UNIT – V:

1. Fabric defects and identification.

2. Inspection of fabrics – Method of grading – American 10 point system – 4 point system.

3. Quality related terminology – Quality Management System; Quality circle, Quality policy; Quality plan;
Quality assurance, Quality control; TQM and SixSigma.

4. Concept of Quality assurance – TQM – ISO – Six Sigma Elements and Advantages.

5. Acceptance Quality Level (AQL), MilitaryStandards – MIL-STD-105E, American NationalStandards

Institute – ANSI/ ASQ – Z1.4.

1.Fabric defects and identification.

Major Defects Found in Woven Fabric:
Various types of faults found in woven fabric has mentioned in the below:
1. Bad selvedge,
2. Broken ends or warp,
3. Broken picks or weft,
4. Loose warp,
5. Loose weft or snarl,
6. Double end,
7. Tight end,
8. Float of warp,
9. Wrong end color,
10. Miss pick,
11. Double pick,
12. Weft bar,
13. Ball,
14. Hole,
15. Oil spot,
16. Tails out,
17. Temple mark,
18. Reed mark,
19. Slub,
20. Thick and thin place.
All the above woven fabric faults have explained in the following:

1.Bad or defective Bad selvedge in woven fabric due

selvedge: to the faulty weaving. Here, warp
ends being set too far apart for the
thickness of the yarn or in finished
fabric
2. Broken ends or A defect in the woven fabric caused
warp: by a warp yarn that was broken
during weaving or finishing

3. Broken picks or A filling yarn that is broken in

weft: the weaving of fabric.

4. Loose warp: This type of fault is produced in

woven fabric when the tension of
warp yarn is slow.

5. Loose weft or snarl It is produced in woven fabric due

to the looseness of filling yarn.

6. Double ends This kind of fault is produced

in woven fabric when the two ends
of warp sticks get together after
sizing.

7. Tight ends: If the tension of warp yarn is more

than the other ends present in the
loom then this type of fault is
produced in woven fabric.
8. Float of warp: If someone pulls
the fabric together the cloth roller
intentionally or unintentionally
then this kind of defect is produced
in woven fabric.

9. Wrong end color: It is produced in woven fabric due

to the wrong drawing of colored
yarn.

10. Miss pick: This kind of defect is produced

in woven fabric when operator
starts a stopped machine without
picking the broken weft from the
shade.

11. Double pick: It is produced

in woven fabric when the cutter
don’t work properly.

12. Weft bar: When count of yarn varies from

one cone to another cone then a bar
of weft will be appeared in fabric
after weaving.

13. Ball: If the warp is too much hairy then

the reed will create ball in warp
yarn in between reed and heald
shaft. If the ball is small enough to
pass through the dent of reed then
those will form the ball in fabric.

14. Hole: A fabric imperfection in which one

or several yarns are sufficiently
damaged to create an opening.
15. Oil spot or stain: Discoloration on a local area of a
substrate that may be resistant to
remove by laundering or
dry cleaning. It occurs during
spinning, weaving or finishing. It
is also often seen in the woven
fabric. It is also produced in woven
fabric if too much oiling has done
on the loom parts.

16. Tails out: This kind of fault is produced

in woven fabric if the cutter
doesn’t work properly.

17. Temple mark: If the placement of ring in the

. temple bar is wrong or the pressure
of temple to the fabrics is too high
then this type of fault is produced

18. Reed mark: In woven fabric, a crack between

the groups of warp ends either
continuous or at intervals. It’s may
be caused by the wrong drawing-in
of the warp or damage to the reed
wires.

19. Slub: If the yarn contains unexpected

slub in it then those slub will be
appeared in the fabric as a fault.

20. Thick and thin Fabric defect in which fabric count

place: varies more than a specified
. percentage from the intended
count. If the thick or thin place is
more than one inch (2.54cm) wide
then it is considered as a major
defect in fabric grading
2. Inspection of fabrics – Method of grading – American 10 point system – 4 point
system.

