How Is Production Target & Output Tracked?

Why checking output hourly, not just daily, is what actually keeps an order on schedule.

A production board comparing hourly target to actual output

Reference illustration — will be replaced with a real photo.

A Target Only Works If You Check It Often Enough

A daily target tells you whether an order will ship on time — but only if you find out about a problem long before the end of the day. Most lines track output hourly precisely so that a supervisor can react to a shortfall in the second hour, not discover it in the last hour when it's too late to fix.

How Targets Are Actually Calculated

Hourly Line Target = (Number of Operators × Target Efficiency % × 60) ÷ Garment SMV

The daily target is simply the hourly target multiplied by the shift's working hours. Because efficiency is never assumed to be 100% (real lines run at a realistic efficiency level, commonly somewhere in the 60–85% range depending on the factory and style), this formula sets a target that's ambitious but achievable, not a theoretical best case nobody can hit.

Planned vs. Actual: The Core Monitoring Habit

Actual output is recorded against the target at set intervals — commonly every hour.
A gap between planned and actual output is investigated immediately, not at the end of the shift.
Common causes of a shortfall include machine downtime, absenteeism, an unbalanced line, or material/quality issues holding up a specific operation.

Good Output Monitoring vs. Poor Output Monitoring

Signs of Good Monitoring

Hourly production board updated consistently, visible to the whole line
Shortfalls investigated and addressed within the same shift
Targets based on real SMV and realistic efficiency, not guesswork

Signs of Poor Monitoring

Output only checked once, at the end of the day
The same shortfall repeating day after day with no root-cause investigation
Targets set without reference to actual SMV or the line's real efficiency

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