June 25, 2008
How do you cut notches?
We're having a bit of a debate in the forum on how you should cut notches. Obviously, we're talking about multiple plies, not single or double layers. The central question is, can -or should- you use your main cutting tool...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 11:33 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
May 28, 2008
Cop-outs or checklists?
[This entry has been amended 5/30/2008] A seeming contradiction has been nagging me these past several months. I like checklists detailing standard operating procedures. Follow them and you win. So many of you ignore me, just certain you're the one...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 1:22 PM | Comments (16) | TrackBack
May 21, 2008
Trip to LA 2
I guess I should start numbering the entries covering my jaunts to Los Angeles. If you noticed, last week I was in Los Angeles again, the primary reason being for more training on StyleFile; the new software apparel management program...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 2:25 PM | Comments (12) | TrackBack
April 22, 2008
News From You: Earth Day 2008
Today we have a special edition of News From You in celebration of Earth Day. First up to bat is this page (from the official Earth Day site) which claims April 22nd isn't Earth Day; it's April 21st or even...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 12:32 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
March 25, 2008
The evils of mass production 2
I was by turns, pleased, gratified and yes, even dismayed by some of the comments from the first entry. Overwhelmingly though, I'm left with three conclusions: Cognitive dissonance Application problems and limitations What constitutes sub assemblies and where is batching...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 1:11 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
March 21, 2008
The evils of mass production
[Off topic. I formatted all the links in this entry to open in a new window. Do you prefer it?] For people unfamiliar with manufacturing, "mass production" is what any manufacturer does, spitting out carbon copy widgets on mind numbing...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 2:22 PM | Comments (31) | TrackBack
March 1, 2008
News from you 3/1/08
Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 2:52 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
February 20, 2008
Eco Seminar review
Eric -or Samira as we've taken to calling him (long story)- has written a review of the Eco fiber seminar presented at MAGIC. Without further ado: ----------- The sustainability/ecology trend has become a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 1:35 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack
February 5, 2008
The Impending Crisis pt.2
Last October, I wrote an entry called Two questions wondering about the state of the economy, the rate of exchange and how these trends may affect us. I wish I'd called the entry "Three questions" and included the topic of...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 2:36 PM | Comments (21) | TrackBack
November 19, 2007
Clothing manufacturer Fit Couture trip reports 2
Today I have two more trip reports on the lean implementation at Fit Couture earlier this month (previous entry). First up is Susanna Tisa followed by Alex Russel. Thanks guys! --------------- Hi Kathleen. We’ve just gotten back from our travels...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 9:32 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
November 13, 2007
Clothing manufacturer Fit Couture trip reports
Today we have two trip reports from the lean manufacturing seminar held at Fit Couture on November 2nd in Houston. First up is Vesta Hartman Garcia, aka Ellaroo. ------------- As if I'm not lucky enough to have Kathleen on my...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 1:29 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 7, 2007
Made to measure manufacturing
Quick, who's the largest custom suit manufacturer in North America? I suppose the question is rhetorical; few are going to guess. It's Coppley Apparel Group in Ontario Canada. With a 30% increase in sales this year, Coppley's success is an...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 11:53 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
November 6, 2007
Pattern Puzzle: Mark Liu
Continuing from Zero fabric waste fashion design is an illustration from one of Timo's protégés, Mark Liu. Here's Mark's example of no waste from Design for Textile Futures. Here's a close up so you can see the detail; obviously laser...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 1:54 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack
Zero fabric waste fashion design
I'm having an interesting conversation with Timo Rissanen, a Ph.D candidate and undergraduate fashion professor at the University of Technology in Sydney Australia. He's interested in the concept of zero waste of materials in manufacturing. I'm doing a series of...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 1:35 PM | Comments (10) | TrackBack
October 9, 2007
Implementing the Toyota Sewing System at Fit Couture
In the Spring of 2007, Fit Couture gave up on its long-stated strategy of migrating its production off site. We really never wanted to be in the manufacturing business, but for a variety of reasons ultimately decided that our product...Posted by Mike Cerny at 11:17 AM | Comments (7)
September 19, 2007
Fit Couture: Lean manufacturing implementation
Mike and Amy Cerny of Fit Couture have recently installed a lean manufacturing module at their small factory in Houston! I don't want to steal any of their thunder at this amazing accomplishment but I am so proud and gratified...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 2:38 PM | Comments (11) | TrackBack
