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Production: A, ChakrabortyContents Foreword vii Preface ix Acknowledgement xi 2 1.1 __ Just What is Quality? 2 12__Why is Quality Important 7 Inspection 1B 21 Raw Material Inspection 4 22 _ In-Process Inspection 34 2.3 _ Final Inspection 56 24 How Much to Inspect? 67 25 Definiti Fabric D 75 2.6 Selection of Inspectors 77 27 British Standards of Interest to Garment Manufacturers 78 2.8 _ISO Standards of Interest to Garment Manufacturers __78 References JD Textile Testing and Product Evaluation 81 8.1__Introduaction 32 Precision and Accuracy of Test Methods 84 33 Atmospheric Conditions for Testing 3.4 Strength Properties of Apparel 86 &xiv Managing Quality in the Apparel Industry 35 Fabric Stretch Properties 92 36 Dimensional Changes in Apparel Due to Laundering, Drycleaning, Steaming and Pressing 97 37 Durable Press Evaluation of Fabrics and Apparel 100 38 Needle Cutting/Yarn Severance 102 39 Sewability of Fabrics 102, 3.10 Bow and Skewness (BIAS) in Woven and Knitted Fabrics 103 3.11 Soil/Stain Release Testing 104 3.12 Fabric Thickness 107 3.13 Water Resistance and Water Repellency 107 3.14 Pilling: no 3.15_ Snagging ML 3.16_Abrasion Resistance 0 3.17 _Colorfastness 3.18 Bonded and Laminated Apparel Fabrics 134 3.19 Testing of Fusible Interlinings 135 3.20 Testing of Zippers 136 3.21 Elastic Waistband Testing 139 3.22 Yam Strength and Elongation aaa 3.23 Yam Number 41 3.24 Yam Twist nt 3.25 Sewing Threads 143 3.26 Buttons 146 3.27 Snap Fasteners 146 3.28 Wear Testing 146 References 8 4. Care Labeling of Apparel and Textiles 169 4.1 General Information 169 4.2 _ American Care Labeliny tion 173 43 ISO Care Symbols 176 44 Japanese Care Symbols 179 45 Water Temperatures 184 References 185 5. _ Shade Sorting 186 S.__Introduction 2.0 5.2 Fundamentals of Color and Color-Measuring Instruments 0BContents xv 53 Instrumental Shade Sorting 194 References 019 6.__ Flammability 198 61__Intinduction 98 62 Flammubility of Clothing Textiles 198 63 _ 45° Flammability Test Method 199 64 Flammability of Children’s Sleepwear 201 65 Points to Note about 45° and Vertical Flammability Tests 209 66 Process of Fabric Ignition 21 67 Factors Affecting Fabric Flammability 2 68 Influence of Laundering on Flame Retardancy 212 69 Role of Textiles in Personal Injury Burn Cases 23 References 214 7.__ Objective Evaluation of Fabric Hand 216 References 225 8. Quality Costs 226 References 230 9. Customer Returns 231 References 234 10. Impact of Advanced Apparel Manufacturing Technology on Quality 235 References 243 11. Clothing and Hazard 244 11.1 Product Liability 244 112 Drawstrings on Children’s Outerwear 246 11.3. Small Part Hazard 250 References 252 12. Textile Apparel Linkage Council 253 255 Referencesxvi Managing Quality in the Apparel Industry 13. How to Start Managing Quality 256 13.1 Managing Quality through Inspection 256 132 Managing Quality through Testin; 262 133 Seven Tools of Quality 263 References 272 14. Standards 273 14. Introduction 23 14.2 Benefits of Standards ma 143 Levels of Standards 274 144 Sources of Standards 275 145 150 9000 Series Standards 278 Epilogue 283 Appendix 285 Bibliography 303 Tndex 8Introduction ality has been with us since the dawn of civilization, however, since after second world war it has been used more and more as a competitive weapon or competitive advantage. In order to understand this we have only to look at Japan which is a textbook case of how a nation used quality to become a world player in trade and industry. In the first few years after the second world war as Japan was rebuilding from the war, many business executives went through training in quality, which was conducted by Drs. Deming and Juran. These executives took the quality message to heart and we can see the results today, which are too obvious to mention. Soon on the heels of Japan, some of the other countries such as South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore in Asia/Pacific followed this model and became very successful in the world arena. This success resulted in raising standard of living for their citizens. These countries understood very well that in order to grow and prosper they had to tap the world market, and the only way they will be able to do that would be to offer quality products. Customers all over the world have become so demanding and expecting good quality that increasingly, quality is no longer a competitive advantage, but it is becoming a sheer necessity to survive in the marketplace. Therefore, quality has to be designed and built into products and not just “inspected” into products. In order to design and manufacture quality into products, quality must be managed, and in order to effectively manage quality, it must be clearly understood just what is quality?2 Managing Quality in the Apparel Industry 1.1 Just What is Quality? Quality is unusually slippery and difficult to come to grips with and therefore, someone has said, “quality is something I know when I see it.” To some, quality defined is like ‘love’ explained. Once the concept of quality is understood fundamentally it stops being slippery and becomes something which you can hold by the tail. ‘The simplest way to answer the question “What is quality?” is to look it up in a dictionary. According to Webster’s II New Revised University Dictionary, quality is essential character: nature, an ingredient or distinguishing attribute: property, a character trait, superiority of kind, degree of grade or excellence. Quality means different things to different people. If we asked ‘several people, “What is quality?”, we may get answers like: “The best money can buy Meeting a specification or conformance to specifications Craftsmanship The degree of excellence that an item possesses No more than 1% defective lot Anything Japanese or German These responses, of course, depend on peoples’ perception of the value of a product or service under consideration and their expectation of performance, durability, reliability, etc. of that product or service. Quality can also mean the absence of variation in its broadest sense. For example, consider the case of Ford vs. Mazda....which unfolded just a few years ago [1]. Ford owns about 25% of Mazda and asked the Japanese company to build transmissions for a car it was selling in the U.S. Both Ford and Mazda were supposed to build to identical specifications. Ford adopted zero defects as its standard. Yet, after the cars had been on. the road for a while, it became clear that Ford's transmissions were generating far higher warranty costs and customer complaints about the noise. To it’s credit, Ford disassembled and carefully measured. samples of transmissions made by both companies. At first, Ford. engineers thought their gauges were malfunctioning. Ford parts were all in spec., but Mazda gear boxes betrayed no variability at all from target. Could that be why Mazda incurred lower production, scrap, rework, and warranty costs? That was precisely the reason.Introduction 3 Automobile battery is another example [2]. ‘An automobile battery is charged with an alternator. The alternator has a regulator that controls the charge to the battery. ‘The alternator voltage regulator assembly must let out a charge of 13.2 volts to keep the battery's charge at, 12 volts. If the alternator produces a charge of less than 13.2 volts, the electrolyte (acid) in the battery will gradually turn into water, sesulting in failure of the battery. The lower the alternator ‘output, the more quickly this will happen. If the alternator output is more than 13.2 volts, excessive heat will build up in battery. As the alternator output increases, this effect will occur more quickly. Quality can also mean meeting or exceeding customer expectations —all the time. The key here is to know accurately customer expectations ‘ona continuing basis because unless you know customer expectations how can you meet or exceed them? The expectations of quality and the ability to distinguish various quality characteristics also vary from one group of customers to another. Generally, the more educated and sophisticated the customer, the more specific are the expectations of quality and more precise the ability of the customers to explore those expectations. John Rabbitt of The Foxboro Company [3] defines quality as: the ability to exceed a customer's expectations while maintaining a cost competitive market position. Garvin [4] proposed that a definition of quality can be product based, user based, manufacturing based or value based. product based definition of quality views quality asa precise and measurable variable. Differences in quality reflect differences in the quantity of some ingredient or attribute possessed by a product. For example, we tend to associate finer rugs with a higher number of knots per square inch — therefore higher, better quality. A user based definition of quality simply means that quality is whatever the customer says or wants — which goes back to meeting or exceeding customers’ requirements and expectations A manufacturing based definition of quality means meeting specifications, conformance to requirements, etc. Any devir “an from meeting requirements means poor quality.4 Managing Quality in the Apparel industry A value based definition of quality takes into consideration cost or price of a product or service. The question from a customer’s view- point is what is the value of this product or service to us? Or how valuable is a given product or service? Garvin goes on to say that companies may want to take a multiple approach to defining quality, that is, start out with a product based approach which identify quality characteristics or properties through market research that cannote quality. Then use a user based approach to translate those characteristics into manufacturing base approach as products are being manufactured and finally use a value based approach to offer the customer better value than your competitors. When defining, quality this way, everyone in the company has a role in “quality.” Garvin also proposed that there are eight dimensions of quality. They are performance, features, reliability, conformance, durability, serviceability, aesthetics, and perceived quality. Performance is based on primary operating characteristics of a product. Features ofa product are those secondary characteristics that supplement a product's basic functioning. Reliability refers to the probability of a product’s malfunctioning or failing within a specified period of time. Conformance refers to the degree or extent to which a product's design and operating characteristics meet