1.
INTRODUCTION:
1.1 1. 1
IMPO IM PORT RTAN ANCE CE OF OF QUA QUALI LITY TY CO CONT NTRO ROL L AND AND CHEC CHECKI KING NG::
MOTIVA MOT IVATES TES QUA QUALIT LITY Y AWA AWAREN RENESS: ESS:
Quality control not only develops but also motivates the employees of the organization to achi ac hiev evee th thee de desi sire red d le leve vell of qu qual alit ity y in th thee pr prod oduc uct. t.
CUSTOMER CUSTOM ER SATISF SATISFACTIO ACTION: N:
When the factory follows a better quality control measure, the most satisfied people are those getting a direct benefit out of it and a nd these people are none non e other than the end users.
DECR DE CREA EASE SE IN PR PROD ODUC UCTI TION ON CO COST ST::
A good inspection system can effectively bring down the excess and useless work of the people associated with the Quality management system. Thus, in a way reducing the overall production cost of the factory.
REDUCT RED UCTION ION OF WAS WASTAG TAGE: E:
Quality control helps in proper utilization of the available resources and thus decreasing the amount of wastage happening in the factory.
DECR DE CREA EASE SE IN TH THE E IN INSP SPEC ECTI TION ON CO COST ST::
A good quality control strategy is supposed to reduce the amount of money wasted in inspection, thus bringing down the Inspection c osts.
IMPR IM PROV OVED ED TE TECH CHNI NIQU QUES ES AN AND D ME METH THOD ODS S OF PR PROD ODUC UCTI TION ON::
A good database for the manufacturing process and improved methods and designs, not only, brings goodwill to the company but also, increases its reputation in the market.
INCR IN CREA EAME MENT NT IN SA SALE LE FI FIGU GURE RES: S:
Quality control ensures production of quality products which is immensely helpful in attracting more customers for the product thereby increasing sales.
1.2. IMPORTANCE IMPORTANCE OF ANDROID APPLICATION APPLICATION Garment manufacturing industry, characterized by constantly moving materials and a focus on metrics like throughput and lead time, is a natural fit for mobile technology. The benefits of implementing mobility into such industries are:
Increased employee productivity
Better resource management
Faster decision making
Although the garment manufacturing industry have adopted to RFID’s and barcode technology, it still is shy in implementing mobile based applications in its process. The reasons might be:
COMPLEXITY IN THE PROCESSES – since the processes happening in the
industry are too tough to be put into a single hand held device, there have been a delay in implementation of these applications.
INTEGRATING OF MOBILE APPLICATIONS WITHIN THE PLANT – dealing
with human/machine interfaces makes it a complicated co mplicated deal.
garment manufactures manufactures follow follow a CONNECTION TO BACK-END SYSTEMS- The garment large ERP system to cater their needs and embedding that ERP as a back end to the android application is a complex task, thus creating a delay.
Since all the organization’s standard operating procedures are different, applications catering to the industry are not widely available and can only be done if an initiative is taken to build it inhouse or outsourced specifically catering the requirements of the targeted company. There has been a minute progress over the last few years, in the integration of mobile technology into garment manufacturing processes. But most of them are implemented just to
INCR IN CREA EAME MENT NT IN SA SALE LE FI FIGU GURE RES: S:
Quality control ensures production of quality products which is immensely helpful in attracting more customers for the product thereby increasing sales.
1.2. IMPORTANCE IMPORTANCE OF ANDROID APPLICATION APPLICATION Garment manufacturing industry, characterized by constantly moving materials and a focus on metrics like throughput and lead time, is a natural fit for mobile technology. The benefits of implementing mobility into such industries are:
Increased employee productivity
Better resource management
Faster decision making
Although the garment manufacturing industry have adopted to RFID’s and barcode technology, it still is shy in implementing mobile based applications in its process. The reasons might be:
COMPLEXITY IN THE PROCESSES – since the processes happening in the
industry are too tough to be put into a single hand held device, there have been a delay in implementation of these applications.
INTEGRATING OF MOBILE APPLICATIONS WITHIN THE PLANT – dealing
with human/machine interfaces makes it a complicated co mplicated deal.
garment manufactures manufactures follow follow a CONNECTION TO BACK-END SYSTEMS- The garment large ERP system to cater their needs and embedding that ERP as a back end to the android application is a complex task, thus creating a delay.
Since all the organization’s standard operating procedures are different, applications catering to the industry are not widely available and can only be done if an initiative is taken to build it inhouse or outsourced specifically catering the requirements of the targeted company. There has been a minute progress over the last few years, in the integration of mobile technology into garment manufacturing processes. But most of them are implemented just to
observe a shift in the platform being used, i.e., instead of accessing the data from a desktop the employees can access through a mobile based application. The industry still needs to have a role shifting done for the processes and also more verticals of the android platforms needs to be explored.
2. OB OBJE JECTI CTIVE VE OF TH THE E PRO PROJE JECT: CT: To design and develop develop an android app to provide a Quality Management Management Solution Solution for ABC Apparels Ltd.
