What is Standard Allowed Minute?
Standard allowed minute (SAM) is the time (including allowances) necessary to produce one finished garment. SAM is crucial for efficient garment production, enabling productivity measurement, realistic target setting, cost estimation, and overall quality control. In the garment industry, particularly in production, SAM is used for assessing the efficiency of work. In the garment industry, the industrial engineering department determines and calculates SAM for assembling processes of garments using a standard calculation method. The applications of SAM are-
- Firm as well as individual operator’s performance
- Operator and associated cost ratios
- Operators’ payroll and incentive amount
- SAM is one of the key parameters in state-of-the-art production scheduling methods like in line balancing and performance measuring systems
SAM values for basic products, such as T-shirt, formal shirt, formal trouser, or jacket, can be estimated primarily to speed up the line balancing process. An estimated SAM helps in capacity planning of the factory, calculating the requirement of machinery and even helps to estimate CM (cut-and-make) costing of a garment.
How to Calculate Standard Allowed Minute (SAM) of a Garment:
For the valuation of garment cost, determination of SAM value plays a critical role. General sewing data (GSD) has a definite set of codes for motion data for determination of SAM. Other than using GSD and synthetic data, other methods are also available for the calculation of SAM.
Calculation of SAM by synthetic data:
In this system ‘predetermined time standard’ codes are utilized to establish ‘standard time’ of a specific style of garment. The step-by-step procedure for calculation of SAM by this method is given below.
- Selection of any one process or operation for which the SAM has to be determined.
- Study of various motions of the specific process/operation performed by an operator and remarking all movements used by the operator in carrying out one complete cycle of work.
- Enlist various motions performed by an operator sequentially. By referring to GSD and synthetic data for time measurement unit (TMU) values, TMU value (1 TMU = 0.0006 minute) for one operation could be obtained, which is then converted into minutes which is known as basic time.
- SAM = basic minute + bundle allowances (10%) + machine and personal allowances (10%).
Calculation of SAM by time study:
The step-by-step procedure for calculation of SAM by this method is given below.
- Selection of one process or operation for which the SAM has to be estimated.
- Note down the cycle time (total time necessary to carry out all tasks required to complete one operation) for the specific operation using a stop watch by standing at the side of the operator using the stop watch. It has to be done for five consecutive cycles of that operation and the average has to be determined. Basic time = cycle time × performance rating.
- Establishing the performance rating of an operator after evaluating his or her movement and work speed. Suppose if the performance rating of an operator is 85% and the cycle time is 0.55 minutes, then basic time = (0.55 × 85%) = 0.46 minutes.
- SAM = basic minute + bundle allowances (10%) + machine and personal allowances (20%). Now, SAM = (0.46 + 0.046 + 0.092) = 0.598 minutes.
Conclusion:
The term SAM is used in the garment industry to determine the standard time required to perform a specific task or operation in the production process. It is a key factor in establishing production standards and calculating garment production targets. SAM includes the actual work time, rest allowances, and allowances for delays or interruptions.
References:
- Apparel Manufacturing Technology by T. Karthik, P. Ganesan, and D. Gopalakrishnan
- Practice of Garments Merchandising and Management by Engr. Md. Faruk Hosen
- Mulat Alubel ABTEW , Annu Kumari , Ambika Babu , Yan Hong “Statistical Analysis Of Standard Allowed Minute On Sewing Efficiency In Apparel Industry “ AUTEX Research Journal, Vol. 20, No 4, December 2020, DOI 10.2478/aut-2019-0045
- Prasanta Sarkar, February 03, 2011 “How to Calculate Garment SAM?” https://www.onlineclothingstudy.com/2011/02/how-to-calculate-sam-of-garment.html