pre-established standards. Durability means length of time a product will last or product life. Serviceability refers to the speed, courtesy, competence, and ease of repair of a product. Aesthetics refers to how a product looks, feels, sounds, tastes, or smells. Perceived quality refers to what customers perceive to be the quality of a product based on image, advertising, and brand name reputation. By influencing or varying any one or more of these eight dimensions of quality, a company can position itself in the market place, so quality ig then a strategic variable. Why do we buy a product? We buy a product primarily because we want to use that product. Now, if the product we bought has some deficiency, what happens? We can't use it, so, in that case, can we say that the product we could not use is defective? Sure, we can, isn’t it? Therefore, quality can be defined in terms of “fitness for use” [5]. Dr. Joseph M. Juran came up with this concept sometime in the late 50's or early 60/s . Companies should judge fitness for use of a product from a customer’s viewpoint and not from a manufacturer’s or seller’s viewpoint.Introduction 5 The “fitness for use” concept can be applied to garments also. For a garment to be fit for use, provided it’s style is acceptable, 1. It must be free from defects such as stains, material (fabric) defects, open seams, loose hanging (untrimmed) threads, misaligned buttons and buttonholes, defective zippers, etc. 2. It must fit properly for the labelled size. It must perform satisfactorily in normal use, meaning that a garment must be able to withstand normal laundering/ drycleaning/pressing cycles without color loss or shrinkage, seams must not come apart, fabric must not tear, etc - ‘Quality is also a reflection of customers’ opinion of the value they see in your product compared to that of your competitor's. In other words, quality is whatever the customer says it is or the customer is the final judge of quality. We have tried to define quality from several viewpoints, now let us see how ISO (International Standards Organization) defines quality. Quality is defined by ISO [6] as “the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs.” It is interesting to note that the ISO definition of quality reflects some of the concepts discussed earlier. For example, ability to satisfy stated or implied needs” refers to fitness for use. An ability to satisfy stated or implied needs also refers to durability, reliability, and serviceability, three of the eight dimensions of quality discussed earlier. The totality of features and characteristics refer to performance and failures — two of the eight dimensions discussed earlier. Quality should not be confused with grade. Grade is defined {7] as a category or rank indicator of the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service intended for the same functional use or purpose, oriented at a specified cost related consumer/user market. Grade reflects that additional features and characteristics may be desirable, usually for added cost, and that a diferent version of the product or service is thus defined. For example, both, Chevrolet and Cadillac cars can be of equally good quality but they are certainly not in the same grade. Cadillac is targetd for upscale, luxury automobile market while Chevrolet is targeted for an average consumer or middle class market. Similarly, Holiday Inn and Hyatt Regency hotels are of different grades but both are good quality hotels.6 Managing Quality in the Apparel Industry Here is some quality related terminology taken from an American National Standard “ANSI/ASQC A3 Quality Systems Terminology,” published by the American Society for Quality [7]. Quality Management: That aspectof 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 specific quality practices, resources, and activities relevant to a particular product, service, contract, or project. Qualify Policy: The overall intentions and directions of an organization 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 the activities used to fulfill requirements of quality. Statistical Quality Control: The application of statistical techniques to the control of quality. Inspection: Activities, such as measuring, examining, testing, gauging, one or more characteristics of a product or service, and comparing these with 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. We hope it is clear by now that in order to address quality, there must be companywide understanding of just what is quality, or there should be a corporate/official definition of quality. For example, in the company where one of the authors works, quality is defined in terms of “fitness for use.” Anything that adversely affects serviceability, salability, or appearance of an item is considered a defect. Having such an understanding at all levels of the company will enable you to address quality as a business function.Introduction 7 Having some idea of what quality is, let us look at some of the factors that influence consumers’ perception of quality. These factors are: 1. Price. Consumers tend to associate quality with higher price. There is some evidence that price is used by shoppers in quality estimates and that for some products consumers’ estimates of quality are affected by price [8]. 2. Technology. This indicates factors such as fabric and seam strength, colorfastness, shrinkage, and other properties that are affected by the state of technology in the industry. 3. Psychology. A garment can be reasonably priced and the best that technology can offer, but if it is not attractive in appearance, if it is not fashionable, if it does not meet the aesthetic requirements of the customers, then it is not a quality garment. 4. Time Orientation. This includes durability. Of course, the importance of durability varies with categories of garments, that is, children’s garments are expected to be more durable than ladies’ high fashion garments. 5. Contractual. This refers to a product guarantee, the refund policy of a store, etc. 6. Ethical. This refers to honesty of advertising, courtesy of sales personnel, ete. If you can positively influence any one or more of the preceeding factors, then you will be able to increase the quality (and therefore the value) of your product in a customer’s mind and he or she will most likely come back to buy from you again. 12 Why is Quality Important Marketing Science Institute, a nonprofit research organization associated with the Harvard Business School conducted a research study about profit impact of market strategies (PIMS) [9]. The basic idea behind PIMS was to provide corporate top management, divisional management, marketing executives, and corporate planners with insight and information on expected profit performance of different kinds of business under different competitive conditions. Among the 37 factors investigated and analyzed were8 Managing Quality in the Apparel Industry market share, total marketing expenditures, product quality, R & D expenditures, investment intensity, etc. These factors account for more than 80% of the variation in profit in the more than 600 business units analysed. In this study the authors mentioned that: Business experience indicates that product quality — a factor that has received little attention from economists — is also related to ROI (Return on investment). ‘Table 1.1 shows effect of market share and product quality on ROI [10]. Table 1.1 Relationship of both Market Share and Quality with ROI Product Quality ‘Market Share Inferior “Average Superior Under 12 % 45 % ROL 10.4 % ROI 17.4% ROI 12 to 26% = 11.0 % ROI 18.1 % ROI 18.1 % ROI Over 26% 195 % ROI 21.9 % ROI 28.3 % ROI Its clear from this data that higher the product quality the better or higher the ROI. ROI is higher with better quality, even with low market share. The data in Table 1.2 show that, in general, higher or better product quality results in higher return on investment anywhere in the world. (1). Table 1.2 Market Share, Quality & ROI ‘Market Share ‘Quality Low High US. Canada UK. Europe South US. Canada U.K. Europe South Arnerica America ROI (%) ROI_(%) lw 13° 7 6 8 4 @ Sl 2 24 High 18 24 35 2 a7 3M BL 30 29 28 For example, with low market share and low quality, the ROI in the U.S.is13%, butwith thesame low market share, if the quality improved to be high, the ROI will increase to 18%. The best of both worlds is toIntroduction 9 have higher market share and higher quality. If this were the case, as can be seen in the above table, then in the U.S. the ROI would be 34%! Now, what happens in recessionary time? How does quality affect profitability in recession? Ithas been reported [12] that during recession ROI is reduced by about 15% in those companies with average and high product quality, but about 33% in those companies with low quality. This means that during recessionary times, average to high product quality companies did twice as good as those companies with low product quality. Another evidence of positive impact of quality on profitability came from a Conference Board report [13]. In this study, Conference Board membership was asked, have you noticed any change in your profitability due to your quality program? Of those who responded, 95.8% reported that their profits have noticeably increased, 2.6% said their profits remained unchanged, and 1.6% said their profits actually declined. Various reports [14,1516] have indicated the following six benefits of quality: Greater market share Higher growth rate Higher earnings Premium price Loyal customers Highly motivated employees While profit can be the motivating force behind quality, customers demand for quality can also be a very powerful driving force behind quality. Koshi in his book [17] mentions this fact numerous times. Higher or better product quality can also be used as a product differentiation strategy in the marketplace. Actually, the easiest or the best way to make money (perhaps too obvious to notice) is to stop losing it through poor quality and customers who never return. In other words, the best way to be profitable is to have repeat customers. In order to have repeat customers, one of the most important business factors is product quality. It has been said that it is more expensive to bring in new customers than itis to retain the existing customers. Some ‘of the companies are even calculating how much a customer is worth ‘over his/her lifetime. The logic is, if you can retain a customer over his/her entire lifetime, then you made that much money! We hope that managing and improving product quality will help you retain your customers and be more profitable.10 Managing