Twelve Mirror-Work Blouses: Costing, Scheduling and Eye Strain
A boutique owner receives an order for 12 blouses with hand mirror work for a dance group. The client supplies the fabric but wants a fixed price per blouse and delivery in 10 working days. The owner estimates per blouse: cutting 0.5 hour, stitching 2 hours, mirror work 3 hours, finishing and pressing 0.5 hour. The tailor is paid ₹90 per hour, and the helper can do mirror work but cannot stitch. Materials cost ₹70 per blouse for mirror, thread and beads. Overhead is charged at 12% of labour plus materials, and the owner wants 20% profit on total cost. The workshop works 8 hours a day, 6 days a week, and has one tailor and one helper. A previous lot had loose mirrors and two workers complained of eye strain after working under a single bulb.
1. Calculate the cost per blouse, the quoted price and the total order value. Show each step and state your rounding policy.
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Labour per blouse = cutting 0.5 + stitching 2.0 + mirror work 3.0 + finishing 0.5 = 6.0 hours. Labour cost = 6.0 × ₹90 = ₹540. Materials = ₹70. Direct cost = ₹540 + ₹70 = ₹610. Overhead = 12% of ₹610 = ₹73.20. Total cost = ₹610 + ₹73.20 = ₹683.20. Profit = 20% of total cost = 0.20 × ₹683.20 = ₹136.64. Quoted price = ₹683.20 + ₹136.64 = ₹819.84, rounded to ₹820 per blouse. Order value = 12 × ₹820 = ₹9,840. State in the quote that prices are rounded to the nearest ₹10 and that the client-supplied fabric is excluded. If the owner rounds down to ₹800, profit falls to ₹116.80 per blouse, about 17.1% on cost, not the intended 20%; so rounding must be deliberate, not accidental.
2. Prepare a production plan for 10 working days and identify whether the order is feasible with one tailor and one helper. State the bottleneck.
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Per blouse, the tailor does cutting 0.5 + stitching 2.0 + finishing 0.5 = 3.0 hours. The helper does 3.0 hours of mirror work. For 12 blouses: tailor = 36 hours; helper = 36 hours. Available time in 10 working days at 8 hours/day = 80 hours per person. Both 36-hour loads fit within 80 hours, so total capacity is sufficient. The bottleneck is sequencing and quality, not total hours: the helper cannot mirror a blouse before the tailor stitches it, and both workers share one poor light. Plan in four batches of three blouses. Days 1–2: tailor cuts and stitches batch 1 while the helper prepares mirrors and threads. Days 3–4: helper mirrors batch 1 while tailor starts batch 2. Repeat for batches 3 and 4, keeping the last two days for checking, pressing and packing. If the helper is absent, the tailor would need 72 hours for all operations, which still fits within 80 hours but leaves almost no buffer; overtime or a temporary helper may be needed. Improve lighting before production begins.
3. What quality and safety checks will you put in place for the mirror work, and how will you prevent a repeat of the loose-mirror complaint?
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Quality checks: use a shisha stitch or buttonhole stitch that completely surrounds and anchors each mirror; knot securely on the wrong side and avoid long loose floats. Check every mirror with a gentle pull before finishing. Press on the wrong side over a soft cloth so the mirror is not scratched. Inspect 100% of blouses under good light, and pull-test a sample after pressing. Preventing loose mirrors: standardise the thread and needle, require at least two anchoring stitches per mirror, and make the pull test part of the worker’s routine. Record any blouse that fails and repair it before packing. Safety and hygiene: replace the single bulb with a focused task lamp; give 10-minute breaks every hour for eye strain; keep needles in a pin cushion and broken needles in a metal box; use a thimble; smooth sharp mirror edges; maintain upright posture and ventilation. Two workers sharing one dim bulb is not acceptable for fine mirror work.