ANALYSIS OF SEWING DEFECTS

Bachelor of Fashion Technology

(Apparel Production)

BY-
ANKITA KUMARI
M/BFT/12/04
 Problem Statement
The change seen in global economic condition is rapid, generally in an industry more focus is
given on profit margin, customer demand for high quality product and improved
productivity .

Most of the manufacturers believe that garments are soft goods and non-repairable
defect may occur due to low quality raw materials or faulty process or employee casual
behavior. However, factory must have checkpoints to control over this issue. Most of the
organization termed these garments as rejected because those garments can’t be repaired
by any means.

Reworks in the garments industry is a common work that hampers the smooth production
rate and focuses on poor quality products having an impact on overall factory economy.
 Introduction
• Garment -Basic 5 pocket Denim jeans
• For one line 40 operators are working and daily output is around 700-800 denim jeans.
• The inspection of the pieces are done at three stages. The two are the inline inspection
and the final one is done at the end of the line.
• IN LINE INSPECTION ONE- where the front panel is attached to the back panel
• IN LINE INSPECTION TWO-when the waist band panel is attach the garment
• FINAL INSPECTION-after the loop is attach to the waist band.

Existing throughput of the factory found for the month of February, 2018:

• Total Number of Garments checked: 18,612

• Total number of defects found:2387
• Total number of pieces defective (Rework):2207
• Percentage defective 12.1
OBJECTIVE

To reduce the sewing defects, which will also minimize the

rejection and rework rate for production.

SUB-OBJECTIVE
o Identify the factors that leads to increase in rejections and reworks.
o The study will improve the process performance of the critical operational processes.
o Finding well defined checkpoints to control the quality and reduce the rework
percentage.
o Implement the solution to find out the improvement.
 Agenda : What and How?
• As part of the research work I collected 45 days of defect data starting from
15th Jan 2018 to 28th Feb 2018.
• The data has been taken from one production line of sewing section of the
export section.
• Made sure that number of defects of line are listed on the Check Sheet by QC
supervisor.
• The defect data was categorized and percent Defect and DHU Levels was
calculated.
• Performed Pareto analysis to find out most frequently occurring defects.
• Came up with Cause-Effect Diagram for these frequently occurring sewing
defects.
• According to the results found out the solutions/remedy to reduce the
sewing defects, hence also minimize the rejection and rework rate
• In the end compared the results from March 1st to 31st March with the
earlier result.
 Methodology
Review of the existing quality system on the sewing floor

Identification of defects on the floor by collecting data from the Checksheet.

Data collection from one production line & ensured accurate data entered by QC

Categorization of defects to calculate percent Defect & DHU level.

Pareto Analysis to find out most frequently occurring defect.

Defect analysis done according to different quality tools.

 Methodology
Cause- Effect diagram made to propose solution/remedy for frequent
defects

Control Chart was made to observe the defect trend before and after
implementation

Implementation of the proposed solution/remedy by the QC supervisor.

Comparison of the Defect percentage, DHU Levels, Control chart, Scatter diagram
 Data Collection and Analysis

• Check sheet: Consolidate data based on Checksheet maintained by QC

• Garment -Basic 5 pocket Denim jeans
 Defect Percentage for the Month of Jan-Feb

Jan-Feb

1.6 0.5

3
3.6
19.4
4.9

5.9

5.7

15.9

9.6

13.6 14.1

uncut-thread uneven stitch skip stitch pleat broken stitch poor bar-tack

hi-low needle holes label missing puckering stains

 DHU Percentage levels for the Month of Jan-Feb

• From the Bar Chart Frequently occurring defects are :

DHU %
25.00

20.00

15.00

10.00

5.00

0.00
25/Jan

08/Feb
15/Jan
16/Jan
17/Jan
18/Jan
19/Jan
20/Jan
22/Jan
23/Jan
24/Jan

27/Jan
29/Jan
30/Jan
31/Jan
01/Feb
02/Feb
03/Feb
05/Feb
06/Feb
07/Feb

09/Feb
10/Feb
12/Feb
13/Feb
14/Feb
15/Feb
16/Feb
17/Feb
19/Feb
20/Feb
21/Feb
22/Feb
23/Feb
24/Feb
26/Feb
27/Feb
28/Feb
The graph represents DHU levels in percentage format. Data shows that initially it is as high
as 20.37%
The average DHU is 14.31%
 Histogram for Month of Jan-Feb