3. LITERATURE REVIEW: 3.1. QUALITY IN GARMENT MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY: 3.1.1. DEFIN DEFINITION ITION::
Quality means meeting or exceeding Customer’s expectations all the time. According to John Rabbitt of the Foxboro Company: “Quality is the ability to exceed Customer’s expectations while maintaining a cost competitive market position.” Quality can be product based, user based, manufacturing based or value based. A product based quality views quality as a measurable and precise variable, while if user based quality gets discussed, quality is seen to be purely based on what customer cu stomer says or wants. On the other hand, manufacturing based quality is judged on the basis of conformance to the requirements. And as the name suggests value based quality is measured with respect to its price. (Bhardwaj, 1998) According to Darwin there are eight proposed dimensions of Quality:
1. Perfor Performan mance ce – based based on primary primary oper operati ating ng charac character terist istics ics 2. Features Features – based on on secondary secondary character characteristic isticss that supplement supplement a product’ product’ss basic basic functioning functioning.. 3. Reliabilit Reliability y – probability probability of of a product’ product’ss malfunction malfunctioning ing or or failing failing within within the specifi specified ed period period of time. 4. Conformance Conformance - extent to which which product’s product’s design design and and operating operating character characteristi istics cs meet the prepreestablished standards. 5. Durabi Durabilit lity y – refers refers to produc product’s t’s life life 6. Serviceabil Serviceability ity – refers refers to the the speed, courtesy, courtesy, competence competence and ease of repair repair of a product. product. 7. Aesthetics Aesthetics – refers refers to how the the product product looks, looks, feels, feels, tastes tastes and smell smell 8. Perceived Perceived Quality Quality – refers refers to what what custome customers rs perceive perceive to be quality of a product product based on the image, advertising, and brand name reputation Thus, varying along these quality parameters can help any company position itself in the upcoming upcoming market. (Bhardwaj, (Bhardwaj, 1998). 3.1.1.1 THE PLAN–DO–CHECK–ACT:
The plan–do–check–act (PDCA) cycle describes the activities a company needs to perform in order to incorporate continuous improvement in its operation. This cycle is also referred to as the Shewhart cycle or the Deming wheel. The circular nature of this cycle shows that continuous improvement is a never-ending process. Le t’s look at the specific steps in the cycle. cyc le. PLAN: The first step in the PDCA cycle is to plan. Managers must evaluate the current process
and make plans based on any problems they find. They need to analyze all current procedures, collect data, and identify problems. This information should then be studied and used to develop a plan for improvement as well as specific measures to evaluate performance. DO: The next step in the cycle is implementing the plan (do). During the implementation
process managers should document all changes made and collect data for evaluation. collected in the do stage, stage, and then those data are evaluated to see CHECK: Checking the data collected whether the plan is achieving the goals established in the plan phase. three phases. ACT: The last phase of the cycle is to act on the basis of the results of the first three
The best way to accomplish this is to communicate the results to other members in the company and then implement the new procedure if it has been successful. Note that this is a cycle; the next step is to plan again. After we have acted, we need to continue evaluating the process, planning, and repeating the cycle again. (OTHERS, 2014)
3.1.2. IMPORTANCE OF QUALITY:
Discussed in various literatures and articles, the major impact of Quality is on the profitability of any organization. According to several business experiences, it is concluded that a higher product quality leads to a better Return on Investment. In order to have the best of both Worlds, i.e., a higher market share and better ROI, it’s essential to be at the higher side of the Quality. The Quality/ Profitability connection as stated by H. James Harrington, after citing from n number of well reported company’s, “Extensive research has proven that improved perceived product quality is the most effective way to increase profits and the most important factor in the long- term profitability of a company”. (Harrington, 1989)
Along with the profitability, there are several others benefits of quality: (Bhardwaj, 1998)
Greater Market share
Higher growth rate
Higher earnings
Premium price
Loyal Customers
Higher motivated employees
Also stated in the book, “Managing Quality in the Apparel Industry” by Pradip V Mehta and Satish K Bhardwaj, Quality holds significant importance in the World trade of garments. Currently, this trade is dictated by MFA (mulita- fiber agreement) and therefore many countries like Bangladesh, China, Hong-Kong, India, Malaysia, Pakistan etc. are enjoying relatively
assured export markets. For many countries these export industry is a vital for their national economy. Therefore, a smart exporter/garment exporters will not underestimate the significance of quality to his/ her business and user next few years to place quality system and practices in place and get ready for fierce competition within the next few years. (Bhardwaj, 1998)
3.2. Quality Checking Parameters in the Garment Industry: Inspection in the garment industry refers to visually examining all the components associated with making the final garment. For ensuring better quality to the end users i.e. the buyers of the factory, it is necessary to inspect and make sure everything is on the mark. Therefore, the below mentioned components needs to be thoroughly inspected: 3.2.1. FABRIC:
Fabric Inspection is an important aspect followed prior to garment manufacturing to avoid rejects due to fabric quality and facing with unexpected loss in manufacturing. Fabric inspection is done for fault/defect rate, fabric construction, end to end or edge to edge shading, colour, hand or feel, length/width, print defect and appearance. Fabric inspection ensures to minimise the rejection of cut panels or rejected garments due to fabric faults. Cutting inspected and approved fabric ensures not only finished garment quality but also reduces rejects, improves efficiency and timely deliveries. The purpose of fabric inspection is to determine the quality and acceptability for garments. As fabric is received, it should be inspected to determine acceptability from a quality viewpoint. Some garment manufacturers rely on their fabric suppliers to perform fabric inspection and fabric defects. In many small companies, spreading and cutting is done by the same personnel and fabric is inspected as it is being spread on a table for cutting. Fabric inspection, mapping or marking defects is important prior to spreading and cutting because:
Spreading can be done more quickly because the spreader is not also inspecting the fabric.
A cutter's productivity will increase because the de fects are already marked.
