Fabric Inspection in the Garment Industry: Processes and Best Practices

Fabric Inspection in the Garment Industry: Processes and Best Practices

Noor Ahmed Raaz
Specialized in Apparel Manufacturing
Owner and Editor in Chief Textile Merchandising
Asst. Prof., Department of Textile Engineering
Atish Dipankar University of Science & Technology
Email: textilemerchandising1@gmail.com

Fabric Inspection:

Fabric is the main raw material for garments manufacturing process. Therefore, fabric inspection is a very important task in the garment industry. Fabric inspection focuses on fault/defect rate, shade, end to end & edge to middle shading, handle and appearance. Now I would like to discuss about the method of fabric inspection and 4 point system.

Method of Fabric Inspection:

1. Select the rolls to inspect
2. Both fabric manufacturer and garment manufacturers’ inspector to have an approved fabric submission form to compare bulk to bulk.
3. Put the rolls on the inspection machine or viewing device.
4. In order to assess shade continuity, please refer to Best Practice for Shade Continuities
5. Inspect for visual defects with the light on at a speed slow enough to find the defects. (The fabric must be checked at a slow rate in order to effectively find flaws). Sometimes inspector may have to turn the light off to see how a flaw will affect the appearance of a garment.
6. Check for skewed, biased, and bowed fabric.

• Woven Fabrics: maximum 3%
• Knitted Fabrics: maximum 5%
  

  Fabric Inspection

7. Mark any defects to the side with colored tape or thread so that they can be easily found and noted
8. Some garment makers will require faults to be marked with a sticker on the fault. This should be communicated in pre-production meetings
9. Check that the roll contains the correct yardage as stated by the piece goods source
10. Record any defects. Defects must be recorded for every roll and clearly identified on the roll ticket. Records must be kept.

Four-Point System:  

There are two methods available in the garment industry. They are the 4-point system and 10-point system. But the 4-point system is vastly used in the garment industry for fabric inspection. Normally, 4 point system is used for better quality of fabric inspection. In the apparel industry, the 4-point system is calculated on the basis of fabric cut mark and hole or opening. They are as follows-

On the basic of cut mark

Size of fault	Defect point / Penalty point
Up to 3”	1
3-6”	2
6-9”	3
Above 9	4

On the basis of hole and opening

Size of fault	Defect point / Penalty point
Up to 1”	2
Above 1”	4

Example:
Suppose,
about an intact fabric roll
Fabric length = 110 inches,
Fabric width = 54 inch,
and fabric contains the following defects:-

Size of Defect	Multiple	Point
5 defects up to 3 inch	5 X 1	5
4 defects over 3 inch but less 6 inch	4 X 2	8
2 defects over 6 inch but less 9 inch	2 X 3	6
1 defect over 9 inch	1 X 4	4
1 hole up to 1 inch dimensions	1 X 2	2
1 hole over 1 inch in diameter	1 X 4	4
Total defect point	=	29

Therefore,

Points per 100-yard square 

           Total points X 36 inch
=……………………………………………………… X 100
Fabric width in inches X Fabric length in inches

29 X 36
………… X 100
110 X 54

= 17.58

So, the defect points per 100 yard square is 17.58

We know that 40 points per 100 yards is the acceptable; that means the roll of fabric is accepted.