• From the Histogram we find :

Histogram
3.5

2.5
Frequency

1.5

0.5

0
0-50 51-100 101-150 151-200 201-250 251-300 301-350 351-400 401-500

There are three defects which are less than 50 in number and three defects which
are between 51-100 in number

Uncut thread being the most in number is 473 in number, whereas uneven hem is
381 and skip stitch is 350 of the total defects.
 Scatter Diagram for Month of Jan-Feb

• From the Scatter Diagram we infer:

25.00

20.00

15.00

10.00

5.00

0.00
0.00 2.00 4.00 6.00 8.00 10.00 12.00 14.00 16.00 18.00 20.00

The graph plotted is for DHU level vs. Percent defective.

It clearly shows a positive, liner relationship between the both i.e if the DHU level
increases percent defective increases as well.
 Overall Percentage Defective for the Month of
Jan-Feb
Percentage defective
18.00

16.00

14.00

12.00

10.00

8.00

6.00

4.00

2.00

0.00
16/Jan

19/Jan

23/Jan

27/Jan

31/Jan

03/Feb

07/Feb

10/Feb

14/Feb

17/Feb

21/Feb

24/Feb

28/Feb
15/Jan

17/Jan
18/Jan

20/Jan
22/Jan

24/Jan
25/Jan

29/Jan
30/Jan

01/Feb
02/Feb

05/Feb
06/Feb

08/Feb
09/Feb

12/Feb
13/Feb

15/Feb
16/Feb

19/Feb
20/Feb

22/Feb
23/Feb

26/Feb
27/Feb
The graph represents re-works data in a percentage format.
Initial data shows that the re-works data are as high as 17.25% .

The average percent defective is 12.91%.

 Control Chart : Jan-Feb

• From the Control chart we find :

Control Chart
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0

Series1 Series2 Series3 Series4

Upper control limit 86.15 %

Control Limit: 66.75%
Lower control limit:8.54%
 Pareto Analysis

• From the Pareto Analysis Frequently occurring defects are :

120% 1200
1050
100% 99% 1000
95% 97%
859 92%
772 86%
80% 717 80% 800
74%

60% 63% 563 600

50%
40% 332 326 307 400
35%

20% 163 200

20% 128 110

0% 0

No.of Defects Cumulative defect 80%Marker

 Pareto Analysis Result
• Observations from Pareto Analysis for Top Defect Positions

1. Uncut Thread is the most frequent defect with as much as 19.45% of the total.

2. Among other defects contribution of uneven hem is 15.79%, skip stitch is 14.19%,
pleat is 13.28% and broken stitch is 10.35%.

3. These five top defect positions are the “vital few” where 72% of total defects occur.

Thus the focus should be on the top five defects.

 PARETO ANALYSIS FOR TOP DEFECT POSITIONS

4.40
SEAM DEFECTS
10.69

120 120% skip stitch

13.21 broken stitch
100 100%
uneven stitch

80 80% puckering
71.70

60 60% No.of Defects

Cumulative percent
40 40%

20 20%

0 0%
skip stitch broken uneven puckering pleat poor bar- roping
stitch stitch tack

Observations from the Analysis:

•Skipped Stitch is the most frequent defect type with 71.7% of total Seam defect.

•Among other defect types contribution of, Broken Stitch is 13.21%,uneven stitch is 10.69
and puckering is 4.4
 BOTTOM HEM

120 120%
0.69
100 100%
6.36
11.17 uneven stitch
80 80%
43.13 skip stitch
broken stitch
60 60%
No.of Defects roping
38.66 puckering
40 40% Cumulative percent

20 20%

0 0%

Observations from the Analysis:

•Uneven Stitch is the most frequent defect type with 43.13.% of total Bottom Hem defect.

• Among other defect types contribution of skip stitch is 38.76% and broken Stitch is 11.76%
and roping is 6.36.
 WAIST BAND
3.92 1.96

200 120.00 7.84 uneven stitch

26.70 broken stitch
180
poor bar-tack
100.00
160 18.10 skip stitch

140 puckering
80.00
roping
120 26.09

100 60.00 No.of Defects

80 Cumulative defect
40.00
60

40
20.00
20

0 0.00
uneven broken poor bar- skip stitch puckering roping pleat
stitch stitch tack

Observations from the Analysis:

•Uneven Stitch is the most frequent defect type with 26.7% of total Waist band defect.

