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QUALITY RELATED TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

Apparel Standards Specifications and Quality Control

What is Quality ?
Quality is also the reflection of the customers opinion of the value they see in your product compared to that of your competitors.

In other words quality is whatever the customer says it is or the customer it is or the customer is the final judge of quality.

Quality Definition by ISO

Quality is defined by ISO (International Standards Organization) as the the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs

Quality related terminology

Here is some quality related terminology taken from an American

National Standard ANSI/ASQC A3 Quality systems terminology

Quality Management

Quality System

Quality Plan

Quality Policy

Quality Assurance

Quality Control

Statistical Quality Control

Inspection

Testing

Quality Management : Aspect of all the overall management function that determines and implements the quality policy

Quality System : The organizational structure, responsibilities, procedures, processes, and resources for implementing quality management

Quality Plan : A document setting out the specify quality practices, resources, and activities relevant to a particular product, service, contract, or a project.

Quality Policy : The overall intentions and directions of an organisation as regards quality as formally expressed by top management

Quality Assurance : All those planned or systematic actions necessary to provide adequate confidence that a product or service will satisfy given requirements for quality.

Quality Control : The operational techniques and activities required to fulfill the requirements for quality

Statistical Quality Control : The application of statistical techniques to the control of quality

Inspection & Testing

Inspection : Activities such as measuring, examining, testing, gauging, one or more characteristics of a product or service, and comparing these with the specified requirements to determine conformity. Testing : A means of determining the capability of an item to meet specified requirements by subjecting the item to a set of physical, chemical, environmental, or operating actions and conditions.

Introduction to Quality Assurance

Quality Assurance : All those planned or systematic actions necessary to provide adequate confidence that a product or service will satisfy given requirements for quality.

The Textile Industry Complex

The textile industry complex indicates suppliers of

raw material and processed materials, sewn product manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers.

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The Textile Industry Complex

Fibres & Yarns Dyes & Pigments Fabrics Closures, Trims and Support Materials

Producer of Products
Manufacturers Contractors

Wholesalers Retailers (Store and non-store formats)

Consumers of Products

Producers of Materials

Distribution of Products

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Raw Materials
Raw materials includes the unprocessed components used to produce a product. Raw materials include fibres, yarns, dyes, finishing chemicals and other materials as plastics and metal that are processed into buttons, zippers and other items that are used to produce finished goods.

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Sewn product manufacturers

Sewn product manufacturers make apparel, furnishings and industrial products. These manufacturers often incorporate other activities such as fusing and dyeing, into the production process. They may sell their products to wholesalers or directly to consumers.

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Retailers
Retailers present merchandise to the consumers via stores, catalogs, websites, TV, direct sales, and other venues. Many manufacturers and retailers have off-shore production facilities or work with contractors who produce goods.

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Consumers
Consumers are the individuals who use or wear finished textile products. Consumers include consumers, companies, such as sewn product manufacturers who buy fabric and other materials, and retailers who buy quantities of identical products for sale to the consumer.

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Textile quality Assurance

Textile quality assurance is the process of designing, producing, evaluating, and assessing the products to determine that they meet the desired quality level for a companys target market. It is based on the knowledge of
Textiles Design Merchandising Production Consumer behaviour Product and process evaluation Marketing Statistics

Phases of Quality Assurance

Inspection before/after production
Acceptance sampling

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Inspection and corrective action during production

Process control

Quality built into the process

Continuous improvement

The least progressive

The most progressive

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Some issues facing the quality profession

How to define quality from the customers perspective? Keeping up with the constant increases in the level of quality of todays goods and services. The particular difficulties encountered in managing service quality. How does the organization identify the quality dimensions that are most important to its customers? Being able to avoid the costs of poor quality products and services. Being able to deal with the shift in balance of power to consumers from producers through globalization. Recognizing that customer loyalty is increasingly based on quality. Getting leaner by achieving higher levels of productivity.

Expressing Dissatisfaction
Public action can be Takes action A dissatisfied customer

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Seeking redress directly from the firm Taking legal action

A complaint to business, private, or governmental agencies

Private action
Stop buying the product or boycott the seller

Takes no action

Warn friends about the product and/or seller

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Internal and External Benefits of Quality

Internal Benefits
Reduces costs Increases dependability Increases speed Boosts moral Increases customer retention Increases profit

External Benefits
Customer gets correct product or service
Correct specifications Appropriate intangibles Customer satisfaction Customer retention

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Quality Control
Quality control (QC) includes the activities from the suppliers, through production, and to the customers. Incoming materials are examined to make sure they meet the appropriate specifications. The quality of partially completed products are analyzed to determine if production processes are functioning properly. Finished goods and services are studied to determine if they meet customer expectations.

