QUALITY ASSURANCE GUIDELINES 2014

QUALITY ASSURANCE GUIDELINES

2014

January 2014

1

Vendor Compliance Manual, Version 1.25, September 2016

AMERICAN EAGLE

OUTFITTERS

Confidential and Proprietary AEO Business Information. Do not Disclose. Subject to Legal Action if Disclosed Without AEO Authorization

CONTENTS

QUALITY ASSURANCE GUIDELINES - 2014 pg. 4

1.0 POLICY FOR QUALITY pg. 7

1.1 Organising for Quality

1.2 Planning for Quality

1.2.1 Reviewing information between departments

within the factories

1.2.2 Supplier quality assessment

2.0 MONITORING PRODUCTION FOR QUALITY pg. 9

2.1 Critical Areas of Quality Control in a Garment Factory

3.0 FABRIC AND ACCESSORY / TRIM QUALITY pg. 10

3.1 Colour

3.2 Accessories

4.0 FABRIC INSPECTION SYSTEMS pg. 11

4.1 Definition

4.2 4 Point System

4.2.1 Total defect points per 100 square yards

5.0 FABRIC INSPECTION PROCEDURE pg. 13

5.1 Fabric Storage

5.2 Inspection Process for all Fabrics

5.3 Inspection Machines

5.4 Fabric Inspection Reporting Procedure

5.4.1 Fabric inspection reports from the fabric inspector

5.4.2 Daily fabric inspection report

5.4.3 Weekly fabric inspection report

5.4.4 Monthly fabric inspection report

7.5 Fabric Relaxing

6.0 QUALITY CONTROL IN THE CUTTING SECTION pg. 19

6.1 Fabric

6.2 Spreading

6.3 Cutting

6.4 Cutting Accuracy, Numbering and Bundling

7.0 QUALITY CONTROL IN THE SEWING SECTION pg. 24

7.1 Roving In-Line Quality Control Inspection

7.2 Static In-Line Quality Control Inspection

7.3 100% End-of-Line Quality Control Inspection

7.4 End-of-Line Quality Control Audits

8.0 QUALITY CONTROL IN THE FINISHING SECTION pg. 36

8.1 Washing, Pressing, Folding & Packing Quality Control

Inspection

8.2 Measuring for Quality

9.0 QUALITY CONTROL PERSONNEL pg. 38

9.1 Movement of Quality Control Personnel

9.2 Training People in Quality

9.2.1 Training procedures

9.3 Meetings for Quality and Co-operation between Departments

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9.3.1 Better understanding between management,

production and quality personnel – 2 hourly checks

10.0 AUDITING PRODUCTION FOR QUALITY pg. 44

10.1 Garment pre-production

10.2 Nature of Audits

10.3 Acceptable Quality Level Auditing (AQL)

10.4 In-line Audit Inspection and Production Status Reports

10.5 Corrective Action Plan

10.6 Pre-final Audit Inspection

10.7 Final Audit Inspection

10.8 Inspection Findings Review Procedure and Release

Authority Levels

10.9 Traceability Measures

11.0 PRODUCTION CONTROL FOR QUALITY pg. 52

11.1 Metal Contamination in Garments

11.2 Needle Procedure

11.3 Metal Detection

11.4 Mechanics Repair Book

11.5 Special Machinery Control Report

12.0 PRODUCT TESTING FOR QUALITY pg. 58

12.1 Sampling Procedure for Product Testing

13.0 RESPONSIBILITY FOR QUALITY pg. 59

14.0 APPENDIX pg. 60

1) REF F.I.R - Knits

2) REF F.I.R – Woven

3) REF D.F.I.R

4) REF W.F.I.R

5) REF M.F.I.R

6) REF M.C.S

7) REF C.R.S.C.R

8) REF Q.C.C.N.R

9) REF Q.C.R.I.L.R

10) REF D.C

11) REF Q.C.G

12) REF Q.C.S.E.L.I.R

13) REF Q.C.A.I.R

14) REF S.O.B - Knits

15) REF S.O.B - Pants

16) REF S.O.B - Shirts

17) REF Q.C.A.I.R – 1

18) REF Q.C.M.R

19) REF Q.C.T.R

20) REF D.P-P.M

21) REF A.Q.L

22) REF Q.C.G.I.R 1

23) REF Q.C.G.I.R 2

24) REF Q.C.G.I.R 3

25) REF Q.C.G.I.R 4

26) REF D.C.A.P

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27) REF W.C.A.P

28) REF N.P

29) REF M.R.B

30) REF Q.C.S.M.R

This “Quality Assurance Guideline - 2014" is a useful tool for any company wishing to improve its quality. It

contains a lot of important information and guidelines for all aspects of quality control from fabric inspection to

the finished packed garments.