Quality in the Apparel Industry In “The Quality /Profitability Connection” H. James Harrington [18] cites number of examples of companies such as Ford Motor Co,, General Motors, Avon Products, Corning Glass Works, General Dynamics, AT&T, Hewlett-Packard & Co., IBM, Motorola, 3M, North American Tool and Die Co. who have found that quality and profitability are indeed connected and conclude that: Extensive research has proven that improved perceived product quality is the most effective way to increase profits and the most important factor in the long-term profitability of a company. In 1990 Whirlpool Corporation decided to transform itself into a company that would consistently be recognized as in the top 25 per cent of all companies in the world in total return to shareholders [19]. Whirlpool wanted to know what they should focus on in order to create their regular high returns, so they benchmarked the world’s best high-retum companies across many industries. Whirlpool discovered that all those companies single-mindedly drove their high-performance business with measurable objectives in four simple areas — customer satisfaction, quality and productivity, growth and innovation, and high commitment and involvement of their people. ‘One may say, what these companies have to do with the garment industry as the garment industry is quite different. Well, there are a number of examples of highly profitable companies based on consistently higher/better product quality over any period of number of years, such as, Brooks Brothers, Dickies, Fruit of the Loom, Levi Strauss and Co, L. L. Bean, Land’s End, OshKosh B’Gosh, just toname a few. Even the U.S. Congress has recognized national importance of quality in a 1988 report [20], “Quality as a Means to Improve Our Nation’s Competitiveness,” which opens with a statement, Itis important we recognize a significant portion of our trade deficit is due to the ability of foreign competitors to deliver higher quality products that are either novel, less costly to produce, promise better service or some combination of the above. and concludes that in so many cases the answer to foreign success, and ours too is an abiding focus on quality.Introduction 11 As Mr. Davenport, Chairman and CEO of Eastman Chemical. Company [21] put it: Customers worldwide are interested in two things today — quality and value. They do not really care where in the world the product is produced or where the company is headquartered. ‘Quality holds significant importance in the world trade in garments. Currently, this trade is dictated by MFA (multi-fiber agreement), and therefore many countries such as Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Pakistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and the Philippines, are enjoying relatively assured export markets, however, with the phase out of MFA by the year 2005, these countries will be competing intensely with each other for the market share in the world without quotas. For many of these countries export of garments is very vital for the national economy. For example, in mid 90s, India earned one third of her foreign exchange from garment exports. Koshi [22] describes quality as the number one source of competitive advantage for garment exporters from India. Therefore, a smart exporter/garment manufacturer will not underestimate the ‘ance of quality to his/her business, and use next few years to place quality system and practices in place and get ready for fierce competition within the next few years. REFERENCES 1. Genichi Taguchi and Don Clausing. Robust Quality. Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb. 1990. 2. Quality Alert Institute. Course Brochure. Dated sometime in 1990 or 1991. 3. Linking Quality to Business Results, A Conference Report, Report Number 1084-94-CH, The Conference Board, New York, 1994, 4. David A.Garvin. Managing Quality: The Strategic & Competitive Edge. The Free Press, New York, 1988. 5. J. M.Juran and Frank M. Gryna. Quality Control Handbook. McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1988. 6. ANSI/ASQC A8402-1994. Quality Management and Quality Assurance - Vocabulary. American Society for Quality Control. 7. Glossary & Tables for Statistical Quality Control. American Society for Quality Control, 1993. 8. David M. Gardner. An Experimental Investigation of the Price/QualityR 10. u 2. Managing Quality in the Apparel Industru Relationship. Journal of Retailing, Vol. 46, No. 3, Fall 1970. . Sidney Schoeffler, Robert D. Buzzell, and Donald F. Henry. Impact of Strategic Planning on Profit Performance. Harvard Business Review, March-April 1974. Sidney Schoeffler, Robert D. Buzzell, and Donald F. Henry. Impact of Strategic Planning on Profit Performance. Harvard Business Review, March-April 1974. M. R. Carr. Evaluating Your Foreign Business: Finally Some Facts. Plarining Review, November 1982. Sidney Schoeffler. Recession: Who Gets Hurt? Planning Review, November 1980. Current Practices in Measuring Quality. Research Bulletin No. 234, The Conference Board, New York, 1989. Quality: The USS. drives to catch up. Business Week, November 1, 1982, Special Report. . Sidney Schoeffler, Robert D. Buzzell, and Donald F. Henry. Impact of Strategic Planning on Profit Performance. Harvard Business Review, March-April. 1974. Robert D. Buzzell and Frederick D. Wiersema. Successful Share Building. Strategies. Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb. 1981. . Darlie O. Koshi. Effective Export Marketing of Apparel. Global Business Press, New Delhi, 1995. . H. James Harrington. The QUALITY/PROFIT Connection. American Society for Quality Control, Milwaukee, 1989, . Linking Quality to Business Results, A Conference Report, Report Number 1084-94-CH, The Conference Board, New York, 1994. |. Quality as a Means to Improving Our Nation's Competitiveness. A Report prepared by Task Force on High Technology and Competitiveness for House Republican Research Committee. Washington, D.C, July 12, 1988. . Linking Quality to Business Results, A Conference Report, Report Number 1084-94-CH, The Conference Board, New York, 1994. Darlie ©. Koshi. Garment Export: Warming Up for Race, The Indian Textile Journal, January 1996.Inspection inspection in reference to quality control in the apparel industry can be defined as the visual examination or review of raw materials (such as fabric, buttons, zippers, sewing threads, trims, etc), partially finished components of the garments and completely finished garments in relation to some standards, specifications, or requirements, as well as measuring the garments to check if they meet the required measurements. The principle involved in inspection is the early detection of-defects, feedback of this information to appropriate people, and determination of the cause, ultimately resulting in the correction of the problem. The main objective of inspection is the detection of defects and nonconformances 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 garments. For inspection to be effective, the entire inspection loop as shown in Fig. 2.1 must be completed. Inspection \ / oenton ot Correction of defects the defects Feedback of these defects to appropriate personnel Determination of ZS causes of defects Fig. 2.1 inspection Loop14 © Managing Quality in the Apparel Industry The discussion of inspection in this chapter is divided into the following three sections: 1. Raw material inspection, 2. In-process inspection, 3. Final inspection 2.1 Raw Material Inspection 2.1.1 Fabric Inspection After fabric is received, it should be inspected to determine its acceptability from a quality viewpoint; otherwise, extra cost in garment manufacturing may be incurred due to either the loss of the material or time, to say nothing of customer returns and dissatisfaction due to poor quality. Some garment manufacturers rely on their fabric suppliers to perform fabric inspection and mark fabric defects. Either way, fabric inspection prior to spreading will remove the burden of quality responsibility from those performing the spreading and cutting functions. A spreader will be able to concentrate on spreading more quickly without having to worry about inspecting the fabric. A cutter’s productivity would increase because the defects are already marked. 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. Regardless of what practice is followed, the important point is that the fabric should be inspected before cutting, the defects marked and the patterns cut around the defects so as not to include them in the finished garment. Fabric inspection is usually done on fabric inspection machines such as those shown in Figs. 2.2 and 2.3. These machines are designed so that rolls of fabric can be mounted behind the inspection table under adequate light and rerolled as they leave the table: Defects in a fabric can be seen readily with these machines, as the inspector has a very good view of the fabric and the fabric does not need to be reversed to detect defects. These inspection machines are either power-driven or the inspector pulls the fabric over the inspection table. The defects are located, marked, and recorded on an inspection form. Such machines are also equipped to accurately measure the length of each roll of fabric as well as monitor the width of the fabric. Fabric width monitors are shown in Figs. 24 and 2.5. The width of fabric is veryInspection © 15 critical to the cost of manufacturing but it may be even more critical to the manufacturers of basic garments such as men’s and boys’ underwear who frequently reuse markers, make pattern changes less often, and perhaps use tighter markers resulting in greater fabric utilization. Therefore, variation in width would result in a higher cost ‘of manufacturing for such companies. On the other hand, fashion garment manufacturers frequently change their patterns and therefore do not use the same markers again and again, so a variation in fabric ‘width may not be as much ofa problem for themas for the manufacturers ‘of basic garments. Also, the profit margin for basic garment Above,an overall view of Pernick's Tilt-A-View machine. Below, diagram shows how it operates. (Courtesy: Joseph Pernick Mfg. Corp.) Fig. 2.2 Fabric Inspection Machine: (a) overall view of Pemick’s Tilt-2-View and (b) how it operates. (Courtesy: Joseph Pernick Mfg. Corp.)16 * Managing Quality in the Apparel Industry manufacturers is usually lower than that for fashion garment manufacturers, and, therefore, maximum fabric utilization is vital for the basic garment manufacturing companies. ‘overall view of Pernick's True-Matie inspection ‘machine, Below, diagrem illustrates how it operates. Fig. 2.3. Fabric Inspection Machine: (a) overall view of Pemnick’s True-Matic and (©) how it operates. (Courtesy: Joseph Pemick Mig. Corp.) THE MINI WIDTH MONITOR Diagram of Pernick’s mini-width monitor. Fig. 2.4. Pemick’s mini-width monitor. (Courtesy: Joseph Perick Mfg. Corp.)Inspection * 17 In India and many other countries fabric inspection many times is carried out manually, either on a slanted inspection table or on a horizontal table, some time with light under it or some time without it. This way of fabric inspection is neither effective or efficient. LED sumntes Neng readot to Moya Prose reatout — ot wa sanatons raphe rateet Fig. 2.5. Fabric width monitor with printed tape readout. (Courtesy: Joseph Pemick Mfg. Corp.)18 © Managing Quality in the Apparel Industry There are various fabric inspection systems, as listed below. However, we will discuss only the 4-point system because it is used most widely: 1. 