Skills Inventory Analysis: a tool for line balancing in the garment industry

The garment industry in Albania is an important sector in the manufacturing industry. With the evolution of technologies, it is facing different challenges and changes. There are a few companies operating under a full cycle of production, and a great part of them are operating as facon base companies. It has now become a necessity for garment companies to switch to a closed production cycle and to operate with different styles in small quantities.

The main objective of the study is to present and explain, through a case study, a skills inventory sheet as an important tool in line balancing to solve the problem of different styles in a production line. The completion of a skills inventory sheet is one of the main tasks of a production supervisor. It should be completed for each operator within a production line. A skills inventory sheet is important because it provides information on individual operators, the types of machines they can use, and their performance level for each machine. Skills inventory sheets can also identify training needs for individual operators/operations. All the data received from skills inventory help balance all the processes throughout a production line. This sheet should be completed by line managers and analyzed by them in order to obtain a well-balanced production line.