These guidelines are a procedural document which could be implemented into any vendor’s facilities.

These procedures will -

1. Reduce operational costs.

2. Reduce claims due to quality failure.

3. Reduce "failure costs".

4. Improve productivity for the factory by producing "first quality garments first time".

5. Reduce lead times.

6. Improve liaison between the vendors, agents and American Eagle Outfitters.

7. Reduce airfreight costs.

These procedures are based on "PREVENTION" and "APPRAISAL" and not solely on "DETECTION".

These requirements can be implemented by any vendor or agent.

PROCEDURAL REQUIREMENTS ARE VERY IMPORTANT IN OBTAINING QUALITY GARMENTS

QUALITY ASSURANCE

QUALITY

a) What is quality?

b) Quality is being able to conform to American Eagle Outfitters requirements.

c) The ability of vendors to conform to American Eagle Outfitters requirements is essential. To

achieve this, the vendors must produce garments to the standard of the approved samples and in

line with American Eagle Outfitters style files. All safety requirements (data sheets) must also

be adhered to.

QUALITY COSTS It is generally recognised that the costs of quality, where a systematic approach is not used, represent a

cost equivalent of between 10% - 15% of a company's annual turnover.

The costs are made up as follows -

a) PREVENTION COSTS examples Pre-production planning, operator & QC training

etc.

b) APPRAISAL COSTS examples Inspection, Testing etc.

c) FAILURE COSTS examples Second choice garments, re-work or repair

costs, re-inspection costs, airfreight etc.

A systematic approach to quality control will help eliminate FAILURE COSTS.

The objective is to be "RIGHT FIRST TIME".

QUALITY ASSURANCE AND PROCEDURES These guidelines outline the areas that require attention in operating a quality orientated system.

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There are many definitions of Quality Assurance. In basic terms, we mean getting it right the first time.

It means that the product, service or activity is assembled correctly throughout the system. It also means

that the system is under control. A system under control will assure quality.

Quality assurance means better morale, solid reputations, consistency in product, increased productivity

and satisfied customers.

Quality assurance does not simply mean a final inspection or an audit. A system out of control will

deliver a substandard end product. A substandard product is self-rejecting and will loose money for any

company.

QUALITY SYSTEMS

The objective of any quality system is to identify potential quality issues at the point of production. Having

identified the faults, the necessary corrective action must be implemented to bring the process back under control.

This action may identify the need for operator training, retraining, machinery adjustment, method analysis, etc.

etc.

The system assumes that operators are correctly trained in the first place, have full details of the key tasks of their

process and have the necessary visual standards.

The control documents used to implement a quality control system are set out in these guidelines.

The quality control inspectors are there to find the problem and alert the production supervisors or managers to

their findings. They are not there to find the problem and then rectify it. The solutions come from the production

supervisors or managers who are in charge of those operators which are not performing to the standards set up by

the company. The quality control inspectors are not there to un-pick the operator’s mistakes or to trim off the loose

threads which the thread trimmers missed. These operations are the total responsibility of the operators or thread

trimmers who didn’t carry them out correctly in the first place.

If operators in any organisation do not have to repair their own faults or problems then they will not be too

concerned about making more mistakes in the future. Having extra people to repair alterations made by other

operators only adds extra costs to an organisation and defeats the whole object of any quality control system.

1.0 POLICY FOR QUALITY The future of any new orders or sales is dependent upon providing products and services that

will help American Eagle Outfitters develop and prosper.

To achieve this goal, the vendor’s management must be committed to quality and productivity.

This commitment requires continued attention to innovation in new products and services,

materials, methods of production, job skills, training and marketing. It will command

investment in research, education and constant improvement of systems and operations.

