From Naught to More

And then her life turned for the better when she was chosen for the ‘3G Tailor Training system’. "I got an opportunity to get trained as a trainer. This was the first ever training in my entire life. I did not know how to write Tamil or even use the calculator. Along with me, a few others were also trained. They managed to gather and write notes during the training, but I struggled to write and understand whole pieces of information in the concept.

“But the way I was taught in the classroom gave me confidence. I tried my best and soon became a trainer. I was part of the team that contributed to training 50+ new operators to learn their sewing operations. They are bread earners now. Some of them are from my hometown. I got famous there (grins) and now they fondly call me ‘Amutha akka’ (akka meaning elder sister). My salary has also been hiked by 40%.”

The ‘3G Tailor Training System’ devised by Rajesh Bheda Consulting (RBC) at the production facility of JG Hosiery was undertaken to improve the in-house training capabilities for adopting best practices in developing sewing skills in the factory.

The 3G Tailor Training System is implemented by training of dedicated trainers inside a garment factory so that they can train others as per the skill requirements of the factory. The trainers are developed from the existing multiskilled sewing operators with qualities like willingness to learn, patience and ability to explain things in a step-by-step manner.

The candidates selected for TOT (training of trainers) undergo a 10-day training following which they are supported as they further impart their learnings to their first batch of fresh trainees under the supervision of RBC experts, says the Managing Director Rajesh Bheda at RBC. The training system prepares the trainers for training fresh trainees as also the existing low performing sewing machine operators who are not able to meet the production target.

Informs Bheda, the “3G Tailor Training System has been developed based on decades of work on sewing machine training in the UK and US, where the objective of the training was to reduce the training time while improving the trainee performance. The system is based on systematic training offered by CAPITB, a training body for the clothing industry in UK. This was further developed by Paul Collyer, a former training expert with CAPTB UK. Paul has been associated with RBC for more than 15 years now as a principal consultant and works with my team to further develop the system.”

The system, which has trained thousands of women and men, is capable of making a better start earning a salary within two weeks of training and match the performance of experienced operators within 2–3 months. With this capability the garment manufacturers are able to take the factories to the locations where there is no availability of skilled sewing operators.

The system has been implemented in 15 countries including the US, UK, Canada, India, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Jordan, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

That the training equips the recipient with efficiencies that go beyond the factory floor is evident when Amutha says, “I changed my strategies in my personal life too. I am more responsible now. I learned to manage my finances well. My husband's salary is used for the family expenses without any mortgage or loan. It helped me to save my salary. As a result of well-planned financial management, we are now constructing our own house and it will be ready any time soon.

“Besides, I was not soft-spoken. Gradually I worked on my patience. It allowed me to establish good relationship with everyone. I was having difficulty getting my son to finish his schoolwork. But now I see why he was having difficulty. I instructed him using the tools and strategies that are often employed in training.

“Today I am a much more responsible person and get respect in society. I would like to learn more about the other garment products and train a lot more people”.

Kala from the Attur block too was struggling to find a good job till she joined the JG Hosiery unit in her area as a trainee sewing operator in 2019. For more than a year, she worked as a sewing operator, teaching herself other sewing skills. The hard work paid off and she got an opportunity to attend the training programme organised by her factory.

Shares she, "I thought I will remain a sewing operator forever. But in spite of fewer skills in sewing, my educational background helped me get the training from RBC and became a trainer!

“Before this training, I was just an operator. Nobody noticed my knowledge and skills. Now, I am preparing all the documents related to the new operator training. I have so far trained more than 30 new trainees. I also got the opportunity to look into the low-performing operators. I trained and improved 40+ low performing operators to hit their targets. These results made me the floor-in-charge of the trunk hall. Under my supervision, 40+ operators are working. My salary has also been hiked by 40%. They are all working as operators and earning well. That makes me happy.

“When I look back, there is no change in the lives of the people who worked as an operator with me. But for me, life has changed. I have earned a good name and even fame among my co-workers. I have a positive attitude, respect in society, I feel energetic and proud to head my family."

A beaming Kala adds that with the permission of her in-laws, she is also able to help her father financially.

What next? She is planning for a child now. She wants to create a future for her children.

"I was not keen to go the family way anytime soon because of the uncertain future. But as of today my road ahead is clear. I hope I am mature enough to handle both family and career. I have started saving for my children’s future. I am more responsible now and happy to take on even more responsibilities.”