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QC Throughout Production Systems

Inputs Raw Materials, Parts, and Supplies
Quality of Inputs

Conversion
Production Processes
Quality of Partially Completed Products

Outputs
Products and Services

Quality of Outputs

QUALITY CONTROL ASPECTS OF GARMENT EXPORTS

There are a number of factors on which quality fitness of garment industry is based such as

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performance, reliability, durability, visual and perceived quality of the garment

Quality needs to be defined in terms of a particular framework of cost.

Costs of Quality Failure

Defects are not free, someone makes them and gets paid for the privilege COST OF INTERNAL FAILURE
Scrapped materials, goods and services Rework/ retest Reduced capacity/ yield/ increased downtime Rescheduling Service delays Disruption to the service process. Focus is on troubleshooting not improvement

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COST OF EXTERNAL FAILURE

Warranty and servicing costs Product liability / Litigation Complaints and their administration Loss of customer goodwill Inconvenience to other customers

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The Economic Costs of Quality

COST OF PREVENTION Quality planning Design of quality system Staff quality training and development Preventative maintenance Supplier development training Administering quality procedures (e.g. ISO 9001) Time spent problem - solving, improving process Measurement of customer satisfaction during process COST OF APPRAISAL
Testing and Inspection of supplier goods and services Testing and Inspection of internal service processes Measurement of customer satisfaction after process Quality Audits

Points to note down for quality in garment manufacturing system

Here some of main fabric properties that are taken into consideration for garment manufacturing for export basis: Overall look of the garment. Right formation of the garment. Feel and fall of the garment. Physical properties. Colour fastness of the garment. Finishing properties Presentation of the final produced garment.

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Basic Thumb Rules for Garment Manufacturers & Exporters

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Quality has to be taken care by the exporter, excuses are not entertained in international market for negligence for low quality garments, new or existing exporters for both it is mandatory to use design, technology and quality as major upgradation tools. Apart from superior quality of the garment, its pricing, packaging, delivery, etc has to be also taken care of. The garment shown in the catalogue should match with the final garment delivered. It is important to perform according to the promises given to the buyer, or else it creates very bad impression and results in loss of business and reputation. In international market, quality reassurance is required at every point.

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Rules Contd..
Proper documentation and high standard labels on the garment are also important aspects as these things also create good impression. Timely delivery of garments is as important as its quality. If your competitor has the better quality of garment in same pricing, it is better to also enhance your garment quality. Before entering into international market, garment exporters have to carefully frame out the quality standards, or else if anything goes wrong it could harm the organization. And after that strictly follow it. The garment quality should match the samples shown during taking the orders. The garment exporters should know to negotiate a premium price after quality assurance is done.

Aspects of quality based on which the garment exporters are supposed to work.

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Quality of the production. Quality of the design of the garment. Purchasing functions quality should also be maintained. Quality of final inspection should be superior. Quality of the sales has to be also maintained. Quality of marketing of the final product is also important as the quality of the garment itself.

Quality related problems in garment manufacturing (Sewing Defects)

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Sewing defects Like open seams, wrong stitching techniques used, same colour garment, but usage of different colour threads on the garment, miss out of stitches in between, creasing of the garment, Erroneous thread tension and raw edges are some sewing defects that could occur so should be taken care of.

Quality related problems in garment manufacturing (Color Defects)

Colour effects - Colour defects that could occur are

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difference of the colour of final produced garment to the sample shown, accessories used are of wrong colour combination and mismatching of dye amongst the pieces.

Quality related problems in garment manufacturing (Sizing defects)

Wrong gradation of sizes, difference in measurement of a garment part from other, for example- sleeves of XL size but body of L size.

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Quality related problems in garment manufacturing (Garment defects)

Garment defects - During manufacturing process defects could occur like

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faulty zippers, Irregular hemming, loose buttons, raw edges, improper button holes, uneven parts, inappropriate trimming, and difference in fabric colours.