The theme driving any vendor’s activities should be QUALITY -

Quality of products,

Quality of services,

Quality of management,

Quality of operators and

Quality of people.

1.1 Organising for Quality A vendor’s quality assurance function is only one part of the total organisation. It cannot

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operate effectively alone.

Close liaison with head office, merchandising department, purchasing department, technical

department, and suppliers of raw materials, accessories and finished products is absolutely

necessary if the goal of QUALITY is to be satisfied.

It should be appreciated that -

1. The responsibility for American Eagle Outfitters contact, order finalisation, design

and specification of product order rests primarily with the merchandising department.

2. The responsibility for producing product to specification rests primarily with the

manufacturing unit.

3. The responsibility for assisting, advising on all quality tasks, monitoring and co-

ordinating these tasks through manufacturing to customer - rests primarily with the

technical, production and quality assurance departments.

1.2 Planning for Quality Quality Assurance is a system under control. Planning is the systematic analysis of those

actions necessary to ensure such control.

Planning is required prior to the start of any manufacturing process and should provide for

periodic reviews with merchandisers and production. A prime objective is to highlight any

special issues or requirements that may demand special attention before manufacturing begins.

Any issues - e.g. mandatory safety testing - could be performed to show that the product is

conforming to the requirements.

1.2.1 Reviewing information between departments within the factories Since the merchandiser is the vendor’s direct contact with American Eagle Outfitters, it is

necessary to establish close working relationships between merchandising, quality assurance and

technical personnel within the vendor base.

Weekly meetings should be scheduled to ensure that –

- pre-production meetings are held for all garments

- sample standards and procedures are established

- supplier specific product standards are established

- perceived supplier issues are highlighted

- the supplier quality profiles are reviewed

- the supplier base for fabric and accessories are reviewed

The technical department manager should initiate such meetings. This will ensure good working

relations and maintain open and constructive communication between all departments within

production.

1.2.2 Supplier quality assessment Current vendors, as well as potential ones, must be subject to evaluations and screenings to

monitor their capability in meeting the required deliveries and quality levels.

Audit procedures are needed to ensure quality first time.

The procedures should specify how the evaluation is to be conducted, who is qualified to

undertake such work, and defines associated reporting procedures. Long term assessment and

records will lay the foundation for better suppliers to be used.

2.0 MONITORING PRODUCTION FOR QUALITY Unless a system can constantly monitor and assess operators, inspectors, supervisors, managers

etc. for performance and quality, then the need to be or do better becomes less and less.

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Complacency starts to set in and performances slip. Correct information which is recorded can

have something done about it, improvements can be tracked and further improvements can be

made. If no information is recorded then daily fire fighting becomes the norm. Without any

information a factory can never improve. The same problems probably occur everyday, every

week somewhere in the factory. This is wasting the managements, supervisors and operators

time as the situation never seems to get any better.

2.1 Critical Areas of Quality Control in a Garment Factory The most critical areas in the production of any garment are the quality of the fabric or

accessories, cutting, stitching and presentation of the garment prior to packing. If there is no

organised quality control system in these areas then any final control or inspection will be

meaningless as the problems have already been cut or stitched into the garment. No amount of

inspection after cutting and sewing will make the garment appear any better.

The second most critical area of garment quality is that all quality control inspectors must report

to the systems or operations managers and not to the production personnel. When any issues in

a garment factory come down to quality verses output - output always seems to win if

production personnel are involved.

The areas where quality control systems need to be set up and monitored are set out in the next

chapters.

3.0 FABRIC AND ACCESSORY / TRIM QUALITY To receive a full understanding of what goes into procuring a quality fabric or accessory / trim

you should study the American Eagle Outfitters - Bureau Veritas Consumer Products

Services, Inc. – Softlines – Quality Assurance Manual.

3.1 Colour Anyone who has anything to do with inspecting the colour should have their eyes checked for

colour vision. All fabric inspectors, QC, QA, warehouse and production supervisors, managers

and merchandisers should be tested as they are all, at some stage, going to review colour and

comment on it. Without being tested how will anyone know who is qualified to check the colour

or not? This test is known as the Farnsworth-Munsell 100-hue test. For American Eagle

Outfitters anyone who gets 25 points or less, when taking this test, can be certified to check

colour. Anyone who gets 26 points or more cannot be certified to check colour.