4-Point system 5. Textile Distributors Institute 2. 10-Point system (National Federation of Textiles-1955) 3. Graniteville “78” system system 4, Dallas system 6. 4Point system-Revised 2.1.1.1 4-Point System The 4-point system, also called the American Apparel Manufacturers’ Association (AAMA) point-grading system for determining fabric quality, is widely used by producers of apparel fabrics and by the Department of Defense in the United States and is endorsed by the AAMA as well as the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC). Fabric flaws or defects are assigned point values based on the following: Length of defect in fabric, either length or width Points Allotted Up to Over 3 in. up to 6 in Over 6 in. up to 9 in Over 9 in. Holes and openings (largest dimension) 1 in. or less Over 1 in. BReene Total defect points per 100 square yards are calculated, and normally those fabric rolls containing more than 40 points per 100 square yards are considered “seconds.” However, a garment manufacturer, based on the price line and type of garments produced may use more or less than 40 points per 100 square yards as an acceptance criteria. [tis very important to let your fabric supplier know the acceptance criteria you use so that there won't be any surprises. For example, a fabric roll 120 yards long and 48 in. wide contains the following defects: 2 defects up to 3 in. 2x1 = 2 points 5 defects over 3 in. but less than 6 in. 5x2 points 1 defect over 6 in. but less than 9 in. 1x3 points 1 defect over 9 in. 1x4 = 4 points Total defect points = 19 pointsInspection © 19 Therefore, Points per 100 _total points scored in the roll x 3600 square yards ———— - fabric width in inches x total yards inspected 19 x 3600 48 x 120 = 119 defect points per 100 square yards So if the acceptance criteria are 40 points per 100 square yards, then this roll is acceptable. The following points are worthy of note: (1) The maximum number of defect points to be counted against any one linear yard is 4 points. Overall, fabric quality is assessed on the basis of the number of defect points per 100 square yards of fabric. (2) The fabric is graded regardless of the end product. However, this drawback can be overcome. For example, a manufacturer may decide to use different point values for first and second quality fabrics (or acceptance/ rejection criteria) depending on the end item being manufactured. For example, acceptance/ rejection criteria of 40 points/square yard may be alright for fabric for men’s casual trousers and sports shirts, but the same may not be adequate for fabric for men’s suits. Different types of fabrics have different point levels of acceptability. These levels of acceptability are usually established by mutual agreement between the buyer and the seller. (3) A defect point in a 4-point system is not a consistent unit of measure. For example, 4 points when representing slubs may affect no more than 4 inches of defect, but when representing a full width of defect in a 60-inch wide fabric, 4 points represent 60 in. of continuous defect. In the first case, a point represents 1 inch or less, whereas in the second case, a point represents 15 inches of defect. This system is not sensitive to the width of the fabric being inspected. (4) The 4-point system makes no provision for the probability of minor defects causing seconds or minor defects falling out on the cutting table, being lost in the fabrication or escaping scoring in the finished garment. There are defects accepted in20 © Managing Quality in the Apparel Industry inconspicuous areas of the first-quality garments and rejected when found in conspicuous areas. There is no provision for this very influential factor. (5) There is no standard viewing condition for inspecting fabric, however. Powderly [1] noted that Graniteville has experimented with the viewing distance as a guide to determining defects which have a garment defect potential. Most systems suggest a 3 feet viewing distance. A Swedish system specifies 2 meters (6% feet). Graniteville found that a 9 feet viewing distance related to their experience in garment seconds. They do not score the defects that are visible at 3 feet but not at 9 feet. They only note such defects. In effect this will only score major defects. (©) No industry standards or acceptable limits exist for shortage in the number of yards on a roll of fabric. Some companies allow only % yard shortage, some live with as much as 2 or 3% shortage, and some do not accept any shortage. It all depends on the business relationship between the seller and the buyer, the price of the fabric, the end item to be made from that fabric, the season, the volume of the shipment, and so on [2]. (2) There are no standard sampling plans used in the industry for the inspection of fabric or piece goods. Generally, if fabric is intended for an end item selling for more than $20, 100% inspection is done. If fabric is intended for an end item selling for less than $20, only 10% inspection is done. (8) Some companies carry out inspection with an inspection machine, whereas others carry out inspection when the fabric is spread for cutting on a cutting table [2]. (9) Good quality fabric manufacturers do tag defects and allow 1/8 yard credit for every 4 defect points. However, this practice is not universal. Experience in fabric evaluation and good common sense are essential in making a judgement in fabric inspection because one must always consider the likelihood that the irregularity of fabric defect will or will not cause the end use product to be rejected. The “Manual of Standard Fabric Defects in the Textile Industry” published by Graniteville Company [3] represents an excellent effort to simplify the language of visual fabric evaluation and provides anInspection © 21 excellent tool to those who are charged with communicating fabric quality. It contains excellent color photos of manufacturing defects found in woven and knitted fabrics along with their causes. The “Standard Terminology Relating to Fabric Defects” published by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) [4], and the “Handbook of Textile Testing and Quality Control” [5] provide a good description of fabric defects, but none of these texts are supported by photos as in [3]. Various fabric defects are defined later in this chapter. 2.1.1.2 Correlation between Fabric Quality and Apparel Quality Various studies have shown that there is direct correlation between fabric quality and apparel quality, and poor quality fabric results in excess cost of apparel manufacturing. A 1962 report of the AAMA Technical Advisory Committee [6] concluded the following about the A-point fabric inspection system: The subject point system can be used consistently, effectively, and economically as an index of fabric quality. The quality grade obtained by this system bears a measurable relation to garment quality. The weighing of the defects as 1, 2, 3, and 4 point defects is sound. The greatest weakness of the point grading system is the difficulty in evaluating seriousness. Using proper precautions, this weakness is not disabling. The general use of this grading system will prove profitable to the seller and the buyer alike. With respect to the evaluation or the seriousness of defects, the “Manual of Standard Fabric Defects in the Textile Industry” is of tremendous value. A. L. Knoll [7] reported that: In the Shirley Institute experiments, the type of cloth examined consisted of cotton or cotton/synthetic blends which were made up into men’s shirts, pajamas, casual trousers or rain wear. The cloth was inspected using standard inspection procedures and the number of penalty points per 1000 square yards was determined for various batches of material. The making-up of garments from these batches was then traced and extra costs incurred during making-up due to faults were recorded. The results obtained showed a high correlation between the extra costs incurred and the number of penalty points recorded, indicating that the “4-point” scheme provided a good measure of fabric quality and could form the basis of agreement22 © Managing Quality in the Apparel Industry between cloth suppliers and manufacturers on acceptable fault levels in cloth, allowances for excessive faults, etc. Of additional interest in the Shirley Institute report is the fact that the large majority of faults recorded were under 3 inches in length with the second largest category being over 9 inches, and very few faults in between. He further stated, The Wira investigation, on the other hand, studied heavier and more costly fabrics made of pure wool and wool/man-made fiber blends used in manufacturing outerwear garments such as suits and dress trousers. For these fabrics, the AAMA point system did not provide a useful prediction of added cost in the cutting room arising from fabric faults, while those features that were considered as major faults by the supplier and strung by him did give a good indication of where added losses would occur. The lack of agreement between the Shirley Institute and Wira reports on the efficacy of the 4-point system has not prevented further efforts in achieving wider usage for the system in U. K. The Marks & Spencer trials on 25,000 meters of shirting fabric gave results very similar to the earlier Shirley Institute experiments. Lowe and Lowcock [8], citing a study, “The Effect and Cost of Fabric Faults in Garment Manufacture: Shirts and Rainwear,” done for the Clothing Institute by R. Grills of the Shirley Institute, wrote that: The Shirley study found an average of 906 faults per 1,000 yards in woven shirting and 930 faults for rainwear. Warp knitted nylon showed 108 faults per 1,000 yards. On