Apparel Quality Management

Submission Date: 15 th 2021

Assignment On : Quality Control/Management system

in RMG Sector

Submitted To : Submitted By :
Name :

Quality Control/Management system in RMG

Sector:
Introduction:

Bangladesh is a developing country where RMG play a vital role in our economy. Its contribution in
GDP 76%. After introducing this sector in our country unemployment problem solved at some
extent. Though the economy of our country is primarily agro based but without industrialization it is
doubtful, whether a country like Bangladesh can break out its cycle of poverty and decrease the even 
loaded foreign loan.

Bangladesh has recently emerged as an important supplier of quality  readymade garments in the
global market. From a modest start couple  of years of back, BD export of RMG increased
considerably over the past few years resulted in an export earning of Tk. 99,21,80 million in
financial year 2006-2007 from in earning of Tk. 59.00 million  in 1980-1981. Initially the market for
this product was limited to a few west European countries, which have been subsequently expanded
to the U.S.A. Canada. Scandinavian, Nordic, Middle East countries. It is a fact that increasing
production and export earning of RMG hold the key to save the country from the present economic
depression. the sector has now occupied an important place in our national economy. But all is not
well in this sector. It faces number of challenges. Because of mismanagement. To overcome this
challenges, find out the problems of management system of this sector and try to solve. In the
apparel manufacturing industry, quality control is practiced right from the initial stage of sourcing
raw materials to the stage of the final finished garment. For the textile and garment industry product,
quality is calculated in terms of quality and standard of fibers, yarns, fabric construction, color
fastness, surface designs, and the final finished garment products.

Total Process of Quality Drill in Apparel Industry:

To control quality at needlepoint, the supervisor should create awareness in operators. One of the
tools for achieving good quality apparel is “quality drill”. Quality drill maintains the below key
points:

1. The first point of the quality drill is -Ask the sewing operator to stop the work he is doing.
2. Give him stickers to mark defects.
3. Ask the operator to inspect, the bundle in which he is working on, the bundle he has already
finished, and the bundle he is going to work on next, based on the quality specifications.
4. This way the operator has the chance to see if the work he is doing is of good quality and also
make sure the work he is receiving from the previous operation is not defective.
5. Ask the operator to mark any part that is out of tolerance with the sticker.
6. Ask the operator to do it while standing up and when he is finished she should signal the
supervisor that he is ready to have the results evaluated.
7. The supervisor should make sure that the instructions given to the operator have been
understood and then leave to continue with the regular activities.
8. When the operator has signaled that he has finished, the supervisor returns.
9. The supervisor then proceeds to inspect at random several parts of any bundle. If he finds a
defect other than those marked by the operator, then the supervisor should separate it and ask
the operator why the defect was not identified. If the supervisor did not see any defect in the
random check, he turns to the operator and asks the operator to show him the defective parts
marked by the operator.
10. If the operator has not found any defects, and the supervisor finds some, he then asks the
operator to explain, based on the points described in the quality specification, why he thinks
this part is of acceptable quality.
11. If defective parts have been identified then the operator should explain why they are defective
based on the points described in the quality specification.
12. If the supervisor notices that the operator is not very clear of what the requirements for his
operation are or how to find out if these requirements are met or not, then the quality
specification sheet should be reviewed with her point by point.
13. If the supervisor notices that the operator “overlooks” the defects then the supervisor should
review with the operator, the importance of doing a job properly every time.
14. The supervisor must explain the importance of the quality drill to the operators stressing that
its sole purpose is to help them improve their quality. The initial resistance by the operators is
normal, but as soon as positive results from the exercise are seen, the operator will take the
initiative to do the exercise themselves.

The quality drill is an approved method in producing good quality apparel.

Cutting Section:

In the view of modern garments business, it’s seen that quality is the first requirement of all the
buyers around the world. In garments manufacturing, Cutting is an important process to make a
quality product. Quality full fabric cutting reduces the wastage of fabric and makes the business
profitable. To achieve quality full fabric cutting, a few methods have to maintain which are discussed
in the following.In garments manufacturing fabric, cutting means to cut out the garment’s pieces
from lays of the fabric with the help of cutting template or marker. Cutting is one of the major steps
to make a complete garment. For cutting of fabric generally, the marker is applied to the top ply of a
lay.

Process Sequence of Fabric Cutting Section: In garments manufacturing industry the term cutting
is used in a different meaning. Here the term cutting is used in the sense of cutting room which
indicates an area that normally includes the activities of marker planning, spreading, and preparation
for sewing.

Stages of fabric cutting: Generally, fabric cutting is carried out with two stages.They are as follows:
1. A cutting (Separating the individual pieces.) 2. A final cutting ( accurate cutting of the individual
shapes)

Objectives of Cutting

 To separate fabric parts from the spread of lay according to the dimension of the marker.
 To make the garments according to the required design and shape.
 To prepare garments pieces to go forward with the next process of garments manufacturing.

The requirement of Fabric Cutting: To achieve the required objectives by cutting fabric in the
garments manufacturing process, the following requirements must be fulfilled.

