Fabric Quality procedure

 Fabric audit and inspection are crucial components of quality control, often utilizing the 4-Point System (ASTM D5430). During this process, fabric rolls are meticulously examined on light tables for any defects such as holes, stains, and color shading. Inspectors apply penalty points based on the size and severity of the defects, typically accepting fewer than 20-24 points per 100 square yards/meters.

To ensure a quality product, it is essential to start with quality fabric, as even the best manufacturing methods cannot compensate for defective materials. This section offers recommendations to help you establish a robust fabric audit and quality control program, effectively eliminating many quality-related issues before the manufacturing process even begins.

Objective:

- To identify and mark fabric faults on the fabric.

- To make an informed decision on whether to cut the fabric lot.

- To enhance the productivity of the cutting department.

 Fabric audit and inspection are crucial components of quality control, often utilizing the 4-Point System (ASTM D5430). During this process, fabric rolls are meticulously examined on light tables for any defects such as holes, stains, and color shading. Inspectors apply penalty points based on the size and severity of the defects, typically accepting fewer than 20-24 points per 100 square yards/meters.

To ensure a quality product, it is essential to start with quality fabric, as even the best manufacturing methods cannot compensate for defective materials. This section offers recommendations to help you establish a robust fabric audit and quality control program, effectively eliminating many quality-related issues before the manufacturing process even begins.

Objective:

- To identify and mark fabric faults on the fabric.

- To make an informed decision on whether to cut the fabric lot.

- To enhance the productivity of the cutting department.

 Inspection Guidelines

The fabric store should always conduct a fabric audit as soon as the fabric reaches its facility. It's essential to store the fabric in a clean, moisture-free environment to ensure quality control. As soon as the fabric arrives, a swatch (of dimensions as specified by the laboratory) should be submitted to a laboratory to check the fabric for adherence to the required fabric performance standards. Many companies prefer to implement a 4-Point System for fabric checking while spreading; however, the fabric is often checked beforehand as a separate operation. This is because, during the spreading process, the spreader is primarily concerned with the act of spreading the fabric and not inspecting its quality. Postponing your piece goods inspection until the fabric is on the cutting table can lead to several issues: Delay occurs because if the fabric inspection happens at the cutting stage and defects are found, the time lost between fabric receipt and inspection (spreading) adds additional delay to the lead-time of the order. Furthermore, there is a loss of time and effort; the decision to accept or reject the fabric is made only after the entire fabric has been spread. If the fabric is found defective and needs to be rejected, not only is the time and effort of spreading wasted, but also the time spent rolling the fabric again for return is lost. Additionally, the blockage of the cutting table and the time of the cutting master during the process of spreading and then re-rolling the fabric should also be considered.

The 4-Point System

The 4-Point System is an international standard widely accepted in the textile and garment trade due to its ease of understanding and implementation. This system establishes quality control standards that have proven acceptable in the garment industry, making it advisable to use the same system while conducting a fabric audit.

Fabric Yardage to Inspect

§ At least 10% of the yardage to be inspected should include all dye lots.

§ For a shipment or order of up to 2000 yards, it is recommended that inspection be carried out on 100% of the piece goods.

§ For shipments greater than 2000 yards, inspection should cover at least 200 yards or 10% of the linear yardage of the lot.

Roll Size

To optimize fabric utilization, it is recommended that there should not be more than 10-15% of 'short rolls' (rolls of 30 yards and less) in an order.

Selection of Rolls

At least one roll of each color (even if it exceeds 10% of the total yardage) should be selected. If more than one roll per color is to be checked, choose the fabric proportionate to the total number of rolls per color received. Determine the quantity of fabric to inspect and do so at a pace slow enough to identify visual defects.

If major defects are not to be cut out of the fabric by the inspector, they should be marked on the salvage (for example, with colored threads). This way, if you later want to review the defects with the piece goods representative, they can be easily located on the inspection machine. Furthermore, the defects can be easily noted by the spreader for cutting out.

The 4-Point System classifies defects as illustrated in the following table: 

· A maximum of 4 points is charged to one linear meter. 

· Defects less than 1” from the selvedge of the fabric will not be counted. 

· Only major defects are considered in this fabric audit. 

Major Defect - A defect that, if noticeable on the finished product, would categorize the item as a ‘seconds’. 

Minor Defect - A defect that would not cause the product to be labeled a second, either due to its severity or location. 

Note - When conducting a quality control inspection of piece goods prior to cutting, it is necessary to assess questionable defects as major since the inspector will not know where the defect may occur on the item. 

· No penalty points are recorded for minor defects. Major Defects are classified as follows: 

- Major woven fabric defects include slubs, holes, missing yarn, conspicuous yarn variation, end out, soiled yarn, and wrong yarn. 

- Major knitted fabric defects consist of mixed yarn, yarn variation, runner, needleline, barre, slub, hole, and press off. 

