RA Intertrading SA, the largest apparel manufacturer in Argentina, has implemented Coats Digital’s GSDCost solution to digitally transform its costing and capacity forecasting and enable it to optimise working processes.

Founded in 1992, RA Intertrading has the largest apparel factory in Argentina and specialises in officially-licensed football replicas, jackets, hoodies, polos, shorts and swimwear. The company provides a full manufacturing service to some of the world’s most-recognised brands, including Adidas, Converse, Fila, Kappa, Nike, Puma and Umbro.

By incorporating most of the manufacturing processes in-house at its Buenos Aires plant, the company has been able to consistently meet the highest international standards for quality, security, fair wages and environmental compliance. It employs just over 800 staff and has 41 sewing lines and 450 machines.

Using complex time measurements based on historical time studies found in a myriad of Excel spreadsheets, RA Intertrading needed a standardised solution that would accurately record standard minute values (SMVs) through effective, standard motion digitised codes to optimise its workforce management and costing processes. The company also required a tool to significantly enhance manufacturing efficiencies to effectively meet growing order demands without having to take on additional staff – since this had proved exceptionally difficult due to a serious labour shortage in the area.

“We needed to grow our business quickly due to increasing order demands,” said CEO Daniela Rabinovich. “As a result of being headquartered in an area with limited labour supply, however, the only way to drive growth effectively was to improve our labour efficiencies significantly through technology adoption. Having accurate standard-minute-values based on scientifically researched data will enable us to precisely assess labour capacity forecasts, so that we can improve our efficiencies and put the right staff in the right place at the right time.”

Coats Digital’s GSDCost method analysis and pre-determined times solution is widely acknowledged as the de-facto international standard across the sewn products industry. The solution supports a more collaborative, transparent and sustainable approach, in which brands and manufacturers establish and optimise ‘International Standard Time Benchmarks’ using standard motion codes and predetermined times. This use of a common language and standards supports accurate cost prediction, fact-based negotiation and a more efficient garment manufacturing process, while concurrently delivering on CSR commitments.

GSDCost’s enhanced feature of a globalised fair wage tool, combines the international standard time for any given style, with detailed factory efficiencies, contracted hours and the fair living wage for the country. This added tool enables brands and manufacturers to quickly agree the fair living wage allowance for any given garment, in any factory in the world.

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