The patterns are cut around the defects so as not to include them in the finished garment. (Rana, 2012)
3.2.2. ON LINE INSPECTION:
Online Inspection means inspection of parts and partially assembled products as they made into complete products The idea behind in-process or in-line inspection is to inspect or check the workmanship and components parts as close to manufacturing process as possible and thereby identify the source of quality problem and take corrective and preventive actions as early as possible in the manufacturing chain. (Mehta, 2015) Online inspection is still getting neglected in the apparel industry especially in the Indian sub-continent. Once the bundles arises on the shop floor, they are checked on various parameters as discussed by Pradip V Mehta (Mehta, 2015) 3.2.2.1 CUTTING:
The pieces sent are checked for any problem in difference of sizes, or with the face of the fabric. Also the direction upon which the fabric lay was made. Some of the parameters are as mentioned below:
Frayed Edges
Ply-to ply fusion
Pattern Precision
Notches
Drilling
Placement of Design
Several defects on Cuts (Needle cut, Sniper cut, etc.)SEWING
In-process inspection in Sewing process involves the inspection of work from each operator, with the quality standard established to limit the amount of bad work permitted and the provision for operators to re-inspect and repair entire bundles should limit this limit be exceeded. Therefore, inspection points or stations should be carefully selected so that the operations to be checked are neither covered by later operations, nor necessitate ripping good work to repair a defect. A sample space needs to be selected and can be done as stated:
n=12, c=0, s=4, m=2 n=30, c=1, s=4, m=2 Where: n= number of samples to be inspected from a bundle c= acceptance number s= skip interval m= clearance interval After this, the inspection of sample space takes place in the factory and is gradually decreased, after studying the amount of defects occurring. Few of the sample defects that usually occur are:
Needle damage
Feed Damage
Skipped Stitches
Thread Breaks
Broken stitches
Seam pucker
Pleated Seam
Blind Stitching And many more.
3.2.2.3. ONLINE VS INLINE INSPECTION:
The methodology in the document makes use of Inline inspection while, many available literature uses the name of Online Inspection to depict the same. According to the definitions of each:
Inline Inspection: Inline inspection in a garment factory means checking of semi-stitched garments or partially stitched garments while pieces are still inside the line and all sewing operations are not yet stitched. (Sarkar, 2014) Online Inspection: Online Inspection means inspection of parts and partially assembled products as they made into complete products. (Bhardwaj, 1998) If analyzed, both the definitions target towards, the inspection of sewed parts of the final garment, and thus refers to the same random sampling method, existing in the garment industry.
3.2.3. FINAL INSPECTION:
Final Inspection implies inspecting garments from the view point of the final consumers. Size, measurement, accessories, care labels, form fitting etc. are done at this stage to ensure that only the best quality goods exit the right market. Final Inspection may occur before or after the garments are packed in poly bags and boxes. This is the point where the factory based on its past experience decides on what kind of inspection it should follow so as to get the most of it. Few of the types are:
No Inspection
100% inspection
Spot Checking
Arbitrary sampling
Statistical Sampling
Based on the definitions of each type of inspection, the factory decides on the inspection it needs to take forward. Needless to say, for factories going for No inspection, the factory is in always a hovering danger of losing its hard earned reputation. While if the factory, decides to go for 100% inspection, it is doing nothing but increasing the cost of Quality. This it is always better to choose the best among the available and here, one can go for the statistical sampling method, for choosing how much to inspect at the end table out of the given pieces in a particular obtained bundle.
Statistical Sampling is also known as the acceptance sampling, and is a comprising stage between the No inspection and 100% inspection zone. Although statistical sampling is superior to the other mentioned alternatives, it makes use of the laws of probability for obtaining the desired output. Thus, it can be called a random sampling procedure too. (Mehta, 2015)
3.2.4. ACCEPTABLE QUALITY LEVEL:
AQL is another very important term when it comes to quality in any apparel export house. Most of the decisions in the apparel shipments of the export market are made on the basis of AQL based random sampling. It is important that the concerned authorities should have a basic understanding of the AQL. Acceptance decisions based on AQL terms of inspection contains two kinds of risks:
Producer’s Risk
The chance of rejecting a good lot that contains equal or less percent defective than AQL
Customer’s Risk
The chance of accepting a bad lot that contains more defectives than the largest proportion of defects that the customer is willing to accept. (Bheda, 2015) AQL 1.5 Sample Selection Chart:
The “AQL tables” are statistical tools at the disposal of buyers (for product inspections). They are an industry standard. Most suppliers involved in international trade are familiar with it.
They help determine two key elements:
How many samples should be picked and inspected, among a batch of product or parts?
Where is the limit between acceptability and refusal, when it comes to defective products?
3.3. QUALITY IN LINGERIE MANUFACTURING: Lingerie being one of the most technical garment needs a lot of attention when it comes to selecting the right fabric, with the right feel and then giving it a right fit. Therefore, all of the equipment to be used for cutting, designing, stitching and sewing must be checked for any damages or defects prior to starting with the production queue to ensure that all of the equipment to be used is working as expected. Should there be any materials or equipment that shows signs of damage, these devices will not be used for the whole production process to avoid defective products. (InTouch, 2014)
The fabric selected needs to be defect free and friendly to the skin. Therefore, fabric inspection is the foremost step towards ensuring the quality. Once the fabric inspection is done, the cutting precisions come into picture. A badly cut piece would do nothing but waste the time of production and would lead to increasing the time of checking the pieces again and again. After the right fabric is selected, the laboratory room works to ensure the company meets the specification requirements in depth, density, elasticity, and color fastness to washing, color fastness to light, color fastness to perspiration, tensile creep, ironing, rubbing, abrasion resistance, GSM Check, tearing strength, pitting test, PH check, laundering and crocking, etc. (Lingerie, 2016) The on-line inspection done by qualified inspectors makes sure that corrections and improvements suggested during the semi-finished products inspection gets implemented and thus improvising is done. The final random pre-shipment inspection takes place when the merchandise has been 100% produced and at least 80% of the shipment packed. Here, the focus is on quantity, workmanship, function, color & style, size specifications, packing details and shipping marks, all
with
a
view
to
ensure
that
the
contract
specifications
are
met.
