Production Process Improvement of Silk-thread Product with Kaizen Concept: A Case Study of Women's Enterprise Group, Ban Wang Hin, Chaiyaphum Province

Abstract

This study was an action research, aiming to improve the production process of silk-thread products for the Ban Wang Hin Women’s Community Enterprise Group, Ban Tao Subdistrict, Ban Thaen District, Chaiyaphum Province, by applying the Kaizen concept. Data were gathered from seven key informants, including the community enterprise’s leader and supervisors of each production subprocess. The research was conducted in seven stages: problem identification, current situation analysis, root cause analysis, solution development, planning and implementation, evaluation, and standardization. The study results identified three major problems in silk-thread production: high mortality of silkworm larvae, presence of cocoon remnants in silk threads during reeling, and uneven color absorption during the dyeing process. Problem solving was carried out in five approaches: draining water from the winnowing baskets, covering with cloth to prevent insects, addition of silk filter beam, silk-thread massage, and dye temperature control.  After implementing these approaches, the resulting improvements clearly demonstrated enhanced process quality and efficiency as follows: percentage of cocoon yield loss decreased by 2.88 %; average number of times the silk thread getting tangled during reeling decreased by 3.3 times per hour; and percentage of perfectly dyed skeins of thread increased by 16.67%. The study recommended embedding the Kaizen concept based on participation into the enterprise’s operational culture, using the improved process as a standard practice for the community, further developing the process through additional quality improvement cycles, and extending the improvement approach to other processes or communities.