INTRODUCTION:

Quality means customer needs is to be satisfied. Failure to maintain an

adequate quality standard can therefore be unsuccessful. But maintaining

an adequate standard of quality also costs effort. From the first

investigation to find out what the potential customer for a new product

really wants, through the processes of design, specification, controlled

manufacture and sale.

There are a number of factors on which quality fitness of garment industry

is based such as - performance, reliability, durability, visual and perceived

quality of the garment. Quality needs to be defined in terms of a particular

framework of cost.

Quality Control:

Quality is of prime importance in any aspect of business. Customers

demand and expect value for money. As producers of apparel there must

be a constant endeavor to produce work of good quality. "The systems

required for programming and coordinating the efforts of the various

groups in an organization to maintain the requisite quality". As such

Quality Control is seen as the agent of Quality Assurance or Total Quality

Control. In the garment industry quality control is practiced right from

the initial stage of sourcing raw materials to the stage of final finished

garment. For textile and apparel industry product quality is calculated in

terms of quality and standard of fibres, yarns, fabric construction, colour

fastness, surface designs and the final finished garment products.

However quality expectations for export are related to the type of customer

segments and the retail outlets. Quality control and standards are one of

the most important aspects of the content of any job and therefore a major

factor in training.

Total Quality Control:

"To ensure that the requisite quality of product is achieved". This ensures

customer satisfaction, but it leaves quality control as a necessary but

expensive evil. To ensure, at minimum practicable cost, that the requisite

quality of product is being achieved at every stage of manufacture from

raw materials to boxed stock

Objectives:

 To maximize the production of goods within the specified tolerances

correctly the first time.

 To achieve a satisfactory design of the fabric or garment in relation to

the level of choice in design, styles, colours, suitability of components

and fitness of product for the market.

Textile Quality Control Experts:

Quality Control: AQM performs quality control and inspection services for

different customers from all over the world. Using international standards

such as ISO 2859, our Quality Controllers (QC) method consists to check

different control points:

Conformity: The QC checks the conformity of the product (design, colors,

raw material…) with the Pre-Production Sample (PPS) and other technical

files.
Quality: Our QC checks for defects (fabric defects, colors defects,

accessories and label defects, manufacturing defects) and classifies them

accordingly.

Measurement: Following the measurement chart, our QC checks the

measures for each size of the product.

Packaging: Our QC checks the quantity of cartons, size of cartons, their

weight, shipping marks, etc.

Concept of Quality:

Simply, quality refers to one or more desirable characteristics that a

product should possess. Quality is inversely proportional to (unwanted)

variability.
 Quality curve

Quality Characteristics:

Every product possesses a number of properties that jointly describe what

the user or consumer thinks of as quality. These properties are known as

quality characteristics. For example, fiber length is known to be one of the

important quality characteristics of a fiber.

Quality Cost :

Preventing, detecting and dealing with defects cause costs that are called

quality costs or costs of quality. Quality costs can be broken down into four

broad groups.

(1). Prevention Costs:

 Product/process design.

 Process control.
  Burn-in.

 Training.

 Quality data acquisition and analysis

(2). Appraisal Costs:

 Inspection and test of incoming material.

 Product inspection and test.

 Material and services consumed.

 Maintaining accuracy of test equipment.

(3). Internal failure Costs:

 Scrap

 Rework

 Retest

 Failure analysis

 Downtime

 Yield losses

 Downgrading/ off-spacing

(4). External failure costs:

  Complaint adjustment

 Returned product/material

 Liability costs

 External costs

QUALITY CONTROL

This defined as the activities or techniques used to achieve and maintain the

product quality, process and service. This involves finding and eliminating

causes of quality problems through tools and equipment so that customer’s

requirements are continually met.

ISO 9000 defines quality control as a part of quality management focused

on fulfilling quality requirements. This approach places an emphasis on three

aspects:

1. Elements such as controls, job management, defined and well

managed processes, performance and integrity criteria, and

identification of records.

2. Competence, such as knowledge, skills, experience and qualifications.

3. Soft elements,such as personnel, integrity, confidence, organizational

culture, motivation, team spirit and quality relationships.

