Lean manufacturing & "Single Unit Flow"

At Nisa, we are a lean manufacturer. This means that we keep the stock we have on hand as low as we possibly can, and make up what is needed as you, our valued customers, orders them.

We also work in 'Single Unit Flow' - this is a unique way in how we sew, which is based on the Toyota manufacturing system.

At Nisa, we set up a 'Line' each day, arranging the sewing machines in a particular order so that the first person in the line's job takes the same amount of time as the second and third person.

The first person sews their part of the job - which may be four or five steps, using four or five different sewing machines, and then passes it on to the second person in the line to sew their part of the garment.

The first person then sews another garment's first steps as the second person completes their stage of the first person's previous garment, passing it onto the third person in the line, as the first person completes another set of the first steps, the third person in the line then completes the garment as another is passed to them having had the first two stages completed.

This allows stock to constantly roll off the end of the line as finished garments ready to be worn.

During this time of economic downturn in New Zealand, we wanted to be able to offer some cost saving on to our community. We have found this extremely hard to do, when we are absorbing higher shipping, fabric, elastic, and labour costs, whilst trying to rebuild Nisa into a financially viable & sustainable social enterprise.

We have come up with the Carbon-Copy Cost-Saving 3-pack! This is a way that we can turn out a slightly higher volume of products, without having to change the set-up of our Production line, and without having to change colors as frequently.

So, now you can order a black, three pack of the same style of briefs and pay for only two - economies of scale - it's a win, win! And let's be honest - is there anyone who only has one pair of black undies?