Department of Apparel Merchandising & Management

Course Title: Total Quality Control Management

Course Code: AMM3105

Assignment Topic: Minimization of cutting & sewing defects in

apparel industry in Bangladesh implementing 5s system.

Submitted To Submitted By

Md. Rafiqul Islam Manik Mahbub Hasan

Assistant Professor & Head ID: 181-050-111
Department of Apparel Department of Apparel
Merchandising & Management Merchandising & Management
BUFT BUFT

Date of Submission 11.07.2020

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Abstract
The readymade garment industry is the leading industry in
Bangladesh that’s why the Quality improvement of garments
can play a vital role. The main purpose of this paper is to reduce
the defects that will minimize the rework rate. Pareto analysis is
performed to identify top defect positions from all the defects
and seven are identified where 80% defects occur which should
be the major concerning areas to minimize defects percentage.
Cause-effect diagrams are constructed to show the root cause,
effect, and 5S is used to minimize the defects effectively.

Introduction
The worldwide economic circumstance changing in a fast
motion, typically in an industry extra awareness is given on
profit margin, client demand for excessive best product and
advanced productivity. In garment production, it is normal that
there might be few rejected garments after cargo. Motives are
maximum of the manufacturers believed that garments are
smooth items and non-repairable disorder may additionally
arise due to low first-class uncooked substances or defective
technique or worker informal behavior but, factory should have
test points to govern over this difficulty. There is no equipped-
made solution, which can lessen rejection percentage in a single
day. Each order is unique. However, this paper painting
suggests the way to cope with such issues and convey down
rejection price to minimal with best production. As we see a
variety of rejected garment after shipment, maximum of the
employer termed those garments as rejected because those
garments cannot be repaired via any means. Reworks inside the
garments enterprise is a common works that hampers the clean
manufacturing price and cognizance negative first-rate
products having an effect on standard manufacturing unit
financial system. Minimization of reworks is a need to in best

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and productivity development. Reworks are a vital problem for
bad first-rate product and occasional manufacturing charge.
Reworks are the non-effective sports that specialize in any
interest that consumer are now not willing to pay for. Non
efficient sports describe that the consumer does no longer take
into account as adding price to his product by using reacting
faster in minimization of reworks to make a product as
according to purchaser demand with predicted best, the agency
can make investments much less cash and greater prices
financial savings. The garment enterprise has performed a
leading position inside the development of business sector of
Bangladesh. Garment industry of Bangladesh becomes started
out within the overdue 1970. Within quick time period, it
establishes its recognition all over the global. Now Bangladesh
is the leading garment manufacturer and exporter in the global
marketplace. In quick, readymade clothes are the main export
gadgets in Bangladesh. As the worldwide market is converting
swiftly, garment enterprise is extra recognition on better stage
of customer pride. They may be giving fundamental focus on
customer perceived high best garments and stepped forward
productiveness. In garment production, it is standard to peer
plenty of garment rejection after cargo. The primary reason at
the back of the clothes rejection is that the usage of low best-
uncooked cloth such as fabric, thread or faulty system or wrong
efficiency of people. Within the production international,
marketplace is becoming in high competitive nature. Many
agencies have started out to identify and use different strategies
to lessen the illness percentage rate. They are taking patron call
for on a high priority rate. They understand thoroughly that
they will not capable of gain higher patron pleasure until they
may now not capable of fulfill client requirements. Therefore, it
is important to perceive client demand at the start and then
desires to practice the technique to gain the desired results. All
business enterprise needs to comply with this approach strictly
to reach the vacation spot. In this observe, Pareto analysis is

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used to become aware of the top defect positions from all the
defects from the facts sheet. Then defects are labeled according
to their significance. Defects usually end in rejection of clothes,
which affect agencies earnings margin deeply. To perceive the
basis reason of clothes rejection, cause-impact diagram is a very
useful device. It helps to find, kind and visible show reasons of
a disorder problem or first-class function problems. Purpose
impact diagram graphically represents the relationship between
a given final results and all of the elements that affect the
results and subsequently to find out the viable root reasons of
the hassle. 5S and Plan Do test action have implemented to
lessen the garment defect rate.

Objectives of the Study

1. To know 5S system.
2. To know the 5S system’s impact on garments factory.
3. To know the use of 5S system in cutting section and
sewing section.
4. To know how to minimize defect in cutting section and
sewing section by using 5S system.
5. To know how to increase productivity by using 5S system.
6. To know how to minimize waste by using 5S system.
7. To know 5S system’s impact on safety in the work place.

