ENHANCING OEE OF A DENIM WASHING PROCESS THROUGH DMAIC METHODOLOGY

Abstract

The pursuit of enhanced productivity and efficiency remains a primary objective in modern manufacturing systems. In the garment industry, particularly within denim washing operations, limited attention has been given to the systematic application of Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) as a performance improvement metric. This study presents a structured implementation of the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) methodology to improve OEE in a denim washing plant lacking a pre-existing performance measurement framework. At the commencement of the study, the OEE was measured at 0.58. Through the systematic execution of DMAIC over a four-month period, a substantial improvement was observed, culminating in an OEE value of 0.77. This research demonstrates the practical effectiveness of DMAIC in operational optimization and offers a replicable model for similar applications in denim processing facilities