the woven shirting only 49% of the major faults had strings but 80% of the major faults in the other fabrics were strung. More significant for the individual manufacturer the percentage of major faults which were strung (ie. admitted by the supplier) ranged from 21% to 92%. The study covered a sample of five shirts and five rainwear factories. Among the methods of dealing with cloth faults, 6 factories inspected the cloth (40n a sampling basis only), 8 factories cut out major faults when spreading the lay, 3 had some shade identification, and 5 did a complete or partial screening after cutting, Complete garments classed as sub-standard on account of the fabric faults ranged from 0.3% to 14%. Of course, a low figure might mean either efficient pre-inspection or low examination standards, just as a high figure might mean efficient pre-screening combined with high final inspection standards and a lot of mixed part shading. In the shirt firms the cost of fabric faults was assessed at just over 244 % of the retail price and just over 11% of the cloth price. In the rainwearInspection * 23 firms the cost was just over 2% of the retail price and just over 12% % of the cloth price. At that time, the cost extended to the whole of the clothing industry would have amounted to 30,000,000 pounds sterling (£), but in individual factories four factors cause a great diversity: the quality standard of the particular retail market, the methods of detecting and removing faults, the cost of cloth, and the pattern of faults between different types and colors of fabric. While inspecting fabric for obvious defects, one should note any extreme variations in the hand, nap, or any such surface finish characteristics if they will be detrimental. Also, any noticeable variation in the shade of a fabric should be recorded. This variation could be within a roll of the fabric or from roll to roll. Comparing the shades of color of two pieces of fabric (such as from roll to roll or between a standard piece of fabric and a roll of fabric) is called shade matching. The shade-matching process sounds fairly simple; however, due to subtle factors like the lighting and background color in the area where shade matching is being done; or the ability of the individual who is doing shade matching to perceive shades of a color, shade matching can be a difficult process. Shade sorting or shade matching is covered in somewhat more detail in Chapter 5 of this book. For an excellent discussion of fabric inspection, Fabric Inspection and Grading, by Daniel Powderly is highly recommended. 2.1.2 Sewing Threads The necessity of good-quality sewing threads is evident from the following [9]: During the sewing process in a high speed lock-stitch machine, the thread is subjected to complex kinematic and dynamic conditions. The speed at which it passes through the needle eye can reach 140-165 km/ hr and at the moment at which the thread is caught by the sewing hook, the speed reaches 2000m /sec. While moving at such speeds, the thread is subjected to friction from a number of guides, from theneedle eye, from the fabric being sewn, from the bobbin case assembly, and from the bottom thread. At the same time, the thread is subjected to many stresses, all of which take place very quickly and at high speed. These effects act on the thread repeatedly and for a fairly prolonged period of time, since a length of thread, before being incorporated in astitch, may pass more than 30 times through a fabric, the needle eye, and the bobbin-case mechanism. Such a severe working condition24 © Managing Quality in the Apparel Industry with the heat generated in the needle can reduce the initial strength ofa thread by as much as 60 % and this is one of the causes of increased breakage in the needle thread during high speed sewing. Amore specific study of the sewing performance of a range of sewing threads varying in physical properties was conducted at Leeds University. The method of assessment in this latter paper was in terms of the range of certain machine variables within which each thread would sew, and the degree of damage suffered by the threads during sewing. The findings indicated that thread strength losses of 2-20% occurred after sewing in a lock-stitch machine, and that losses of 1- 25% occurred when threads were sewn in two thread chain stitch machine. In West Germany, further work has been done on the effects of sewing machine variables on sewing performance. An assessment of the damage suffered by threads during double-saddle-stitch and double- chain-stitch sewing under a variety of conditions indicated a 12-50% loss in strength in the saddle-stitch and 6-32% loss in strength of the upper thread in chain-stitch was possible. Therefore, sewing threads should be checked and tested for the following characteristics: Construction. Yarn count, yarn ply, number of twists, twist balance, yarn strength (tenacity), yarn elongation. The test methods for these characteristics are covered later in Chapter 3. Sewnbility. At least three sewing-thread packages from a lot should be used for at least 100 yards of sewing under normal conditions and a record kept of running performance. A good quality sewing thread should be able to produce uniform consistent stitches in the chosen sewing material at the highest machine speed under normal conditions. In addition, actually using at least three packages of sewing thread from each lot or shipment will give a very good indication of the following properties of a sewing thread: 1. Imperfections. Sewing thread should be free of slubs, knots, or any such defects. Otherwise, there will be excessive stoppage on the sewing machine, resulting in lower sewing efficiency. 2. Finish. Thread finish is basically a lubricant applied toa sewing thread so that the thread will slip easily and smoothly through the eye of the sewing machine needle and through various thread-handling parts of a sewing machine. This finish variesInspection * 25 from 3 to 15% of the weight of the thread. The amount of finish must be consistent from package to package and from lot to lot; otherwise, sewing quality and efficiency will be lost completely. 3. Color. Color of a sewing thread (including white) should match that of either the original or the standard sample and should not vary too much within a lot or shipment of sewing thread. ‘Also, the color should not bleed in washing and/or dry- cleaning and fade in sunlight. 4. Package density. Package density of sewing thread should be consistent from package to package within a shipment or lot and from shipment to shipment. If package density varies too much, sewing machine operators will have to adjust the tension frequently, resulting in lower productivity. 5. Winding. Winding of sewing thread on packages should be uniform; otherwise, it may result in excessive thread breakages, again causing lower efficiency. 6. Yardage. Length of sewing thread on each package should be at least the specified amount or within a certain tolerance, such as + 2% of the labeled length. 2.1.3 Zippers Zippers should be checked for the following: 1. Dimensions. Check for the correct width of tape. If it isn’t correct, the machine will run off. Measure overall length with the zipper closed from extreme ends of metal. Tape extensions should be as specified. 2. Top and bottom stops should be fastened securely. 3. Zipper tape should be uniform in color if that is important. 4. Zipper should not cause wrinkling or puckering after it is sewn into garment. 5. Cana zipper be washed and /or dry-cleaned? Will it fade? Will the slide deform under pressing or ironing? 6. Check the force (number of pounds) it takes to pull open the zipper (sideways). 7. Pull tab should be affixed firmly to the slider body. 8. Slider should ride freely but must not be so free that it is loose on the chain. 9, Check also to be sure the slider locks securely.26 © Mandging Quality in the Apparel Industry There are various test methods for zippers, and these are covered in Chapter 3. The following insert is a reprint of the bulletin on zippers prepared by the Technical Advisory Committee of the AMA, published in the May 1979 issue of Bobbin, a monthly magazine for the apparel industry. Avoiding Zipper Problems* Most zipper failures in garments are the result of (> ——_] improper installation methods in the sewing room questionable garment design or construction * incorrect product application * factory and/or retail customer abuse. As a mechanically operational device, a zipper is the most sophisticated component of apparel, and thus is acutely vulnerable to human error. This is especially true in factories that use continuous zipper chain and perform the gapping, bottom stopping, and slidering operations in-house. The purpose of this bulletin is to point out the most common causes that are readily detectable at the plant level, and is directed primarily towards the continuous chain users. Slider Direction The slider must run in a specific direction. On metal chain, the points of the teeth must face towards the open end of the zipper. Correct direction is more difficult to determine with plastic chain, but in both cases, arrows are usually printed on the tapes that point towards the top, open end. Right Side Up On plastic coil and extruded tooth chain, the slider should be mounted, with the pull tab on the same side as the printing on the tapes. Some coil zipper is not symmetrical, therefore making slider mounting obvious. Side to side orientation is not critical with metal or molded chain. * Reprinted from Bobbin, May, 1979, with permission from Bobbin Publications, Inc., Columbia, SC.Inspection * 27 Stabilization Most zipper tapes contain some percentage of cotton, or cotton-blend yarns in order to provide a dense anti-sleazy construction. A resin treatment option is available for permanent press or low shrink applications, which is commonly referred to as stabilization. This process consists of applying a material to the chain which, when cured with a specified temperature/time relationship, will impart synthetic qualities to the cotton, at some sacrifice of strength. Resin treated chain is available in either a semi-cured or fully-cured state, to match similarly treated textiles. The use of fully-cured chain with semi-cured textile will result in tape degradation when the assembly is subjected to a final cure. Also, the use of resin treated chain in a garment that receives resin treatment as an assembly, will subject the tape to double treatment, resulting in degradation of the cotton yarns. Slider and Chain Combinations Every zipper manufacturer has a large stable of