Learn Industrial Engineering the practical way
Free articles, Excel templates and calculators on IE, Excel and the garments industry - written from real factory experience.
Poka-Yoke (Mistake Proofing) — Complete Guide
Poka-yoke prevents human errors by designing processes that make mistakes impossible.
Value Stream Mapping in Garments — Complete Guide
Value stream mapping visualizes the entire flow of materials and information to find waste.
Kanban vs 5S — Which to Start First
Both are Lean tools but they solve different problems. Learn which to implement first.
How to calculate sewing thread consumption for a garment
The seam-length × thread-ratio method step by step: ratio table by stitch class, needle vs looper split, what changes consumption, wastage, and a full example from one garment to cones for the whole order.
Production planning in Excel: Gantt chart, working calendar, job sequencing and set-up matrix
Build a real planning tool in Excel: a Gantt chart that flags late jobs, a Julian working calendar with breaks and shifts, cascading job times, re-sequencing, multiple work centres and a set-up matrix with INDIRECT.
Excel date, time and text formulas for planners
TODAY, NOW, DAY, MONTH, YEAR, WEEKDAY, date differences, TEXT for time formats, CEILING for rounding to cartons or bundles, and LEN, SUBSTITUTE, FIND, LEFT and RIGHT for cleaning text.
MerchandisingT&A calendar and critical path: planning an order backwards from ship date
How to build a Time and Action calendar from the ex-factory date, find the critical path, and use the T&A every day to warn early and recover delays.
MerchandisingGarment sample stages: proto, fit, size set, PP, TOP and shipment samples
Why each sample is made, what material it uses, who approves it, and how to manage sample comments so bulk production starts right.
MerchandisingFabric consumption calculation for knit and woven garments
The body-measurement formula for knit T-shirts in kg per dozen, the marker method for wovens in yards, wastage allowances and a booking checklist.
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.
Get one practical IE tip every week
Join IE and production professionals learning with in2eff.