The final stage i.e. the Loading supervision ensures that finished goods are being shipped in proper condition and in its entirety. The container is examined to ensure it is safe and clean, and if the stuffing operation is happening properly. (Lingerie, 2016)
3.4. USE AND LIMITATIONS OF CAPTURING AND MANAGEMENT OF QUALITY DATA: 3.4.1. USE OF CAPTURING THE DATA:
Data capturing have been a part of garment manufacturing, since the leaders realized the importance of analyzing past data to improve the future.
Also, data capturing is helpful in forecasting the coming trends be it in terms of the latest designs in the market or a new machine.
Data capturing is also useful in assessing the per formance of the organization, so as to meet the set benchmark.
3.4.2. LIMITATIONS OF CAPTURING THE DATA:
Data capturing, if done manually, holds a limited scope of getting saved for the future reference.
Thus, maintaining the captured data in files, is another big task, that holds up unnecessary space in the factory.
Also, data capturing manually, since is not done in re al time basis, may be a forged and altered data, which is of no use to the company.
3.5. DEFINING ANDROID APPLICATION: 3.5.1. HISTORY:
Android Inc. founded in Palo Alto, California ,united states in October 2003 by Andy Rubin[co-founder of danger] ,rich miner[co-founder of wildfire communication Inc.],nick sears[once VP at T-Mobile], and Chris white[headed design and interface development at web TV] to develop. 3.5.2. DEFINITION:
It is an open source software platform and o perating system for mobile devices.
Based on the Linux kernel
Developed by Google and later the Open Handset Alliance (OHA)
Allows writing managed code in the Java language
Android has its own virtual machine i.e. DVM (Dalvik Virtual Machine), which is used for executing the android application.
Android is a free downloadable open source software stack for mobile devices that include an Operating system.
Android OS is developed under a code name based on dessert item. For Example: Froyo, KitKat,
Jelly
Beans,
Lollipop,
etc.
3.5.3 ANDROID ARCHITECTURE:-
The software stack is split into Four Layers:
The application layer
The application framework
The libraries and runtime
The kernel
Figure-4.1
3.5.4. APPLICATION FRAMEWORK:
This is all written in a Java programming language and the application framework is the toolkit
that
all
applications
use.
These applications include the ones that come with a phone like the home applications, or the phone application.
It includes applications written by Google as well as the programmer.
3.5.5. ADVANTAGE:
The ability for anyone to customize the Google Android platform.
It gives you better notification.
It lets you choose your hardware.
It
has
better
app
market(1,80,000
application)
3.5.6. DISADVANTAGES:
Android Market is less control of the manager, sometimes there are malware.
Wasteful Batteries, This is because the OS is a lot of "process" in the background causing the battery quickly drains.
Sometimes slow device company issued an official version of Android your own.
Extremely inconsistence in design among apps.
Very unstable and often hang or crash.
3.5.7. LIMITATIONS OF ANDROID:
Development requires:
Java
Android SDK
Bluetooth limitations
Android doesn't support: o
Bluetooth stereo
o
Contacts exchange
o
Modem pairing
o
Wireless keyboards
o
There are no split or interval times available.
o
Small memory size.
3.6. ANDROID APPLICATION AND ITS USE IN QUALITY CHECKING:
Snapii(Quality inspection app) o
The application needs the user to specify project details, using which it calculates labor and equipment hours. Also identifies running activities, create reports, tracks estimates and development time.
QUIC- quality inspection and capture app developed by guardian business solutions. o
Not specific only for the garment industry, focused on capturing data from any manufacturing unit.
3.7. ANDROID APPLICATION AND ITS SCOPE IN QUALITY CHECKING OF GARMENTS:
QUALITY CHECKER APP (by WFX) (WFX, 2015) o
This application comes with an easy to use interface, which helps in capturing and keeping track of the inspection data in real time, making use of pictures and ability to work offline.
SPC (STATISTICAL PROCESS CONTROL) (by FERNANDO HARO) o
This application caters the needs of almost all industries and is not specific to a particular genre. The app holds the function to make graphs, such as the X-Charts and the P-Charts, based upon the information fed in them. And since, this application is freely available to be used, after taking license from the authorities, can be embedded into any application for further use.
