Production Planning, Quality Control and Costing
This domain tests planning, capacity, quality control and cost sheets.
Planning and quality
Production planning sets capacity, line balancing and delivery. SAM is standard allowed minutes per operation. The bottleneck limits output. PDCA supports improvement. Quality control uses specifications, in-line and final inspection, AQL sampling and 4-point fabric inspection. Quality means conformance to requirements, not luxury.
Costing
A cost sheet includes fabric, trims, labour or CM, overhead, packing, freight and profit. Fixed costs do not change with volume; variable costs do.
Worked example
A line has 20 operators, a 600-minute shift, 80% efficiency and a 12-minute SAM. Capacity = (20 x 600 x 0.80) divided by 12 = 800 pieces per shift. For 4,000 pieces, shifts needed = 4,000 divided by 800 = 5. Reasoning: efficiency reduces available minutes, and SAM converts minutes into pieces. If fabric is 1.5 m at Rs 200 per metre, fabric cost is Rs 300; add CM Rs 80 and trims Rs 20 for Rs 400 before overhead.
Traps
Do not use 100% efficiency when actual is 80%. Do not confuse SAM with cycle time. Do not treat AQL as zero defects. Do not forget that fixed cost per unit falls as volume rises. Do not quote FOB as factory cost.