Most vendors have colour inspectors checking the colour of the garments for 10 hours a day. No

one can effectively check colour for this length of time without a break. Their eyes will become

saturated with colour. If a person has to check colour effectively (ie. colour inspectors in the

laundry, finishing sections etc.) then they can only check the colour continuously for 1 hour

before they need a break. After checking the colour for 1 hour they need to go and do another

job for 2 hours. After that they can come back and check the colour again. In the laundry you

could have 1 person checking colour, 1 person checking the front dry process and 1 person

checking the back dry process. Every hour they all change positions. This means that the colour

inspectors will have 2 hours off from checking the colour before they start again.

The question that needs to be asked when checking colour is: “does the colour match the

approved sample / lab dip / sample?”

3.2 Accessories All accessories and trims should be inspected on arrival into the factory by lot / shipment. Some

vendors use an AQL of 2.5 to inspect a shipment, but the best method is for a vendor to check

each lot / shipment a minimum of 10%. This means that if 10 cartons arrive, then 10% will be

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checked from each of the 10 cartons eg if only 1 size of article is found in a carton then 10% of

each of the 10 cartons will be inspected. If more than 1 size is found in each carton then 10% of

each size of article found in each of the 10 cartons will be checked. Just checking 1 carton

(100%) out of the 10 cartons (10%) doesn’t mean that the balance quantity of pieces in the other

9 cartons is correct.

4.0 FABRIC INSPECTION SYSTEM All mills must audit, inspect and test their fabric for performance before shipment (see

American Eagle Outfitters Vendor Compliance Manual, Version 1.20 November 2013 –

Chapter 8. Quality Assurance – part E. Fabric 4-point Inspection Guidelines and

Calculations for Mills).

All vendors must also audit, inspect and test their fabric for performance after it is received into

their warehouse (see American Eagle Outfitters - Bureau Veritas Consumer Products

Services, Inc. – Softlines – Quality Assurance Manual).

4.1 Definition A “fabric fault” is defined as any feature within the usable width of the fabric which, if it

appeared in the finished garment, would down grade that garment.

American Eagle Outfitters uses the 4 Point System for the inspection of fabrics.

4.2 4 Point System This system is widely used by the textile producers of apparel fabrics and by the department of

defence in the U.S.A. This system is endorsed by the American Apparel Manufacturers

Association (AAMA) and the American Society of Quality Control (ASQC).

Fabric flaws or defects are assigned point values based on square yards. This is as follows:

4.2.1 Total defect points per 100 square yards Rolls of fabric containing more than a specified number of points per 100 square yards may be

considered “second” and rejected. However, the garment manufacturer, based on the price line

and the type of garment he makes, may decide to use more or less of these specified points per

100 square yards to accept or reject the shipment of piece goods.

Faults are assigned points according to their size in either the length or the width of the fabric.

Under the 4 Point System these are:

1 Point = Up to 3"

2 Points = Over 3“ up to 6"

3 Points = Over 6" up to 9"

4 Points = Over 9”

If there are holes or openings then the points allocated to them are as follows:

2 Point = 1" or less

4 Points = Over 1"

The total number of points for each roll is calculated from the number of faults in each category.

From this total the points per 100 square yards is calculated per roll / shipment.

Example :

A 120 yard roll of fabric which is 48" wide has the following defects found in it:

2 defects up to 3" 2 x 1 = 2 points

5 defects over 3" up to 6 “ 5 x 2 = 10 points

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5 defect over 6" up to 9" 5 x 3 = 15 points

1 defect over 9" 1 x 4 = 4 points

Total defects found in roll = 31 points

The points per 100 square yards is calculated as follows:

Points per 100 sq yds = Total points scored in roll x 3600

Width of roll in inches x total yards

inspected

= 31 x 3600

48 x 120

= 19.375 points per 100 square yards

Therefore, if the acceptable criteria is up to 26 points per 100 square yards then this roll passes

the standard.