 The precision of the cut

 Clean edges
 Unscorched, infused edges
 Support of the lay
 Consistent cutting

Different types of fabric cutting: There are mainly three types of cutting techniques. They are as
follows:

1. Completely by manual: Here cutting process is done by using a knife, scissors, drill, etc. The
knife is placed in the head of the cutting machine. The manual method is the most used cutting
method in the garments industry. * By hand-operated Scissor.

Advantage of Manual Cutting Method:

1. Easy process of cutting.

2. Educated manpower is not required.
3. The low-cost knife is enough here to cut the fabric.
4. Low maintenance cost.

The disadvantage of the Manual Cutting Method:

1. Slow process.
2. Not suitable for large scale production.
3. Cutting speed cannot be controlled.
4. The intensity of the accident is very high.
5. Higher labor cost than computerized cutting method.

2. Manually operated powered knife: In the modern clothing manufacturing industry, the
computerized cutting method becomes so much popular day by day due to its higher production
and less time-consuming efficiency. Here all programs are loaded into the computer and the
computer performs all the activities which are loaded.

 Straight knife
 Band blade
 Round blade
 Die cutter
 Notcher
 Drill

Advantage of Computerized Cutting Method:

1. Very much effective cutting by a computer-controlled system.

2. Very fast cutting operation.
3. Suitable for large scale production.
4. Cutting speed can be controlled.
5. The intensity of the accident is very low.
6. No need for any marker.
7. Fabrics can be cut 7-8 times higher than the manual cutting method.
8. Low labor cost.
The disadvantage of the Computerized Cutting Method:

1. Higher maintenance cost.

2. Skilled and educated manpower is required.
3. So much expensive machine.
4. If the correct disc is not loaded in the computer, then an error will be indicated.

3. Computerized technique

 Knife cutting
 Cutting by water jet
 Laser cutting
 Plasma torch cutting

Flow Chart of fabric cutting:

Flow Chart of Fabric Cutting

Working procedure in fabric cutting section:

 By following production planning at the first sample is collected from the sample section
with patterns and garments approved.
 Lay order sheet/ratio sheet fill up by cutting section
 Item, fabric width, color, etc.
 After putting all information in the order sheet then send it to the CAD section for marker
making. Or if it is to do manually than make marker manually.
 Checking marker after getting a marker.
 Sending fabric requisition from cutting section to store for cutting according to plan.
 Receiving fabric in cutting table as per marker and cutting plan.
 Matching fabric to trim card by merchandiser approved fabric.
 Then starting layering manually or with the machine.
 Completing layering then spread marker upon on the fabric.
 Marker checking by quality people & keep all documents of style, size wise report to send to
the store & sewing section.
 Before cutting attaching clamp and gum tape on the layer.
 If there is any drill mark in marker then need to drill.
 Starting cutting by cutter man.
 Then dividing group and ratio wise.
 Make bundle chart as per lay order sheet and sending for bundle card printing.
 Numbering as per bundle chart-wise.
 Panel checking.
 If there is any fault need to replace cut bundle roll and shade wise then bundle and send to
sewing section.
 If there is any fusing or embroidery then send for this process.

Sewing Section:

Quality refers to the buyer’s satisfaction or requirements. Now a day’s readymade garments business
is fully based on quality, which is carried out in various sections. The garments sewing section is one
of those. As its importance in garments manufacturing, today I will present here the process quality
control in the sewing section.

Process Sequence of Quality Control in Sewing Section:

Input material checking

↓
Cutting panel and accessories checking
↓
Checking the sewing machine
↓
Sewing thread checking
↓
Sewing needle checking
↓
Embroidery and printing panel checking (If there)
↓
Stitching fault checking
↓
Seam fault checking
↓
Measurement checking
↓
Shade variation checking
↓
Size mistake checking
↓
Trimmings checking
↓
Interlining checking
↓
A crease or wrinkle appearance checking

Working procedure in fabric Sewing section:

 It is the first process of quality control in the sewing section. Here all the input materials
should be checked to complete all the sewing processes accurately.
 All the cutting panels and accessories should be checked here to avoid mismatching with the
other cutting parts and trimmings.
 According to the buyer’s approved sample, the right sewing machine should be selected here
to complete all the required sewing for the garments.
 It’s a very important matter in the sewing section. Sewing thread should be selected here
according to buyers approved sample.
 Here, the required sizes needle should be selected to complete fault-free sewing for the
garments.
 If there’s any embroidery or print lies in the garments, then it should be checked by
maintaining buyers approved sample.
 After making the garments, here clothing checked to identify stitch fault free garments.
 After checking the stitch, all the seam of garments must be checked here.
 According to the buyer’s instruction, garments measurement has to check here.
 Sometimes various types of shade variation have been seen in the garments which should be
checked here.
 For submitting the perfect size of garments to the buyer, extra checking has needed here.
 According to the buyer’s approved sample, required trimmings of garments should be
checked here to make fault free garments.
 Interlining checking should be done here by the quality inspector whether it is perfect or not.
 It is the last process of quality control in the sewing section, where the quality inspector
confirms crease or wrinkle free garments.

