An Overview of Quality & Quality Control in Textile Industry

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 PreProduction 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 in Garment Manufacturing Process:

Quality is a relative term. It means customer needs is to be satisfied. 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. In previous article, I discuss about quality control system

in garment industry. Now I will give a short description of Quality Control in Garment Manufacturing
Process.

Quality inspection

Quality inspection and control in RMG industry:

The various Steps of Garments manufacturing where in-process inspection and quality control are done are
mentioned below1. In Sample making section
2. In- Marker making section
3. Inspection in fabric spreading section
4. Inspection in fabric cutting section
5. Inspection in fabric sewn section
6. Inspection in pressing & Finishing section

Quality Control in Sample Section:

Maintaining buyer Specification standard

Checking the sample and its different issues

Measurements checking

Fabric color, gsm, Fastness etc properties required checking

Spi and other parameter checking

Quality Control in Marker Making:

To check notch or drill mark

Fabric width must be higher than marker width

Fabric length must be higher than marker length

Matching of green line

Check pattern size and dimension

Matching of check and stripe taking into consideration

Considering garments production plan

Cutting table length consideration

Pattern direction consideration

Quality Control in Fabric Spreading:

Fabric spreading according to correct alignment with marker length and width

Maintain requirements of spreading

Matching of check and stripe

Lay contains correct number of fabric ply

Correct Ply direction

To control the fabric splicing

Tension control

Quality Control in Fabric Cutting:

The dimension of the pattern and the cut piece should be same and accurate

Cut edge should be smooth and clean

Notch should be cut finely

Drill hole should made at proper place

No yarn fraying should occur at cut edge

Avoid blade deflection

Maintain cutting angle

More skilled operator using

Quality Control in Sewing Section:

Input material checking

Cut panel and accessories checking

Machine is in well condition

Thread count check

Special work like embroidery, printing panel check

Needle size checking

Stitching fault should be checked

Garments measurement check

Seam fault check

Size mistake check

Mismatching matching of trimming

Shade variation within the cloth

Wrong placement of interlining

Creased or wrinkle appearance control

Quality Control in Finishing Section:

Proper inspection of the garments including measurement, spot, dirt, impurities

Water spot

Shading variation check

Smooth and unfold in pocket

In secured or broken chain or button

Wrong fold

Proper shape in garments

Properly dried in after pressing

Wanted wrinkle or fold in lining

Get up checking

Collar closing

Side seam

Sleeve placket attach

Cuff attach

Bottom hem

Back yoke

Every parts of a body

Quality Control of Sewing Thread:

A slender, strong strand or cord, especially one designed for sewing or other needlework. Most threads are
made by plying and twisting yarns. A wide variety of thread types are in use today, e.g., spun cotton and spun
polyester, core-spun cotton with a polyester filament core, polyester or nylon filaments (often bonded), and
mono filament threads.

Sewing thread

Following Features of Sewing Thread are Considered:

1. Thread Construction/Ticket number

Thread count

Thread Ply

Number of twist

Thread balance

Thread Tenacity

Thread Elongation

2. Sew ability
3. Imperfection
4. Thread finish
5. Thread color
6. Package Density
7. Winding
8. Yardage

Quality Control in Zipper:

A zipper, zip, or zip fastener, is a commonly used device for temporarily joining two edges of fabric. It is used
in clothing (e.g., jackets and jeans), luggage and other bags, sporting goods, camping gear (e.g. tents and
sleeping bags), and other items.

Zipper

Following Factors are Considered in Zipper:

1. Proper dimension of zipper
2. The top and bottom end should correctly sewn
3. The tape and color of zipper should be uniform
4. Slider has to be locked properly
5. The slider should move properly

Quality Control System:

1. On- line quality control system
2. 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 detect the fault and also takes corrective action.
Online 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 per oxide etc. at each stage is checked.
Laboratory :
Lab is the head of the textile industries. Higher precision lab can aid easily to achieve the goal of the
organization. Before bulk production a sample for the approval from industry is sent to the buyer. As per the
requirement of the buyer the shade is prepared in a lab considering the economical aspects.
Lab Line:
1. Standard sample: The buyer to the industry gives the standard sample. The sample is measured by
the CCM to get the recipe.
2. Lab trial: Getting the recipe the lab officer produce lab trial and match with standard according to
buyer requirement. Lab trial is made by the AHIBA dyeing machine.There are some programs for
dyeing.

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.
Off-Line Tests: All the Off-Line tests for finished fabrics can be grouped as follows:
A. Physical tests
B. Chemical tests
A. Physical Tests:
1. GSM test
2. Shrinkage test

3. Spirality test
4. Tensile strength
5. Abrasion resistance
6. Pilling resistance
7. Button Strength Testing
8. Crease resistance
9. Dimentional stability
10. Brusting strength test
B. Chemical Tests:
1. Color Fastness to washing.
2. Color Fastness to lighting.
3. Color Fastness to heat.
4. Color Fastness to Chlorinated water.
5. Color Fastness to water spotting.
6. Color Fastness to perspiration.
7. Color Fastness to Seawater.
8. Fibre analysis.
9. PH test.
10. Repellency.

