LB/^oHJ/3cf/oit (3 TELESCOPING FAILURES IN INDUSTRIAL SEWING MACHINES by D. A. S. A M A R A S I N G H E A dissertation submitted to the Department o f Textile & Clothing Technology of the University of Moratuwa in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in Textile & Clothing Management February 2004 ^ ^ i T » O i k X urA Thesis coil. Department o f Textile & Clothing Technology University of Moratuwa Moratuwa SriLanka 7 ? 8 °? 6~ University of Moratuwa 79896 - 7 9 8 9 6 ii The work presented in the dissertat ion in part or w h o l e has no t b e e n submitted for any other a c a d e m i c qualif ication at any institution. D.A.S Amarasinghe (Candidate) Wpl. Ing. N.L.Wanigatunga (Supervisor) I l l A B S T R A C T The patterns of competi t ive advantage and hence the structure of exports and imports depend on stage of economic development of a country. The relatively advance countries lose competitive advantages in product groups intensive in unskilled labor and shift to products and processes, intensive in capital, skilled labor and innovation. Sri Lanka being a labour abundant country it is logical to demonstrate its competit ive advantage in clothing manufacturing. However country is progressively losing the ultimate advantage they had on labor. Even by the mid 1990s labour cost in Sri Lanka were higher than in neighboring countries such as China, India Pakistan and Vietnam. In addition to increasing labour costs Sri Lankan apparel manufactures are to be ' confronted with decreasing prices due to increasing competit ion and additional upward pressures are exerted on the manufacturers by high absenteeism and employee turnovers. Although high mechanizat ion and better utilization of human resource are considered as counter moves to combat increasing manufacturing costs the former has limited practical value due to frequent style mix changes. The selection of personnel w h o are physically and mentally qualified for maximum quality and quantity performance is the initial step in establishing better human resource utilization system. This study investigates the possibility of using selected motor ability tests such as motor coordination, manual dexterity and finger dexterity as a tool of te lescoping quality and quantity performance of one specific human resource in the apparel plant-the sewing machine operators. Randomly selected fifty sewing machine operator trainees were tested on performance criteria based on the four work samples and motor ability tests based on Canadian Force General Aptitude Test Battery. Among the three motor abilities finger dexterity showed the highest correlation with sewing efficiency and motor coordination showed the strongest correlation with quality of workmanship. The results of the study suggest that significant efficiency improvements and quality of workmanship gains can be achieved by us ing motor ability tests with right selection-ratios. A c k n o w l e d g e m e n t I would like to acknowledge several individuals who helped me to complete this thesis. First I wish to thank my supervisor Dip. Ing. Nihal Wanigatunga, Senior Lecturer of Textile and Clothing Department of the University of Moratuwa, for his untiring reviews, and relentless feedback and unwavering guidance. If not for his support and guidance it would not have been possible for me to complete this in time. I am deeply thankful to Mr Dissanayake Senior Lecturer of Textile and Clothing Department of the University of Moratuwa, for his close guidance and support not only in completing the dissertation but also in other areas. I wish to acknowledge the contribution of Dr. Julian Nanayakkare of the Department of Industrial Management, Kelaniya University, and Dr. S. Gunathunge of the Department of Management, University of Sri Jayawardhanapura, for helping me from the beginning of this project in directing me and imparting their wealth of knowledge. I want to thank Mr. N.G Kularatne, Director General of National Institute of Business Management & National Productivity Organization, and Ministry of Constitutional Affairs & Industrial Development for his guidance and help in developing the research methodology and the dissertation structure. I thank all individuals who helped me in collecting data and specially Mr. J. Rodrigo for providing staff to conduct testing. I would like to thank Mr. Nawaratne, all my colleagues and fellow students and all staff members at the Department of Textile and Clothing Technology for their encouragement and support given. I am enormously indebted to my wife Samanthi, for her unfailing love, constant encouragements and finding literature from US libraries for me. Table of Contents Acknowledgement iv Chapter -1 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background of the problem 1 1.1.1 Sri Lankan Apparel Industry 1 1.1.2 Ability is a Key Factor for Operator Performance 2 1.1.3 Psychomotor Skill Requirements of Sewing Machine Operator 4 1.1.4 Consequence of man job mismatching 8 1.2 Significance of the problem 9 1.3 Objectives of the thesis 11 Chapter -2 2.0 Litrature Review 2.1 Importance of Selection 12 2.1.1 Differences in individuals 12 2.1.2 Range of ability in different occupations 14 2.1.3 Selection factor in operation 16 2.1.4 Ability and Perfromance 18 2.1.5 Objective of employment test 19 2.2 The Selection Process 20 2.2.1 Selection 20 2.3 Reliability and Validity in Testing 22 2.3.1 Selection testing 22 2.3.2 Reliability 22 2.3.2.1 Test retest method 24 2.3.2.2 Parallel method 25 2.3.2.3 Inter-rater method 25 2.3.2.4 Internal consistency method 25 2.3.2.5 Split-half method 27 2.3.3 Validity 27 2.3.3.1 Content validity 28 2.3.3.2 Predictivie validity 28 2.3.3.2 Construct validity 28 2.4 Job Description 29 vi Chapter -4 4.0 Data Analysis and Discussion 4.1 Criterion Reliability 54 4.2 Relationship between Motor Ability and Operator Performance 55 4.3 The Criteria and Job Success 69 4.3.1 Uncombine Quality and Speed Criterion 69 4.3.2 Job Success Criterion is Limited to Speed and Quality 70 4.3.3 There are Other Factors that Affect Operator Performance 71 Chapter -5 5.0 Conclusions and Recomendations 5.1 Conclusions 76 5.2 Recommendations 77 2.3.3.2 Construct validity 28 2.4 Job Description 29 2.5 Motor Skills 40 2.5.1 Motor abilities 41 2.5.2 Characteristics of motor tests 44 Chapter - 3 3.0 Methodology of Study 3.1 Sample Selection and Testing Conditions 45 3.1.1 Sample selection 46 3.1.2 Testing Envirnment 46 3.2 Measures 47 3.2.1 Criterion Measures 47 3.2.1.1 Speed Criterion 48 3.2.1.2 Quality Criterion 48 3.2.2 Predictor Measures 49 3.3 Reliability and Validity 51 3.3.1 Speed Criterion 51 3.3.2 Quality Criterion 52 3.3.3 Predictor Reliability and Validity 53 List of reference Apendix