 Function Statement

QC&A Department

VQA/IQC IPQC OQC QE

•Incoming •First article •Final •Calibration

inspection inspection inspection •Reliability
•Vendor survey •Roving •Line audit test
•Vendor inspection •Ongoing •Life test
evaluation •Tollgate reliability test •Vibration test
•Vendor inspection •Outgoing quality •Dropping test
surveillance control •Quality system
audit

Quality control chart

FEEDBACK FLOW CHART FOR CUSTOMER

COMPLAINT

Customer complaint Sales

N Preliminary analysis Sales

O
Inform customer Decide the responsibility QA
Y Responsibility Dept.
Describe the root
E cause
S Responsibility Dept.
Permanent Check / Action plan

N QA
Verification of effectiveness
G
O Sales
Reply customerK

Customer confirm N
G
O
Standardize and
K finish

Statistical Quality Control (S.Q.C) :

Statistical process control (SPC) is a method of quality control which uses

statistical methods. SPC is applied in order to monitor and control a

process. Monitoring and controlling the process ensures that it operates at

its full potential. At its full potential, the process can make as much

conforming product as possible with a minimum (if not an elimination) of

waste (rework or scrap). SPC can be applied to any process where the

"conforming product" (product meeting specifications) output can be

measured. Key tools used in SPC include control charts; a focus on

continuous improvement; and the design of experiments. An example of a

process where SPC is applied is manufacturing lines.

It is the application of statistical tools in the manufacturing process for the

purpose of quality control. In SQC technique attempt is made to seek out

systematic causes of variation as soon as they occur so that the actual

variation may be supposed to be due to the guranted random causes.

Statistical quality control refers to the use of statistical methods in the

monitoring and maintaining of the quality of products and services.

Basic Categories of Statistical Quality Control (S.Q.C):

All the tools of SQC are helpful in evaluating the quality of services. SQC

uses different tools to analyze quality problem.

1. Descriptive Statistics

2. Statistical Process Control (SPC)

3. Acceptance Sampling

1. Descriptive Statistics:

Descriptive Statistics involves describing quality characteristics and

relationships.

2. Statistical process control (SPC):

The application of statistical techniques to determine whether a process is

functioning as desired

3. Acceptance Sampling:

The application of statistical techniques to determine whether a population

of items should be accepted or rejected based on inspection of a sample of

those items.
Variations of Statistical Quality Control (S.Q.C):

1. Allowable or cause variation

2. Assignable or preventable variation

Function of Statistical Quality Control (S.Q.C):

1. Evaluation of quality standards of incomeing material, product process

and finished goods.

2. Judging the conformity of the process to establish standards taking

suitable action , when deviation are noted.

3. Evaluation of optimum quality, obtainable under given condition.

4. Improvement of quality and productivity by process control and

experimentation.

Main Purpose of Statistical Quality Control (S.Q.C):

The main purpose of Statistical Quality Control(S.Q.C) is to divide statistical

method for separating allowable variation from preventable variation.

The Significance of Statistical Quality Control (S.Q.C) in the

Textile Industry:
 1. The expected quality of product can be produced and hence customers

satisfaction can be achieved which brings higher profit.

2. It is very easy to separate allowable variation from the preventable

variation by this.

3. It ensures an early detection of faults in process and hence minimum

wastage.

4. With its help one can easily defect the impact of chance in production

process in the change in quality.

5. It ensures overall co-ordination.

It can be use in the interpretation control chart

APPLICATION OF SPC
The application of SPC involves three main phases of activity:

1. Understanding the process and the specification limits.

2. Eliminating assignable (special) sources of variation, so that the

process is stable.

3. Monitoring the ongoing production process, assisted by the use of

control charts, to detect significant changes of mean or variation.

