PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENT BY USING WORK MEASUREMENT METHOD CASE OF ETHIOPIAN LASTING AND FINISHING SECTION OF SHOE FACTORY

Industrial development strategy of Ethiopia is depend on labor intensive industrialization systems. Shoe factories one types of textiles factories which participate on economic of the country, but it not generate high productivity due to inefficient way of doing of the work. In lasting and finishing section of the shoe factory has a problems which related with the lack of work measurement method among the other existing department of the company. In case of problems in lasting and finishing section the productivity of the case company is affected, by existence of ineffective time, high fatigue of workers, and unwanted motion/movements of workers during process. In order to compete with other company, make a good working conditions of the workers and satisfy their customers; it needs to solve those problems by using work measurement method. In lasting and finishing section of shoe factory to increase their productivity through reducing: ineffective time, improper way doing of the workers and unwanted movement of the workers. However, the issues of work measurement method related are unsolved problems with in Ethiopian lasting and finishing section of shoe factory. Therefore, the main objectives of this study is to improve the productivity of Ethiopian lasting and finishing section of shoe factory by using work measurement method (method of doing work, movement distance with time), taking one of the shoe factory as a case study. From case company gathered processing time, distance movement, between workers and conveyor, distance between consecutive operation and time between consecutive operations with identifying working conditions of the workers during work their work on the on the existed system. Depend on collected data identified effective and ineffective time, movement distance with time of movement and unwanted movement distance with time. Then, reduce ineffective time, unwanted motion, change working conditions of the workers to reduce distance movement around working area. This research proved case company can be increase daily production from 734 pairs/day to 764 pair/day of shoe with making good working conditions of the workers.