August 23, 2007
How to solve any problem 2
This post is a guest entry written by Eric H., an electrical engineer living in Las Cruces NM. Hey, that's where I live too. If that weren't coincidental enough, I make his dinner (nearly) every night and he does all...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 1:29 PM | Comments (14) | TrackBack
August 2, 2007
How to solve any problem
Mark Graban is understandably disgruntled over the results of a recently released LEI survey of obstacles to lean manufacturing and responded by creating his own survey based on the "5 Whys". 5 Whys is a useful tool in Root Cause...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 9:20 AM | Comments (19) | TrackBack
July 24, 2007
Batch, UPS and Modular (Modular pt.1)
Continuing from parts one, two and three, we've come to modular. Modular is TSS, team or lean sewing and I've written about it ad nauseum. As a refresher, team sewing means (usually) U shaped pods of machines. One operator makes...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 12:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 23, 2007
Batch, UPS and Modular (UPS pt.1)
This is part three in the sewing organization process systems entries. Parts one and two discussed bundling. Today I'll start with UPS or Unit Production System. You can desribe UPS as a hybrid system of lean (modular) and standard bundling...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 12:50 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 18, 2007
Batch, UPS and Modular (Batch pt.2)
I'd meant to get back to this but my geek vacation got in the way. As a way of restarting the conversation, I'll address questions that had been left in the comments of the previous post. Tomorrow I plan to...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 3:20 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
July 2, 2007
Batch, UPS and Modular (Batch pt.1)
There are three basic kinds of manufacturing process systems in the apparel industry. These are Batch -also often called "bundling"- UPS (Unit Production System) and Modular, aka lean or team sewing. I've described each of these at various times but...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 12:34 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
June 18, 2007
There's More to Green than Money
I want to talk about ways to reduce waste in a typical fashion design office/studio. I have some ideas, but I would love this to jumpstart a discussion to brainstorm even more ideas. Product Development: --here's the most green thing...Posted by Verbal Croquis at 7:34 PM | Comments (11) | TrackBack
June 4, 2007
Prevent sewing defects
The other day when I published How to get people to change, I neglected to mention another nifty way that modular (lean) production lowers your sewing costs. First, a quick reminder; batch processing means one person does one operation on...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 1:46 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
May 29, 2007
SPESA Trip Report: JC Sprowls
SPESA Trip Report: J C Sprowls Follows is JC's trip report which he'd subtitled, _The Sex Appeal of Technology_. Thanks JC! ----------- I did a lot of homework leading up to the show because I wanted to make the most...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 10:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 23, 2007
How to get people to change
The alternative title to this entry is _Coping with Barriers to Implementing Lean Manufacturing_ but I doubt that title would compel many of you to read it. Regardless of context, getting people to change is the subject of this entry...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 9:19 AM | Comments (11) | TrackBack
May 15, 2007
SPESA Trip Report: Kathleen pt.1
This post came out differently than intended from when I started it. It started out as a survey of stuff as I came to it (CAD etc) and descended into a rant about fast team sewing, lean manufacturing and the...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 1:08 PM | Comments (11) | TrackBack
April 12, 2007
Benetton gets Lean(er)
According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Benetton has adopted fast fashion strategies (sub req'd). After sales slumped, Bennetton reorganized with a near 10% sales gain last year to show for its efforts -rebounding from a $10.6 million...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 9:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 10, 2007
Is fast fashion sustainable?
It's all very good and well to source sustainable resources for inputs in garment production but I think that one crucial element is missing from the debate. Namely, is the manufacturing model that one employs, sustainable? I'm not the only...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 11:37 AM | Comments (11) | TrackBack
March 22, 2007
Lean or Lame?
Mark Graban has applied a new acronym to describe failed Lean implementation, calling it LAME -Lean As Mistakenly Executed. Perfect description. If you're new to these parts, Lean Manufacturing is the only hope you have in beating out the big...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 11:41 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
February 2, 2007
Setting up a small shop
We've been talking about the requirements for setting up a small shop in the forum. Vesta writes: I've gleaned some information from Kathleen's book and blog about how to go about setting up a shop, but I'd love to have...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 2:50 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack
January 24, 2007
What to do with scrap?
