4443 Study guide Textile Quality Assurance Holistic Perspective o The process of designing producing evaluating and assessing products to determine that they meet the desired equity level for a company s target market o Many perceive quality assurance as quality control which is a post production approach testing after the product is made o Quality is not the same for all things but is inherent in all objects and actions o That which belongs to something and makes or helps to make it what it is o Must address contemporary business issues o In the case of textile products includes the components that contribute to quality o Engineering quality into a product o Measuring a product s quality o Improving quality of a product or process Product Perspective o Product quality is represented by a total of a set of precise and measurable characteristics or components of a finished product o Consistent conformance to specifications and standards o Quality is achieved when products consistently fall within a range of acceptable measures for all dimensions of quality o Products that meet this level of quality are assumed to produce the greatest income and profit for the company Consumer Perspective o Customer could be the next level of manufacture of the final consumer o Quality reflects an ever changing marketplace and satisfies the ever changing needs of the customer in the market o Companies must respond to changes in expectations and needs by maintaining contact with their customers Textile Testing o One way to be sure quality is the best is through textile testing o Testing is the analysis and evaluation of a material or product to assess its characteristics quality or performance o The product may be tested in its original condition or may be subjected to procedures such as laundry abrasion etc before and or after testing Purposes of Testing 1 Assessment of Product Performance 2 Research and Development 3 Quality Control 4 Comparative Testing 5 Analyze Product Failure 6 Meet Government Regulations Who is in charge of testing 1 Suppliers the company that supplies the product to the retailer 2 3 In house the company that produces the product Independent or contract a separate business organization that specifically tests materials and products for other companies Types of Textile Organizations o AATCC Chemical properties of textile o ASTM Physical mechanical properties Testing Organizations o ISO International Organization for Standardization based out of Geneva Switzerland o Serves member organizations throughout the world o Has a member from each country the member from the US is ANSI see next slide o The ISO coordinates efforts among different countries to develop standard test methods that can be applied internationally o ASQ American Society of Quality o Organization of professionals who work to improve the quality of manufactured goods services and related factors o Developed code of ethics publishes a newsletter ON Q that includes articles o AAFA American Apparel Football Association o National organization that deals with issues of interest to the sewn products related to quality industry o As the national trade association representing apparel footwear sewn products companies and their suppliers AAFA promotes and seeks to enhance members companies competitiveness productivity and profitability in the global marketplace o ANSI American National Standards Institute o American National Standards Institute ANSI represents the US member body in the ISO o The purpose of ANSI is to coordinate voluntary standards development and use in the US and to serve as liaison between US standards organizations and other countries Textile Testing This can be done in the laboratory or by wear testing Laboratory Evaluating characteristics or performance of materials using standard procedures in a specialized facility Pros Cons May not be true to actual conditions of use Quick results Environment is controlled Uses specialized equipment Uses trained specialists o Wear testing is conducted over a long period of time and simulates actual Wear Testing use Pros More realistic Simulates actual use Cons Long term commitment Expensive Conditions not controlled Textiles are determined to be of good quality if they satisfy end use performance requirements This means that the fabric as a whole from fiber to finish color must be suitable for the purpose Performance Specs The sheet you have comes from the ASTM specification manual These are very general and may differ from the specifications required by your organization o Standard Testing Conditions o 70 2 o 65 2 RH relative humidity o F 21 1 o C Quality Complex to define Companies and their employees need to understand how quality affects organizations standard practices within organizations consumer behavior and market competition Standard A set of characteristics or procedures that provide a basis for resource and production decisions Something that is established by authority custom or general consent Specification A precise statement of a set of requirements to be satisfied by a material product system or service that indicates the procedures for determining whether each of the requirements is satisfied Performance Specifications The statement of how a textile must perform in a particular end use Parts of a performance specification o Test method name and number o Characteristics what you are testing for o Requirements expected test results Each end use has a different performance specification sheet Be sure to use the one for your end use Parts of the sheet Characteristics what you are measuring Ex Breaking strength dimensional change Requirements expected performance level Should not be too low which will result in poor quality or too high which might cause most products to fail thus limiting product availability Evaluation and calculation of results Anatomy of Testing Method Report Notes Precision and bias Standard Test Method Criteria for standard test method Widely accepted test method performed under controlled conditions o Simplicity easy to read and understand o Reproducibility reproducible with respect to user time and location o Validity duplicates or simulates actual end use situation We use the standard method because we want to ensure reliability reproducibility and accuracy Sampling The manufacture of textiles is a system of mass production To test every item would be impossible Therefore a sampling method is used The sampling method will