3.8. IDENTIFYING THE GAP:
The Quality management system in ABC apparels pvt ltd was very well framed, The Quality checkers from all the zones, be it the inline, end line or AQL, were supposed to pen down each observation on the set format of reports running in the company. Thereafter those paper formats were collected and given to the feeder. Feeders are the people responsible for feeding all the data from shop floors. In ABC apparels each unit had a feeder. Now, the major task of these feeders is to make the report’s entry
into the system zone wise. Each zone, as mentioned, had set report formats. Once the report entries are made, they are analyzed on the basis of top 3 defects and the process continued. While observing the Quality management system, although the flow of this process was continuous, the major lack in it, was the amount of time wasted in processing each quality record per day from a single line. Keeping in mind this short- coming of the running system and the possibility of introducing an innovation that is easy to be handled and carried along when inspecting the operator, an idea to implement an android enabled device with application targeting the quality inspection system was thought of. Since android devices are easily available and that to at a nominal price, catering the requirements of almost every section of the society, almost everybody is familiar with the operations. And considering the fact that the targeted audience will be none other than the people with less educational background, introducing anything based on android platform would serve both purpose of being cost affective as well as targeted user friendly. Here, the question arises as to why only android and not any other mobile OS be used for the purpose. A simple answer to this is, first of all, the parallel OS to android which provides similar functionality and interface is that of iOS. I would rather say that iOS enabled devices offer better features than the chosen android ones. But as per a very common saying, “All good things comes with a price”, the iOS device runs the same race. Therefore, after observing several perspectives and suggestions, ABC apparels pvt ltd, concluded that it’s better to have a personalized quality management application targeting their procedures, instead of using an iOS application designed by high end developers like World Fashion Exchange (WFX) which comes with the whole lot package and a good price. So, the major purpose of making the application was the gap in the availability of such software in the market.
4. METHODOLOGY:
PHASE-I
•Survey of literature related to existing quality paramenters, for developing an understanding in the field. •Planning and Preparing the checklist for developing the interface and functionality for the app. •Identifying the gap •Developing final working guidelines for proceeding further.
PHASE-II
•Understanding the different aspects of quality problems and gathering data of the possible defects that occur. •Designing the modules on the software. •Pilot testing the designed modules seperately. •Building the connectivity among modules and establishing connection with the database
PHASE-III
•Providing training to the designated employees •Obtaining feedback from them •Comparing the automated feeding to the manual f eeding •Checking feasibility and correcting the gap
5. DATA COLLECTION AND EXPERIMENTATION:
5.1 COLLECTING ALL THE QUALITY CHECKING PARAMETERS: 5.1.1 TRAFFIC LIGHT SYSTEM:
5.1.1.1 IN-LINE INSPECTION:
The Quality control system that ABC Apparels Ltd, follows is none other than the renowned Traffic Light System, whose major aim is ensuring reduction of defect in the garment from the very source. Since, it is a visually communicated system, Traffic light system is, what they believed to be, a more effective method of controlling shop floor quality than any other existing quality tool. Since Lingerie
is a very technical garment, and ripping apart any part if found defective at the end, renders the garment completely useless, Traffic light system here helps as a corrective action for this repairing problem. The Inline checking system is designed in a manner that, very few defective pieces survive in the line to reach the end. The whole process caters to eradicating these possibly occurring defective pieces, so as to ensure better quality to the end result. ABC APPARELS LTD follows commission system in their planning stage, so each bundle of a defined size is released on floor. These received bundles of cut panels are inspected and passed onto the operators, if found in good condition. If not, the defective or faulty cut panels are collected and taken to the cutting department where further actions are taken. The cut panels or pieces are judged on several possible defects such as, unraveled or fuzzy edge s, correct notches, pattern accuracy, molding precision (if applicable) etc. In the meantime the good panels are passed for sewing in the assembly system, giving way for the Traffic Light system to come into play. Out of several existing theories regarding selection of sample space in terms of selecting the minimum amount of pieces to be inspected, ABC APPARELS LTD follows a sample space of 7 pieces in a bundle of 24. The theory behind this consideration is: if 1 piece is found defective in those 7 pieces, t he percentage of defect comes out to be 14%, but if 2 pieces are found defective, the percentage of defect doubles itself to 28%. Since 2 out of 7 pieces caters to such high rate of defect percentage, what if the sample space gets replaced with actual number of pieces! After defining the sample space, the inspection starts and the Inline Quality checker, selects an operation. She then selects 7 pieces from the sewed pieces and starts inspecting the pieces on the set defects followed in the factory. If the QUALITY CHECKER finds no defect during inspection, the operator is assigned a thumbs-up Green smiley, indicating that she is good to move forward with the operation. If she finds one piece among seven pieces as defective, the QUALITY CHECKER gives the operator a yellow smiley and this accounts for continuously monitoring the operator’s work and also checking her other 15 pieces in the bundle. The section in the whole process that needs attention from other people associated with the line, is when the operators gets a Red Smiley and two out of her seven sewed pieces are found defective. At this point, the QUALITY CHECKER calls for assistance from the technical or mechanical staff associated with the line depending upon the problem in the pieces. If the defective pieces encountered operational defects, the QUALITY CHECKER is responsible to train the operator until she gains expertise, else if the defective pieces have stitching defects, technicians are called to check the problem related to the SPI or machine settings, otherwise mechanic is called to
check if the sewing machine is functioning properly, if not, the mechanic tries solving the problem. Once the problem is corrected, a note regarding the type of problem is maintained and the operation is again inspected after a while for more accurate product. (Annexure 10.2 SOP FOR INLINE INSPECTION)
5.1.1.2. END LINE INSPECTION:
Unlike the existing myths of not carrying out 100% inspection of the produced garments, ABC APPARELS LTD inspects all the pieces at its End Line inspection table for the possibly occurring defects and also few critical section measurements, in the case of brassiere, Bottom Band measurement. The End line QUALITY CHECKER gets a Ticket with instructions stating what all needs to be checked in the upcoming garment. Once the QUALITY CHECKER starts inspecting the garment, her major task is to segregate all the garments coming to her desk on three different criteria’s, Good, Defect and Reject. For making it easier, the company has provided three bins to each end line QUALITY CHECKER, where she puts in the garments based on the category observed. For the garment that is placed in the good bin, there is obviously no need to worry about, but in case the QUALITY CHECKER is putting several garments in the defect or reject bin, the supervisor needs to keep a tight check. For the garments observed as defective, a danger tag gets attached to them and they are send back again in the line, to the operator because of whom the fault occurred, the operator then rips off the defective part and tries to mend her mistake with utmost precision. But, since already mentioned a brassiere is not just another garment but a garment requiring excess technical specification, sometimes even the defective ones render useless. If a garment is defective, a danger card is attached to it, and it is placed in the red colored bag. This bag with the defective garments is send to the operator for repair. Only when the garment is completely repaired and checked, then only the danger card is removed from the garment, and thereafter making the garment pass as good.
