Investigation and research on classification of productive skills (2): Cluster structure of productive skills in the car manufacturing industry.

A survey was conducted at a production facility to study the categories of productive skills. In August 1991, a questionnaire survey was given to skilled workers of a car manufacturing company. The number of valid responses was 1,215. The survey items included 133 items in the following three areas: nature of productive skills, human functions and vocational ability necessary for the work, and working conditions. The survey results were analyzed by cluster analysis to verify the hypothesis that skills can be classified based on two axes--sensory motor and intellectual management. Moreover, the analysis results clarify that the structure of "nature of productive skills" in car manufacturing can be divided into maintenance, processing, information analysis and transmission, and parts assembly. The results also show that the internal structure of intellectual management skills, which had been unknown up to this point, consists of five skill clusters: field of technical knowledge, operation of controlling equipment, preparation abilities, analysis and judgment abilities, and measurement.