APPAREL QUALITY INSPECTION

By: G. Raj Kumar & V. Krishnaveni

Senior Lecturers, Department of Fashion Technology Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore

Quality means different things to different people, depending on their perception of the value of a product under consideration and their expectations of performance and durability of that product. Websters defines quality as essential nature; a trait, characteristic; superiority, relatively considered. The American society for Quality control (ASQC) defines quality as a systematic approach to the search for excellence.

According to David Garvin, a Harvard expert on quality, there are eight dimensions of quality: performance, features, reliability, conformance, durability, serviceability, aesthetics and perceived quality. Fitness for use should be judged from the customers point of view and not from either the manufacturers or sellers perspective.

The fitness for use concept can be applied to garments also. For a garment to be fit for use provided its style is acceptable. It must be free from defects such as stains, material (fabric) defects, open seams, loose hanging (untrimmed) threads, misaligned buttons and button holes, defective zippers and so on. Must fit properly for the labeled size. It must perform satisfactorily in normal use, meaning that a garment must be able to withstand normal laundering / dry cleaning / pressing cycles without colour loss or shrinkage, seams must not come apart, fabric must not tear and so on. Also, quality is a reflection of customers opinion on the value they see in your product compared to that of your competitor. Having some idea of what quality is, let us look at some of the factors that influence customers perception of quality. The factors are

Price: Customers 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. Technology: This indicates factors such as fabric seam strength, colour fastness, shrinkage and other properties that are affected by the state of technology in the industry. 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 customers, then it is not a quality garment. Time orientation: This indicates durability. Of course the importance of durability varies with categories of garments, that is childrens garments are expected to be more durable that ladies high fashion garments. Contractual: This refers to a product guarantee, the refund policy of a store, and so on. Ethical: This refers to honesty of advertising, courtesy of sales personnel and so on.

If you can positively influence any one or more of the preceding factors, then you will be able to increase the quality of your product in a customers mind and he or she will most likely come back to buy from you again.

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 and 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 discussion of inspection in this chapter is divided into the following three sections.

Raw material Inspection In- process Inspection Final Inspection

1. Raw material inspection

1.1Fabric Inspection After the fabric is received, it should be inspected to determine its acceptability from a quality view point: otherwise extra cost in garment manufacturing may be incurred due to either the loss of the material or time. Some garments manufacturers rely on their fabric suppliers to perform fabric inspection and mark fabric defects. Fabric inspection prior to spreading will remove the burden of quality responsibility from those performing the spreading and cutting functions. Fabric inspection is usually done on fabric inspection machine. These machines are designed so that rolls of fabric can be mounted behind the inspection table under adequate light and rolled as they leaved 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 inspections 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 role of fabric as well as monitor the width of the fabric. The width of the fabric is more critical to the manufacturers of basic garments such as mens and boys under wear who frequently reuse markets, make pattern changes less often and perhaps use tighter resulting in greater fabric utilization.

Fabric Inspection systems

4 point system 10 point system Graniteville 78 system

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 ASQC.

Fabric flaws or defects are assigned point vales based on the following

Length of defect in fabric, either length or width Up to 3 Over 3 Up to 6 Over 6 Up to 9 Over 9 Holes and openings (largest Dimensions) 1 or Less Over 1

Points allotted

1 2 3 4

2 4

Total defect points per 100 yd2 are calculated, and normally those fabric rolls more than 40 points per 100 yd2 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 yd2 as an acceptance criteria.