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5S System
5S is a systematic form of visual management utilizing
everything from floor tape to operations manuals. It is not just
about cleanliness or organization; it is also about maximizing
efficiency and profit. 5S is a framework that emphasizes the use
of a specific mindset and tools to create efficiency and value. It
involves observing, analyzing, collaborating, and searching for
waste and also involves the practice of removing waste.
 5S is a Japanese method for organizing a workplace.
 This system consists of five pillars—Sort, Set in Order,
Shine, Standardize, Sustain—that make maintaining the
workplace in good condition a visual process.
 5S is a philosophy and a way of organizing and
managing the workplace towards an organized, clean,
high-performance environment with the intent to
improve efficiency by eliminating waste.
 5S is amongst the first and fundamental steps
implemented by an enterprise towards the path of
implementing Total Quality Management (TQM) and
continuous improvement at the operation level. It
instils the discipline required to enable each individual
to achieve and maintain a world-class environment.
 5S is getting popular in the industry because
1. Visible results enhance the generation of more and
new ideas
2. The workplace gets cleaned up and better organized
3. Operations become easier and safer
4. Results are visible to everyone - insiders and outsiders
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5. People are naturally disciplined
6. People take pride in their clean and organized
workplace
7. As a result the company’s good image generates
Better
 Benefits of 5S
▪ Increased floor space
▪ Greater self-esteem
▪ Improvement of communication
▪ Increase in productivity
▪ Improved appearance of the organization
▪ Better and constant quality of products and services
▪ Reduced equipment breakdowns
▪ Improves workplace safety
▪ Fewer hazards in workplace
▪ Clean work place
▪ Reduced cycle time
▪ Reduced search time
▪ Less stress and tiredness
▪ Improved morale and pride in the workplace
▪ Greater efficiency in achieving goals
▪ Greater readiness for new tasks
▪ Better impression on the eye of buyers/clients

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Cutting Room and its Defects
In most circumstances (except one-piece
knitted garments), garments are
assembled from several components.
This is essential to establish profile/
shape to the garments, to overcome the
constraints of fabric width. The cutting
is the process of reproduction of shape of pattern pieces in the
fabric during the production of
garments. The cut fabric panels are
then joined using a series of stitches
and seams to produce three-
dimensional garments.

 Process flow chart in cutting section in garment

industry:
Marker making
↓
Fabric spreading
↓
Placing marker paper on the lay
↓
100% inspection of parts and replacement of parts if needed

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 ↓
Numbering
↓
Fabric cutting
↓
Sorting and bundling
↓
Input to sewing department

 Parts of Quality Control Cutting Section

Quality control of cutting section mainly divided into four parts.
1. Marker Inspection
2. Spreading Control
3. Cutting Quality control
4. Piece Goods Inspection
 In Marker Inspection following things are inspected
 Marker Length
 Marker width
 Lay quantity
 Style/Lot
 Ratio
 The measure of all individual parts marked in marker
 Following work in Spreading Quality control
 Cut numbers
 Ends
 Leaning
 Tension
 Narrow Goods
 Remnants
 Counts
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  Ply Height
 Fabric Fault
 Cutting Quality Control
 Number of parts
 Miss cut
 Ragged cutting
 Notches
 Matching plies
 piece goods inspection
 Piece Goods Inspection
 Quantity
 End out
 Knot
 Spot
 Hole
 Thick yarn
 Missing yarn
 Shading
 Slab

Minimization of cutting defects in apparel

industry by using 5S system
Cutting room is one of the most important section of apparel
industry. There is a huge pressure in that section. Cutting room
is full of fabrics and waste fabric. There creates a chaos
situation. That’s why productivity get decreased. Worker have
less safety at work. There is no free space at the room because
of fabric rolls, cut fabric and waste.
5s system work here as a solution of this chaos situation. 5s
system make work more productive. It increases floor space. It
reduces waste. Make workers work safely. It provides a clean
cutting room and it reduce search time in the cutting room.
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Organize the cutting room according to 5S system so that we
will have a better work place. Operation become easier and
safer when they use 5S system in the cutting room because 5S
system make worker disciplined naturally. As a result sewing
room get quality cut piece and company have their quality
product. So this is how we can minimize defects in the cutting
room of our apparel industry.