Quality of Fabric:
Quality is very important for all types of fabric and textiles. There are some important topics given blow about
quality of fabric..........

Quality Parameters of Woven, Knitted and Non-woven Fabrics:

Generally to test the quality parameters of woven,knitted and non-woven fabric, the fabric must be
conditioning at 24 hours in the standard testing atmosphere. It is very important for all types of fabric.

Quality Parameters of Woven Fabrics:

There are some quality parameters of woven fabric.....................

1. Dimensional characteristics:

Length

Width

Thickness.

2. Weight of fabric:

Weight per unit area.

Weight per unit length.

3. Fabric strength and extensibility:

Tensile strength.

Tearing strength.

4. Threads per inch of fabric:

Ends per inch.

Picks per inch.

5. Yarn count:

Warp count

Weft count.

6. Crimp:

Warp crimp

Weft crimp.

7. Handle:.

Stiffness

Drape.

8. Crease resistance and crease recovery.

9. Air permeability.
10. Abrasion resistance.

11. Water resistance.

12. Shrinkages.
13.Different fastness properties:

Fastness to light.

Fastness to wash.

Fastness to perspiration.

Fastness to Rubbing.

Quality Parameters of Knitted Fabrics:

There are some quality parameters of knitted fabric...............
1. Strength and extensibility.
2. Course density.
3. Wales density.
4. Lop length.
5. Elasticity.
6. Deformation.
7. Grams per square meter (G.S.M)
8. Yarn count.
9. Design.

Quality Parameters of Non-woven Fabrics:

There are some quality parameters of non-woven fabric..................
1. Strength and extensibility of fabric.
2. Weight.
3. Thickness.
4. Air permeability.
5. Crease resistance.
6. Stability of washing.
7. Stability of dry cleaning.

8. Dimensional stability.
9. Elasticity.

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. Its 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.

Basic quality inspection procedure in cutting area:

1. Marker is checked for all parts and for any variation against pattern.
2. Spreading has to be inspected
3. During cutting:
4. The marker line had to be followed
5. All notches should be located correctly with even depth say 1/8 in. ( 1/16). When cutting, care should
be taken not to shift the stack of parts to a side or cut with the blade at an angle.
6. In bundling and shade marking, care should be taken to ensure that the numbering is correct. For the
final audit process, the quality inspector will determine how many bundles to check from every size
depending on the sample size.

Basic quality control procedure in sewing line:

(a) 100% inline parts checking
The operations which are difficult to re-process after assembling is checked 100% to avoid damages and
waste of time.
(b) Inline inspection
During the production of garments the operators finished work is audited in an inline inspection. A quality
inspector moves from one operator to another at random inspecting a pre-determined number of parts from a
finished bundle. This helps to control quality at needle point.
(c) 100% end-line inspection
At the end of a line or section there should be a checker to inspect all the parts before they leave the section.
The inspections should be effective in identifying all defects in a garment. The checkers should have their
forms filled correctly. A good source of information to determine the quality performance of the section is the
point of 100% inspection. The section supervisor should check the quality level at the point of 100%
inspection periodically. With this information, the supervisor should address the problems, correct the possible
causes and make plans to prevent them.
(d) Pre-final audit
A pre-final audit should be performed on packed items on a daily basis to ensure that the good packed items
are meeting the quality standards. Any problem seen can be arrested at the early stage. If pre-final audits are
done properly, the final audit of the buyer should also be carried out without any issues.

Quality Training:
The purpose of the training program is to train operators to attain high speed and production together with
good quality work. Good quality comes from the consistent use of correct methods
The steps to be taken to achieve good quality are as follows:
1. Initial instruction

Point out the key points of method and quality to the trainee and be sure that she understands them.
2. Trainee practice
When the trainee first practices an exercise, the instructor should watch her methods very closely and correct
any incorrect methods immediately. The trainee should not be timed or be permitted to start timing until she is
doing the exercise correctly. Even after starting her timing, the instructor should keep a close watch on her
methods and quality.
3. Quality checking
Whenever the instructor finds any faulty work, or whenever defects are found by other inspectors or
operators, the instructor should:
Look at the faulty work or record to determine what mistakes the trainee is making.
Tell the trainee not just what she is doing wrong, but what she must do to perform the work correctly.
4. Methods checking
The best way for an instructor to ensure good quality is by watching the trainee while he is working, by
inspecting some of his work and by correcting any faults immediately. It is much easier and more effective to
correct a fault when it happens, than to try to change the method after he has turned out a quantity of bad
work. In order to become skilled at this part of training, the instructor should take every opportunity to stand
and watch each trainee at work, in order to detect and stop any defects in method, immediately.

Statistical Quality Control (S.Q.C) :

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.
6. It can be use in the interpretation control chart.

Some test for quality control textile finishing:

1. Shrinkage Test
2. GSM Test
3. Tensile Test
4. Tearing Test

5. Color Fastness Test

6. Rubbing fastness Test
7. PH Test
8. Shade Matching Test
9. Fabric Width Test

Conclusion:
There are many quality parameters in different types of fabric. And there are also many different faults in
different types of fabric, which are effect in quality of fabric. If we control those faults and effects ,we can get
the good quality of fabric. So quality control is very important for all types of fabric and textiles.