To improve quality, production, and service delivery, clothing industries look toward continuous improvement approaches such as lean manufacturing, Six Sigma, and Lean Six Sigma (LSS). Simulation is one of the effective methods which aim to examine different solution scenarios. This study explores how LSS and simulation can be integrated based on the Sim-Lean approach, using a process improvement effort in clothing small–medium enterprises (SMEs). A structured framework integrating these research methodologies is developed, which might benefit a variety of future clothing process improvement efforts, and could inform quality improvement efforts in other industries. The aim is to allow a successful implementation of the approach in the clothing industry to improve the lead time, the daily output, the average staying times (min) of jobs waiting in queues, and the resource utilization.

A wet wipe is a commercial product made of a fibrous substrate impregnated with a lotion that often comes folded and individually wrapped for convenience. The present work relates to wet wipes’ composition to clean the baby’s body. Wet wipes were produced from two spunlace nonwoven fabrics consisting of polyester/viscose and a wetting solution. Objective performance evaluation was carried out to determine the efficiency of the wipes for manufacturing and end uses. The lotion formula comprising surfactants, a solubilizer, preservative compounds, perfumes, and mainly purified water is selected to deliver the intended benefits of a baby wet wipe. Besides, physical, mechanical characteristics, and moisture management parameters of the wet wipe fabrics were measured. Optimal lotion (oil–water emulsion) stirring conditions were illustrated using optical microscopy. Lotion foamability appears as an undesirable phenomenon upon the manufacturing of the wet wipe. A mixture design, an extreme vertices design, was used to study the influence of the compounds on the foam volume. The relative contribution of each compound in the lotion to generate bath foam was discussed. Because wet media are more effective than dry media for surface cleaning, the optimum wet pick-up ensuring the best wiping efficiency about of 83.2% was found to be about 3 g of lotion for 1 g of fabric. Assuming that a wipe sample could be performed in less than 3 min, it was also confirmed that the developed wipe remains effective with a moisture content of 242% and can be comparable with other commercial wipes.