Fabrics have certain desirable characteristics depending on end-use. Various defects in the
fabric either mar the appearance or adversely affect some of these desired characteristics. Thus fabric
produced must be inspected before releasing it for dispatch so that proper quality goods reach the
customers.

Inspection

Inspection can be defined as the visual examination or review of raw materials ( fabric). The main
objective of inspection is the detection of the defects as early as possible in the manufacturing
process so that time and money are not wasted later on in either correcting the defect or writing off
defective fabrics.

Purpose of fabric inspection

Fabric Inspection is an important aspect followed prior to garment

manufacturing to avoid rejects due to fabric quality and facing with
unexpected loss in manufacturing. Fabric inspection is done for
fault/defect rate, fabric construction, end to end or edge to edge
shading, colour, hand or feel, length/width, print defect and
appearance. Fabric inspection ensures to minimise the rejection of
cut panels or rejected garments due to fabric faults. Cutting inspected
and approved fabric ensures not only finished garment quality but also reduces rejects, improves
efficiency and timely deliveries.

The purpose of fabric inspection is to determine the quality and acceptability for garments. As fabric
is received, it should be inspected to determine acceptability from a quality viewpoint. Some garment
manufacturers rely on their fabric suppliers to perform fabric inspection and fabric defects. In many
small companies, spreading and cutting is done by the same personnel and fabric is inspected as it is
being spread on a table for cutting.

Fabric inspection, mapping or marking defects is important prior to spreading and cutting because:

 Spreading can be done more quickly because the spreader is not also inspecting the fabric.
 A cutter's productivity will increase because the defects are already marked.
 The patterns are cut around the defects so as not to include them in the finished garment.

Fabric Inspection Systems

There are various fabric inspection systems:

 10-Point System.
 4- Point system.

Ten Point System

It was developed in the 1950's. This system assigns penalty points to each defect, depending on the
length of the defect.
Penalty points are assigned as per the following:

Under the Ten-Point System, a piece is graded a "first" if the total penalty points do not exceed the
total yardage of the piece. A piece is graded a "second" if the total penalty points exceed the total
yardage of the piece.

The following points are noteworthy:

 This system is bit complicated because points per length are different for warp and weft
defects.
 It is difficult in practical use.

4-Point System

The 4-Point System, also called the American Apparel Manufacturers (AAMA) point-grading system
for determining fabric quality, is widely used by producers of apparel fabrics and is endorsed by the
AAMA as well as the ASQC (American Society or Quality Control).

The 4-Point System assigns 1, 2, 3 and 4 penalty points according to the size and significance of the
defect. No more than 4 penalty points can be assigned for any single defect. Defect can be in either
length or width direction, the system remains the same. Only major defects are considered. No
penalty points are assigned to minor defects.
In this system, one should inspect at least 10 per cent of the total rolls in the shipment and make sure
to select at least one roll of each colour way.

Fabric defects are assigned points based on the following:

Total defect points per 100 square yards of fabric are calculated and the acceptance criteria is
generally not more than 40 penalty points. Fabric rolls containing more than 40 points are considered
"seconds".

The formula to calculate penalty points per 100 square yards is given by:

The following are noteworthy points for this system:

 No more than 4 penalty points can be assigned for any single defect.
 The fabric is graded regardless of the end-product.
 This system makes no provision for the probability of minor defects.
 4 point system is most widely used system in apparel industry as it is easy to teach and learn.
3. Quality related terminology
Quality Management System;
A quality management system is a management technique used to communicate to employees
what is required to produce the desired quality of products and services and to influence employee
actions to complete tasks according to the quality specifications.

Purpose of Quality Management System

✔ Establishes a vision for the employees.

✔ Sets standards for employees.

✔ Builds motivation within the company.

✔ Sets goals for employees.

✔ Helps fight the resistance to change within organizations.

✔ Helps direct the corporate culture.

Quality Circles (Q.C)

The quality control circle or more popularly known as quality circle concepts were formed in
Japan in 1960 and in United States it started in 1977. Gradually it caught the attention world over and
most of the developed and developing countries are using this concept to their benefits.

