Material cutter

The material cutters role, responsibilities, and position within the wider production operation.

Operational insight: types of products produced and types of customers (clothing, home wear, retailers, bespoke).

The end to end production process, quality requirements, deadlines and targets, performance rates (efficiency).

Commercial considerations (efficiency, material cost, production costs).

Health and Safety: Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH), Manual Handling, Risk Assessments, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) (Chain mail gloves), machine guards.

Environment and sustainability; Environmental Protection Act 1990, consequences of waste disposal (landfill), energy efficiency.

Work-station ergonomics; posture and positioning whilst cutting.

Workload planning for example scheduling and prioritisation.

The construction, behaviour and appropriate use of different types of materials: canvas, leather, silk, vinyl, woollens.

Material characteristics: quality, colour, pattern, print, pile, correct side.

Material matching techniques for stripes, checks, pattern repeat, print placement.

Material faults and fault tolerances; shading, discoloration, print error, holes, marks.

Component shapes and product parts.

Cutting specifications and instructions; the number to be cut, grain line, size, pairs.

Mathematical techniques for cutting, measuring and calculating meterage.

Measuring tools, equipment and techniques.

Material spreading and transferring information requirements; darts, ease, pocket positions.

Lay planning and pattern placement techniques; manual and machine.

Manual and machine cutting techniques; quality check requirements.

Material cutting machines and equipment: knives, cutting machines, press, scissors; their purpose.

The consequence of machine/equipment mis-use - accidents, machine isolation.

First line preventative maintenance requirements: checking, cleaning, sharpening, or changing blades.

Re-cut request procedures and the re-cut process.

Continuous improvement techniques: lean, 6-Sigma, KAIZEN, 5S (Sort, Set In order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain).

Documentation requirements and their purpose: specification sheets, work records, labels.

Verbal and written communication techniques.

Material cutter terminology: ease, pairs, grain, right side.

Team working techniques and benefits.

Equality and Diversity in the workplace.

Read, interpret, and follow information for example work instructions, material specifications.

Prepare the work area for cutting materials.

Maintain the work area.

Follow health and safety regulations, legislation and procedures; PPE, manual handling, lifting procedures and ergonomic practice.

Follow environmental and sustainability regulations and procedures.

Estimate and calculate material requirements to complete the job.

Select material following specification or instruction.

Inspect materials against specifications and quality standard.

Check lay plan.

Prepare materials for cutting for example lay and spread material.

Select, check and use tools/equipment for the task.

Cut material by hand and/or machine for example band knife, shears, laser.

Check quality of the lay post cut for example waste minimised, grain, component positioning, colour continuity.

Check cut components.

Prepare material for the next stage of the production process for example bundling, labelling.

Identify and segregate material for reuse, recycling and disposal.

Check and clean tools and equipment and sharpen or change blades as required.

Report cutting issues for example material faults, equipment faults shortages, required recuts, lay plan.

Apply continuous improvement techniques.

Communicate with colleagues: verbal.

Enter information - written or electronic.

Prioritises health, safety and the environment, for example follows safe ergonomic practices, ensures safety and welfare of self and others and adopts environmental working practices.

Uses own initiative, for example when dealing with material faults and flaws.

Adaptable and flexible, for example in response to changes in priorities and work deadlines.

Team player, for example keeps others informed, interacts proactively, considers impact of actions on others, and takes account of equality and diversity.

Takes ownership and responsibility, for example seeks to meet quality targets, completes allocated work on time, escalates issues.

Professional, for example polite and courteous, a good timekeeper, has a positive can-do attitude.