Learn Industrial Engineering the practical way
Free articles, Excel templates and calculators on IE, Excel and the garments industry - written from real factory experience.
Hoshin Kanri, the X-Matrix and Human Value Stream Mapping
Align yearly company goals with department projects using the X-Matrix, and align people with work using Human Value Stream Mapping, a skill matrix and a Kaizen suggestion system.
MerchandisingGarment costing step by step: building an FOB price
Fabric, trims, CM from SAM and cost per minute, washing/printing, commercial costs and margin - a worked T-shirt example and the common costing mistakes.
Value stream mapping, Kanban and pull systems from sample to bulk
Draw the current and future state of your sample-to-bulk flow, see lead time vs value-added time, and use Kanban cards and a pull system between cutting, sewing and finishing to cut WIP.
TPM for sewing and cutting: the 8 pillars, OEE, MTTR and MTBF
Total Productive Maintenance for garment machines: the 8 pillars, autonomous maintenance by operators, and how to calculate OEE, MTTR and MTBF with a worked sewing-line example.
Six Sigma for garment factories: DMAIC, DPMO and sigma level
What Six Sigma means, DMAIC vs DMADV, the main tools, and a worked example that turns 500 defective garments out of 50,000 into DPMO and a sigma level - with the conversion table.
Process mapping: SIPOC, swim lane and VA / NVA / delay analysis
Map any garment process - sample approval, size set or cutting - with SIPOC for the big picture, a swim lane for who does what, and activity analysis to measure how much time really adds value.
A3 report, visual management, 8-step problem solving and the 7 QC tools
How to solve a floor problem on one page: visual control vs visual display, the sections of an A3 report, the 8 problem-solving steps and when to use each of the 7 QC tools - with a planning-accuracy example.
25 Lean tools explained in one line each - with Lean interview Q&A
5S, Andon, Jidoka, JIT, Kaizen, Kanban, Poka-Yoke, SMED, OEE, takt time and more - one clear line each, plus the Lean and layout questions asked in IE interviews.
Lean basics: value-added work, ECRS and the 8 wastes (TIMWOODS)
What Lean really means on a garment floor: value-added vs non-value-added work, how ECRS shrinks necessary work, the 8 wastes, the Ohno circle, Gemba walks and a short history of Lean.
Calculators for everyday IE work
Target, efficiency, line balancing, man machine ratio, machine requirement and time study.
Templates & guides
Excel, PDF and Word files, ready to use. Files marked 🔒 are for members.
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