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PROJECT 2 : IMPROVEMENT OF QUALITY BY REDUCTION OF REWORK

OBJECTIVE: To analyze existing quality systems, trends available in the system and study its utilization for corrective action. Propose measures to improvise the quality system. To study the existing quality control norms and procedure in various departments. To make the quality monitoring process more efficient and reliable. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY :

STUDY OF THE EXISTING QUALITY SYSTEM

ANALYSIS OF QUALITY CHECKPOINTS IN THE INDUSTRY

IDENTIFYING PROBLEM AREAS

SUGGESTING WAYS TO IMPROVE PRODUCTION

Quality Department Quality must be built-in; it cannot be examined into the product, this is a most important lesson and should be clearly understood. Although there is a 100% quality check in the sewing floor, an excessive number of faults find their way into finishing. Operators do not fix their mistakes but leave them for examiners to find resulting in a high repair level.

Repairs Repair rates are frightening giving a mixed picture varying from 5% to 60% on the production floor. It is important for us to understand that though the product quality is being maintained

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for the customer, it is being done at a huge price to the manufacturer. The check, repair, recheck and repair can be reduced by simply improving effective communication between quality team of different departments. Repairs should always be given to the person who caused them, else the responsible person has no incentive to improve. Quality Team Quality Teams are not completely independent of the production department, it is important to have clear reporting procedures and to keep the quality team independent of production management. Checkers in the line are also a part of the quality team. The Supervisor is responsible for the output but quality decisions must be made by the quality management team.

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EXISTING QUALITY CHECK POINTS: FABRIC SOURCED FROM TEXTILE INDUSTRY

INSPECTION OF FABRIC BY CHECKERS

FABRIC ISSUED TO CUTTING DEPARTMENT

SPREADING

CUTTING

BUNDLING

CUTTING AUDIT

BUNDLES ISSUED TO SEWING DEPARTMENT

BUNDLES ISSUED TO SEWING LINE

IN LINE INSPECTION AT CRITICAL POINTS

END LINE INSPECTION

WASHING

FINISHING THREAD CUTTING GENERAL CHECKING MEASUREMENT CHECKING ON IRONING TABLE

THREAD CUTTING GENERAL CHECKING FINAL CHECKING REFINAL CHECKING MEASUREMENT CHECKING QUALITY AUDIT NEEDLE DETECTION PACKING INSPECTION

CASE STUDY: DEFECT ANALYSIS

Defects Skip stitch Location Bottom hem Dept.Responsible Sewing dept Causes Improper thread tension or breaking of thread while stitching Improper stitch density Remedies Maintaining Proper thread tension while stitching Picture

Uneven stitch

Bottom hem

Sewing dept

Proper stitch density

Raw edges visible

Hemline

Sewing dept

Improper cutting of excess threads

Trimming off excess or loose threads

Raw edges visible

Armhole

Sewing dept

Un-uniformity in hem width

Hemline

Sewing dept

Improper cutting or stitching

Proper cutting or stitching

Puckering

Side seams

Sewing dept

Improper tension of threads/ incorrect size of needles

Proper thread tension and correct size needle use

Misaligned label

Under yoke

Sewing

Operator inefficiency

Operator training

Unequal hemline width

Hemline

Sewing

Improper care while stitching

Proper folding and stitching

Misaligned stitch

Stitch on elastic sewing

Improper handling while stitching

Elastic should be properly stretched while stitching

Puckering/ curling

Side seams, shoulder and sleeve attachment area Excess fabric not hem trimmed off Twisted seam

Sewing/pressing

Operator inefficiency /Improper pressing Improper handling

Operator training/ proper pressing

Sewing/cutting

Proper handling

Pressing

Improper pressing Improper cutting

Proper pressing

Fabric gathers pinching

Sewing

Proper cutting before overlock stitch is done

Open seam

sewing

Improper stitching/ sufficient fabric is not folded/misaligned

Tearing /worn out fabric

Sewing/cutting

Excess cutting/improper overlock stitch

Proper sewing

Uneven lace attached

neckline

sewing

Improper marking

Marking should be done properly

Frayed hole fabric

Spreading/ cutting

Fabric defect

Fabric should be checked properly at time of spreading

pinching

sewing

Improper handling of Fabric should be fabric while stitching handled properly

DEFECT ANALYSIS
STYLE # 882639 GAP defect 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 TOTAL PCS CHECKED: 100 PCS description defect category open seam hem & arm hole area sewing wrinkle stain at lining area pressing/ washing fraying thread side seam and bottomfinishing (thread cutting) stain at lining side washing ropping , sewing poor pressing at bottom side seampressing main label insecured sewing wrinkle stain at lining area washing open seam at bottom sewing rough joint stich at arm hole sewing highking at side seam cutting stain at lining inside area washing hole in fabric fabric frayed fabric cutting

