UNIT - IV

An inspection involves checking something, i.e., examining and assessing something.

We may inspect a building or organization to make sure that it meets specific standards. The
inspectors need to ensure that nothing is faulty and that nobody is breaking any laws. They also
have to make sure that whatever they are inspecting is safe.

In the world of business, inspection is the critical appraisal of materials, items, or systems
involving examination, testing, and gauging. Inspectors take measurements and make
comparisons. Inspections are formal evaluations or organized examination exercises.

The inspectors determine whether the item or material is in proper condition and of the right
quantity. They also determine whether it conforms to the company’s, industry’s, local, or
national rules and regulations.

Types of inspection

In all cases, an on-site inspection is the visit of one or several inspectors to the site of the
installation to verify compliance with the laws and regulations relative to classified installations.

Most of the time, the purpose of the inspection is to verify compliance with the operating
conditions (“operational requirements”) stipulated by a prefectural order specific to the
installation, or by a ministerial order relating to the industrial activity sector concerned.

The purpose of an inspection can also be to verify that an installation has obtained a permit or
made an initial declaration.

3Classification according to the operator’s level of information3

Inspections can be :

 Announced : in writing informing the operator at least 48 hours in advance ;

 Unannounced : the inspector arrives on site without initially informing the operator.

3Classification according to the purpose of the on-site inspection3

In order to adapt the inspection to the context of the installation, it can be :

 targeted : the objective of the inspection is to analyse one or several parameters or

workshops of the classified installation ;

 general : the inspection will review all operating conditions and compliance with
prefectural operational requirements.

Depending on the level of detail expected, the inspection can be :

  in-depth : site monitoring requiring detailed preparation ;

 general : this type of site monitoring does not require extensive preparation, only the
inspector’s normal knowledge of the site (installations, administrative context,
observations resulting from previous inspections etc.) ;

 one-off (also called rapid) : this is a site monitoring which is neither a general nor an in-
depth on-site inspection. A one-off on-site inspection only relates to a limited and
targeted number of controls.

3Classification according to the nature of the inspection3

Inspections can be :

 scheduled : programmed as part of an annual or multi-year planning process ; according

to national priorities and regional issues ;

 occasional : unplanned within the inspection programme and initiated by an event which
was difficult to foresee (complaint, request from a third party, consequence of a formal
notice to comply, accident, closure of activity etc.).

Inspection
Inspection can be defined, in the apparel industry, 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 if they meet the required
measurements.

For inspection, to be effective, the entire inspection loop must be completed.

General Information of fabric inspection

The general rules for inspection are mentioned below:
 There is no standard viewing condition for inspection fabrics.
 The acceptable limit for first quality fabric is usually estimated by mutual agreement
between the buyer and seller.
 To determine defects, most systems suggest a 3 feet viewing distance.
 There is no standard sampling plans used in the industries for the inspection of fabric.
 For inspecting fabrics or garments 4-Point system, 2.5-Point system, 6-Point system, 10-
Point system, Graniteville “78” system, etc. are used.
Steps in garments inspection:
In garments industry, the desired or expected quality parameters are controlled by inspection.
This inspection can be done in three steps:
1. Raw material inspection in garments industry
2. In process inspection in garment industry
3. Final inspection in garment industry

In-Process Inspection

From the starting point of garment manufacturing up to garments ready to shipment, the
inspection done is called in process inspection. At least 65 to 80% faults can be checked and
controlled through in process inspection.

Benefits or results of in process inspection:

 Reduction of major ‘surprises’ from the customers due to bad quality.
 Decrease in labor cost due to decrease in repair rates.

Spreading inspection or Spreading defects

1. Not enough plies to cover the quantity of garments required.
2. Narrow fabric or wide fabric; alignment of one side should be accurate.