- Major dye or printing defects are printout, dye spots, machine stop, colors near, or shading. 

Acceptance Point Count 

This method of acceptance employs a projection of total defects based on the number of defects identified in a sample inspection. 

For example: 

The points are calculated on a 100 square yards basis. 

To calculate the average points per 100 square yards for the shipment: 

Total points counted for all rolls inspected X 3600 / Total yards inspected X Cut table width (inches) 

Up to 25 points per 100 square yards is the acceptable defect rate. 

Bowing and Skewing 

Check for skewed, bowed, and biased fabric. For this purpose, assess the bowing and skewing every 10 meters. The bowing and skewing are calculated as follows: 

Bow: A bow is an uneven deviation of a weft from a line drawn perpendicular to the selvedge of the fabric. A bow may take different forms: 

Single Bow % = Dip of the Bow (Maximum deviation from the perpendicular line) X 100 / ½ Width of the fabric 

Double Bow % = Dip of the Bow (Maximum deviation from the perpendicular line) X 100 / ¼ Width of the fabric 

Skew: Skew is a straight-line deviation of a weft from a line drawn perpendicular to the selvedge of the fabric. 

Skew % = Dip of the Skew (Maximum deviation from the perpendicular line) X 100 / Width of the fabric 

If the average Bowing or Skewing for a roll exceeds 2-3%, the roll should be rejected. 

Other considerations for rejection include: 

· Any noticeable shading within the roll 

· Off shade fabric 

· Hand feel not meeting standards 

· Critical defects running for more than 2 meters 

· All major defects extending for over 2 meters in the fabric should be cut out 

· Pattern repeat not to standard or unacceptable variations 

· Appearance not to standard or objectionable.

The 4-Point System classifies defects as indicated in the following table, which is essential for maintaining quality control during a fabric audit:

Length of Defect, either length or width Penalty Points

0 inches or less 1 Point

 Over 3", but not over 3 inches         2 Points

Over 6", but not over 6 inches      3 Points

Over 9", but not over 9 inches 4 Points

Holes & Openings

Regardless of size 4 Points

· A maximum of 4 points is charged to one linear meter.

· Defects less than 1” from the selvedge of the fabric will not be counted.

· Only major defects are considered.

Major Defect - A defect that, if conspicuous on the finished product, would cause the item to be a ‘second’.  

Minor Defect - A defect that would not cause the product to be termed a second either because of severity or location.

Note - When conducting a fabric audit and inspecting piece goods prior to cutting, it is necessary to rate questionable defects as major, since the Inspector will not know where the defect may occur on the item.

Objective:

· To identify the fabric shrinkage and arrange the shrinkage pattern for effective quality control.

· Decision to take the shrinkage is consistent or within +/-2% tolerance to use the same patterns, in line with the 4-Point System.

· To confirm the specifications of the buyer requirements of garment spec during the fabric audit.

· To study the fabric properties after washing.

Fabric shrinkage guidelines procedure:

1) Select at least 20% of the fabric rolls from each dye lot of all colors for canvas and twill fabric and perform a 100% shrinkage test for denim and stretch fabrications.

2) Cut the specimens of size 50 x 50 cm across the length and width of the fabric, overlock all four sides of the fabric specimens cut for shrinkage.

3) Mark all cut fabric specimens using the client Shrinkage board.

4) For identification, write the shade and roll numbers on the backside of the fabric.

5) The marked fabric specimens are washed as per the standard required by the buyer.

6) Shade and hand feel of the approved wash standard has to be met to ensure compliance with quality control measures.

7) Shrinkage is calculated using the Client ruler or through the below formula:

Initial measurement – final measurement

Shrinkage %       -------------------------------------------------------  X   100

Initial measurement

From the above equation, we can determine the shrinkage % against both warp and weft directions, allowing us to incorporate the shrinkage in the patterns for bulk production.

Objective:

1) To identify the fabric having different shades that do not align with the approved shades after wash, as part of our quality control process.

2) Make a decision on whether to cut such shades or not, following the 4-Point System guidelines.

3) Ensure all shades fall within the approval range to maintain consistency and quality.

4) Increase productivity and minimize re-works by adhering to these standards.

Procedure:

1) Conduct a fabric audit by performing shadeband/grouping on 100% of the rolls received.

2) Cut a 6”x6” fabric swatch from the material used for shrinkage testing.

3) Group the swatches accordingly based on their shades.

4) The report is provided to Cutting and Stores, to be grouped as per the achieved shade and will be issued to the Cutting Section group-wise.

5) Once the groups are identified, leg panels for each shade group are created and sent to Corporate QAD for approval and comments.

6) Shades that do not match the approved wash standards will be reworked to meet the required shade; otherwise, the matter will be escalated to Merchandisers for:

> Buyer’s approval

> Fabric replacement