slider and chain available for most applications. Materials vary from lightweight plastic through the family of metals such as zinc, steel, brass, and nickel-silver. Slider action covers a spectrum from nonlock, pinlock, camlock, flangelock, fliplock and autolock. Selecting the proper combination is best left to application lab of the zipper supplier. Handling and Processing Zipper Zipper chain should be stored at a moderate temperature and humidity. Long term storage at elevated temperatures can cause some tape yarn deterioration, especially with resin treatment. Excessive tension or shock loading of zipper chain during processing can affect dimensions and cause latent shrinkage. Running more than one manufacturer’s chain simultaneously can result in accidental mixing of components. Ratcheting This is the act of forcing the slider down the chain by pulling the two ‘open halves apart. Although some sliders are designed to ratchet, this28 © Managing Quality in the Apparel Industry action does damage, degrades the teeth, and with positive locking sliders the chain is destroyed. Ratcheting occurs in the sewing room, finishing, and at industrial laundries when the operator wants to open the garment fast, Retail users can ratchet a slider by not fully opening the zipper when putting on or removing the garment, or as a deliberate act to allow return of an unwanted item. Shear This is the act of attempting to shift one half of the chain with respect to the other half after the slider is mounted. It occurs when an operator tries to adjust the waistband alignment without first removing the slider, and usually results in permanent damage. Slider Distortion A slider is “clam shelled” when the top and bottom have been spread apart, as in opening a clam. This condition can be caused by a sticking slider holder or by an over-zealous consumer trying to move a stuck slider with a pair of pliers. A crushed slider usually occurs in the pressing buck of the garment factory or industrial laundry. Slider Holder This device holds the slider by the pull tab, and lifts the lock out of the path of the chain during slider threading. A misadjusted holder can cause ratcheting if the lock release malfunction or clam shelled sliders. and chain damage if the pull clamp does not release after threading. Bottom Stop The primary function of the bottom stop is to prevent accidental opening of the closed end of the chain. A stop that is not tightly clinched over the zipper teeth, or is totally missing will allow the chain to open behind the slider. This condition can sometimes be repaired in the factory by pulling the slider down, thus rehealing the chain, and applying a new stop. Sewing The major cause of zipper failure is poor sewing. A garment panel attached too close to the teeth will interfere with the slider and getInspection * 31 are open and the textile yarns are broken because of severe chemical degradation. Bar Tacks Bar tacks serve the function of protecting the bottom stop from excessive load in fly applications. A missing bar tack, or one set too low, could result in a bottom stop failure at the retail level. Design Problems Many potential zipper problems can be avoided at the garment design level. Some of the more common errors. are: * opening too short, causing bottom stop failure, such as in hip hugger jeans * wrong size zipper not designed for stress * wrong type zipper * installation across a heavy fell seam, causing popping and slider snagging * insufficient fly piece reinforcement * improper sew line position, either too near the outer tape edge or the teeth * lack of bar tacks at bottom, as previously mentioned. Zipper problems that do not fall within the scope of this bulletin are best diagnosed by calling in the supplier. Some manufacturers supply a free application lab service that will analyze a new design or construction prior to production. 2.1.4 Buttons, Buckles, and Snap Fasteners Waldes and Reid. [10] mention the following in regard to checking quality of buttons, buckles, and snap fasteners: Buttons. Buttons should have large, clean sew holes that are free from flash and will not cut the thread. Holes must be located properly in relation to the edge of the button. Buttons should be of uniform thickness. The color or shade of the buttons should be within a certain visual tolerance. Buttons should be able to withstand laundering, dry- cleaning, and pressing without any changes such as cracks, melting of surface (scorch), and change in color or shade. Testing of buttons is addressed in section 3.26.Inspection * 35 ‘PERIMEX CaP OR BUTTON (© fae sie habe cap or baton ces ox cara ex [© wake sty a non aca (© ake re ey asx atch verte ch ine Hal Peg Fig. 2.9 How to inspect and what to look for in grippers, rivets, and tack buttons attachment. (Courtesy: Scoville Fasteners Inc., Clarksville, GA 30823, USA) means inspection at various points in the entire manufacturing process from spreading fabric to pressing/finishing. The idea behindInspection * 39 The greater the variation in either width or length alignment, the greater the waste in precision cutting because the ends and sides must be trimmed to the narrowest and shortest plies. A tight spread will contract after cutting, resulting in smaller or skimpier components than what should be. A slack spread possesses excess length within the stipulated end of the spread. Cut components from slack spread will tend to be oversized. Bowing is the distortion of filling yarn from astraight line across the width of a fabric. This would cause unbalanced stresses in the fabric, resulting in slackness and tightness in the ply that will lead to undersized components. Also, the garment component containing such a defect will tend to twist or distort in laundering or dry-cleaning. Splicing is the overlapping of two ends of fabric in a ply. A short or insufficient overlap will result in incompletely cut pattern sections and a long overlap will result in waste. Static in the fabric may cause a distorted spread, resulting in incompletely cut pattern sections. Static can be eliminated by either increasing the humidity in the cutting room or using static eliminators. Lowe and Lowcock [8] list the following possible spreading defects: 1. Not enough plies to cover the quantity of garments required. 2. Narrow fabric. 3. Plies not all facing in the correct direction. That is, not all the plies are spread face down, face up, or face to face, as required. 4. Mismatching of checks. Plies not spread accurately one above another ready for cutting. The same authors also list the following possible pattern defects: 1. Pattern parts missing. Correct number of parts for all sizes not included by the marker maker. 2. Mixed parts, Parts not correctly labeled in marker; therefore, a marriage of wrong-sized parts. . Patterns not facing in the correct direction on napped fabrics. . Patterns not all facing in the same direction (either way) on a ‘one-way fabric. 5. Patterns not aligned with respect to the fabric grain. Asa result, a garment may not drape or fit properly. 6. Line definitions poor (¢.g., chalk, too thick, indistinctly printed line, perforated lay not fully powdered), leading to inaccurate cutting. AwInspection © 43 Fig. 2.10. Manufacturing process flowchart for men's dress shirts. 10. Sleeves: Piece binding. Bind sleeve. Tack binding. 11. Backs: Pleat. Backs. 12. Yokes: Label. Sew. 13. Attach yoke backs. 14. Assemble completed bundles of parts, any size, section, ply number, and/or shade. 15. Join shoulder seam. 16. Join collar to shirt. 17. Set sleeve, join side and underarm seams (sidefell). 18. Cuff attach, hem shirt, trim threads. 19. Button shirt, roll collar, press, fold. 20. Pack.Inspection * 57 3. Pocket Top of the pocket horizontal. Uniformly stitched, no puckering, skipped or broken stitches, or raw edges. Comers securely tacked. Stripes, plaids, checks, or patterns should match (+ 1/8 in.) Should lay flat. 4. Hems Uniformly stitched, no puckering, skipped or broken stitches, or raw edges. Stitching 1/16 in. from edge. 5. Yoke and shoulder Pleats (if any) properly placed. Uniformly stitched, no puckering, skipped or broken stitches, or raw edges. Should lay flat. 6. Side seams Stripes, plaids, checks, or patterns should match ( 1/8 in.). Uniformly stitched, no puckering, skipped or broken stitches, or raw edges. 7. Cuff Stripes, plaids, checks, or patterns should match the sleeve (#1/8 in.). Uniformly stitched, no puckering, skipped or broken stitches, or raw edges. . Finished appearance Clean of all loose thread . No oil/ dirt stains. Free of any fabric defect. No shade difference within a shirt from part to part (panel to panel), Table 2.3 Finished Measurements of Men's L/S Dress Shirts in inches Size M415 15% 1 16% 17 17% 18 Collar (# %4) 15 15% 16 16% 17 17% 18 18% 1/2 Chest (24) 2% 2 22 WK U%* 2 BR WwW Back length (#1) 31 31 31. 32s 32s 3_— BB ‘Center back sleeve length (+ 4) <————-¥ inch over marked size % Armhole (+4) 9%10 10 MW Mn Wak 12 Cufflength(#%#) 9 9 9 % 9% 10 10 10%68 * Managing Quality in the Apparel Industry all defects, especially when the inspection is done by human inspectors: 100% inspection is usually not 100% effective. The direct cost of 100% inspection will generally be higher than that of any other inspection alternative. Therefore, this is also not an acceptable alternative. 2.4.3 Spot Checking This represents an attempt at a compromise between no inspection at all and 100% inspection and consists of inspecting random shipments. This procedure, of course, stops some defective material from entering production or some defective products from reaching customers, but itis only partially effective since many shipments are accepted without inspection. Therefore, this is also not a practical alternative. 2.4.4 Arbitrary Sampling Under this alternative, a certain percent of a shipment is inspected and an accept/reject or pass/fail decision regarding that shipment is made, based on the inspection results of that certain percent of the shipment. ‘The most popular or widely used plan under this alternative is called 10% sampling. This means that regardless of the size of a shipment, 10% of that shipment is inspected and the results are used as the basis for a decision regarding the entire shipment. Although this alternative is better than the previous three alternatives, it still has some drawbacks. For some shipments or lots, 10% is too small a sample to be representative, whereas for other shipments or lots, it may be too large. Also, as with any sampling, certain risks (chances) of making a wrong decision exist. Too often, the users of arbitrary sampling have little idea of the risks inherent in their procedure, but at least, they will have some idea about product or material quality. However, there is a better way to gather such information, and that is statistical sampling. 