DEFECT ANALYSIS
STYLE # 44884 GAP TOTAL PCS CHECKED: 100 PCS defect description defect category 1 pinching stitch at armhole area sewing 2 rundown stitch at bottom sleeve opening sewing 3 uncut thread at inside area finishing (thread cutting) 4 stain at lining side washing 5 color variation at front and back fabric 6 visible fusing at placket cutting rundown stitch at bottom and sleeve 7 opening sewing 8 fraying cutting 9 uncut thread at inside area finishing (thread cutting) 10 poor pressing at overlock margin pressing 11 color variation at front and back fabric 12 sticker marks at placket washing 13 uncut thread at overlock area finishing (thread cutting) 14 open seam waist elastic sewing 15 poor pressing at overlock margin pressing 16 broken stitch at waist elastic sewing

Avg. defects per hundred units is 15.

DEFECT sewing cutting fabric washing pressing finishing (thread cutting) miscellaneous

# 882639 # 44884 AVG 42% 36% 6% 5% 5% 7% 21% 14% 14% 12% 7% 5% 21% 5%

39% 5% 6% 18% 13% 14% 5%

PROBLEMS Lack of proper formats for tracking the defects in accessory and fabric department. Improper fabric inspection. Improper ply alignment and varying ply tension. Shorter lead time and large order No. of alterations in pieces is high No proper system for repair control A lot of time is spent in material handling Piling up of huge WIP in lines Lack of proper thread cutting machines

RECOMMENDATIONS Proper training of: supervisors, operator, quality checkers. Repairs should be given to the operator who has caused it so that he has an incentive to improve this requires proper tracking of defects. Defects record should be maintain and analyzed for finding root cause of defects. Roving QC should be appointed on different production areas.

Finishing Department Finishing departments are over-staffed, the time to finish a garment varied from 11.2 minutes to 57.6 minutes. Finishing times are excessive in company. Company is examining the garment as many as five times; this is driven by the fear of order rejection or rework. There is a great potential for improvement in this department.
Repairs

Repair records show very high repair rates as much as 30-40%. Dirty marks and spots are major contributors although many of the garments have already been washed. Spotting defects are as high as 50%.
Recommendations 1. Bundle control system should be introduced, washed garments can be reconstituted and control maintained. 2. Establishment of standard times and efficiency monitoring systems are essential, 3. The process sequence and work flow to be investigated, 4. A thorough investigation of repair rates and their necessary cause. 5. Properly planned workplace layouts to be introduced, 6. The factors creating stains and spotting problems should be investigated and remedies found. CHANGES MADE

BRFORE

AFTER

One of the factor causing stains is that fabrics rolls are kept open in racks in fabric store. During my internship racks were covered which may leads to reduction in stains.

CONCLUSION
There is a great potential for improvements in controlling the amount of fabric bought, the estimates on which fabric is purchased and as previously mentioned safety margins builtin lead to dead stock. If the staff involved stop trying to protect themselves from errors and buy only what is really necessary lots of money will be saved. In many cases buyers are responsible for changing the style specifications at the last moment which contributes to these variances. Investigation into this suggests that on an average 10% extra fabric is being bought. There is no point in improving markers, using the width better, reducing end losses, using end bits better if you have overbought, all you are doing is adding to dead stock. So the common place assumption that we know how to save fabric could be untrue! It is possible that savings in the cutting room are worthless, since you have already purchased the fabric! It is vitally important that efficient fabric control systems are developed to monitor fabric usage from purchasing through to a final reconciliation, and how much we have Saved which is now on the stockroom shelves waiting for someone to buy it at a tenth of its original cost. Can it be that all of your efforts go towards allowing senseless wastages and increasing your dead stock holding? Quality must be built-in; it cannot be examined into the product, this is a most important lesson and should be clearly understood. Although there is a 100% quality check in the sewing floor, an excessive number of faults find their way into finishing. Operators do not fix their mistakes but leave them for examiners to find resulting in a high repair level. The emphasis placed on quality of the product is good; spec sheets and PP samples are available on the production floor. The tables and forms used by the examiners are satisfactory although the collected data could be better and can be better utilized if the information was shared between the end-line and roving quality personnel. PP meetings are held in most factories, not as a factory requirement but as the buyers requirement. Many times PP meetings are held after the fabric has been cut or even after production has started.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
[1]. Profiting through Quality: Improving Right First Time by Rajesh Bheda [2]. Controlling fabric usage by Method apparel consultancy Rojer Thomas [3]. Measurement of Sewing Capacity & Efficiency by Paul Collyer & Prof. Prabir Jana [4]. Introduction to Apparel manufacturing Glock and Kunj [5]. Material Management in Clothing & Production David J. Tyler

Websites: www.richagroup.com
www.stitchworld.com

www.wsgn.com www.trendspot.com www.apparelonline.com

Internal data from various department Observation during work Interviews from various departments Manuals of Richa Group limited.