2 defects up to 3 inch 5 defects over 3 in. but less than 6 in. 1 defect over 6 in. but les than 9 in. 1 defect over 9 in. Total defect points

2 X 1 = 2 points 5 X2 = 10 points 1 X 3 = 3 points 1 X 4 = 4 points = 19

Total points scored in the roll X 3600 Therefore points /100 yd2
=

Fabric width in inches X total yards inspected

19 X 3600 48 X120 11.9 defect points /100 yd2

So if the acceptance criteria are 40 points per 100 yd2 then this roll is acceptable. 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 defects points per 100 yd2 of fabric. 10 point system Under this system, fabric defects are assigned point values based on the following

Length of defect Warp defects Up to 1 in. 1 in. to 5 in. 5 in. to 10 in. 10 in. to 36 in. Filling defects Up to 1 in. 1 in. to 5 in. 5 in. to half width Larger than half width

Points allotted

1 3 5 10 1

3 5 10

No linear yard of the fabric is assigned more than 10 points, no matter how bad or frequent the defects are. Fabric is considered first quality if the number of defects points are less than the number of yards of fabric inspected. In the case of the fabrics wider than 50 in., the fabric is considered first if the total defect points do not exceed the number of yards of fabric inspected by 10%.

Graniteville 78 system This is the revision of the system of Visual Quality Evaluation for Woven and Knitted fabrics contained in the Manual of Standard Fabric Defects in the Textile Industry, published in 1975 by Graniteville Company, Graniteville S.C. Fabric defects

that have the potential to make an end item second are allotted point values ( called penalty or demerit points) as follows.

Length of defect in fabric, either length or width Up to 9 in. 9 in. to 18 in. 18 in. to 27 in. 27 in. to 36 in.

Points allotted

1 2 3 4

The maximum number of points per linear yard that can be assigned is determined by dividing the fabric width in inches by 9.that is, that is, the maximum number of penalty points per linear yard that can be assigned to a 48 in. wide fabric is 48/9 = 5.33 or 6; the maximum number of penalty points that can be assigned per linear yard to a 6o in. wide fabric is 60/9 = 6.66 or 7. The maximum penalty points per yd2 is 4 points. Sewing Threads The necessity of good quality sewing threads is evident from the following. 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 to 165 km/hr and at the moment at which the thread is caught by the sewing hook, the speed reaches 2000 m/sec. While moving at such speeds, the thread is subjected to friction from a number of guides, from the needle 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 takes place very quickly and high speed. These effects acts on the thread repeatedly and for a fairly prolonged period of time, since a length of the thread, before being incorporation in a stitch, may pass more than 30 times through a fabric, the needle eye, and the bobbin case mechanism.

Such a severe working condition with heat generated in the needle can reduce the initial strength of the thread by as much as 60% and this is the one of the causes of increased breakage in the needle thread during high speed sewing. A more 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 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 a two thread chain stitch machine.

Sewing thread should be checked and tested for the following characteristics Construction: Yarn count, yarn ply, number of twists, twist balance, yarn strength (tenacity), yarn elongation. Sewability: At least three sewing thread packages from a lot should be used for at least 100 yd of sewing under normal conditions and a record kept for running performance. A good quality sewing thread should be 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. Imperfections: Sewing thread should be free of slubs, knots or any of such defects. Otherwise, there will be excessive stoppage on the sewing machine, resulting in lower sewing efficiency. Finish: Thread finish is basically a lubricant applied to a 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 the sewing machine. This finish varies 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. Colour: Colour of a sewing thread (including white) should match that of either the original or standard sample and should not vary the too much within a lot or shipment of

sewing thread. Also, the colour should not bleed in 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. If 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 specified amount or within a certain tolerance, such as 2% and so on.

Zippers
Zippers should be checked for the following. Dimensions: Check for the correct width of the tape. If it is not correct, the machine will run off. Measure overall length with the zipper closed from extreme ends of metal. Tape extensions should be as specified. Top and bottom stops should be fastened securely. Zipper tape should be uniform in colour if that is important. Zipper should not cause wrinkling or puckering after it is sewn into garment. Can a zipper be washed and/or dry cleaned? Will it fade? Will the slide deform under pressing or ironing? Check the number of pounds it takes to open the zipper (sideways). 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. Check also to be sure the slider locks securely. Avoiding zipper problems Most zipper failures in garments are the result s of Improper installation methods in sewing room Questionable garment design or construction Factory and/or retail customer abuse.