5.2. CREATING DATABASE OF THE ALREADY EXISTING QUALITY CHECKING PARAMETERS:
At this stage, the major concern was to collect information regarding the Quality parameters exiting in the factory and collaborating so as to conveniently put them in the application without making the app look bulky and assure user friendliness. ABC APPARELS LTD was following a set of 65 Defects along with set defect codes for each of them. These defects were defined for both the inline as well as the End line inspection. Most of the defects that they had in their system never actually seemed to occur in the actual scenario. During the first stage of development, the instructions were to include all the 65 defects b y categorizing them under the headings of critical and major. According to the company: The critical defects for them, were the defects that can directly impact the shipment and if not properly checked can lead to failure of the whole shipment. The major defects, were the defects that directly affected the look and technicality of the garment. A third, not so important, category existed under: The minor criteria that focused on the occurrence of defect on the C zone of the garment, hardly making an impact on the garment’s look and functionality. (Annexure: 10.1 TYPES OF DEFECTS) Along with such large database of defects, a huge difference was observed in the Operation breakdown created for the styles. The definition/ language for the operations in the operation breakdown structure was dependent upon the buyer. Lines having same buyers were following the same language respectively. Therefore, another big task was to standardize these operations into a single language and assign a unique code to them, separately for brassiere and brief so that it can be rooted in the application. This activity was done with the Industrial engineering de partment and a bachelor student for NIFT, Kolkata. The whole database of operations and defects was defined in a way that it became easier to be incorporated in the application.
(ANNEXURE: 10.3 DEFECT CODE) (ANNEXURE 10.4 OPERATION CODE)
5.3 CALCULATING THE TIME TAKEN IN MANUAL FEEDING AND ASSESSMENT OF THE QUALITY DATA: The feeding procedure in ABC apparels Pvt. Ltd happened in two steps, first was the spot entry of data on papers and the other was copying that data into excel formats on the computer. The Quality checker, from either zone i.e. inline or end line took: For single entry= 10 seconds Feeding of all entries in the sheet= 4-5 hours (depending upon work load) Assessment of the data (day 1) = (another day) approximately 24 hours+ 2 hours for assessing all records of the previous data. Implying that for assessment of the data (for a single entry) took approximately a day’s time to get processes into the system, and send to higher authorities.
5.4. DESIGNING OF SIMPLE GUI INTERFACE: 5.4.1. STRUCTURE OF THE APPLICATION:
The application, for the time being, is designed in a manner that all the queries are handled from an in built database structure on the phone/tablet. This database structure processes the request rece ived from the client and gives result as required. In the application, the clients are the Inline and End Line modules, while as far as the server is concerned, Admin module serves our current purpose. (REFER ANNEXURE-III FLOWCHART-II) 5.4.2. FIRST MODEL:
Once the understanding of the Inspection system was made, the next task was to give that understanding a shape of an interface. So, activities were designed. Activities are the pages that the users see while operating any android application, and are similar to the Graphical user interfaces created for any web based application.
This model, with page connectivity but without any database connectivity was asked to be checked on feasibility of operations and flow of activities. Due to problems in the use of that interface and a difference in the logic. It was advised to re-create the interface and connect it to a testing database. (REFER ANNEXURE-IV MODEL-I) 5.4.3. SECOND MODEL:
The Second model was designed to overcome the problems arising in the first model, the interface was designed keeping in the mind the minimum use of data entering and more of data selection using drop down menus, since the target users were not very well educated. Test database was connected and user Id’s were created, these users had to select the line and the style they are supposed to inspect, once the style got selected, operation breakdown of that particular style gets filled in the drop down menu for the user to select and start inspection. The defects in this model, were categorized under two categories of critical and major, the rest of the procedure of the traffic light system remains the same. The user needed to check 7 pieces from the bundle of the operation selected, if he/she found NO defects in any of the inspected pieces, the operation is given a green signal and no further inspection of its pieces needs to be done for the time being. When, one defect is observed in the inspecting bundle out of those 7, the operation needs to be further monitored and also checked for the other left pieces in the bundle of 24. Whereas, in case more than one defect occurs in the inspection bundle, the operation is put on hold and the problem is deeply checked, and categorized under operational, mechanical or technical. (REFER ANNEXURE-V MODEL-II) 5.4.3 FINAL MODEL:
After, checking the second model on the floor by the Quality controller and manager, it was observed that a lot of time is getting wasted in selecting the defects from the check box or the drop down menu implemented. So, to make it even easier for the users to operate, fragments were used. These fragments
are similar to the activities, but they operate over the activity and add additional features, like swipe and select as used in the application. (REFER ANNEXURE-V MODEL-III)
5.5. CONNECTING THE DESIGNED GUI INTERFACE WITH TEMPORARY DATABASE: After the final model of the application was approved, the next step was to connect this model was embedded with the actual database collected from the factory and also have an added advantage of just selecting the defect with the click of a button. But for implementing this, an additional work of standardizing the defect codes and operation codes had to be made. Once, this was done and approved by the higher authorities, they were embedded in the system..
