Quality : Simple is Sophisticated.

Quality in Textiles is the most misunderstood concept.

When I graduated as a Textile Engineer, the only thing I knew on Quality was that it should confirm statistically to the Standards/ specifications.

Therefore, if I am a yarn maker, and the yarn has a certain U%, RKM, neps etc etc, which is within the standard, then I am a great spinner.

No sooner, the yarn container reaches the customer, he shouts back and curses on the sub standard quality and one is confused, why did the quality fail, despite a clean bill of health from QC department .

As a line manager, I was always confused on what should be the sample size for checking to ensure that the bulk would confirm to the standards. Most management meetings, it was about, why the quality failed and the answer was ,sometimes the odd operator fault, most of the time the mixing of the yarns, odd twist failure or additional ply of yarn.

Finally, the Gyan Chaksu ( Third Eye ) opened and I understood that quality was not just a set of numbers, it was way beyond.

Quality could well be divided into:

Process Quality
Numeral Quality
Functional Quality
Visual Quality

Let us explore these aspects further.

Process Quality:

Process Quality is all about Process Integrity and is best mapped by Bench Marking.

Quality first is the organizational systems. If there are weak systems, no matter how good are your assets and how good are your inputs, the product quality will fail.
Building a robust system requires foresight into the failures and causes of failures.

Thereafter, Supervisory control is all about system confirmation.

Within the process quality, there are schedules for cleaning, maintenance, work practices, house keeping, standardization, discipline and above all passion for work, recording and tracking.

Something that is missing here is Bench Marking. Textile Industry still does not have Bench Marking as there are no Process Auditors on Best Practices.

Numeral Quality :

QC department religiously follows it and will pull out a report for any lot any time.

This is standard average performance guarantee cover of any product offerings of a company.

But these two functions are something which most companies are very good.

However, where most companies fail to see Quality is that there are Two Other major inputs of quality and unless and until these are sanitized , system will never guarantee a whole some quality.

Functional Quality :

Functional Quality is about Product Design, which would sustain functionality and extreme usage conditions. Let us call it Product Performance Factor or PPF.

If an automobile maker test his car for speeds, air bags, brakes, crashes etc etc, then he travels beyond the scope of Functionality in terms of standard driving to extreme conditions. Limits of failure are then the functionality threshold.

In Textiles, let us take an example of Yarn ; No matter, how good a yarn you have produced, but if it fails on the machines of the customer, then he would get up and complain. So, unless and until you are aware of the process and machines of the customer and his requirements, it is virtually impossible to comply with functional quality. Knitting yarn may work differently on Mayer& Cie machines then Laxmi machines. Laxmi machines might need a soft yarn with a lower twist or higher lubricity or better unwinding.

Even after having supplied many containers, the customer might get up and say, the last supply does not work on his machines. Despite no changes made in your process, it is usually intriguing , what went wrong.

Customer machine setting changes are beyond the control of a supplier and most of the time, the customer changes something in his process and the process weakens. These changes are never reported to the supplier and unless and until, the functional quality is made flexible, it would always get a complaint.

Example of Yarn : Flexible Functional Quality is directly linked to the Elongation of the yarn, tenacity, lubricity , unwinding properties and numeral consistency ( which is to say, consistent thick and thin places etc. )

Therefore Functional Quality is a designers function, where the Quality Paradigm switches from the Absolute number to a Functional Number . Say, the elongation request is for 7%, but knowing that the system will need a higher elongation, you would go back to the drawing board and set the production parameters to yield a higher elongation.

PPF is largely the Flexibility or the Degree of Freedom, the product provides. It is now your ingenuity to make a product which would endure the challenges of use, misuse, sub optimal use, lateral use or super use. Quality then moves to a Market Tangible Differentiator and gets automatically placed on the top of a value chain and creates a Natural Entry Barrier for the competition. However, this is Quality linked to Technology and Expertize.

The Designer Part of Functionality in Textile Production is largely missing as of now. More on account of the shape of business, which is commodity oriented then performance oriented.

Visual Quality : " Customers Delight "

The Most Important Part of Quality is Visual Quality .Let us call it VQ and draw an index VQI . No matter, what you produce, unless it looks good and feels good and is colorful and appealing, it will never stand out as an exclusive product.

For a yarn VQI would be : Shape of package, angle of wind, feel of the yarn , snarl of the yarn , reflectance, quality of paper cone, branding and visual hairiness. Give score to each of these based on what the market values most and relatively down.

Visual Quality is all together missing as a concept in Textiles.

It is only after the product reaches the Fashion stage that most of the textile gets valued as a Visual Delight . Unfortunately at no stage of manufacturing, people understand that any product , no matter how simple and insignificant is first judged by naked eyes and then moves forward.

Lastly and most important " Quality " has to be built only to the extent of what the customer needs and competition provides, specially in a commodity product, anything more or anything less is a total waste of time, money and effort.

The China Experience has shown that as long as the Price is Low, no matter, what quality you make, the buyer finds value. I have seen this also with some very big mills also, which keep the lowest prices and are the first to sell. No customer complains on their quality. Because at that price, he cannot find another supplier. But this model only generates Quick Turnover and is ok for companies with low working capital. For a serious mill, this model could be catastrophic.

However, for niche products, the quality may have another profiling. That needs Branding and Technology.

Do not over produce quality , just consistently produce quality. Six Sigma is state of mind and a way of life.