Sewing room and its defects

Sewing is the process of attaching two
fabric parts by using stitches which is
made with a needle and thread. Sewing
is one of the basic steps of garments
manufacturing process. Also sewing
section is the most significant section
of a ready-made garments industry. Different types of faults or
defects arise in sewing department which should be reduced to
maintain the required quality of
apparel. As its importance, this
article has shown all the defects
which produced in sewing
department of garments
manufacturing factory.
 Process Flow Chart for Garments Sewing
Department:
Product analysis
↓
Set up target for production
↓
Set up machine layout on the basis of target
↓
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 Set up operator layout on the basis of target
↓
QC check of product
↓
Line balancing
↓
Line setup
↓
Distribution all the processes
↓
Cutting parts received section
↓
Cutting parts distribution to the operator and helper
↓
Complete parts making individually
↓
Online QC check
↓
Online quality audit
↓
Counting output and checking with the target
↓
Final quality check (for each Garment)

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 All the process sequence of garments sewing
department are discussed in the below:
01
Product analysis
In which way, a product have to sew, it’s decided here.
02
Set up target for production
Have to set a target for production on the basis of shipping
schedule.
03
Set up machine layout
on the basis of target
Have to prepare machine setup layout on the basis of daily
target quantity.
04
Set up operator layout on the basis of target
Prepare operator layout setup on the basis of machine quantity.
05
QC check of product
Each garment must have to fulfill its right quality. So, product
checking must be needed by QC.
06
Line balancing
Line balancing is a tool used for production line to capacitate
the flow line of production.
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07
Line setup
Line setup must be needed to achieve healthy production.
08
Distribution all the processes
All the processes of sewing must be distributed to the right
person to avoid the damage of garments.
09
Cutting parts received
section
A section, which received the cutting parts from the cutting
department.
10
Cutting parts distribution to the operator and helper
All the cutting parts should be distributed to the operator and
helper after receiving those from cutting department.
11
Complete parts making
individually
By joining all the parts, a complete garment has to make here
individually.
12
Online QC check
During running of garments sewing, online QC check must be
needed to make fault free garments.
13
Online quality audit
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An online quality audit must be needed here to show the buyer
actual fault free product making
process.
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Counting output and checking with the target
Comparing with target quantity, all the output garments should
be counted here to make sure
achieving the target quantity.
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Final quality check
(for each Garment)
In this section, all the output garments are checked finally by
maintaining one by one method to provide fault free garments
into the finishing department.
 Types of Defects Found in Sewing Section:
The following are the defects should be identified and must be
made defect free in the sewing section:
 Sewing Defects:
 Needle damage: for example, thread drawn-off from the
fabric or making of large hole to the fabrics.
 Skipped stitch.
 Thread drawn-off.
 Seam puckering.
 Wrong stitch density.
 Uneven stitch.
 Staggered stitch.
 Defected stitch.
 Oil spot or stain.

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 Seaming Defects:
 Uneven width.
 Uneven seam line.
 Not secured by back stitch.
 Twisting.
 No matching of check or stripe.
 No matching of seam.
 Unexpected materials are attached with the sewing.
 Not sewn by matching face side or back side of fabrics.
 Use of wrong stitch type.
 Wrong shade matching of sewing thread.
 Assembly Defects:
 Defected finished components by size i.e. imperfect size and
shape of finished components.
 Imperfect garments size.
 Use of wrong ticket.
 Missing of any parts or predetermined design of garments.
 Imperfect alignment of components i.e. button, hook, and so
on) in proper place.
 Wrong placing or creasing of interlining.
 Looseness or tightness of interlining.
 Folding of any parts of garments that is seen to bad
appearance.
 Shade variation of garments.
 False direction of fabric parts in the garments.
 Imperfect matching of trimmings in the garments.

Minimization of sewing defects in apparel

industry by using 5S system
Sewing section is the biggest section of apparel industry. So
pressure is very high. When pressure is high it become messy.
And when it get messy worker get under pressure and defects
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occurred. A clean place is need to quality work. But sewing
room is always dirt and there is a chaos situation in the sewing
room. That’s why productivity get decreased. Worker have less
safety at work. There is no free space at the room because of
undisciplined finished work.
5s system work here as a solution of this chaos situation. 5s
system make work more productive. It increases floor space. It
reduces waste. Make workers work safely. It provides a clean
sewing room and it reduce search time in the sewing room.
Organize the sewing room according to 5S system so that we
will have a better work place. Operation become easier and
safer when they use 5S system in the sewing room because 5S
system make worker disciplined naturally. As a result sewing
room get quality assembled piece and company have their
quality product. So this is how we can minimize defects in the
sewing room of our apparel industry.

