Lean meeting buyer's expectations, enhanced supplier productivity and compliance capabilities in garment industry

Abstract

PurposeInvestigate the potential of using “lean” in garment supplier factories to enhance productivity and compliance capability, so as to fulfill a buyer's expectation of lower price, shorter lead time, and higher occupational health and safety (OHS) standards.Design/methodology/approachBy means of an intervention, lean tools integrated with OHS elements were introduced in four Bangladeshi key garment suppliers of a Danish buyer. By employing a qualitative approach, both quantitative and qualitative techniques were used to collect data on productivity, OHS, and buyer–supplier efforts.FindingsThis study demonstrates that lean tools, integrated with OHS elements, can be used to improve the productivity and compliance capabilities of supplier firms, which meet a buyers' changing demands for lower prices, shorter lead times, and higher compliance standards. This study suggests that the improvement of productivity and OHS in supplier firms through lean implementation could be a better choice for buyers than switching to new suppliers with uncertainties in productivity and delivery, as well as OHS compliance problems.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study suggest that garment suppliers can benefit from implementing lean, thereby improving their capacity to meet buyers' expectations. Therefore, both suppliers and buyers have a mutual interest in the application of lean in suppliers' production facilities.Originality/valueBy considering both buyer and supplier perspectives, this research is a unique attempt to investigate the possibilities of lean implementation at the shop-floor level to meet the market challenges in the context of a developing country.

Designing Better Interventions: Insights from Research on Decent Work

“…The overall outcome of the interventions indicates that, while there was a great deal of variance in outcomes, most of the supplier factories initially experienced considerable improvements in both productivity and OSH (See also Hamja et al, 2019; Hoque et al, 2020). The interventions were designed on the assumption that lean can be used in an integrated perspective to initiate simultaneous improvements of OSH and productivity; even in our emerging‐country context.…”

“…This paper builds on our experience from several years of intervention‐based action research in the ready‐made garment industry in Bangladesh and Myanmar (See examples in Hamja, Maalouf, & Hasle, 2019; Hoque, Hasle, & Maalouf, 2020). We use reflections on our research to elaborate how to better design future interventions that can provide significant improvements in supply chain operations.…”

Complementarities between Operations and Occupational Health and Safety in Garments

“…Evidence in the literature suggests that, in the context of a developing country, complementarities between OHS and operational practices depend on factors such as the availability of resources and the institutional context. In particular, plant size and institutional context play more critical roles in the adoption of workplace practices in developing and industrializing contexts [2][3][4]10,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. For instance, the results in [20] reveal that upgrades have been unbalanced in small and medium enterprises in the Bangladeshi garment industry, with limited focus on economic and technological issues.…”

“…Moreover, the implementation of sustainable social practices has also been associated with the intensity of institutional pressure emanating from regulators, buyers, and civil associations towards improving working conditions and achieving a better balance between operational and OHS practices [2][3][4]10,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23]. In countries like Bangladesh, the pressure towards improving working conditions primarily stems from agents based in the US and Europe.…”

Task performance and occupational health and safety management systems in the garment industry of Bangladesh

“…It has a fundamental contribution to tackle OHS problems, strengthening worker safety situations, plummeting workplace risks and building an improved and safer work environment (Yoon et al , 2013; Podgórski, 2015). Although some of the extant studies have focused on health and safety issues in the garments industry of Bangladesh (Samaddar, 2016; Hamja et al , 2019; Hoque et al , 2020), no study yet linked OHSMS with the task performance of workers in the garment industry context. To fill up this research gap, the current study intends to catechize the relationship between task performance of workers and OHSMS in the garments industry of Bangladesh.…”