JOOB's Cut & Sew Partner in Thailand, GOODSTART
One of JOOB's goal is to find global partners that are high-quality operators and incorporate fair trade practices. Our initial focus has been on looking for Thailand based partners to complement our New York production partner. Last November we found a great partner to help us with the production of our Fish and Poly Anna tees - GOODSTART Co., Ltd, located just outside of Bangkok, Thailand.
Piboon Manatpon, founder of GOODSTART, has developed a unique business approach as compared with traditional cut and sew operations around Southeast Asia. The first thing that strikes you when you approach the factory and enter the cut and sew operations is how clean the place is - it's spotless.
Piboon credits his production process which focuses on small lot size and the incorporation of Toyota Production System (TPS) processes, that empowers work cells to manage their schedule and the quality of their outputs as autonomous units - synchronized and interdependent upon one another to complete a job. This enables the plant to work in small or large batches depending upon demand, the pace of the work cell, and the complexity of product. Piboon told me that many companies just think TPS is used in automotive, but it's applicability is really for most industries. He's given talks across Thailand to other companies to spread the word about his facility and the work processes that have been adopted - which is quite unique for Thailand.
The other cool thing about GOODSTART is that it's a zero-waste factory. Any and all scraps are saved and used to produce other products. There are several bins for the workers to place the excess trim.
GOODSTART has also incorporated green use of power, developing innovative cooling systems that save power, winning the company a certification from the Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organization.
Most importantly, GOODSTART has developed a sustainable business for the team members there. The team is paid a fair living wage, well above the region's average wage. And the factory was built with a conference and learning center, in which outside speakers are brought in to continually educate the team and further their skills.
For the workers this means they can expand beyond what they are doing if they so choose, or develop deeper expertise in their current tasks.
It's great working with companies like GOODSTART, who have figured out that people, planet, and profits can co-exist.
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