive in this era of cut-throat competition.

Building Strategic Partnerships :

OGTC has developed strategic partnerships with Indian Rayon for Viscose Filament Fabrics and with Reliance Industries Ltd. for Polyester Fabrics.

OGTC Networking :

Have established linkages with AEPC, NITMA, SGS, NITRA, Textile Committee, NSIC FLA, NIFT, Pearl Academy, SIDBI and many more.

Programme designed and conducted by Mr. Vineet Budhiraja :

For middle level production executives of garment manufacturing companies was organized for about 30 participants from 7 companies on July 14, 2005 at SISI conference hall at Okhla. The Programme Covered Continous Improvement, Motivation, Change Management, Team Management, Importance of Training, Stress Management, Problem Solving, Decision Making, Emotional Intelligence, Time Management, Effective Communication, Delegation and Understanding Self and others.

The Supervisory Function was explained as Administrative, Educative, Supportive, Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Leading and Controlling having responsibility as a manager and Responsibilities to workers and coworkers further highlighting the Skills Needed for the success of a supervisior in the Technical. Human Relations, Conceptual, Decision-making areas and emphasized the Characterstic of a Successful Supervisor having Positive attitude, Ethics, Leadership and team-building skills, Job-related skills and knowledge, Good communication skills, Delegation skills and strong desire to succeed as a supervisior.

The programme concluded by defining Team Building as

A true team is a group of people guided by a common purpose who have an appreciation of the talents each brings to the task and a clear understanding of how to apply those talents to accomplish it.

Team building is any activity that builds and strengthens the team as a team.

The programme was conducted by Mr. Kamal Kapoor for Merchandisers having more than five years working Experience
Understanding the customer -

The most important stakeholder in the garment export business is the customer and it is obvious that without him there would be no business. These sessions would emphasize on understanding the customer from the point of view of Product, Fashion, Price and Quality / Performance.

The profiles of 2 - 3 leading apparel buyers were taken as examples to make the group understand the concept.

Knowing Your Own Organisation And Your Market -

This session touched upon 'how you can fashion your organisation to meet the needs of your customer'. The group would have an insight into -

a) Gauging your (organisation / region / country) strengths and capabilities. Identifying 'Niche' for the organisation and demonstrating market intelligence

b) Ways in which you can attempt to upgrade the organisation to meet customer expectations.

c) Professional presentation of the organisation's work to the customer through clear communication.

'Servicing the Customer' -

The customer starts and stays with you if you have serviced him well. This session will deal with what 'servicing the customer means'. Further how a senior merchandiser can, increase comfort level of the buyer, by delivering with as little effort as possible on the buyer's part