Advintex Apparel

Quality is of prime importance in any aspect of business. Customers demand and expect value for money. As producers of apparel there must be a constant endeavor to produce work of good quality.

"The systems required for programming and coordinating the efforts of the various groups in an organization to maintain the requisite quality". As such Quality Control is seen as the agent of Quality Assurance or Total Quality Control.

 Uality Related Problems in Garment Manufacturing

Sewing defects - Like open seams, wrong stitching techniques used, same colour garment, but usage of different colour threads on the garment, miss out of stitches in between, creasing of the garment, erroneous thread tension and raw edges are some sewing defects that could occur so should be taken care of.

Colour effects - Colour defects that could occur are - difference of the colour of final produced garment to the sample shown, accessories used are of wrong colour combination and mismatching of dye amongst the pieces.

Sizing defects - Wrong gradation of sizes, difference in measurement of a garment part from other, for example- sleeves of 'XL' size but body of 'L' size. Such defects do not occur has to be seen too.

Garment defects - During manufacturing process defects could occur like - faulty zippers, irregular hemming, loose buttons, raw edges, improper button holes, uneven parts, inappropriate trimming, and difference in fabric colours.

Fault Analysis Card or Chart

Once the faults have been collected they should be written down and recorded on a fault analysis card or chart. These are also known as FACERAP cards.

FACERAP is a mnemonic for Fault, Appearance, Cause, Effect, Responsibility, Action, And Prevention

The information is recorded under the following headings to facilitate teaching: -

Fault - Correct name/agreed name. So that trainees can report to the Instructor/Supervisor/Mechanics).

Appearance - Clear description or an example attached. Trainee cannot take remedial action unless he can recognize the appearance or feel of the fault.

Cause - All the main causes, for example: - faulty cutting, incorrect machine setting, machine breakdown, mistake by operative or previous operatives.

Effect - Result of the fault, cost of the fault, and weak edges for example: - likely to break away, scrapped or seconds, loss of incentive pay.

Responsibility - Which defects are trainees' own fault and which are the responsibility of others. Do not encourage the passing of blame, similarly, do not blame unfairly.

Action - What action is to be carried out on discovery of the fault, for example: -

Reject, unpick and re-sew, report to Instructor/Supervisor/Mechanic.

Prevention - Any action which can or should be taken to avoid a recurrence of the fault should be recorded, for example: - check tensions and stitches on every third garment. Ensure edges match before sewing, etc.