Vesta requests that I write a blog entry about What to do with fabric scraps, whether scraps from the cutting table, or last season’s swatches. Then there’s crappy sewing samples that didn’t wash well and the guts bunched up (not...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 11:43 AM | Comments (223)
January 10, 2007
Joseph Abboud: Lean Manufacturer
Ann sent me an article about Joseph Abboud and his recent commitment to Lean Manufacturing which appeared in the Boston Globe (if gated, try this). I also got a press release from his PR company (reprinted at close). Keep in...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 1:09 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
January 5, 2007
CMT vs Package sourcing
Cleaning off my desktop I came across this question I'd never posted. Oops. I include it now because it'll still be useful to those with similar questions or those who have not considered the implications and challenges of growth and...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 10:37 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
December 20, 2006
Workplace Management
Jon Miller over at Gemba Panta Rei has announced that they have obtained the English language publication rights to Taiichi Ono's book, Workplace Management and are accepting preorders. I nagged him incessantly to announce this in time for holiday shopping,...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 2:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Marena Group: All Star Lean manufacturer
This month's issue of Apparel (free sub) features the industry All-Stars, an industry wide competition of the trade's best and brightest. In the past, this has usually also meant the biggest but this year is the exception (one can only...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 11:45 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
November 20, 2006
What is a Block?
[Glossary entry] First, a block is not a sloper (read this). A block is not a fitting shell either. Fitting shells are only used in schools, colleges, sewing classes, by custom clothiers or enthusiasts. Nobody else uses them. Yes I...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 2:37 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
October 9, 2006
Lean Louis Vuitton
Ann sends word of an article in this morning's Wall Street Journal (sub req'd) entitled Louis Vuitton Tries Modern Methods On Factory Lines. It's gratifying to see that LV has discovered that quality product design and craftsmanship doesn't necessarily require...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 10:21 AM | Comments (11) | TrackBack
September 29, 2006
Ida, 5S, chile and the whole enchilada
[This post has been amended 10/5/07] Ida is my landlady's mother, she won't let me take her picture. Ida is my friend (her grandson is autistic so she has a soft spot for me) and she's been coming to help...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 2:01 PM | Comments (20) | TrackBack
August 29, 2006
This week in blog history 8
I don't know how I let this get away from me but I am about a month behind in posting the entries from this series. If you've arrived late to the party, this will be a great time to review...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 12:16 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
August 22, 2006
Leadership and implementing change
A couple of weeks ago, I'd cited recent research that information junkies were literally getting an adrenaline fix from learning. In an article entitled The Neuroscience of Leadership from strategy+business magazine (via Neuromarketing blog), it is apparent that there is...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 11:13 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
August 10, 2006
How to manufacture shoes
Last weekend I found a great footwear industry, shoe development and design blog called First Pullover. I don't like the name because it's too arcane. If you're not already in the footwear industry, you have no idea that the first...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 12:21 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
May 26, 2006
Training Within Industry (TWI)
Oh happy day; I have a wonderful excuse to write about the missing link to Kaizen! The good news first (she says, clapping her hands and jumping up and down) then I'll explain what TWI is. The Green Mountain Chapter...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 10:40 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
May 15, 2006
Ungaro style #11350
This is from Parellele, Ungaro's pret-a-porter line. A caveat, his website is pink (!) and annoying. The style number is 11350; it's a navy and white silk (lined in poly) polka dot dress, size 12. I'm guessing this thing dates...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 12:34 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack
March 14, 2006
Gemba Keiei chapter 14
Jon Miller over at Gemba Panta Rei has published a summary of chapter 14 from Gemba Keiei by Taiichi Ohno. If you're not familiar with this book, it is highly readable and down to earth -although this book has been...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 8:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 1, 2006
Home-sewing manufacturers pt 2
The concept of using the activities of home-sewers who manufacture for charity provides a lot of fuel for thought. The concept is so beautiful and perfectly lean it begs a comparison with what we're trying to do here -for the...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 12:32 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Domestic manufacturing is up
Bill sends word of an article appearing on CNN's website entitled Is 'Made in U.S.A.' back in vogue?. Apparently, the necessity of lean and fast fashion is gaining importance for big-box apparel producers. Said manufacturers have discovered that domestic production...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 10:29 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
February 28, 2006
Home-sewing manufacturers
I have a lot of enthusiast sewing people on this site -home sewers- people who never intend to manufacture. For my part, I like the mix so I encourage it. After all, this is the only forum I know of...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 12:02 PM | Comments (15) | TrackBack
February 21, 2006
Profits aren't cash
I've been reading a book I really like called Rebirth of American Industry and I intend to do a full blown review of it but for now, I wanted to mention the meat of the book's discussion and how that...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 11:26 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