5.6 PILOT TESTING OF THE DATA After connecting the database, the application was tested on the floor, to check the feasibility of its interface as well as for checking the functional flow of information. This activity was done in order to know whether the designed application was able to save time while inspecting and also if it was able to gather actual information from the shop floor.
5.7. CORRECTING AND DESIGNING REVISED INTERFACE AND DATABASE: After the pilot testing was done, it was conc luded that, the QUALITY CHECKER’s were having problems in operating few of the things in the designed interface, although the functionality and data collected was observed to be of the appropriate amount. Therefore, it became necessary to develop a third model, which is easy to be operated, with less hassles of looking cautiously into the application and hence saving time as well as extra unnecessary efforts by the Quality c heckers. DATABASE STRUCTURE:
Refer to ANNEXURE-II FLOWCHART-V
5.8. FEASIBILITY CHECKING OF THE NEW INTERFACE: Due, to the lack of time after making the third and final module, only few Quality Checkers and Managers were able to check the difference in the current version and give feedback on the same.
5.9. TRAINING AND MAKING SELECTED USERS OPERATE THE APPLICATIONS: The Quality Checkers were trained to operate the application with the help of QA manager, as there was a language barrier. The QA manager got trained for the change in the interface and was asked to judge the flow of data among pages, thereafter, the QA manager assembled, six Quality checkers and guided them regarding the new improved interface and also the flow of information, till the time final reports gets generated and is send to the higher authorities via e-mail facility available in their provided tablets.
5.10. OBTAINING FEEDBACK FROM THESE SELECTED USERS: Thereafter, feedback forms were asked to be filled, so as to know their understanding of the application and ease of navigating between different pages. Here, feedback from six Quality Checkers and Assistant Quality manager was taken and analyzed. REFER ANNEXURE- V FEEDBACK FORM.
5.11. COMPARISON OF THE MANUAL FEEDING AND AUTOMATED FEEDING OF QUALITY DATA: After the feedbacks were taken, two of the Quality checkers were selected, out of the six, and were asked to separately inspect 24 pieces of garment at the end line. It was observed that, after obtaining a hand on the android device, data feeding would be happen much faster and instant generated reports can be passes on to the higher authorities.
6. ANALYSIS:
Analysis of the designed application was done on the basis of two parameters:
Interface
Functionality
INTERFACE: The interface of the application after the final model (refer annexure-v model-iii) was
observed to be satisfactory by both the higher authorities as well as the actual users. The feedback obtained by the users proves that the interface is understandable and easy to be operated. FUNTIONALITY: As far as the functionality is concerned, the application matches the actual
Inspection system up to a certain level. Although the complete functionality couldn’t be implemented in the application because of the limited amount of time available, it can be done in the future.
7. LIMITATIONS:
The designed application at any form of animations and graphic effects to mak e it look attractive for the users.
Also, it is limited to be used in factory’s following Traffic light Inspection system, with the sample size of 7 and bundle size of 24.
8. CONCLUSION:
The designed application fulfils its basic purpose of getting easily operated by the destined users i.e. the Quality Checkers.
Maintains the logic of the Inspection system actually running in the factory.
Generates per inspection report in a PDF format, which for the time being can be mailed to a particular e-mail address.
The background research helps in understanding the Traffic Light Inspection system, and also Inline Inspection procedure, which is negligibly followed in the Indian sub-continent industries.
It can be concluded that, replacing an android application for collecting data will not only reduce the time taken but also, saves the Quality checkers for putting in useless efforts which can be utilized in doing something fruitful.
9. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bhardwaj, P. a. (1998). Managing Quality in the apparel industry. New Delhi: New Age publishers. Bheda, R. (2015). Quality Management. New Delhi: Stitch World Bulletin. Harrington, H. J. (1989). The Quality/Profit Connection. American Society for Quality control. Mehta, P. V. (2015). Quality management. New Delhi: Stitch World Technical Bulletin. OTHERS, M. S. (2014). IMPLEMENTING TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT APPROACH IN THE GARMENT INDUSTRY. EUROPEAN SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL, 18. Rana, N. (2012, August). Indian textile Journal . Retrieved from Indian Textile Journal: http://www.indiantextilejournal.com/articles/FAdetails.asp?id=4664 Sarkar, P. (2014). Online Clothing Study . Retrieved from OCS: http://www.onlineclothingstudy.com/2015/03/what-is-inline-inspection-in-garment.html V. Alagulakshmi, K. S. (n.d.). Quality System for Garment manufacturers. Retrieved from Fibre2Fashion: http://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/3055/quality-systems-for-garment-manufacture WFX. (2015). QC app WFX . Retrieved from http://www.wfxondemand.com/wfx-qc-app.html
10. ANNEXURE:
ANNEXURE-I TABLE – 1: TYPES OF DEFECTS: Table 1
S.NO
CRITICAL
S.NO
MAJOR
S.NO
MINOR Extra Stitches on
Missing Label
1
Wrong SPI
1
1 2
the B zone of the Lingerie
Packing
2
Oil mark/ Dirty mark
2
Some
Loose
Stitches 3
Accessories
3
Skip Stitch
4
Wrong trims
4
Crack Stitch
5
Wrong labels
5
Missing Stitch
6
Loose stitch
7
Out Stitch
8
Drop Stitch
9
Broken Stitch
10
Join Stitch
11
Cut/ Needle Damage
12
Trim Damage
13
Fabric Damage
14
Uneven Wire casing
15
Uneven Shirring
Missing
Trims/
6
Accessories
7
Missing Wire Wrong
8
Information
on Labels Misplacement
9
Labels Label
10
of
words
caught
inside Sewing Misplaced Trims like
11
Bow, Bar tack etc.