Definition of Quality Circle

A Quality circle is defined as a small group of employees who voluntarily cooperate to solve
problems relating to:
i. production, wastage of materials,
ii. quality of raw material, tool, semi-finished and finished goods,
iii. work-environment, energy consumption,
iv. scheduling, delay,
v. maintenance,
vi. safety and anything that acct these factors.
These groups, under the leadership of their own foreman or supervisor are trained to identify,
analyze and solve the quality related problems.
Theoretically, quality circles are groups of workers who do similar work but could be built up
of individuals drawn from different positions provided they share the same work area and can
identify common problems. The underlying perception in forming the quality circle is that it should
be a homogeneous and coherent body for a common goal.
For example, the quality circle should not be formed with people with, say, from foundry
shop, welding shop, heat treatment and design section. As these cannot form a coherent group as they
do not share common problems.
Characteristics of Effective Quality Circles:
1. The atmosphere should be informal, comfortable and relaxed. The members should feel involved
and interested.
2. Everyone should participate.
3. The objectives should be clear to the members.
4. The members should listen to each other.
5. The group should feel comfortable even when there are disagreements.
6. The decisions should generally be taken by a kind of consensus and voting should be minimum.
7. When an action is required to be taken, clear assignments should be made and accepted by all the
members.
8. The leader should not dominate the group. The main idea should not be as to who controls but how
to get the job done.
9. Until a final solution is found and results are attained feedback is necessary.

Objectives of Quality Circles:

Some of the broad objectives of the Quality Circle are:
(i) To improve quality, productivity, safety and cost reduction.
(ii) To give chance to the employees to use their wisdom and creativity.
(iii) To encourage team spirit, cohesive culture among different levels and sections of the employees.
(iv) To promote self and mutual development including leadership quality,
(v) To fulfill the self-esteem and motivational needs of employees.
(vi) To improve the quality of work-life of employees.

Advantages of Quality Circles

The following are some of the advantages of Quality Circles.
1. It infuses team spirit among the workers.
2. It improves decision making ability.
3. It improves employee communication at all levels of the organization.
4. It improves problem solving ability.
5. It improves leadership skill.
6. It builds confidence / trust.
7. It incorporates a sense of belonging to their organization.
8. It creates a sense of corporate loyalty and corporate pride.
9. It improves the relationship between managers and the work force.
10. It improves quality, production and productivity.
11. It improves the self image of the employees.
12. It reduces cost of production.
13. It enhances customer satisfaction.
14. It increases demand for product/services of the organization.
15. There is greater job security and more employment opportunity

Quality policy;

The quality policy is a statement made by top management which expresses their
commitment to achieve quality as a result of the company's operation. ... By developing,
communicating and maintaining a documented quality policy, the organization is held accountable
to achieve the expectations stated in the policy.

The Quality Policy is a guide for everyone in the organization as to how they should provide
products and service to the customers. The common characteristics are Quality is first among equals.
Meet the needs of the internal and external customers. Equal or exceed the competition. Continually
improve the quality. Include business and production practices. Utilize the entire work force

Quality plan;

A quality plan is a document, or several documents, that together specify quality standards, practices,
resources, specifications, and the sequence of activities relevant to a particular product, service,
project, or contract. Quality plans should define:

 Objectives to be attained (for example, characteristics or specifications, uniformity,

effectiveness, aesthetics, cycle time, cost, natural resources, utilization, yield, dependability,
and so on)

 Steps in the processes that constitute the operating practice or procedures of the organization

 Allocation of responsibilities, authority, and resources during the different phases of the
process or project

 Specific documented standards, practices, procedures, and instructions to be applied

 Suitable testing, inspection, examination, and audit programs at appropriate stages

 A documented procedure for changes and modifications to a quality plan as a process is

improved

 A method for measuring the achievement of the quality objectives

 Other actions necessary to meet the objectives

At the highest level, quality goals and plans should be integrated with overall strategic plans of the
organization. As organizational objectives and plans are deployed throughout the organization, each
function fashions its own best way for contributing to the top-level goals and objectives.

