Guidelines for Quality Assurance

System
Introduction to product integrity
 In the sense of performance, quality refers to the
performance features of a product. Such features are
decisive of product performance and of product satisfaction.
 The word quality also refers to freedom from deficiencies
such as late deliveries, customer claims and returns, high rate
of rework and even cancellation of sales.
 These are the various manifestations of product
dissatisfaction. Some deficiencies impact external customers
and hence are a threat to future sales as well as a source of
higher costs.
 Otherdeficiencies impact only internal customers and hence
are mainly a source of higher costs.
 Unitsto be repaired are also an extra cost because extra
costs are incurred in:
• 1. Handling the unit before repair.
• 2. Extra labor and materials in repairing.
• 3. Extra handling to get it back with the first goods.
 The time consumed on repairing defective goods can
always be used to produce more first class goods. In all
cases defective units are extra costs for the factory. Doing
it right the first time is the key to minimize costs arising
from defective products.
 Themeasurement of current performance is essential for
continuous quality improvement. What cannot be
measured cannot be improved.
 There is no end to quality improvement processes when
results are continuously monitored.
Quality Assurance
 Qualityassurance refers to the assurance to customers that
the product, parts, components, tools etc. contain specified
characteristics and is fit for the intended use.
 Intoday’s competitive industrial world, no business unit can
exist for a long time without adhering to the quality.
 Now the assurance of quality is not the responsibility of a
senior person or a department only.
 Only the inspection department or its personnel cannot be
held responsible for assurance of quality.
 Itis the responsibility of everybody connected with the
production, directly or indirectly and each and every
department.
Steps for Quality Assurance
 Firstof all quality specifications for the product needs to be
established, so that it can meet the requirements of the
customer.
 Suitable quality standards for raw materials, parts,
components, tools and equipment etc. needs to also be
determined in advance so as to manufacture quality product.
 Proper inspection and testing procedures and methods
needs to be evolved to check the quality specifications of
raw materials, parts, components, production processes and
methods and also final products. With the help of inspection
and testing, a manufacturer can determine whether they all
conform to the predetermined quality standards or design
specifications or not.
Benefits of Quality Assurance

 Ensuring that even with turnover of personnel, quality is

maintained.
 Using entire quality control staff most effectively.
 Gettingthe most of the investment by reducing rejection
and rework done on alteration.
 Evaluate production, identify bad shipments and take
corrective action.
 Evaluate operators in all areas of production and take
corrective action.
Taxonomy of Defects

Critical Defects

Major Defects

Minor Defects
Critical Defects
A Critical Defect is defined as anything that can potentially
be considered harmful to the product user or render the
product un-saleable and thereby lead to the cancellation of
the order.
A Critical Defect can be, but is not limited to sharp points
and edges, broken needles, loose components or other
foreign items which are potentially harmful and may pose a
hazard, improper or inaccurate country of origin or fiber,
workmanship errors such as stitches per inch less than the
number specified on a major stress seam, appearance
defects such as wrinkles or creases which seriously affect
appearance, errors in permanent labels such as any size
information on the garment is incorrect or care instructions
not printed clearly, omitted, incorrect, blotted out etc.
Major Defects

 Any defect (if not repaired properly) that can potentially lead
to cancellation of the entire or a part of the order is classified
as a major defect.
 Majordefects are those that if conspicuous on the finished
product, would cause the item to be a ‘second’.
A few examples of major defects are:
 Dye misprints or dye smear in Zone A or B,
 fabric not as specified,
 barre in Zone A and B,
 broken stitch, open seam etc. are all considered to be major
defects.
Minor Defects
 Asthe name suggests these defects are modest and do not
affect the salability of a product.
 Minor defects are those defects that would not cause the
product to be termed a second either because of severity or
location.
 Defectssuch as needle line and slub are classified as minor
defects depending on their severity.
DEFECTS THAT CAN DEBUT THE
APPAREL PRODUCTION PROCESS AT
THE FOLLOWING JUNCTURES
Fabric Procurement
 Various defects can arise at the time of procuring fabric and can
have severe implications on the salability of the finished product.
So it is essential to check for defects at the fabric stage.
 The quality procedures to be followed in fabric department are
fairly simple.
 Thefabric is checked using the four point system of evaluation; the
evaluation system will be explained in detail later.
 Thecutting department does not accept fabric if it has failed the
inspection in the fabric department.
A Piece Goods Inspection Report provides information regarding
this to the Cutting Manager and the Production Manager.
 TheQuality procedures in the fabric department are explained in
detail later in the guideline
Stitching
 The sewing defects begin and end with the operator. It has
been noticed that in most cases the operator is not aware of
what is required from him/her in terms of stitching quality.
 It is thus imperative that:
 One sealed sample / mock up (Sample as per order; correct
fabric, trims etc.) be available and easily accessible to all
operators at the shop floor.
 In case of certain garment parts that require a skillful
operation or for a critical operation, the operator needs to be
given a sample of the same for their ready reference.
 The broad objective of this is that there needs to never be
any legitimate reason for some one not knowing what is
happening.
Measurement
 Measurement defects arise due to lack of information about
the stipulated measurement requirements in the cutting,
sewing, packaging departments.
 These defects are particularly severe as they are difficult to
repair and can render the garment un-salable.
 Thus it is essential to put in place spec sheets at each and
every stage of production with clear instructions about what
is required in terms of measurement in that stage and ensure
that the operators have a clear understanding of
specifications so as to avoid defects arising from
misunderstanding of measurement requirements.
Packaging

 Clientshave very specific demands when it comes to

packaging of the finished garments and any packaging defect
is generally categorized as severe and or major defects and
they are best avoided.
 Toovercome the problem of packaging defects a packaging
department needs to be setup and timely audits needs to be
carried out on the packaged goods.
Defects can be further
classified as
(1) repairable or

(2) non-repairable
 Asthe name suggests Repairable defects are those defects
that can be fixed and when fixed will not render the
garment un-saleable.
 Defectsarise all the time during cutting, sewing, finishing
and packaging but to ensure a foolproof garment is sent
out to the client we have repair the defects that can be
repaired and do away with the defects that can’t be
repaired and will cause the garment to be termed as a
reject.
Introduction to Quality Procedures
 From the product perspective, the focus is clearly on
 1) Productivity
 2) Quality
 Both Productivity and Quality needs to go hand in hand. It is
normally found that one gains at the expense of the other,
but the factory endeavor would be to achieve both up to the
desired degree and beyond.
 For this to be possible it is necessary that standardized
procedures be followed in the field of Quality Assurance.
 The garment in its manufacturing process moves through the
fabric, the cutting, the sewing and finally the finishing
department. Quality Procedures are to be followed in each of
these departments. Each department needs to treat the
following department in the chain as its customer and itself
as the supplier to that customer.
DHU
 One important basis of the quality calculations explained
here is– DHU, which means Defects per Hundred Units.
 DHU calculates the ‘defects’ found in a sample of hundred
units, and NOT the ‘defective units’ itself amongst the
sample of hundred units.
 This
implies that if hundred shirts are being checked and
seven shirts are found to be defective with presence of two
defects in each of the seven, then the DHU is 14, and NOT 7.