16
17 18 19
Uneven Bottom wing Length Uneven
Seam
allowance Uneven cord Uneven
top
wing/underarm
20
Uneven shoulder strap
21
Uneven side seam
22
Uneven Apex point
23
Uneven Neckline
24
Unsecured Tack
25
Puckering
26
Twisted Strap/ Elastic
27
Excess Raw edge
28
Center Gore shape out
29
Exposed Elastic
30
Wavy
31
Looseness on cup
32
Tight on cup
33
Thread ends
34
Strap vowing
35
Pleat
36
Fabric Fault/Shading
37
Measurement Problem
38
Open Seam
39
Wrong seam direction
40
Wrong Wire Play
41
Wrong
Fabric
side
42
Wrong Wire
43
Fraying
44
Crease Marks
45
Slanting
46
Thickness
47
Standing cup
48
Flipping up
49
Shape out
Face
TABLE 2: DEFECT CODE: Table 2
COMPONENT SEWING
CODE X35 X5 X4 X7 X10 X9 X40 X25 X55 X27 X37 X32 X33 X34 X39 X11 X42 X54 X46
DESCRIPTION UNCUT THREAD MISSING STITCH CRACK STITCH LOOSE STITCH JOIN STITCH BROKEN STITCH OPEN SEAM PUCKERING SHAPE OUT EXCESS RAW EDGE PLEAT WAVY LOOSENESS ON CUP TIGHT ON CUP MEASUREMENT PROBLEM CUT/NEEDLE DAMAGE WRONG WIRE PLAY FLIPPING UP WRONG LABEL
FABRIC ACCESSORIES CUTTING/MOULDING
X47 X15 X26 F1 F2 A1 U
TABLE 3: OPERATION CODE: Table 3
MISSING TRIMS/ACCESSORIES UNEVEN SHIRRING/LENGTH TWISTED STRAP/ELASTIC OIL/DIRT MARK FABRIC SHADING WRONG ACCESSORIES WRONG CUTTING
Table 3 (Continued)
ANNEXURE-III FLOWCHART-I
Start Inline Inspection per o eration
Check 7 pcs in a bundle of size 24
G o Check for
t 0 defect
o
defects
>1 defect
n e x
=1 defect
t o p e r
Green: Good to
Yellow: Needs
Red: Complete
Go
assistance and
attention and
monitoring
stop the op.
a t i o n
Check another 15 pieces in the
Problem is analyzed, whether,
bundle
Operational, technical or mechanical and respective people are called
Problem identi. O erational Technical Flowchart- I
Operator is trained
Mechanical
Technicia
Mechanic
n checks
is called
FLOWCHART-II: After an hour, again start from the beginning
Http reques t ost
SQL Quer
ADMIN Http respon se/get
Result
FLOWCHART II
FLOWCHART-III:
DATABASE
FLOWCHART-III
FLOWCHART-IV:
FLOWCHART-IV
FLOWCHART-V
ANNEXURE- IV:
MODEL-I
MODEL-II
MODEL-III
ANNEXURE- V: FEEDBACK FORM: To check awareness of Android Device:
Have you operated/used an android enabled mobile phone/tablet before? (Yes/NO) If yes, since how many years have you been using an android enabled phone/tablet? <1 Year o >1 Year o Are you comfortable in installing and using any application in your device or just use your device for normal telephonic operations? Comfortable in installing app o Can install the app, but need time for getting acquainted with it. o o Not Comfortable at all
o
Doesn’t use apps only for phone
If you use applications, can you please give at least names of two mostly used apps by you? _________________, _______________________
For checking the understanding after Training:
Did the training provided help you in getting an idea regarding the application? (Yes/NO/Not Much)
Were you able to co-relate it with the current system running in the factory? (Yes/No)
According to your view, how much training needs to be provided w.r.t to making you understand the working of application? _____________days _____________months
On Interface (application is designed for resolution 1280x600)
Is the font on the application readable? (Yes/No)
Is the interface easy to operate? (Yes/NO) While operating, did you find any distraction (that attracted your attention distinctively)- (Yes/No)
If Yes, Kindly state? __________________________
Is the size of the device, easy to hold and operate? (Yes/No)
If No, what is the major problem being faced? Holding the device while working o Device is heavy, so may not be ergonomically feasible to be held all the time o Too big, for the hand o Any other __________________________________ o Is it easy to operate the device while wandering on the floor and checking pieces Inline? (Yes/No) If No, what is the major problem being faced? Distraction of having a phone in hand o Risk in mind of hampering the phone(company’s property) o Other _____________________________________________ o
To the Managers:
Do you think the application would be able to save time w.r.t the manual inspection happening on floor?(once the user gets acquainted well with the application) (Yes/No/Maybe) Will the application be useful for the factory in a long run?(Yes/No/Difficult to comment right now) Being a qualified professional were you able to understand the functionality and flow of the application. (Yes/No) If No, What Difficulties did you face the most? Migrating from one page to another o Interface related problem o