Slider Direction The slider must run in a specific direction. On the 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. Buttons, buckles, snap Fasteners and so on Waldes and Reid mention the following in regard to checking quality of buttons, buckles, snap fasteners, and so on. 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 uniform in thickness. The colour or shade of the buttons should be within a certain visual standards. Buttons should be able to withstand laundering, dry cleaning and pressing without any changes such as cracks, melting of surface (scorch), change in colour and so on. Buckles: Buckles should be checked for any visual defects such as sharp, burred edges. If a buckle is cloth or vinyl covered, there should not be appreciable difference in the buckle and garment materials. Snap Fasteners: The attaching machineries should locate the snap fasteners accurately and at proper pressure. Component parts should be checked to close tolerances and free from dirt and other foreign substances so that they will feed rapidly through the hopper and permit uniform and trouble free assembly. Hardness an workability of metal are important factors also and are controlled carefully by quality suppliers. If the metal is too hard, the parts will be formed poorly and may crack; if it is too soft, the closure will be weak. Of course such problems would not arise with plastic snap fasteners. The snap fasteners should attach firmly and withstand the maximum pull that they can expected to endure on the garment. The snapping action of snaps must be positive yet easy enough for practical use. Interlinings There is nothing much that can be done visually on interlinings. The performance testing of interlinings as well as the control variables in the fusing of interlinings are of the atmost importance.

In-process Inspection
In-process Inspection means the inspection of parts before they are assembled in to a complete product. In apparel manufacturing, this means inspection at various points in the entire manufacturing process from spreading fabric to pressing/ finishing. The idea behind in-process inspection is to inspect or check the quality of component parts as close to manufacturing as possible and thereby identify the source of quality problems as early in the manufacturing as possible. In-process inspection can be performed by either quality control inspectors or individual operators themselves after they perform their respective operations. This will result in minimizing the need for later repairs and rework. Each production operation performed correctly makes for a smooth running plant with low operating costs. Poor quality atany stage in production compounds itself and can be expected to increase total cost. A well run in-process inspection program will result in the following two advantages. Reduction of major surprises from the customers due to bad quality Decrease in labour cost due to decrease in repair rates.

Spreading The greater the variation in width or length alignment, the greater the waste in precision cutting because the ends and slides 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 yarns from a straight 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. The following are the possible spreading defects Not enough plies to cover the quantity of garments required Narrow fabric Plies not all facing in the correct direction. That is, not all the plies are spread space down, face up, or face to face, as required. Mismatching of checks. Plies not spread accurately one above another ready for cutting. The following are the pattern defects Pattern parts missing: Correct number of parts for all sizes not included by the marker maker. 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. Patterns not aligned with respect to the fabric grain. As a result, a garment may not drape or fit properly. Line definitions poor (e.g. chalk, too thick, indistinctly printed line, perforated lay not fully powered), leading to inaccurate cutting. Marker too wide: Garment parts at the edge of the lay are cut with bits missing. Not enough knife clearance freedom Mismatched checks and stripes.

Cutting Cutting quality is prerequisite for quality in a finished product. In addition, cut work quality affects the case and cost with which construction is accomplished. The quality of work leaving the cutting room is determined by how true the cut fabric parts are to the pattern; how smooth or rough the cut surface is ; material or fabric defect in the cut fabric parts; shade differences between cut fabric pieces within a bundle. The following defects may arise in cutting

Frayed edges Fuzzy edges Ply to ply fusion

AQL (Accepted Quality Level) This is a random sampling inspection and is the most widely accepted method of sampling by attributes based on the mathematical theory of probability. MIL-STD-105E provides the number of samples to be inspected in a given lot or shipment size. It also provides specific criteria for acceptance or rejection of a shipment or lot based on the number of defects found, and provides a fair assessment to both buyers and sellers of a product quality.