Productivity in Apparel: Output ÷ Input

Productivity is the efficiency of a production system, an indicator of how well the factors of production are used. It's measured as a quantitative relationship between what you produce and what you use to produce it:

Productivity = Output ÷ Input

As the European Productivity Agency put it, productivity is "an attitude of mind", the certainty of doing better today than yesterday, continuously. Here's how it differs from production and how to raise it.

Production vs productivity

They're not the same:

• Production = absolute output (a value-adding process turning inputs into useful, quality output).
• Productivity = a relative term, output expressed against input.

An increase in production may or may not mean higher productivity. Productivity rises when:

1. Production increases with no increase in inputs, or
2. Production stays the same with decreased inputs, or
3. Output increases more than input does.