 QUALITY ASSURANCE

Quality assurance (QA) is a way of preventing mistakes or defects in

manufactured products and avoiding problems when delivering solutions or

services to customers; which ISO 9000 defines as "part of quality

management focused on providing confidence that quality requirements

will be fulfilled. it is also a wider concept that covers all policies and

systematic activities implemented within a quality system. Quality

assurance frameworks include (1) determination of adequate technical

requirement of inputs and outputs, (2) certification and rating of suppliers,

(3) testing of procured material for its conformance to established quality,

performance, safety, and reliability standards, (4) proper receipt, storage,

and issue of material, (5) audit of the process quality, (6) evaluation of the

process to establish required corrective response, and (7) audit of the final

output for conformance to (a) technical (b) reliability, (c) maintainability,

and (d) performance requirements. This defect prevention in quality

assurance differs subtly from defect detection and rejection in quality

control, and has been referred to as a shift left as it focuses on quality

earlier in the process. Quality assurance comprises administrative and

procedural activities implemented in a quality system so that requirements

and goals for a product, service or activity will be fulfilled. It is the

systematic measurement, comparison with a standard, monitoring of

processes and an associated feedback loop that confers error

[Link] can be contrasted with quality control, which is focused on

process output. Two principles included in quality assurance are: "Fit for

purpose" (the product should be suitable for the intended purpose); and

"right first time" (mistakes should be eliminated). QA includes management

of the quality of raw materials, assemblies, products and components,

services related to production, and management, production and inspection

processes. Suitable quality is determined by product users, clients or

customers, not by society in general. It is not related to cost, and

adjectives or descriptors such as "high" and "poor" are not applicable. For

example, a low priced product may be viewed as having high quality

because it is disposable, whereas another may be viewed as having poor

quality because it is not disposable.

 QUALITY CONTROL SYSTEM (QCS)

 On –line quality control system

 Off –line quality control system

On –Line Quality Control System

This type of quality control is carried out without stopping the production

process. During the running of production process a set up is automatically

performs and detects the fault and also takes corrective action.

On-line quality control comprises with the raw material quality control and

the process control.

Raw Material Control

As the quality product depends on the raw material quality, so we must be

provided with the best quality raw material with an economical

consideration. The fabric must be without fault, with proper absorbency,

whiteness as per requirement of the subsequent process. The grey

inspection report gives the condition of the raw fabric.

Process Control
The method chosen for the process must be provided with the necessary

accurate parameters. Here the specific gravity, water level, residual

hydrogen peroxide etc, at each stage is checked.

Laboratory

Laboratory is the head of the textile industries. Higher precision laboratory

can aid easily to achieve the organization. Before bulk production a sample

for the approval from the approval from industry is sent to the buyer. As per

the requirement of the buyer the shade is prepared in a laboratory

considering the economical aspects.

Laboratory Line

I. Standard sample: The buyer to the industry gives the standard sample.

The sample is measured by the CCM to get the recipe.

II. Laboratory Trial: getting the recipe, the laboratory officer produces

laboratory trial and match with standard according to the buyer

requirement.

OFF-LINE QUALITY CONTROL SYSTEM

Performed in the laboratory and other production area by stopping the

production process consisting of fabric inspection and laboratory and other

test. Correction steps are taken according to the test result obtained.

Off-Line Tests: All the off-line tests for finished fabrics can be grouped as

follows:

a) Physical tests

b) Chemical tests

Physical tests

a. Shrinkage test

b. Spirality test

c. Tensile strength

d. Abrasion resistance

e. Pilling resistance

f. Button strength testing

g. Crease resistance

h. Dimensional stability

i. Brusting strength test

Chemical tests

a) Color fastness to washing

b) Color fastness to heat

c) Color fastness to light

d) Color fastness to chlorinated water

e) Color fastness to water spotting

f) Color fastness to perspiration

g) Fibre analysis

h) PH test

i) Repellency

QUALITY CONTROL IN TEXTILE INDUSTRY

There are a number of factors on which quality fitness of garment industry

is based such as performance, reliability, durability, visual and perceived

quality of the garment. Quality needs to be defined in terms of a particular

framework cost. In the garment industry, quality control is practiced right

from the initial stage of souring raw materials to the stage of final finished

garment. Example, for textile and apparel industry product quality is

calculated in terms of quality and standard fibres, yarns, fabric construction,

color fastness, surface designs and the final finished garment products.

However, quality expectations for export are related to the type of customer

segments and retail outlets

ESTABLISHING THE QUALITY REQUIREMENTS

The first step for quality control is to understand, establish and accept the

customer’s quality requirements. This involves the following steps:

a) Getting customers specifications regarding the quality

b) Referring our past performance

c) Discussing with the quality control department

d) Discussing with the production department

e) Receiving the revised quality requirements from the customers

f) Accepting the quality parameters

Various Steps Of Inspection And Quality Control

The following levels are discussed at the garment making department

assuming that this department is receiving the ready to cut dyed and

finished fabrics from the dyeing and finishing department.

Pre-production inspection
The following parameters and defects are checked prior to cutting

 Shade matching

 Fabric construction

 GSM(grams per square meter)

 Dyeing levelness

 Softness

 Shrinkage

 Fabric holes

 Vertical and horizontal stripes

 Bowing etc

During production inspection

 Verify cutting pattern

 Cut component

 Cutting shapes

 Stitching defects

 Sewing thread matching

 Trim and accessories etc

Final inspection

 Packing and Assortment

 Fabric Defects

 Workmanship Defects

 General Defects

 Measurement Deviation

Apparel Quality Control System:

Some main quality aspects for export basis:

Below are some of the main quality aspects that are taken into

consideration for garment manufacturing for export basis:

1. Overall look of the garment

2. Right formation of the garment

3. Feel and fall of the garment

4. Physical properties

5. Color fastness of the garment

Quality is a multi-dimensional aspect:

There are many aspects of quality based on which the garment exporters

are supposed to work.