Fabric Dyeing and Printing Abbreviations

Whenever you are working in the different sectors of garments you may require having knowledge
about the basic abbreviations used in these sectors, so that you can use it for the respective purpose.
Here I tried to arrange some important abbreviations used by the engineers or workers for fabric,
dyeing, and printing.

Some Important abbreviations of FABRIC, DYEING, and PRINTING:

 CPI-Course per Inch

 CVC-Chief Value of Cotton
 CMC-Carboxyl Methyl Cellulose
 CMS-Carboxyl Methyl Starch
 CRI-Color Rendering Index
 CWF-Cool White Fluorescent
 CF-Compact Fluorescent
 CRP- Caustic Recovery Plant
 DMT- Di Methyl Terephthalate
 D65-Artificial Daylight
 EPI-Ends Per Inch
 ETP-Effluent Treatment Plant
 GLM- Gram per Linear Meter
 GSM-Grams per Square Meter
 ITET-Institute of Textile Engineers and Technologist
 Pd- Plain Dyed
 PET-Poly Ethylene Terephthalate
 PVA- Poly Vinyl Amide
 PPI-Picks Per Inch
 PFD-Prepared for Dyeing
 PPM-Parts per Million
 PSI-Pounds per Square Inch
 PC Fabric- Polyester Cotton Fabric
 PTFE- Poly Tetra Fluoro Ethylene
 RPM- Revolution per Minute
 RED-Ready for Dyeing
 RH- Relative Humidity
 SD- Solid Dyed
 TC- Tetron Cotton
 TRO- Turkey Red Oil
 UV-Ultraviolet Light
 WTP-Water Treatment Plant
 WPI- Wales per Inch
 WR- Water Proof
 WR- Water Repellent
 YD- Yarn Dyed

Remember one thing that these abbreviations not only necessarily fixed by these meanings but it may
varies and means differently in different departments to department and also the country to country.

Finishing Section:

Garments finishing is an important section in the readymade garments sector. It’s the last section of
the garments manufacturing department. As with all the other sections of garments manufacturing,
the garments finishing section has also followed a process flow chart, which has explained in this
article.
Process Flow Chart of Finishing:

Sewn garments received in finishing section

↓
Initial quality check
↓
Spot removing if there’s any spot
↓
Ironing or pressing
↓
Inspection
↓
Hangtag attaching
↓
Folding
↓
Polybag
↓
Metal check
↓
Packaging or cartoning

Working procedure in fabric Finishing section:

 Here, sewn garments are received for finishing the garments.

 Sewn garments are checked here by the quality controller. If found major sewing problems
then garments sent again to the sewing section for rectification.
 Sometimes garments contain various types of spots which are removed here carefully.
 It’s one of the important processes in garment finishing. Here garments are ironed by
following the measurement chart of those garments.
 After completing ironing or finishing, garments are inspected again here by the quality
controller to confirm the correct measurement of the apparel.
 In this section, the hangtag has to attach to the garments.
 After completing all the above processes, garments are folded here.
 Garments are poly-bagged here to keep the garments dust, dirt, and other impurities free.
send the garments safely to the buyer.
 In this section, garments should be passed through a metal detector machine to identify metal
lies in the garments.
 Finally, all the garments should pack to send the garments safely to the buyer.

Conclusion

The Garment sector has tremendous impact on socio-economic structure of the country. It also brings
economic prosperity for the poor women. We believe that there must be a saturation point for any
industry. But for our garment industry, still we are away from it. We are in the free trade regime of
the GATT. In that situation, without BD’s own fabrics, it would be very difficult for BD to even
retain its present position in the quota free developed countries, not to speak of any further growth. A
developing country like BD is expecting much more from the promising garment sector, the sector
which assures job opportunity for the millions of unemployed and much needed foreign exchange
earning for the country. After entering in a new Quota free market BD faced a big competition with
many countries like China, Vietnam, Cambodia and some Caribbean countries where labour are very
chief. So the manufacturers should keep it in their mind that without quality control, cost control and
timely shipment they can never compete with the competitors and survive in the global market of
RMG. So, they should be changed their management system for the well being of their garments.
Again we should keep it in our mind that the workers employed in the Garment factories are given
suitable wage and other facilities, the labour unrest might swallow up the industry wholly including
the proprietors. Hence timely .and adequate action is to be taken for solving the problems with which
the industry has now been plagued. The Govt. also is anxious to save the foreign exchange earning
garment industries from falling into the clutches of dishonest trade union leaders who are a new
breed of exploiters. If the garments sector collapses due to lack of policy support of the Govt. and
manufacturers, the sector will lose the global market and Dhaka City would turn to a ghost city. As a
result the total social stability will tumble as millions of people directly or indirectly make their
living from the sector. The families, which depend on this sector for their existence, will be unseated
from employment and deprived of their only means of survival.