Techniques of Apparel Production Engineering

Apparel production engineering exists to lift productivity by getting the most from three resources: men, materials, and methods. The engineer does that with a toolkit of eight techniques, from studying how an operator handles the work to controlling quality without inspecting every unit. Here is the toolkit and what each tool is for.

The eight tools

Method analysis

Studying the methods used to find the best way to do a job, not just how the operator handles the work, but the machines, workstation layout, and work aids. The whole purpose is a better way to do the job.

Time study

The most common technique for setting targets: developing standards for the time allowed to produce a given number of units in a normal workday.

Capacity study and strength analysis

Like a time study, but aimed at the operator's performance level. Combined with strength analysis, it reveals the wasted potential of an operator, a line, a batch, or a whole factory.

Follow-up study

Measures exactly what is happening, performance-wise, to an operator or group, recording performance and any delays that hamper it.

Bundle diagnosis

Pinpoints the specific areas where operators are weak or strong, so training effort is focused where it's needed, by measuring performance at every stage.

Incentive plans

Designing a fair incentive scheme is a core engineering function. The common form is straight piecework (pay based purely on output), but that can be unfair to, say, utility operators whose frequent changes lower performance, so split incentive plans exist. Most operators can handle the simple arithmetic of any incentive formula.

Drill training

Often placed under the engineering function: a job is analysed and broken into parts, and the operator learns one part at a time, which is faster than learning the whole job at once.

Statistical quality control (SQC)

Sample inspection designed to measure and control quality without inspecting every unit produced.

Plus a ninth, emerging area: scheduling systems, systematic approaches to production scheduling and work-process control.