1. Quality of production

2. Quality of design of the garment

3. Purchasing functions – quality should be maintained

4. Quality of final inspection should be superior

5. Quality of the sales also has to be maintained

6. Quality of marketing of the final product is also important as the

7. Quality of the garment itself

To ensure quality:

 To insure quality some factors are considered:

 Recognize who the customer is

 Build processes that anticipate and prevent defects

 Make a plan to achieve the desired quality level

 Set up ways to measure progress

 Work as a team to achieve goal

In this context, customer is the entity receiving a service or product from

our work. For example, we can take a short production line.

Receiving → Cutting → Sewing → Inspecting → Finishing

Quality problem in cutting may lead to problems in sewing,inspecting and

finishing. It’s like “garbage in garbage out”. In other words, one needs to

have good quality materials to produce good quality goods. So this has to

be applied to every process in the system to have a total quality control.

A good plan requires:

 A clearly defined objective

 Goals or expected results

 The activities needed to achieve the desired results

 Defined roles and responsibilities for the activities

 Dates for beginning and completion of each activity

 An analysis of potential problems

Measurements are a vital part of any quality improvement program. Anything

that is not measured does not improve. We need to establish these standard

measures and measure the progress periodically.

Team work is also an essential element for the success of the program.

Remember “ONE of us is NOT better than an All of US”. The whole effort

needs to have a direction that a team leader will provide.

Way of control quality:

1. Have the proper approach toward operators.

2. Train the operator to sew with good quality from the beginning.

3. Know quality specifications and tolerance. Be sure you understand

what constitutes good and poor quality. Be consistent in your decisions

toward quality.

4. Comment on both good and bad quality. We all have a tendency to be

silent during good times and vocal during the bad.

5. Be sure to check each operators work daily.

6. Use a check list. Do not rely on memory of specifications.

 7. Do not rely on inspectors to tell you the quality level of your operators,

instead find out yourself.

8. Do not have a compromising attitude towards problem related to

quality.

QUALITY CONTROL IN POLYMER INDUSTRY

Using quality control in paint industry as a case study: There are many end

markets for paints and coatings, ranging from home builders to original

equipment manufacturers, many of which are subjected to regulations that

require testing compliance. In other cases, clients have complex

specifications for reasons varying from safety to aesthetics. The paint and

coating industry uses a wide variety of tools and methods to test for quality

control. They range from simple flow cups to highly specialized,

computerized systems that result in extremely high calibration and

measurement capacities.

VISCOSITY DETERMINATION

Viscosity in the paints industry is essentially a measure of its thickness, which

is important, because viscosity determines whether paint needs to be applied

using a brush, roller, sprayer or more high-tech application. End users, such

as automotive manufacturers, need to know viscosity in order to apply paint

evenly over uneven surfaces. Viscosity is measured using a variety of

viscometers, which are produced by companies that specialize in equipment

used to conduct quality control in the paints industry. Viscosity is typically

measured by timing the rate at which paint moves, and there are a number

of viscometers of varying degrees of sophistication that measure viscosity.

SPECIFIC GRAVITY DETERMINATION

Specific gravity is a measure of paint’s density and is generally expressed in

terms of weight per gallon. Density is determined by the ratio of solid raw

materials that make up the paint solution and can be affected by improper

thinning, environmental conditions and improper mixing ratios. For high-

precision painting, specific gravity is measured using pyknometers, which

are pressure density cups that test the resistance of a paint solution to

cracking or detachment from a metal panel. The metal panel is bent around

a cylindrical mandrel, and the amount of cracking or detachment is carefully

measured by the calibrator component of the pyknometer.

DESTRUCTIVE TESTING
Destructive testing is typically performed during the developmental stage of

a new formulation. The tester sprays customized panels made to match a

customer’s needs, such as aluminum, brass or steel. The panels are then

placed in a salt spray chamber, a humidity chamber and sometimes a box in

which they are exposed to ultraviolet rays. Other tests include the Taber

abrasion test, a falling sand test and a cross-hatch adhesion test, which is

the most commonly, used tests by paint and coating manufacturers.

ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE TESTING

Producers with customers situated in green markets, or in more highly

regulated markets based on geography, conduct a variety of environment-

related tests measuring for volatile organic compounds. In the U.S. green

home construction market, the Leadership in Environmental Design program

is a green building certification program developed by the U.S. Green

Building Council. In order to comply with the LEED program, paints must be

tested for a variety of characteristics, primarily driven by water efficiency,

materials used, indoor environmental quality, sustainability and factors

related to energy use and atmosphere. Becoming LEED compliant requires

rigorous testing for a wide variety of factors, and requires working directly
with the USGBC or consultants in order to fully understand the scope of

testing required.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN QUALITY ASSURANCE AND QUALITY

CONTROL

A good point of reference for understanding the difference is the ISO

9000 family of standards. These standards relate to quality

management systems and are designed to help organisations meet the

needs of customers and other stakeholders.

In terms of this standard, a quality management system is comprised of

quality planning and quality improvement activities, the establishment of a

set of quality policies and objectives that will act as guidelines within an

organisation, and QA and QC.

In the ISO 9000 standard, clause 3.2.10 defines Quality Control as:

“A part of quality management focused on fulfilling quality

requirements”

Clause 3.2.11 defines Quality Assurance as:

“A part of quality management focused on providing confidence

that quality requirements will be fulfilled”

These definitions lay a good foundation, but they are too broad and vague

to be useful. NASA, one of the most rigorous software engineering firms in

the world, provides the following definitions

Software Quality Control:

"The function of software quality that checks that the project

follows its standards, processes, and procedures, and that the

project produces the required internal and external (deliverable)

products"

Software Quality Assurance:

"The function of software quality that assures that the standards,

processes, and procedures are appropriate for the project and are

correctly implemented"

Simply put, Quality Assurance focuses on the process of quality, while

Quality Control focuses on the quality of output.

Quality Assurance: a Strategy of Prevention

QA is focused on planning, documenting and agreeing on a set of

guidelines that are necessary to assure quality. QA planning is undertaken

at the beginning of a project, and draws on both software specifications

and industry or company standards. The typical outcomes of the QA

planning activities are quality plans, inspection and test plans, the selection

of defect tracking tools and the training of people in the selected methods

and processes.

The purpose of QA is to prevent defects from entering into the

solution in the first place. In other words, QA is a pro-active

management practice that is used to assure a stated level of quality for an

IT initiative.

Undertaking QA at the beginning of a project is a key tool to mitigate the

risks that have been identified during the specification phases.

Communication plays a pivotal role in managing project risk, and is crucial

for realising effective QA. Part of any risk mitigation strategy is the clear

communication of both the risks, and their associated remedies to the team

or teams involved in the project.

Quality Control: a Strategy of Detection

Quality Control, on the other hand, includes all activities that are designed

to determine the level of quality of the delivered ICT solutions. QC is a

reactive means by which quality is gauged and monitored, and QC

includes all operational techniques and activities used to fulfil requirements

for quality. These techniques and activities are agreed with customers

and/or stakeholders before project work is commenced.

QC involves verification of output conformance to desired quality levels.

This means that the ICT solution is checked against customer

requirements, with various checks being conducted at planned points in the

development lifecycle. Teams will use, amongst other techniques,

structured walkthroughs, testing and code inspections to ensure that the

solution meets the agreed set of requirements.

Benefits of Quality Management

The benefits of a structured approach to quality management cannot be

ignored. Quality Control is used, in conjunction with the quality

improvement activity, to isolate and provide feedback on the causes

of quality problems. By using this approach consistently, across projects,

the feedback mechanism works towards identifying root-cause problems,

and then developing strategies to eliminating these problems. Using this

holistic approach ensures that teams achieve ever higher levels of quality.

As a consequence of formulating and executing a quality management plan

the company can expect:

 Greater levels of customer satisfaction, which will very likely result in

both repeat business, as well as referral business

 A motivated team that not only understand the policy objectives of

the quality management plan, but who also actively participate in

executing the plan

 Elimination of waste by eliminating rework arising from either the

need to address bugs, or to address gaps in the solution’s ability to

meet customer requirements

 Higher levels of confidence in planning, since the tasks arising from

unplanned rework will fall away

 Financial rewards for the company, which are a consequence of new

projects from existing and referral clients, as well as through the

reduction of monies spent on rework tasks.