2.4.5 Statistical Sampling Statistical sampling is also known as acceptance sampling. This inspection alternative also provides a compromise between 100% inspection and no inspection atall. Still ithas certain distinct advantages. Large shipments or lots are not over inspected; small shipments or lots are not under inspected, and most important, the risks of making a wrong decision (such as accepting a defective lot or rejecting a good lot) are known and controllable. This is usually the most practical and72 © Managing Quality in the Apparel Industry Example 1. Assume a lot or batch size of 600 garments and an AQL of 4.0%. Let us find, step by step, a sampling plan for this lot. 1. Look under the lot or batch size column in Table 2.5 and find the entry that corresponds to a quantity of 600. This will be the line where the lot or batch size is 501 to 1200. Go across this line to sample size code letter column. There is a letter J there. 2. In Table 2.6 look under the sample size code letter column and find the letter J. Go across the J row and into the sample size column. It indicates the sample size of 80 garments. Then continue across the J row until you meet the 4.0 AQL column. Here there are two numbers, 7 and 8, with Ac and Re on top of them in the second top row. This means that if the number of defective garments is 7 or less out of the sample of 80 garments, you should accept the lot of 600 garments. If the number of defective garments is 8 or more out of 80 garments, then you should reject the lot of 600 garments. To summarize above, take 80 garments at random out of a lot of 600 garments. Inspect all 80 garments. If the number of defective garments found is 7 or less, then accept the lot of 600 garments. If the number of defective garments found is 8 or more, reject the lot of 600 garments. What has been done is a determination about the quality (acceptability or rejectability) of a lot of 600 garments based on the inspection of 80 garments. In case, one decides to accept the shipment, it is general practice that the number of defective garments are either repaired or replaced with good garments. If this - is not possible, then the shipment is shipped short of defective garments. Please note that taking a random sample or taking samples at random is very important. A random sampling means that every unit in a lot has an equal chance of being picked as a sample. If samples are not selected randomly, the selected samples won't be a good representative of the lot and that could adversely affect acceptance or rejection decision about that lot. Please note that changing the AQL from 4.0 to 2.5, 6.5, or 10.0 for the same lot size, that is, 600 garments in this case, will result in different sets of acceptance or rejection numbers as shown here:76 * Managing Quality in the Apparel Industry Fine end: Warp yarn having smaller diameter than those being normally used in the fabric. Also called tight end. Flat: Two or more threads weaving as one and not meant as a feature of the weave. Float: Thread that extends unbound over the threads of the opposite yarn system with which it should normally be interlaced. Fly: Loose fibers originating from without the fabric or foreign matter that have been woven into the fabric. Fuzz balls: Loose or frayed fibers originating from within the fabric that have formed tiny balls and have been woven into the fabric. Fuzz: Loose or frayed fibers originating from the yarns of the fabric. Hard size: An excessive quantity of size. Also called starch lump. Hitch back: A distortion in the weave of a fabric characterized by tight ends abruptly followed by slack in some ends caused by the release of the strain causing the tight section. Also called draw- back, Jerked-in filling: An extra pick dragged into the fabric with correct pick for a portion of the width of the cloth. Also called lash-in, pullin. Kink: A short length of yarn spontaneously doubled itself. Also called curl, kinky thread, looped yarn, snarl. Mispick: A pick woven in the wrong order with respect to the weave or color pattern, resulting in a break in the weave pattern. Also called wrong pick. Misreed: A warpwise streak caused by the improper spacing of the ends across the fabric. Mixed yarn: A yarn that differs from that normally being used in the fabric. Pick out mark: A chaffed or fuzzy appearance caused by the attempt to remove a weaving defect. Reed mark: A warpwise streak caused by a damaged reed. Shaded: The color or bleach is not uniform from one location to another. Shuttle mark: A fine line parallel to the filling caused by damage toa group of adjoining ends by the shuttle. Also called box mark.80 * Managing Quality in the Apparel Industry 20. 2. 22. 24. 25. 27. — Developments in Clothing Industry (1969-71). Textile Institute, Manchester, England, 1973. George Waldes and W. E. Reid. Cost Reduction through Quality Control. AAMA Tech. Advisory Committee Report, Arlington, Va., 1954. Quality & Productivity — Cornerstone of Apparel Manufacturing. AAMA Tech. Advisory Committee Report, Arlington, Va., 1976. James Zaruba, Steps to In-process Inspection. Bobbin, Columbia, S.C.. Sept. 1973. Deborah Dunlap. Quality Control in the Cutting Room, Bobbin, Columbia SCC, Feb. 1978, Jacob Solinger. Apparel Manufacturing Handbook, 2nd ed. Bobbin, Columbia, C,, 1988. Robert E. Heiland. Skip Bundle Sampling — A New and Economical Method for Process Control in the Sewing Room. ASQC Textile and Needle Trades Division. Textile Quality Control Papers, Vol. 6, Milwaukee, WI, 1959. H.F. Dodge. Skip Lot Sampling Plans. Industrial Quality Control, Vol. XI, No. 5, Feb. 1955. Achieving Quality in Finishing: Pressing Equipment. International Fabricare Inst. Bull. P-168, Silver Springs, MD., 1981. Consumer Criteria for Quality in Women’s Apparel. Report. U.S. Army Natick Labs., Natick, MA., 1971. Mary E. Powers. Textiles from Consumer's Viewpoint. Textile Chemist & Colorist, November 1994. AATCC, Research Triangle Park, NC. Hank Gilman. Trade War Stirs Few US. Buyers to Skip Imports. The Asian Wall Street Journal, Oct. 16, 1985. D 5586, Standard Table of Body Measurements for Women Aged 55 and Older (All Figure Types). Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol. 07.02. 1D 5585, Standard Table of Body Measurements for Adult Female Mines Figure Type Sizes 2-20. Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol. 07.02. D 5826, Standard Table of Body Measurements for children sizes 2-6x/ 7. Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol. 07.02. D 4916, Standard Table of Body Measurements for Infants, Ages 0 to 18 months. Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Vol. 07.02. ANSI/ASQC 21.4, Sampling Procedures and Tables for Inspection by Attributes. ASQC, Milwaukee, WL Eugene L. Grant and Richard S. Leavenworth. Statistical Quality Control, 5th Ed. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1980. ANSI/ASQC E-2 Guide to inspection Plaming, An American National Standard. American Society for Quality, Milwaukee.84 Managing Quality in the Apparel Industry is quite logical. Also, after converting a fabric into a garment, additional properties requiring testing would be seam strength, durable press, delamination of fused parts such as collar, sleeve cuff, etc. Therefore, the test methods used for testing those properties are also discussed here. Usually at least three to five tests (observations) of whatever property is under consideration are completed, and the average of those tests is considered the representative value of that property. As a general rule of thumb, a sample of three garments is tested. The interpretation of test results must be done with real care and that’s where “expertise,” that is, technical knowledge combined with experience, comes into play. For example, color will rub off (crocking) from classical denim, twill cotton fabric, dyed with indigo because of the nature of the dyeing process in which a certain amount of dye is oxidized on the surface of the fabric. Most denims would therefore fail both wet and dry rubbing (crocking) tests. Is this the appropriate measure for rejecting denim jeans? Of course not, because to do so would be to ask for the impossible, and deprive consumers of something that is very popular. 3.2 Precision and Accuracy of Test Methods It is common practice to include in both the ASTM and AATCC test methods a statement as to the precision and accuracy of the test methods. Precision is defined as the degree of agreement within a set of ‘observations or test results obtained by using a test method. Precision can be single-operator(technician), multi-operator within a laboratory, and between laboratories. In other words, precision is a measure of the scatter of test results when a test is repeated. Accuracy is defined as the degree of agreement between the true value of the property being tested (or an accepted standard value) and the average of many observations made according to the test method, preferably by many observers. When the true value or an accepted standard value of the property being tested is not known, accuracy cannot be established. In many cases, the true value or an accepted standard value of many properties of various textile materials is not known.88 Managing Quality in the Apparel Industry 3.4.2 Seam Strength [9] Seam failure in a garment can occur because of either the failure of the sewing thread, leaving the fabric intact, or fabric rupture, leaving the seam intact or both breaking at the same time. Seam strength is tested in almost the same manner as fabric breaking and bursting strength [8]. The strength of a seam or stitching should equal that of the material it joins in order to have balanced construction that will withstand the forces encountered in the use of the garment of which the seam is a part. The elements affecting the strength of a seam or stitching are: Stitch type Thread strength Stitches per inch Thread tension Seam type Seam efficiency of the material Generally, a seam made with chain stitch will be stronger than the seam made using lock stitch. Obviously, stronger the sewing thread, the stronger the seam. Higher number of stitches per cm (in.) up to a point will give higher seam strength, but too many stitches per cm (in.) will weaken the fabric so seam may stay intact but the fabric may rupture resulting in seam failure. Higher thread tension will give higher seam strength but too high a thread tension will result in seam puckering. Lap felled seam will be stronger than lapped seam. Fabric with higher seam efficiency will provide stronger seam than fabric with lower seam efficiency. Seam efficiency is seam strength expressed as % fabric breaking strength. The elasticity of a seam or stitching should be slightly greater than that of the material which it joins, so that the material will support its share of the forces encountered in the end use of the garment. The elasticity of a seam or stitching depends on the stitch type and thread elasticity. 