At lower levels, the quality plan assumes the role of an actionable plan. Such plans may take many
different forms depending on the outcome they are to produce. Quality plans may also be represented
by more than one type of document to produce a given outcome.

Quality assurance,

What is Assurance?

Assurance is nothing but a positive declaration on a product or service, which gives confidence. It is
certainty of a product or a service, which it will work well. It provides a guarantee that the product
will work without any problems as per the expectations or requirements.

What is Quality Assurance?

Quality Assurance is popularly known as QA Testing, is defined as an activity to ensure that an

organization is providing the best possible product or service to customers. QA focuses on
improving the processes to deliver Quality Products to the customer. An organization has to ensure,
that processes are efficient and effective as per the quality standards defined for software products.

Quality Assurance Functions:

There are 5 primary Quality Assurance Functions:

1. Technology transfer: This function involves getting a product design document as well as
trial and error data and its evaluation. The documents are distributed, checked and approved

2. Validation: Here validation master plan for the entire system is prepared. Approval of test
criteria for validating product and process is set. Resource planning for execution of a
validation plan is done.

3. Documentation: This function controls the distribution and archiving of documents. Any
change in a document is made by adopting the proper change control procedure. Approval of
all types of documents.

4. Assuring Quality of products

5. Quality improvement plans

Quality control

What is Quality Control?

Quality control is a set of methods used by organizations to achieve quality parameters or quality
goals and continually improve the organization's ability to ensure that a software product will meet
quality goals.
 Difference between quality assurance(QA) and quality control (QC)

Total Quality Management (TQM)

Definition of quality Total Quality Management (TQM) refers to management methods used
to enhance quality and productivity in business organizations. TQM is a comprehensive management
approach that works horizontally across an organization, involving all departments and employees
and extending backward and forward to include both suppliers and clients/customers.

 Quality management ensures superior quality products and services.

 Quality management is essential for customer satisfaction which eventually leads to customer
loyalty.
 Quality management tools help an organization to design and create a product which the
customer actually wants and desires.
 Quality Management ensures increased revenues and higher productivity for the organization.
 Quality management helps organizations to reduce waste and inventory.
Following are the quality management tools:

 Check List - Check lists are useful in collecting data and information easily .
 Pareto Chart - Pareto Chart helps employees to identify the problems, prioritize them and
also determine their frequency in the system.
 The Cause and Effect Diagram - Also referred to as “Fishbone Chart” (because of its shape
which resembles the side view of a fish skeleton). Cause and Effect Diagram records causes
of a particular and specific problem .
  Histogram - Histogram, introduced by Karl Pearson is nothing but a graphical representation
showing intensity of a particular problem.
 Scatter Diagram - Scatter Diagram is a quality management tool which helps to analyze
relationship between two variables. In a scatter chart, data is represented as points, where
each point denotes a value on the horizontal axis and vertical axis.Scatter Diagram shows
many points which show a relation between two variables.
 Graphs - Graphs are the simplest and most commonly used quality management tools.
Graphs help to identify whether processes and systems are as per the expected level or not
and if not also record the level of deviation from the standard specifications.

Six Sigma

Six Sigma is a disciplined, statistical-based, data-driven approach and continuous

improvement methodology for eliminating defects in a product, process or service. It was
developed by Motorola and Bill Smith in the early 1980’s based on quality management
fundamentals, then became a popular management approach at General Electric (GE) with Jack
Welch in the early 1990’s. The approach was based on the methods taught by W. Edwards
Deming, Walter Shewhart and Ronald Fisher among many others. Hundreds of companies
around the world have adopted Six Sigma as a way of doing business.

Sigma represents the population standard deviation, which is a measure of the variation in a
data set collected about the process. If a defect is defined by specification limits separating good
from bad outcomes of a process, then a six sigma process has a process mean (average) that is six
standard deviations from the nearest specification limit. This provides enough buffer between the
process natural variation and the specification limits
 For example, if a product must have a thickness between 10.32 and 10.38 inches to meet
customer requirements, then the process mean should be around 10.35, with a standard deviation less
than 0.005 (10.38 would be 6 standard deviations away from 10.35).