 Among other defect types contribution of Broken Stitch is 26.09%, poor bar-tack is 18.10%, and Skipped
Stitch is 15.3%.
 DEFECT TYPE DEFECT POSITION DEFECT AMOUNT

UNCUT THREAD AT ALL POSITIONS 473

SKIP STITCH SEAM 114
WAIST 52
BOTTOM HEM 225
BROKEN STITCH SEAM 21
WAIST 65
BOTTOM HEM 173
UNEVEN STITCH SEAM 17
WAIST 251
BOTTOM HEM 177
PLEAT POCKET 349
TOTAL 1917

TOTAL DEFECTS - 2387

TOTAL DEFECTS CALCULATED FOR THE TOP FOUR POSITIONS- 1917
PERCENTAGE OF DEFECTS- 80.31
Thus we can conclude that these five types of defect contribute to ~81% of the defects at these four defect positions.
 MONTH - FEBURARY
2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0
MINOR MAJOR CRITICAL

CRITICAL DEFECT-112
MAJOR DEFECT-1820
MINOR DEFECT-966
 MONTH-MARCH
900

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0
MINOR MAJOR CRITICAL

CRITICAL DEFECT-89
MAJOR DEFECT-881
MINOR DEFECT-493
 Cause-Effect Diagram : Uncut thread

• From cause Effect Diagram for the defects are :

Solution/Remedy: Uncut Thread

CAUSES SOLUTIONS

Provide adequate training to the operators.

Operator inefficiency

Improper trimming Provide thread cutter to every operator and make them
use it.
Improper finishing

To cut thread properly, start regular checking system .

Improve quality inspection system.
 5
10
15
20
25
30
35

0
15/Jan

27
17/Jan

21
25
19/Jan

29

20
21/Jan

26
23/Jan

18
22
25/Jan

19

15
27/Jan

18
29/Jan

27
31/Jan

31

26
02/Feb

2121
04/Feb

19
06/Feb

24
08/Feb 27 27

18
10/Feb

19
22
12/Feb
28

14/Feb
23

16/Feb 19
21

17
• From the Run Chart we observe :

18/Feb
20/Feb
18

22/Feb
15 15 15
13

24/Feb
17
18
UNCUT THREAD

26/Feb
16

28/Feb
17
23

02/Mar
18

13

04/Mar
15

06/Mar
12

08/Mar
11
13 13

10/Mar
10

12/Mar
16

14/Mar
12
Run Chart : Un-Cut thread

9
8

16/Mar
13

18/Mar
20/Mar
22/Mar
11
9

24/Mar
8

26/Mar
7

28/Mar
99

30/Mar
88
6
 Cause-Effect Diagram : Skip stitch

• From cause Effect Diagram for the defects are :

 Solution/ Remedy: Skip Stich
CAUSES SOLUTIONS

Handling issues Operator should be shown the way garment

is to be handled

Needle worn out New needle has to be placed and keep

on checking for any needle issue
 Run Chart : Skip stich

• From the Run Chart we observe :

SKIP STITCH
30

25 25

21
20
19 19 19 19
18 18 18
17 17 17 17
16 16 16
15 15 15
14 14 14 14 14 14
13 13 13 13 13 13 13
12 12 12 12 12
11
10
9

0
 Cause-Effect Diagram : Pleat

• From cause Effect Diagram for the defects are :

 Solution/ Remedy: Pleat
CAUSES SOLUTIONS

Lack of skill Worker to be trained properly.

Use proper tension in bobbin and looper.

Proper tension
Machine to be cleaned timely.

Stretching of material in limit.

A well skilled operator for the operation should show the handling of
Placement of the panel the garment and how to place the garment ,a video can be created
for further use
 0
2
8
10
12
14
16
18
20

4
6
15/Jan
17/Jan

17

15 15
19/Jan

18

11
21/Jan

13
23/Jan

17

13
25/Jan

19

16
27/Jan

18
29/Jan
31/Jan

1616
18
02/Feb 19
04/Feb

15 15
06/Feb

12
14
08/Feb 16

12
10/Feb
17

12/Feb

11 11
14/Feb
16
15

16/Feb
13
• From the Run Chart we observe :