1. Plies all are not facing in the correct direction i.e. not all the plies are spread face down,
face up, or face to face as required.
2. Mismatching of checks i.e. plies not spread accurately one above another for cutting.
3. Spreading tension to each ply should be uniform and optimum.
4. Splicing or bowing
5. Overlapping should be in proper length and width.
Pattern and marker making inspection or defects
1. Pattern parts missing; correct number of parts for all sizes not included by the marker
maker.
2. Mixed parts; parts are not correctly labeled in marker, so a marriage of wrong size parts.
3. Patterns not facing the correct direction or napped fabrics.
4. Patterns not facing the same direction on a one way fabric.
5. Patterns not aligned with respect to grain line of fabric. As a result garments may not
drape or fit properly.
 6. Line deflections poor (e.g. chalk-too thick, indistinctly printed line, perforated lay not
fully powdered), leading to inaccurate cutting.
7. Inadequate marking; either the marker did not use outside edge of the pattern or the
pattern was moved or swung after partial marking to squeeze the pattern into a smaller
space in the interest of fabric economy. Alternatively, the pattern is wound around the
edges and should be replaced.
8. Adequate marking; a combination of points 7 and 8 results in components being sewn
together with puckering or pleating.
9. Marker too wide; garment parts at the edge of the lay are cut with bits missing.
10. Not enough knife clearance freedom.
11. Mismatched check and strips.
12. Notches and drill makes omitted, indistinct or misplaced.
Cutting inspection or cutting defects
1. Frayed edge; the amount of fraying depends on fabric finish and construction, improper
cutting tools or blunt knives.
2. Fuzzy; ragged or serrated edges; may come due to faulty knives edges such as burrs,
chips or dullness.
3. Ply to ply fusion; single ply whose cut yarn ends are fused to form a hard brittle rim on
the cut edge.
4. Pattern precision; misshape of the patterns perimeter as cut also top, bottom and middle
plies part should be checked against the patterns.
5. Notches; notch size should not be too large (more depth large notch).
6. Drilling; the drill holes should be in optimum size and no fusion problem along the plies.
Sewing inspection or sewing defects
In sewing section, the in process inspection is divided into three defects by Lowe and Low Coke
as sewing defects:

Sewing defects:
 Needle damage: evidenced by holes, picked threads, ruptured threads or damage to the
fabric; caused by wrong size or types of needle, blunt needle, needle heat, machine feed
difficulty.
 Skipped stitches
 Thread breaks
 Broken stitches
 Seam grin
 Seam pucker
 Pleated seams
 Wrong stitch density
 Uneven stitch density
 Staggered stitch
 Improperly formed stitches
Seam defects:
 Mismatched of adjacent part
 Wrong seam or stitch type used
 Wrong shade of thread used.
Assembly defects:
  Finished components not correct to size or shape or not symmetrical
 Finished garments not to size due to from incorrect patterns, inaccurate marking or
cutting, shrinkage and stretching fabric, incorrect seam width.
 Parts, components, closures or features omitted, caused by bad work flow, parts omitted
in cutting, careless operator.
 Components of features wrongly positioned or misaligned arising from incorrect marking
or sewing not following the mark.
 Interlining incorrectly positioned, twisted, too full, too light, cockling.
 Lining too full, too tight, showing below the bottom of the garments, twisted, incorrectly
pleated and so on.
 Garments parts cockling, pleated, twisted, showing bubbles and fullness.
 Garment parts shaded due to being mixed after cutting.
 Parts- in one way fabric in wrong direction
 Mismatching trimmings
Finishing inspection or finishing defects
1. Spots/burn/melt at the time of ironing
2. Broken button, zipper and so on.
3. Flattened nap or surface
4. Change in color
5. Crease not correctly formed
6. Garments not thoroughly dried
7. Stretching in fabric during pressing
8. Pocket and collar incorrectly aligned at the time of pressing and ironing.
9. Lining showing pleats, creases, wrinkles, shines, etc.
10. Shrinkage due to heat and moisture.
11. Incorrectly folding
12. Mismatched trimmings
13. Incorrectly packing (not as per packing instruction).

Raw Material for Garments:

Fabric, sewing threads, buttons, trims, etc are the raw material in garments industry. The
quality of a final garment depends on the quality of a fabric when it is received as a roll. Even
the most outstanding manufacturing methods cannot compensate for defective materials. So
before production of garments quality check of raw material is very important task in garment
industry.

Fabric Inspection
There are various systems for fabric inspection. Among them followings are very important:

4-Points 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). Inspection
is done about 10% of the products in the shipment.

10 Points system
The 10 point method is a point per fault system, which gives a measurable guide to quality
grading per roll. In 1955s “Ten Points” piece goods evaluation was adapted by the Textile
Distributors and National Federation of Textiles.

Graniteville “78” system:

The system assigns penalty points to each defect as per following guideline.

For either Length or Width

Size of defects →→→→→→→→→→→Penalty

 Up to 9 inches →→→→→→→→→→→1 Point

 9 to 18 inches →→→→→→→→→→→2 Points

 18 to 27 inches →→→→→→→→→→→3 Points

 27 to 36 inches →→→→→→→→→→→4 Points

The maximum penalty points per linear yard that can be assigned are determined by dividing the
fabric width in inches by 9.

Therefore,
Maximum penalty points for 48 inches wider fabric = 48/9 = 5.33 or 6.
Maximum penalty points for 60 inches wider fabric = 60/9 = 6.33 or 7.
The maximum penalty point per square yard is 4.

Sewing Thread Inspection

Sewing threads should be checked and tested for the following characteristics:

Construction

 Yarn count

 Yarn ply

 Number of twists per unit length (TPI or TPM)

 Twist balance
  Yarn strength (tenacity)

 Yarn elongation

Sew ability
At least three sewing thread packages from a lot should be used for at least 100 yards of sewing
under normal conditions and record kept of running performance. A good quality sewing thread
should be able to produce consistent stitches in the chosen sewing material at the highest
machine speed under normal conditions.

Finish
Sewing thread is basically finished by one type of lubricant. As lubricant applied 3 to 5% of the
weight of thread, it provides slip easily and smoothly through the needle eye and other i.e.
various parts through which it passes.

Color
Color of sewing thread should match with the original or standard sample and should not vary
too much within a lot or shipment of sewing thread. Color should not bleed during washing
and/or dry cleaning and fade in sunlight.

Package density
Package density of sewing thread should be consistent from package to package within a
shipment or lot and from shipment to shipment. It the package density varies too much sewing
machine operators will have to adjust the tension frequently resulting in lower productivity.

Winding
Winding of sewing thread on packages should be uniform; otherwise, it may result in excessive
thread breakages again causing lower efficiency.

Yardage
Length of sewing thread on each package should be at least the specific amount or within a
certain tolerance such as ± 2% and so on.

Zipper Inspection
Zipper should be checked for the followings:

 Dimension: Tape width, tape extensions, and overall useable length of zipper should be
as specified.

 Top and bottom stoppers should be fastened securely.

  Zipper tape should be uniform in color.Zipper should not cause wrinkling and puckering
after sewn into garments.

 Puller or pull tab should be affixed firmly to the slider body.

 Slider should ride freely but must not be so free that it is loose on the chain.

 Slider should be locked securely.

 Zipper should be perfect and washing and/or dry cleaning and will not fade.

 Zipper should not deform under pressing and ironing.

 Zipper should be well-matched with garments design.

 Zipper should be azo-free, nickel free, non-magnetic and non toxic painting.

Button Inspection
Button should be checked for the followings:

 Button holes should be large, clean, and free from flash, so that it will not cut the thread.

 Button holes should be located properly.

 Button thickness should be uniform.

 Button shade should be within tolerance.

 Button should be able to withstand laundering, dry cleaning, and pressing without any
change or deforms.

 Button size should be as specified.

 In case of any special requirements button should have all.