5.0 FABRIC INSPECTION PROCEDURE All fabric inspection procedures must have clearly defined rules and regulations by which to

inspect. Without these rules and regulations an accurate and reliable system cannot be set up to

inspect fabrics.

5.1 Fabric Storage All fabrics should be stored on pallets or in storage racks specially designed to handle fabrics

i.e. no sharp corners etc. All fabric rolls should be covered in plastic to protect them from dirt

etc. No fabric should ever be placed directly onto the floor for any reason. Don’t forget that

fabric is 50% - 60% of the cost of the garment.

Treat fabric with respect.

5.2 Inspection Process for all Fabrics Calculate the total fabric percentage that is required to be inspected from each delivery - per

colourway / lot / batch. The minimum to be inspected is 10% per colourway / lot / batch. If the

fabric fails then the balance percentage will be inspected.

Select the rolls for inspection and place the first one on the inspection machine (see section 5.3 -

Inspection Machines).

Cut off a 3” to 5” (7.5cm to 12.5 cm) strip across the full width of the roll and mark this to

determine –

a) the head / start of the roll,

b) face side of fabric,

c) left and right sides of roll,

d) roll number.

Use this to check shading from side to side and end to end within the roll of fabric being

inspected. Check this cut off piece against the roll of fabric at least once in the middle of the

roll and once near the end of it for shading. A further 3” to 5” (7.5cm to 12.5cm) strip is cut off

across the full width of the roll at the end of the roll. Again this is marked to determine –

e) the end / finish of the roll,

f) face side of fabric,

g) left and right sides of roll,

h) roll number.

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All the marking is done on the underside of the fabric ie not on the face side. These 2 pieces are

then checked against each other to see if there is any shading from end to end or side to side and

kept for future reference.

Check the handfeel, appearance and colour of each roll of fabric against the signed and dated

approved colour / handfeel standard. These approved signed and dated fabric colour / handfeel

standards should be kept on the inspection machine for easy access. They should be A4 sized,

double ply and attached to a neutral coloured cardboard ie not white. These should have been

given to the inspector by the head of the fabric quality control department before commencing

with the fabric inspection.

Check the width of the fabric 3 times in one roll (ie at the beginning, in the middle and near the

end) against the width that was requested when the fabric was ordered and bought. This is noted

onto the inspection report (REF F.I.R).

Inspect for visual defects (using the 4 point system), marking each defect found on an inspection

report (REF F.I.R – Knits and REF F.I.R. – Woven) according to its size. Note whether the

fault has been strung by the fabric mill or not (S = Strung, U = Unstrung).

Mark any major faults which are unstrung either with a red tag at the side of the roll or with

removable chalk or a sticker on the fabric fault.

When inspection of the calculated percentage of fabric per delivery per colourway / lot / batch is

complete, calculate the points per 100 square yards for each roll as well as the average and

maximum for the total quantity. The number of yards per fault can also be calculated. This is

known as the "fault rate".

All of the fabric inspection reports per roll should be sent to the fabric team for their approval,

before any rolls can be sent to the cutting department.

5.3 Inspection Machines Adequate inspection machines must be provided to ensure accurate inspection of either woven

or knitted fabrics.

Fabric should be inspected at an angle with adequate overhead lighting. Lighting from behind

the piece goods is only used for inspection of woven greige and knitted fabrics. Finished woven

fabric should use adequate overhead lighting to inspect it.

Inspecting fabric on a flat horizontal table / cutting table is not adequate enough and

MUST NEVER be used under any circumstances.

A dark background is preferable for light fabrics but it may be helpful to have both light and

dark backgrounds available for all eventualities.

Inspection machine speeds should be slow enough to allow the operator time to detect any faults

on the fabric. American Eagle Outfitters recommends 12 to 15 yards per minute be the

maximum allowed speed.

A machine should also have easy forward and reverse mechanisms for ease of inspection. These

forward and reverse mechanisms must not put any tension (stretch) on the fabric while unrolling

it. Similarly they must not stretch the fabric when rolling it back up after inspection has taken

place.

To be able to check side to side (selvedge to selvedge) shading, additional lights can be placed

at the back of the machine. This is easier and faster than checking at the front of the machine,

where all the fabric is under tension from the top rollers. These additional lights at the back will

allow the operator to see if there is shading side to side. They can unroll the fabric as it is not

under tension at the back of the machine. Once done, the fabric is easier to smooth out at the

back rather than if this operation was done on the front of the machine.

