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It was a big event when leaders of the Textile / Garment Industry Sector met on 16.06. at the Maenam Riverside Hotel to hear and discuss the outcome of the Government sponsored STAL-Project via OSMEP which was finalized on 31.05. No surprise, that K. Sombat of OSMEP held an opening speech addressing the large audience on the objectives of the STAL-Project (Streamlining business processes, Training staff individually in 35 project participating companies, avoiding lays offs balanced through added value creation). K. Sombat mentioned the tough competitive situation Thailand’s small and medium sized enterprises are stuck in and that all have to look not just inside Thailand how to survive the economic challenge to grow again, but that it is an even more important feature to see, how other countries work and what Thailand can learn from them.

In the following part of the Forum Khun Illert (Executive Director of TTCMSO) discussed the makeup of the STAL-Project which TTCMSO had been taken full responsibility supported by Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi as well as by the BISD freelance network team. Following the results of the drilling down STAL-Project the Textile / Garment Industry Sector based on the 35 participating companies is lacking behind about 30% on average (including lacking behind in productivity) not primarily because of insufficient operations or insufficient technology (although there is some cause of concern) but because companies are not seriously focusing on what Khun Illert called the “soft-factors”. When a company is not straight forward workflow oriented, when the organization is made to impress on paper instead to mirror the all decisive work flows, when operators instead of work instructions get either little or sometimes no information for what they have to do, then, the manufacturing side of the Business never can work up to a level it actual would be able to achieve. Soft factor improvement can and in fact raise total company productivity by over 30% as the STAL-Project as well as numerous practical experiences showed again, in Thailand and worldwide.

Khun Wisan, MD of Covenant Co., Ltd. asked in his paper what the benefit out of the STAL-Project for his company in fact was all about. He called the Project an “Eye-Opener” as he and his staff whilst going through the STAL-Project had seen improvement potentials within their company, (his company being highly modern, innovative and sun-rise oriented) which they had never seen or even dreamed of before. Improvements in strategy, marketing, product innovation, process optimization and even costing and not least HR and the importance to think “staff” for job enrichment and competitive efficiency. Khun Wisan’s speech was quite similar to a laudation on the STAL-Project inviting all participants in the Audience never mind if large, medium sized or smaller companies to follow the guidelines TTCMSO has been setting up with the STAL-Project ending with the remark that he never would have liked to miss the Project and advise. Khun Wisan, as other STAL-Project participants is already implementing outcomes of the project by e.g. retraining and reinventing his marketing, innovation and selling activities and other environments in his company

During the closing chapter of the Textile / Garment Forum Khun Illert suggested how, out of the process Audit and the Benchmark (the first two important chapters of the Project) an individualized Training Program for each of the 35 participating companies had been developed and what the results had been. Interestingly, though different in detail, the broader range of Training Requirements throughout all companies taking part in the project has been rather similar. This relates to the missing and/or insufficiently developed soft factor environments in the Textile / Garment Businesses. Training during the Project therefore needed to happen mostly in areas like Marketing, Product Innovation, Added Value. Next priority Job Infrastructure a subject dealing with top class job-preparation so that operators in production really know what the job they are about to execute is requiring from them related to time, cost, waste etc. Next item Khun Illert mentioned concentrates on the operational infrastructure of companies where the capacity planning, the job scheduling and the actual output control functions are insufficiently set up. Here, as Khun Illert clearly pointed out, is a tremendous reservoir for Productivity Increase when setting up right tools, methods and definitely “competencies” as a good technician in most cases is never a good production planner as he/she is lacking logistic competencies for planning. One of the more important subjects mentioned has also been management as the STAL-Project showed the urgent requirement to train supervisors and middle managers in leadership and management skills. Mostly a supervisor had been a good “operator” before, but he never had the chance to train leadership and management skills. Without them however, how can he or she be an “excellent” supervisor solving conflicts with staff, generating improvement solutions with staff, motivating staff and first of all coaching staff. 

Soft factor improvement and that is the STAL-Project message can and will improve Company productivity in between 25% and 40% +++. The Industry has to change from long proven manufacturing “mind set” to a challenging, customer and staff oriented, added value, innovation and customer solution “mind set”. The Industry, following the guidelines given is not Sun-Set, it is “Sun-Rising” The STAL-Project and the Textile / Garment FORUM were a big success.