3.4.2.1 Seams in Woven Fabrics:The following points regarding seams in woven fabrics are worthy of note [9]:130 Managing Quality in the Apparel Industry specimen is evaluated for color change and staining on the multifiber test fabric with the help of the AATCC gray scale for color change and staining or chromatic transference scale and rated as explained earlier. Fig. 3.17 AATCC perspiration tester. (Courtesy: Ailas Electric Devices. Company) Until the last few years, a simulated perspiration solution was acid- base as well as alkaline-base. The Research Committee RA 52 of the AATCC found that the alkaline phase in this test method does not predict with any degree of confidence or reliability the staining due to perspiration that may occur in some fibers during actual wear. In fabrics containing wool, the test under alkaline conditions showed appreciably more staining than experienced in consumer wear. With acetate fabrics, an alkaline based simulated perspiration solution generally produced less severe staining than was the case during actual wear, although there were instances in which the staining was equal. The staining on nylon produced in the laboratory test under alkaline conditions was comparable to that produced under acid conditions. The acid phase of this test method predicts wear performance accurately and consistently. When there is a deviation in consumer experience, it is slight and on the more critical side [57]. Also, alkaline perspiration is a rarity today because of the general use of soaps and cosmetics [58]. Therefore, this test method now calls for using only acid base simulated perspiration solution,Textile Testing and Product Evaluation 145, of the loop is about one-half the gauge length. One end of the second loop is passed through the loop formed by the first piece of the sewing thread, and both ends of the second piece are clamped in the other clamp of the testing machine, the machine is started, and the load and elongation, when the loop breaks, are observed and noted. 3.25.4 Shrinkage, Single End Shrinkage of sewing thread is important because shrinkage can cause puckering of a seam, thus adversely affecting seam appearance. A conditioned single end of thread is measured under a prescribed tensioning force before and after exposure to boiling water for 4 hour or dry heat 152° + 3°C (350 + 5°F) for 1 hour. The change in length is expressed as a percentage of the length before exposure. 3.24.5 Twist and Twist Balance For determining twist level in sewing thread, the ASTM test methods cited in [88-89] can be used. The determination of twist balance is important in predicting the snarling tendency of thread during actual sewing operations. In this method, about a meter (yard) of conditioned thread from a holder is withdrawn in the same manner as that in which it is delivered to the sewing machine and formed into a loop, positioning the ends of the thread so that they are 10 cm (4 in.) apart at the top of the loop. The twist balance is reported in terms of the complete rotations that the loop makes. See Fig. 3.19 for an example of yarns with balanced and unbalanced twists. Fig. 3.19. Yam with balanced twists (left) and yarn with unbalanced twists (right).204 Managing Quality in the Apparel Industry the Standard for the Flammability of Vinyl Plastic Film (16 CFR Part 1611). 4. Bears a label stating the size of the garment, expressed in terms ‘of months of age. For example, “0 to 3 mos.” or “9 mos.” If the label is not visible to the consumer when the garments offered for sale at retail, the same information must appear legibly on the package of the garment. (©) Tight fitting garments sized from 9 months to 6X. Tight fitting garment means a garment that doesnot exceed maximum dimension for the chest, waist, seat, upper arm, thigh, wrist, or ankle for the labeled size as specified by the CPSC. These dimensions are included inthe 16 CFR Part 1615, Flammable Fabrics Act: Children’s Sleepwear (Sizes 0-6X) Flammability Standards, and available from CPSC. 6.4.2 Sizes 7 through 14 The flammability of children’s sleepwear, sizes 7 to 14, is covered by Title 16 CR 1616 [6]. It covers any product of wearing apparel from size 7 to 14 such as nightgowns, pajamas, or similar or related items such as robes intended to be worn primarily for sleeping or activities related to sleeping. This regulation excludes underwear. Fabrics or related material intended or promoted for use in children’s sleepwear must also meet this standard. This regulation excludes: (a) Diapers and underwear (b) Tight fitting garments. Tight fitting garment means a garment that does not exceed maximum dimension for the chest, waist, seat, upper arm, thigh, wrist, or ankle for the labeled size as specified by the CPSC. These dimensions are included in the 16 CFR Part 1616, Flammable Fabrics Act: Children’s Sleepwear (Sizes 7-14) Flammability Standards, and available from CPSC. (c) Complies with all applicable requirements of the Standard for the Flammability of Clothing Textiles (16 CFR Part 1610) and the Standard for the Flammability of Vinyl Plastic Film (16 CFR Part 1611). (d) Bears a label stating the size of the garment; for example “size 7.” If the label is not visible to the consumer when the garment is offered for sale at retail, the same information must appear legibly on the package of the garment.208 Managing Quality in the Apparel Industry the design if all three additional samples meet the test criteria or only one specimen fails to meet 10 inch char length criteria. Reject the design if one or more of the additional samples fails the average char length criteria, or two or more individual specimens fail the 10 inch char length criteria. ‘Trim : Three samples (15 specimens) with each type of trim to be included in the garment are prepared by attaching the trim in the center of the 10 inch length, beginning on the lower edge and running upward. Sewing (stitch type, sewing thread, etc.) should be identical to that to be used on the garment. Test and accept or reject a trim prototype on the same basis as a seam design outlined above. 6.4.3.5 Production Sampling Under this regulation it is required that each of five 3.5 inch x 10.0 inch specimens be suspended vertically in holders in a cabinet and exposed toa small gas flame along its bottom edge for 3 seconds. The specimens cannot have an average char length of more than 7.0 inches and no single specimen can have a char length of 10 inches or what is called full burn. This is required for finished garments (as produced or after one washing and drying), as well as after the same garment has been washed and dried 50 times. In production sampling, a sampling unit is any number of garments up to 500 dozen of finished garments. From each unit enough garments are selected at random to be able to get three samples, ie., 15 specimens from the longest seam type. No more than one sample (five specimens) can be cut from any one garment. All specimens from a particular garment must be assigned to the same sample. Accept/reject decision is made as follows: a. If all three samples meet all the test criteria, accept the unit. b. Ifone or more of the three samples fail the average char length criteria, reject the unit. c. If four or more of the individual specimens fail the 10 inch char length criteria, reject the unit. d. If three or fewer of the individual specimens fail the 10 inch char length criteria, reject the unit. If a garment under test does not have a 10 inch long seam in its largest size, then the maximum available seam length is cut and tested.212 Managing Quality in the Apparel Industry hydrogen chloride, hydrogen sulphide, phosegene, bromine, chlorine, sulpher dioxide, etc. depending on the textile assembly and surrounding conditions. ‘Smoke generation is measured by means of a densitometer, using an interrupted light beam as optical means of measurement. At least two flammability testers, the Michigan Chemical Company Oxygen Index Tester and the Textile Research Institute’s Flammability Analyser have a smoke densitometer attachment. Both of these instruments also have a colorimetric attachment for measuring total heat output and both can be used to determine oxygen index. With regard to total heat emission, fabric of the same weight but manufactured from different fibers have been shown to produce heat at different levels. For example, rayon and cotton emit less heat than regenerated acetate. Fabric weight also has an effect on heat emission, the emission in calories per gram for say, cotton being in inverse ratio to the fabric weight while 100 % polyester fabric varies in the same direction as the fabric weight but to a much lesser degree. With regard to flame tempeture, similar anomalies exist. Increase in oxygen supply usually promotes burning but does not necessarily increase the total heat emission. However, flame temperature does not increase with the increase in the oxygen content. With respect to thermoplastic behavior, this factor depends on characteristics of the fabric such as fiber, weight, construction, the type of blend, the type of surface, ete,, that its actual effect is not very clear. Suffice it to say that painful though not always fatal, buns can be experienced from articles containing thermoplastic fibers. Another factor which is very important on the effect of textile flammability is the clothing system and the clothing design worn at the time of an accident and these can affect vitally the degree of hazard in any particular situation. There has been little definitive work done on ease of extinction, but it might be expected that ease of extinction would depend on the total heat emission, the flame temperature and the rate of flame propagation in any particular set of circumstances. 6.8 Influence of Laundering on Flame Retardancy Pacheco and Carfagno [14] studied how laundering practices influence the flame retardancy of fabrics and concluded that: Fabric flammability appears to be affected by laundry products that leave hard water detergent or soap residues. It can be restored by