February 20, 2006
Beau Ties Ltd. of Vermont
I found a really great example of niche manufacturing. The company is called Beau Ties Ltd. of Vermont and it was started by Bill Kenerson and his wife Deb Venman. I like their story for a lot of reasons, Bill...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 3:11 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
February 10, 2006
Standard Work
I've been meaning to explain the concept of Standard Work -also known as Best Practices- for a long time because there are tremendous advantages to adopting them. Briefly, standard work is a defined established procedure for doing something in a...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 1:09 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
January 31, 2006
Piece rate is good
Tyler Cowen of Marginal Revolution mentions the work of the economist Edward Lazear yesterday. Lazear argues that piece rate may boost productivity which brings me to another of my pet peeves: most people assume that piece rate is a nasty...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 8:40 AM | Comments (18) | TrackBack
January 6, 2006
Push Manufacturing Bras
Miracle sends a link to an interesting article by Jessica Seigel entitled Bent Out of Shape; it's about the hazards and horrors of bra fitting, sizing and shopping. Buried within the text of the article is this: Part of the...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 2:00 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack
December 28, 2005
Batch product development 3
This is the third of a four (maybe more) part series discussing the pros and cons of batch product development as practiced in the apparel industry and the gravitation towards lean manufacturing. This particular post will deal with the questions...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 2:08 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
December 23, 2005
Somebody likes me
Check this out, The Genius of Superfactory Readers. Other people write about me from time to time, most of it quite flattering and by people I admire a great deal. It's seems like bragging to do otherwise but should I...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 8:57 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
December 19, 2005
Marketing only gets you so far
Regarding reknown push manufacturer Gap comes this word via Slate: ... the company itself is in dire straits. In November, Gap Inc. reported its worst quarterly results in three years. Analysts said it's "time to get serious," and that the...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 7:04 AM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
December 16, 2005
The eight deadly sins of waste
[This post has been amended] One of things I haven't ever itemized is waste. Taiichi Ohno (of Toyota) identified seven types of waste (muda). An eighth form of waste came from Womack and Jones. The eight forms of waste can...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 4:27 PM | Comments (14) | TrackBack
December 15, 2005
Batch product development
Something's been bugging me. I've been rethinking my whole process of how we should do product development as I wrote in the Entrepreneur's Guide. The thing is, in this business, we can generate complete product development -from sketch to approved...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 2:22 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
December 10, 2005
Project Kaizen: Summary
In this week's Lean Carnival #4, Kevin Meyer at Evolving Excellence has compiled a listing of all the posts from this past week's project kaizen. You can use this entry to locate all posts from each of the blogs. Be...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 1:33 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 9, 2005
Project Kaizen: Friday
Today's theme are the drastic, fast changes of a whole project. A blitz takes time and preparation. It is intended to produce a big result. Of all the project kaizen topics, I found this the most difficult. Worse, I avoided...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 6:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 8, 2005
Project Kaizen: Thursday
Today we're supposed to write about quick 'n easy kaizen; improvements that affect the ease of one person doing a job and within one's authority to make a change. For my project, I've selected a poka yoke -I've talked...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 3:05 AM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
December 7, 2005
Project Kaizen: Wednesday
Today's focus is how to go about making improvements when you're dependent on other people -outside of your company- to contribute or help you (often called "workstream kaizen"). This topic will really apply to you if you're hiring sewing contractors,...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 5:12 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
December 6, 2005
Project Kaizen: Tuesday
Today's entry is making improvements for sub-team members performing the same type of work. In other words, I'll be writing about troubleshooting in the pattern department. One of the clearest example of this is when I worked for an American...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 5:44 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
December 5, 2005
Project Kaizen: Monday
First is an introduction for benefit of my readers rather than new visitors. Previous entries are What is Kaizen and the Crisis of Kaizen (itemized costs of a Kaizen in the needle trades). When I see designers doing things that...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 7:32 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
December 2, 2005
Crashing the (lean) party
Hal Macomber of Reforming Project Management (I've been reading his blog forever, do consider subscribing) has organized a lean event among lean manufacturing bloggers. Every day next week, The Gang of Seven will be writing on the same topics. No,...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 3:33 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
The crisis of Kaizen
Continuing from yesterday, in this post I'll detail the time and costs of the Kaizen activity pertaining to style 21117. In addition, while everyone desperately wants increases in productivity, you have got to anticipate the potential crisis that a dramatic...Posted by Kathleen Fasanella at 2:01 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack