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QUALITY MANAGEMENT FOR RMG's: A QUALITY GATE CONCEPT

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 7th International Conference on Engineering Research, Innovation and Education Page
School of Applied sciences & Technology, SUST, Sylhet 1/12

QUALITY MANAGEMENT FOR RMG’s: A QUALITY GATE

CONCEPT

Qausar Rahman1*, MD Farhad Hossain2, Abdullah Al Rahi3

1
Data Analyst Quality and Logistics,Carhartt WIP. 731 Monipur, Mirpur-02, Dhaka-1216.
2
Logistics Officer, Carhartt WIP. House No 14, Road No 14, Nikunjo, Dhaka.
3
Supply Production Leader, Decathlon. Uttara Sector 14 road 13 house 36, Dhaka
● *Qausar Rahman

Abstract: In recent times, as the value of the dollar has risen and our reserves
Keywords:
are decreasing at an alarming rate, the responsibility of reserving dollars
through our Ready-Made Garments has become crucial. In the next two years,
● Lean Bangladesh will receive more orders from the United States than Vietnam,
Manufacturing Indonesia, and China, according to the USFIA 2022. Therefore, the objective
of our RMGs should be to increase quality in order to make the business more
System; sustainable, given that China and Indonesia are superior in this regard. In order
● Quality to reduce cost and improve the quality of the garments a quality management
concept is used to establish quality gates in a lingerie manufacturing unit with
Management; a capacity of producing 4 million products per month. A well-structured
● Quality Gates; procedure is suggested for identifying and handling fluctuations in the quality
of work-in-process products, leading to a reduction in defective products by
detecting deviations at early process stages and, additionally, offering the
possibility for process control and feedback. By tracing prior inspections, a list
of significant, concurrent, and recurrent defects was compiled. By establishing
internal decision points (Quality Gates), steps of checking can be aggregated,
minimizing effort for quality control and summarizing information on
pertinent quality parameters of work-in-process products. Finally, a quality
gate is recommended for the organization for enhanced process control.
Page
2/12
1.Introduction

Many manufacturing companies are exposed to international competition in which product

quality is becoming increasingly important for long-term business success in the trade-off
between productivity and customer satisfaction [1,2]. In this context, quality is characterized by
high product quality along with high process reliability and transparency within the
manufacturing process, low scrap and rework rates, high delivery capability as well as on-time
delivery [3]. The increase in demand for garments in apparel manufacturing industries is placing
a huge burden on the manufacturing units’ capacity for production. Increasing capacity is a time-
consuming and costly process, so the only way to increase our capacity is to reduce rework by
improving the quality of production through quality management. Although the terms ‘‘quality
management’’ (QM) and ‘‘quality assurance’’ (QA) are used extensively, there is little common
agreement on their exact meaning, and there are many misconceptions about QM/QA systems,
procedures, and tools. The key to a successful QM/QA is a relentless focus on processes and on

Submitted: 09 October, 2022 │ Revised: xx Month, xxxx │ Accepted: xx Month, xxxx

 Qausar Rahman et al., QUALITY MANAGEMENT FOR RMG’s: A QUALITY GATE CONCEPT

giving people involved in organizations’ processes the tools necessary, and also the responsibility,
to improve quality. Quality management attempts to ensure a high level of quality in all areas that
have a direct or indirect impact on customer satisfaction. With the specification of guidelines,
QM forms the basis for a minimum of rejects and maximum customer satisfaction. It is important
to document and analyze all processes from production to delivery. These are then optimized (if
possible). The customer requirements for the product should be exceeded. Thus, QM deals with
the task of improving the quality of products through organizational tasks. However, QM is in a
constant state of change and must be continuously adapted. In quality assurance, only
potentially negative influences on the quality of the end product are analyzed and then at best
eliminated. This ensures that the specifications of the quality management are observed and
correctly implemented [4]. So if the goal is to reduce the rework/re-process of the produced
products to reduce production time, quality management is the way to do it. There are many tools
that are used in quality management among which include failure mode and effects analysis
(FMEA), fault tree analysis (FTA), flowcharting, process mapping, and quality gates. Among
these tools FMEA, FTA is used intensively to correct a single defect by going to the root of the
cause and possibly eliminating it. Here the tools process mapping and quality gates are used to
identify the possible inspection points and their defects list to focus only on the required defects
for the particular quality gates thus reducing inspection time and quality of the inspection. This
will also help to further analyze the defects using FMEA and FTA methods later.

Consequently, quality inspection planning is an integral part of the manufacturing planning

process. It is often derived from a weak information basis and therefore relies on the experience
of the production planner. Currently, quality inspection test already produced parts and therefore
have a retrospective character. Although there is an increasing availability of data from the
manufacturing phase as well as data analytics tools that can turn this data into valuable
information, there is a lack of revision of inspection activities as part of quality control.
To overcome these challenges, it is necessary to consider the entire manufacturing system rather
than individual and isolated processes. Thereby, early detection of deviations and the analysis of
cross-process interactions are enabled to complement the classic measures for error prevention
and avoidance. It is therefore important to understand the dynamics and interactions between the
individual elements (e.g. products and processes) within the manufacturing system in order to
derive targeted and case-specific quality management strategies. [5–7]

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Qausar Rahman1*, MD Farhad Hossain2, Abdullah Al Rahi3 (contact@qausarrahman.com)
International Conference on Engineering Research and Education Page
School of Applied sciences & Technology, SUST, Sylhet 3/12

This paper will discuss the process mapping through value stream mapping (VSM) and then
establish the quality gates to focus only on the defects that are detectable on the particular quality
gate thus saving time and cost of the processes.

1.1 BRIEF COMPANY PROFILE:

“Company H” was established in 1992, we have been providing quality fashion lingerie and
swimwear to major global retailers for over two decades. At this moment with over 33,000
employees and 13 manufacturing facilities across 3 countries, with centralized pre-production
office and logistics center have 3 goals to maintain for its customers which are price, quality, and
speed. The considered unit of “Company H” has a production of 3.5 Million units with 170
production lines. After the pandemic the increase in orders

2. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.1 Quality Inspection and Quality Gate Concept

Quality gates, as presented in the stage-gate model [14], are nowadays a widespread quality
management tool in product development and project management, i.e. in the automotive sector
[15]. They have been shown to be applicable to a large variety of processes and process chains,
enabling a comprehensive control of quality-relevant features [16,17]. Although initially
proposed for use in product and software development, an adapted stage-gate model has been
shown to be applicable to support quality management for production systems, especially in the
context of zero-defect manufacturing [18]. While in strategical planning and development
processes, a strong focus is on the consequent application of quality gates for control of process

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results, quality gates in production and assembly processes focus on control of process parameters
[19].

Within a manufacturing process, raw materials are transformed into final products by value-
adding to meet customers’ requirements. The value-adding process consists of the physical
transformation of the products (e.g. transforming geometry, state of matter, and chemical
composition). Consequently, product states with their respective features change with every
process step. Product quality characteristics or their variances are accumulated. The final product
quality is thus influenced by all transformation processes within the process chain [8,9]. Against
this background, an in-depth understanding of the relationship between process, intermediate
product and final product is required in order to achieve the best possible quality of the end
product. [10]
In this context, quality inspections are important elements of manufacturing systems to ensure the
production of high-quality products. They are often performed offline, after an intermediate
product is finished at the end of a process chain. This can be achieved by measuring certain quality
attributes defined within the quality requirements of products (product quality) or process
requirements (process quality) [11]. The idea of quality gates (QGs) is to systematically divide a
defined process chain into different quality-relevant decision points.

Along these QGs, the perceived quality of the object is inspected, securing that defined quality
attributes are met before allowing any further progress [12]. Figure 1 (a) gives an overview of the
QG concept for manufacturing systems.
At each QG, the current product states are measured with specific technologies such as vision
inspection. An intermediate product state (IPS) characterizes an intermediate product at a certain
observation point along the manufacturing process chain by a combination of intermediate
product features (IPFs) [12]. An IPF is defined as a quantitative (e.g. temperature) or qualitative
(e.g. material composition) description of the product itself as well as definable and deterministic
measurements [7,10]. At a specific QG, the IPS with its measured IPF is checked against
previously defined target values and classified, e.g. as “good” or “not good” products. Moreover,
the process quality can be determined by analyzing certain process parameters (PPs). In this
context, the process capability can be assessed, or a certain PP can be evaluated regarding its
position within a predefined process window.
Within a manufacturing system, different relations, or dependencies between PPs and IPFs can
occur. Bi-directional relations between IPFs and PPs may exist. Additionally, a forward relation
can appear between a PP and an IPF at successive observation points. Forward relations can also
occur between two following IPFs or between random IPFs. Due to the direct influence of PPs
on IPFs and vice versa, the consideration of the process quality in addition to the product quality
is of great importance for the overall quality [5,6].

2.2 Concept of Product Phenotypes in Manufacturing Systems

To analyze the behavior and interactions of different intermediate products within a

manufacturing system, a comprehensive (cross-)QG modelling and analysis of IPS is required.
Therefore, IPFs can be clustered to define intermediate product classes (IPCs) at defined
observations (e.g. QGs). These IPCs can then be used to e.g. analyze the behavior of different
intermediate products at certain observation points to later derive certain, e.g. IPC-specific,
inspection strategies.
From a system perspective, the propagation of product class affiliations can be examined in more
detail. In order to examine these propagation paths, it is necessary to know the probabilities, in
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Qausar Rahman1*, MD Farhad Hossain2, Abdullah Al Rahi3 (contact@qausarrahman.com)
International Conference on Engineering Research and Education
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School of Applied sciences & Technology, SUST, Sylhet 5/12

which IPC at QG n+1 the intermediate product will be and if it is assigned to a certain IPC at QG
n. Considering QGs with the associated IPC, individual propagation pathways with high
propagation probabilities can be identified. In the following, these propagation paths of IPC shall
be referred to as "product phenotypes". In the context of manufacturing systems, a phenotype
describes the characteristic of a certain product within the manufacturing system. The
characteristic is defined by the aggregation of the IPF represented by the assignment to IPCs.
Figure 1 (b) gives an overview of intermediate product classes and product phenotypes.

2.3 Inspection Strategies in Manufacturing Systems

Quality inspections are initially planned during the development phase of a manufacturing system
and thus before the start of production. This phase is characterized by high uncertainties, various
assumptions, and only limited availability of data. In contrast, quality inspection strategies should
be implemented as part of quality control. Figure 2 provides an overview of the current state of
research on inspection strategies in manufacturing systems [13–25]. On the horizontal axis,
several identified publications are plotted. Different evaluation criteria were defined on the
vertical axis. These criteria are used to evaluate individual publications. The color red indicates
that the criterion was not met, yellow partially met, and green fully met.

Currently, there is a lack of inspection strategies that include product individual requirements
based on their specific intermediate features. Individualization of inspections should be achieved
in an adaptive way and could be supported by a variation of inspection intensity. As specific
inspection strategies for each individual product lead to high planning complexity, products must

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be aggregated. Moreover, inspection strategies must consider the manufacturing system instead
of isolated processes. No current approach addresses these requirements.
In the planning of inspection strategies, various scopes can be identified. Therefore, they are
classified into either process-specific or product-specific inspection strategies. Process-specific
strategies are characterized by a specific consideration of individual quality gates whereas
products are viewed uniformly. They are applied when inspection equipment has significant
influences on product properties or inspection errors are an issue. In this regard, Schmitt et al.
introduced an approach for virtual quality gates that calls for zero type I (or type II) inspection
errors combined with a physical inspection of the conforming (or non-conforming) products [13].
Product-specific inspection strategies employ a systemic perspective on the manufacturing
system. However, a granular consideration of products is necessary. This requires the generic
description of products. The product state concept characterizes intermediate products at certain
observation points (i.e. quality gates) based on a combination of intermediate product features
(IPFs) [7]. Similar intermediate product states (IPSs) at a given quality gate can be aggregated as
intermediate product classes (IPCs) using clustering algorithms [5]. This work was not continued
with regard to the definition of inspection strategies.

3. QUALITY GATE ESTABLISH METHODOLOGY

First to identify all the processes and sub-processes the help of value stream mapping is taken.
VSM is applied to get the current state map and identify all the processes and sub-processes.
After identifying all the processes and sub-processes to get the quality process map and quality
gates 5W’s and 1H of quality gates is used, also the previous quality defects data is analyzed to
get the probability of the defect in
various gates. The intermediate product
classes (IPC’s) with similar
intermediate product states (IPS’s) can
be inspected through the same quality
gates classification. In manufacturing
systems, the end-of-line inspection
generally classifies products as either
“good” or “not good”. Consequently,
only two IPCs representing these
classifications exist for the final QG.
This characteristic can be used to Fig 3: IPC and IPF Relation.
determine the scrap probability of a
phenotype at any position within the
process chain: To identify the scrap probability at process step n, all IPC observations of processes
1 to n-1 are taken into consideration. The scrap probability then equals the probability that the
product lands in the scrap-IPC at the end of line inspection. The identification of high scrap
probabilities allows for the anticipatory scrapping of presumably defective products. This implies
that, based on data analytics, an inspection strategy may call for removing a product phenotype
at a point within the process chain where it is still conforming.

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Qausar Rahman1*, MD Farhad Hossain2, Abdullah Al Rahi3 (contact@qausarrahman.com)
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International Conference on Engineering Research and Education
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Who?
• Process Managers.

What?
• Checking qaulity criteria.

When?
• Whole lifecycle - from initiation to closing.

Where?
• Departments and processes.

Why?
• Gain control over quality development and status.

How?
• Define and assess quality criteria and gates.

Also, there are some practices that are followed by project managers when applying the quality
gate concept in a manufacturing unit:

Fig 4 : 5W’s and 1H of Quality Gates.

I. Pay special attention to the positioning of deliverables, and gates

The correct positioning of quality criteria especially in the development process is key
for successful quality gate application.
II. Apply E2E quality gate architecture
Ensure that quality gates cover the whole project lifecycle and do not only cover a
particular part.
III. Add actual names to the quality gate checklist and not only a department.
Put the responsible people, e.g. the department’s manager (John Doe, Morten
Menigmand, Erika Mustermann) into the column for deliverable responsible instead of
the department (HR, IT, R&D). Otherwise, afterward, a discussion can come up when a
target is not met and who was responsible for it.
IV. The number of quality gates should be as low as possible for a unit to get the best out of
this.
However always assess the number of quality gates needed and required according to the
product lifecycle, its characteristics, scope, and the company’s general procedure and
quality standard.
V. You cannot manage what you cannot measure
It is desirable to have measurable criteria, however, this is not mandatory,. It can also be
in the Boolean form of yes or no. Nevertheless, all sub-criteria must be met before passing
on quality gates.
VI. One quality gate for each transition from one project phase to another.[20]

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The quality process map and quality gates are standardized for each phenotype, but the inspection
method for each phenotype will vary based on its intermediate product features (IPF) and
intermediate product states (IPS).
Taking into account the IPCs and IPFs, a quality process map with 11 quality gates from G1 to
G11 and 6 categories from A to F were generated after the completion of all steps. Analysis of
historical data reveals the major defects and their occurrence percentages and is included in the
quality process map. Microsoft Visio is used for the visualization of the quality process map [Fig.
5]. The swim lane model is used to represent the quality gates to show the subsequent processes
along the departments.

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Qausar Rahman1*, MD Farhad Hossain2, Abdullah Al Rahi3 (contact@qausarrahman.com)
 International Conference on Engineering Research and Education Page
School of Applied sciences & Technology, SUST, Sylhet 9/12
Fig. 5: Quality Process Map & Quality Gates.

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4. APPLICATION OF THE QUALITY GATES

In a prototype case study, the proposed quality gate will be utilized. According to the quality
process map, "Company H's" manufacturing system will include eleven quality gates from the
receiving of raw materials through final product inspection. At the inspection gates, the products
will be categorized as certain product phenotypes based on their IPFs, and certain methods will
be implemented based on the inspection gate in order to reduce rework and save time. As the
gates will work as a cross-functional inspection system, the same IPCs will be inspected numerous
times to lower the percentage or chance of defects on the final products, hence enhancing the
conformance to customers' requirements and increasing customer satisfaction. The quality gate
gives a target of defects to base the inspection strategy for identifying the most defects from the
raw materials/products inspected. This method in result will reduce cost by saving time and
reworking process. After implementing the quality gates the defects data from the quality gates
will be further analyzed to get all possible defects with their probabilities to further strengthen the
inspection strategies. "Company H" records defects using defect codes. Currently, defects are
recorded on paper and entered into an Excel file for analysis, but in the near future, this system
will be replaced with a Quality Management System (QMS) to obtain real-time data.

5. CONCLUSION
The higher demands require a higher capacity of production but due to budgetary issues and time
restrictions, it is not always feasible to raise the capacity of a manufacturing plant. The possible
way to tackle this situation is to reduce the time of re-processing through quality management
and use that saved time to produce more to increase the capacity. This will also result in
conformance to customers’ demand and get higher customer satisfaction. The quality gate concept
doesn’t only establish quality ensuring points in the manufacturing system but also as an
information hub to collect data for implementing the best inspection strategies for a certain
phenotype. The quality gates are focused on product phenotypes so their custom strategy for the
specific phenotype is optimized to identify it’s defects in the earlier stages so that the re-process
can be easier and Type I errors can be avoided. This will ensure that the defective intermediate
product isn’t passed onto the next process. The key challenges for this method is the strategies
developed for the phenotypes and the training quality inspectors on those strategies. Also, the
collection of real-time data is also a challenge as “Company H’ is still working without a QMS.
Integrating the quality gate concept with a quality management system and the most effective
phenotypic tactics allows for additional development. In addition to phenotypes, the notion can
be expanded to include intermediate product classes (IPC). Although the procedure will be more
complicated, its precision will increase.

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Qausar Rahman1*, MD Farhad Hossain2, Abdullah Al Rahi3 (contact@qausarrahman.com)
International Conference on Engineering Research and Education Page
School of Applied sciences & Technology, SUST, Sylhet 11/12

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Qausar Rahman1*, MD Farhad Hossain2, Abdullah Al Rahi3 (contact@qausarrahman.com)

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