Maintaining a thriving apparel business is no easy task in today’s rocky and highly competitive global economy. The Rio Garment knitwear factory in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, for example, faces 80% higher electrical bills, escalating shipping costs and sagging confidence among recession-wary U.S. consumers. But thanks to initiatives like a new on-site health clinic and its recent embrace of highly efficient, state-of-the-art manufacturing methods, the Buxbaum Group affiliate continues to win new customers, post double-digit sales growth and ramp up productivity.

“We have been seeking to increase production efficiency, improve employees’ working conditions and reduce scrap since the inception of Rio Garment,” says Buxbaum Group Chairman and CEO Paul Buxbaum. “Unlike the facilities operated by some of our competitors, Rio Garment is air-conditioned, with spacious and comfortable work sites for each employee, an excellent bonus structure and wages that exceed the industry average. Its 650 employees now have access to an advanced medical clinic and on-site doctor. Moreover, the adoption of Lean manufacturing methods earlier this year has enabled Rio’s workers to earn as much as 35% higher bonuses than their counterparts on conventional production lines. The clear gains associated with all of these productivity-boosting initiatives have made them well worth the initial capital investment.”

Rio Garment’s Zip Rio Blanco sewing facility exports more than 1 million fashion t-shirts each month. Its new health clinic, which opened this summer, is staffed by a full-time, in-house doctor and nurse. Certified by government authorities, the free clinic is part of the national medical system and operates under an agreement with the Instituto Hondureño de Seguridad Social (IHSS), which provides medical services to more than 850,000 Hondurans.

“The clinic is the latest facet of Rio Garment’s social responsibility and community action program, which includes services like free transportation for employees who live outside the city,” notes Scott Rusczyk, Buxbaum Group Vice President-Business Affairs, who was appointed Rio Garment’s President this month.

“We hope these sorts of initiatives make a difference in people’s lives.”

Rio Garment laid the groundwork for its adoption of these methods with an initial training and production program launched this spring. By midsummer, the plant was posting daily production gains of 10% to 30%. Meanwhile, employees, now organized in modules according to established Lean principles, saw a 30% to 50% reduction in the time needed to carry out their tasks. These measures follow such prior moves as the installation of new machinery and production software, T1 broadband connections for computers, a network system and the hiring of bilingual customer service staff.

“These improvements are helping us produce great-quality, embellished T-shirts that more than hold their own against higher priced T-shirts,” Buxbaum says. “The U.S. consumer is now more focused on value than at any time in recent memory, and that helps explain why so many new retail customers are turning to Rio Garment as the preferred vendor of choice.”