Manufacturing Excellence Engineer

• Established in 1978 in the North of France, KIABI revolutionised off-the-peg fashion with the introduction of low-cost fashion for the whole family, a concept which had never been seen before. With a network of over 505 shops across the world, KIABI boasts a turnover of 2 billion euros (2019) and 2.4% growth. As a symbol of simplicity, universality and joie de vivre, KIABI proposes ranges that are created in France by an in-house team of 56 fashion designers. KIABI is France’s leading prêt-à-porter retailer with over 10,000 employees of 60 different nationalities. Kiabi is aware of the environmental footprint of its activity and is reaffirming its Social and Environmental Responsibility via the KIABI HUMAN programme, by developing ranges of ecologically designed products and a transparent supply chain, and training its staff and stakeholders in the human and environmental impact of its business. The company encourages the personal development of employees in their place of work and the promotion of ethical local initiatives.

Objective:

• Improve overall factory efficiency by proper line balancing, line layout improvement, building skills, Line Management.
• Improve Right the First Time (RFT) in terms of System Adherence and sustenance.
• Improve Quality at Source through effective implementation of Total Quality Management System (TQMS)
• Reduced SMV of permanent styles through Process Improvement, Re-Engineering, & Innovation.
• Cost Optimization
• Improve material Utilization
• Process Optimization
• Empower Vendor & Factory by providing theoretical & practical training (Lean, TQM, Six Sigma, IE Tools, Innovation).
• Upgrade Factory to L3 or L4.
• Support Vendor/Factory based in creating culture of continuous improvement in the organization.
• Introduce the latest trend in machine innovation, Ai & digitalization to improve productivity, quality and reduce cost.

Key Responsibilities:

C.I Playbook governance and deployment.

• Act as the owner & subject matter expert of the Continuous Improvement Playbook.
• Leads the roll out of C.I Standards and requirements across Partner or KAS supplier factories.
• Ensure implementation of all C.I clauses, systems, methodologies, and minimum requirements defined in playbook.
• Develop roadmaps according to factory evaluation result levels.
• Ensure alignment between factory operations & corporate sourcing strategy.
• Review, maintain, and continuously improve ME Playbook standards based on emerging industry best practices.

Factory Assessment & Evaluation:

• Conduct ME Evaluation to Partner or KAS Supplier/Factories.
• Evaluate factories using the ME Scorecard & BRAG rating methodology.
• Determine the Factory’s ME Evaluation result Levels (L1, L2, L3, & L4)
• Identify gaps & Improvement opportunities.
• Prepare comprehensive assessment reports and executive summaries.
• Work with Partner or KAS Vendor/Factory to establish corrective action plan and implementation roadmaps.
• Monitor closure of assessment findings (NCs) and sustainment actions.

Capability building and training.

• Design and Deliver ME Training Modules
• Conduct Classroom & Practical Training workshop
• Coach Factory Management teams and Industrial Engineers
• Build Lean and Continuous Improvement culture within the vendor & factory organization.
• Certify Factory ME champions & key users according to playbook standard.

Training Modules to conduct to Vendor and Factory:

• Critical Path Management
• Production Planning
• Total Quality Management System (TQMS)
• Lean & Six Sigma
• Supermarket System (Cutting to Sewing)

Industrial Engineering tools:

• Sewing: Work Measurement (PMTS: GST/GSD); Operation Bulletin; Line Balancing Chart (SMV, Takt Time, Cycle Time); Operator hour Output & Efficiency Monitoring; Sewing End-line Kanban Board; Non-Productive Time Record & Analysis; Quick Changeover; Skill Matrix; Standard Worksheet; Zero Defect Operator Program; RFT/DHU/Reject/Rework % reports; Consolidated Daily, Weekly, Monthly & Yearly Sewing Line and Overall Sewing Department Production Output, Efficiency and Quality report.
• Cutting: Marker Optimization; Cut Plan Optimization; Daily Cutting Plan System; Spreading & Cutting Control System; Consolidated Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly Output & Efficiency report for Spreading, Cutting, & Bundling & Loading Report (By Table/Team and overall).
• Finishing & Packing: Operator Hourly Target & Output report; Team Base & Department Output and Efficiency report;
• Cutting, Sewing, Finishing & Packing Consolidated Daily Production Report (DPR) summary.
• All department: Productivity Improvement; Workflow Optimization; Quality Improvement Initiatives

Continuous Improvement Project Management:

• Lead Kaizen, Lean, Six Sigma and Industrial Engineering Projects.
• Facilitate Value Stream mapping exercise.
• Conduct Root caused analysis (RCA): 5 Whys; Fishbone Diagram;
• Identify and eliminate waste across manufacturing process.
• Reduce: Cost, Lead time, Changeover, WIP, Defects and downtime.
• Improve: Productivity, Efficiency, Quality, Capacity Utilization;

Digitalization, Industry 4.0 Deployment:

• ERP Systems
• MES Solutions such as Shop Floor Management system, Warehouse Management System; Quality Management System; Asset Management System; Planning System; RFID Application or Barcode/QR Code System; Shop Floor Tracking Solutions; GSD; AI & Data Analytics Application; AI Based Bots or Robotics Application (not really humamoid).

Machine Innovation & Automation

• Identify Automation opportunity in factory.
• Benchmark Best-in-class apparel technology.
• Provide and guide factories to invest in the latest trend on Machine Innovation to improve quality, efficiency, productivity, de-skill operation and reduce cost.
• Providing Cost Benefit Analysis, RROI and Payback Period analysis to justify if the investment is ideal.

KPI Management & Reporting

• Develop and Monitor Performance Indicator such as Efficiency%, Performance %, PPH, OEE, Capacity Utilization, RFT rate, DHU rate, Rework rate, Reject rate, Zero Defect, Cost Savings, Critical Path adherence performance, NPT Rate; SMV Reduction, OTD,

Working Interface: Work closely with relevant department/team:

• External: Vendor and Factory Leaders, Functional and Operational Team
• Internal: Industrial Merch, Planning, Costing, P.E, GT,

• Strong knowledge of garment construction, material, and machines.
• Understand the end-to-end garment factory process.
• Capable of optimizing workflow.
• Garment Construction Re-Engineering.
• Project Management
• Good Interpersonal/Collaboration/Team Oriented.
• Proficient in MS Office Suite / PLM/Power-Bi
• Proficient in English; Mandarin is a plus.
• Data modeling and analytics
• GSD Practitioner is a plus
• Lean Certified or Lean Six Sigma green belt certified

• 5-10 years relevant work experience in Apparel Manufacturing, Industrial Engineering, Lean Manufacturing, Costing, or Operation Excellence.
• Experience in Quality Management System.
• Experience in work measurement (PMTS), line balancing and Methods Improvement.
• Minimum 3 years leading continuous improvement program with Vendor/Factory.
• Experience in Product Re-Engineering/Design to Cost/Eco Design & Process Innovation.
• Experience in Factory Assessment and Evaluation.
• Exposure in Cost Optimization Projects
• Exposure in Project Management
• Diploma in Industrial Engineering/ Operation Management/ other Engineering Field/ Textile Engineering/Apparel Manufacturing Technology.