Productivity Blog
OPERATIONS RESEARCH APPLICATION IN GARMENT INDUSTRY
Operations research is the science of solving problems by developing a sample/mathematical model of a problem and using such sample/model simulation to solve the problems. Practical examples are line balancing , material planning, demand planning, capacity planning, supply chain management, digital integration of supply chain etc. for example planning has to be balanced with available capacity, demand for the product, material availability etc., Normally capacity planning is calculated on the basis of SAM/SMV available and existing efficiency.Material planning on the basis of past data and vendor details.
The problem is converted to a math problem by certain assumptions and then applies mathematical/simulation models like linear programming, assignment problem, queuing theory, transportation problems, game theory to solve problems to solve problems and develop better systems and procedures. Various simulation software are also available to simulate a problem virtually and arrive at solutions. Such models can be used in areas of line balancing, plant layout, process layout , machine lay out etc., Linear programming….., heuristic. The incremental utilization heuristic( trial & error) helps to solve the problem in simulation and apply the same in reality. An important advantage of this heuristic (trial & error) simulation is that it is capable of solving line-balancing problems regardless of the length of task times relative to the cycle time.