18

18/Feb
20/Feb
16 16

13

22/Feb
pleat

1414

24/Feb
15

11

26/Feb
17

28/Feb
14
15

02/Mar
11

04/Mar
8

06/Mar
8

08/Mar
7
Run Chart : Pleat

10/Mar
88

12/Mar
8

14/Mar
7
9

16/Mar
6
8

18/Mar
20/Mar
22/Mar
8

24/Mar
4
7

26/Mar
6

28/Mar
5
6

30/Mar
4
3
5
 Defect Percentage for the Month of March (After
Implementation)
• Defect share and percentage wise ratio for the top 5 defects worked on have significantly
diminished.
• Uncut Thread 18.5% to 16.7 % , Uneven Hem from 15.11 % to 13.8 % , Skip stitch from
13.3 % to 12.9 %
• Broken Stitch from 12.7 % to 11.5 % and Pleat from 12.9 % to10.6 %

March
1.49 2.6 1.8
2.5
2.43
15.7
4.49

5.5

12.9
6.49

5.93 12.1

10.4
10

uncut-thread uneven hem skip stitch pleat broken stitch

poor bar-tack hi-low needle holes label missing piping
joint stitch stickers missing puckering down stitch stains
 DHU levels for the Month of March (After
Implementation)
DHU%
12.00
10.59 10.76
10.12 9.99
10.00 9.34 9.36 9.42 9.19 9.51
8.91 8.91 9.07 9.28 9.02
8.49 8.71 8.28 8.41 8.41
8.70
8.07 7.89 7.67
7.71
8.00

6.00

4.00

2.00

0.00

The graph represents DHU levels in percentage format. The DHU percent came down to
8.32 from 14.1 bringing a difference of ~6%.

The average DHU Level for the month of March is 8.7%.

 Histogram for Month of March
(After Implementation)
• From the Histogram we find :

Histogram
4.5
4
3.5
3
Frequency

2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0-50 51-100 101-150 151-200 201-250 251-300 301-350 351-400 401-500 500 More
0
There are 4 defects which are less than 50 in number ,3which fall under 100.

Uncut thread which was earlier 473 came down to 253 in number.
 Scatter Diagram for Month of March
(After Implementation)
12.00

10.00

8.00

6.00

4.00

2.00

0.00
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00 8.00 9.00 10.00

The graph plotted is for DHU level vs. Percent defective.

It clearly shows a positive, liner relationship between the both i.e if the DHU level increases percent defective
increases as well.
 Overall Percentage Defective for the Month March (After Implementation)
Overall Percentage defective

10.00
9.33

9.00 8.45 8.45 8.52

8.17 8.23 8.11
7.87 7.98
7.74 7.67 7.71
8.00 7.38 7.52 7.46 7.49 7.48
7.29 7.20
7.10
6.73 6.67 6.75
7.00 6.43

6.00

5.00

4.00

3.00

2.00

1.00

0.00

The graph represents re-works data in percentage format. The average percent defective came down to 8.3% from 12.1 bringing a difference of ~4%.
 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
01/Mar
02/Mar
03/Mar
04/Mar
05/Mar
06/Mar
07/Mar
08/Mar
09/Mar
10/Mar
11/Mar
12/Mar
• From the Control chart we find :

13/Mar

Total defects
14/Mar
15/Mar

CL
16/Mar
17/Mar
18/Mar

UCL
Control Chart- March

19/Mar
20/Mar

LCL
21/Mar
22/Mar
23/Mar
24/Mar
25/Mar
26/Mar
27/Mar
28/Mar
29/Mar
30/Mar
31/Mar
Control Chart : March (After Implementation)
 Conclusion
Throughput of the factory found for the month of March, 2018 after Implementation:
• Total Number of Garments checked: 19,213
• Total number of defects found:1602
• Total number of pieces defective (Rework):1364
• Percentage defective: 8.33 %
•
Gain:
• Rework numbers came down by 843 after implementation for the month of
March,2018
• Overall Defect % came down to ~8 % in the month of March as compared to 12% in
February
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Quality and Productivity Improvement in Apparel Industry.
-www.fibre2fashion.com

• Quality tools
-textilelearner.blogspot.com

• Defects in denim jeans

-www.denimsandjeans.com

• An Application of Pareto Analysis and Cause-Effect Diagram

for Minimizing Defect Percentage in Sewing Section of a
Garment Factory in Bangladesh
-www.ijmer.com