Limitations of the Study

Theoretically 5S study is easy but implementing 5S in the
apparel sector is not that easy practically where most of the
worker are illiterate.
5S system is not that easy to accomplish it in one day. So if any
company try to stablish 5S in one day that will be a huge mess.
5S is a team work. One cannot accomplish 5S by his own.
Many people are habitual what they are doing, if we ask them to
stop what they are doing probably they start to resist. Most of
the people are not awared about the importance of 5S. In many
case they are not trained too. And most of the garments worker
are illiterate. They don’t know anything about 5S. and if we try
to train them it will have extra cost, time and place.
Mind-set of staff personnel, 5S is not a single time activity it
should be done daily or should check it on regular intervals but
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have in companies people use to say if CEO is coming we can do
5S in an hour.
Methodology
Cutting room and sewing room are two most busy room in
apparel industry. Naturally there are too many pressure in
these 2 section of industry. That why these two section is
become messy most of the time and create chaos situation.
The 5S methodology is a system for handling workplace
organization. It includes 5 steps known as the 5 S's that turn
organization into a step-by-step system for people to follow.
This methodology is often considered the foundation of Lean
manufacturing because for a workplace to reduce waste and
become more efficient, it needs to first be organized.
The 5S methodology is a systematic approach to workplace
organization. This method includes the five steps of Sort, set in
Order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain. Generally speaking, the
steps of 5S involve going through items in a workspace,
removing what's unnecessary, organizing items, cleaning,
performing maintenance, and making sure these things become
habits. These steps should occur in this order, and there must
be a plan in place for performing the tasks associated with these
steps on a regular basis. At the end of a 5S implementation you
will see characteristic things such as policy manuals, glow-in-
the-dark tape or photoluminescent tape on the floor, colored
bins, red tags, and 5S walks taking place. In the end, it should
all add up to efficiency.
The 5S methodology originated in Japan and was first
implemented by the Toyota Motor Corporation. The
methodology was developed as a way to make just in time (JIT)
manufacturing possible. This type of manufacturing intends to
produce only the amount of a product that is needed, when it is
needed. Having an organized workplace that utilizes visual cues
to maintain itself allows JIT manufacturing to proceed more
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smoothly; in this type of environment, it's easier to see
problems and move materials efficiently.
Implementing 5S system will help to work in a clean cutting
and sewing room. It will help to free space. It will help increase
productivity in cutting and sewing room. Worker will have free
space and fresh mind to work properly and that will help to get
quality product for company.

Result and discussion

The benefits of 5S for Lean are significant, it is suggested that
efficiency gains of the order of 10% to 30% can be achieved. The
second stage of 5S results in ensuring that items (components,
equipment, tools, machines, people) are located in the most
ergonomic and thus efficient (and safer) positions. This
eliminates many of the seven wastes of manufacturing. The
operators do not have to search for things as the use of shadow
boards and clear visual identification ensure that things are
immediately to hand and obvious. These items are located as
close to where they are needed and at the correct most
ergonomic height and orientation to minimize handling.
When we use 5S system at cutting room and sewing room these
section become clean and well organized.
Cutting room and sewing room workers become naturally
disciplined.
Worker get more free space for their fresh and quality work.
Communication become improved and more strong between
workers after using 5S system.
Increased productivity at cutting room and sewing room.
It reduces searching time at cutting and sewing section.

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Workers are working more safely after using 5S system at
cutting room and sewing of garment industry.

Conclusion
Quality is the most important question for customer
satisfaction. Not only in apparel manufacturing industries but
also in any production; Good quality increases customer
satisfaction through increasing the value of the product, it
establishes brand or company name, and builds up a good
relationship with the exporter, which in turn results into high
volume sales and higher profit.
The defects in apparel industries are one type of major loss or
minimize the profit. The first concern for any manufacturer
should be to produce and deliver quality products at the right
time. However, defects in product usually lead to reject, rework,
time-consuming, extra working time and customer
dissatisfaction. In order to solve all of this problems and
minimizing waste, lean tools are applied in apparel industries.
This paper has analyzed the garment cutting and sewing defects
using lean tools 5S implementation for minimizing defects and
resulting increasing quality and making more profit.
we use 5S lean tool for minimizing defects. Finally, the 5S
system helps to plan for continuously improving the quality by
removing defects, perform on the process based on the plan and
next checking and monitoring the process that it is going
through the right procedures. Finally, corrective is taken for
further improvement.
This study helps to minimize the defects of cutting and sewing
for any apparel industries.

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