Six Sigma can also be thought of as a measure of process performance, with Six Sigma being
the goal, based on the defects per million. Once the current performance of the process is measured,
the goal is to continually improve the sigma level striving towards 6 sigma. Even if the
improvements do not reach 6 sigma, the improvements made from 3 sigma to 4 sigma to 5 sigma will
still reduce costs and increase customer satisfaction.

Advantages :

 Better monitoring processes

 Better involvement of people
 Staff morale is raised
 Throughput is increased
 Profit goes up
 Customer satisfaction

Disadvantages

 Engineers and managers are not interested in mathematical statistics

 Statistician have problems communicating with managers

Acceptable Quality Level - AQL

What is Acceptable Quality Level - AQL

The acceptable quality level (AQL) is a statistical measurement of the maximum number of defective
goods considered acceptable in a particular sample size. Goods in a sample are tested at random, and
if the number of defective items is below the predetermined amount, that product is said to meet the
acceptable quality level (AQL). If the acceptable quality level (AQL) is not reached for a particular
sampling of goods, manufacturers will review the various parameters in the production process to
determine the areas causing the defects.

Advantages of AQL:

(i) The method is applicable in those industries where there is mass production and the industries
follow a set production procedure.

(ii) The method is economical and easy to understand.

(iii) Causes less fatigue boredom.

(iv) Computation work involved is comparatively very small.

(v) The people involved in inspection can be easily imparted training.

(vi) Products of destructive nature during inspection can be easily inspected by sampling.

(vii) Due to quick inspection process, scheduling and delivery times are improved.

disadvantages of AQL:

(i) Producer risk.

(ii) Consumer risk.

(i) Producer Risk (α):

It is the small probability of a lot/batch being good or even better acceptable quality level
(AQL) but yielding a bad sample and thus getting rejected. So this probability of rejection of a good
lot which otherwise would have been accepted is known as producer’s risk (α).

(ii) Consumer Risk (β):

It is the probability of a batch/lot being bad or worse than the limiting quality (LQ) but
yielding a good sample and getting accepted. So this probability of a defective lot being accepted
which otherwise would have been rejected is known as consumer risk (β).

MilitaryStandards – MIL-STD-105E

Developed during world war II MIL-STD-105 was a United States defense standard that provided
procedures and tables for sampling by attributes based on Walter A. Shewhart, Harry Romig, and
Harold Dodge sampling inspection theories and mathematical formulas. Widely adopted outside
of military procurement applications.

American NationalStandards Institute – ANSI/ ASQ – Z1.4.

American Nation Standards Institute

ANSI is an acronym for the American Nation Standards Institute. Created in 1918, the American
Nation Standards Institute is a non-profit, voluntary organization that develops its guidelines and
procedures, based on a national consensus process.

What is the role of ANSI?

With a long history as a trusted, neutral forum, ANSI plays a key role in facilitating that robust
partnership. The Institute bridges the gap between industry and government and enables information
exchange and access among standards developing organizations and public-sector leaders, agencies,
and legislators.

American Society for Quality (ASQ)

The American Society for Quality (ASQ) is a nonprofit organization that develops and
publishes standards used for quality control in a wide array of industries. Headquartered in
Milwaukee, United States, ASQ standards are used by its approximately 85,000 members. In line
with its work with quality control standards, ASQ runs an extensive certification program to assure
its standards for quality control are met. ASQ also serves as the administrator for the U.S. TAGs
(United States Technical Advisory Group) to ISO/TCs 69, 176 and 207 (International Organization
for Standardization/Technical Committee) and to all but one of their subcommittees.

ANSI/ASQ Z1.4 are providing Sampling Procedures and Tables for Inspection by Attributes is an
acceptance sampling system to be used with switching rules on a continuing stream of lots for AQL
specified. It provides tightened, normal, and reduced plans to be applied for attributes inspection for
percent nonconforming or nonconformities per 100 units.