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5.4 Fabric Inspection Reporting Procedure Fabric information is critical to the garment manufacturing process. If a fabric is checked then a

fabric inspection report must be filled in. An inspection report should be completed for every

roll of fabric which is to be inspected by the fabric inspectors.

5.4.1 Fabric inspection reports from the fabric inspector A fabric inspection report per roll of fabric should look something like American Eagle

Outfitters fabric inspection report (REF F.I.R – Knits and REF F.I.R - Woven). The way to

inspect each roll of fabric has already been discussed in “5.0 - Fabric Inspection Procedure”.

5.4.2 Daily fabric inspection report Once the fabric has been inspected then a fabric inspection summary report (REF D.F.I.R)

should be prepared every day. This summary will help the head of the fabric Q.C,

merchandising and fabric sourcing personnel to see how delivered fabric is performing from

each mill when inspected. If a fabric fails fabric inspection then these reports and summaries can

be sent to the mill as proof of poor quality.

5.4.3 Weekly fabric inspection report At the end of every week the daily fabric inspection reports will be summarised onto a weekly

fabric inspection report (REF W.F.I.R). This helps keep a clear understanding of the fabric

inspection procedure and the results that are obtained by the inspectors on a weekly basis.

5.4.4 Monthly fabric inspection report At the end of every month the weekly fabric inspection reports will be summarised onto a

monthly fabric inspection report (REF M.F.I.R). These consolidated figures help all personnel

(the head of fabric Q.C, merchandisers and fabric sourcing) to be able to manage the business

more efficiently and effectively. If they had to manage solely on daily or weekly inspection

reports the amount of paperwork would soon become too great to manage effectively.

Clear, concise, accurate information is require to be able to manage the most expensive part of

the business efficiently - the fabric.

These reports will show that the fabric did or did not perform according to American Eagle

Outfitters standards. Questions can now be asked as to why the defective fabric was shipped to

the vendor and not rejected before shipment.

These reports and summaries will also show that the vendor knows how to manage their fabric

department professionally.

5.5 Fabric Relaxing Stretch fabrics (denim, knits etc.) need to be relaxed for up to 24 hours prior to cutting. This

helps take the tension out of the rolls prior to cutting. If relaxing doesn’t take place and the

fabric is cut immediately after it is layed up, the cut pieces will relax and get smaller. This will

obviously cause measurement issues.

Many vendors relax fabric and then tie the rolls up with string (see below photo)

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This is obviously pointless, as again the fabric can’t relax as it is under tension where it has been

tied up.

The best way to relax and handle relaxed fabric is as follows:

1) Relax the fabric onto a wooden board.

2) The width of the relaxed fabric mustn’t be too narrow as rolls relaxed like this will fall

over. A wider base for the relaxed fabric is better

3) Once relaxed, the wooden board is picked up and transported to the relaxing rack. In this

way the fabric is not handled by anyone. If a board is not used, then normally 2 people (1

at either end of the roll) will physically pick up the roll of relaxed fabric and transport it to

the relaxing rack. This will stretch the fabric.

4) When all the racks are full the fabric is put into storage. On each of these racks will be a

report stating the time and date of when the fabric was relaxed as well as another time and

date of when the fabric can be used in the cutting department.

5) Once the fabric is ready to be cut these racks are transported to the ends of the cutting

tables. If a wooden board had been used, then this will be taken off and placed onto the

cutting table top or onto the plate on the fabric spreading machine. If a wooden board has

not been used then 2 people (1 at either end of the roll) will physically pick up the roll of

relaxed fabric and lift it onto the cutting table top or onto the plate of the fabric spreading

machine. This will stretch and distort the relaxed fabric and cause measurement problems

after cutting.

So, it can be seen that relaxing, and the transportation of the relaxed fabric is crucial in the

manufacturing of stretch fabrics.

Below is an example of a relaxing rack that can be moved to the cutting room after the fabric has

been relaxed for 24 hours.

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Below is an example of relaxing racks that are static and cannot be moved around. These rolls

need to be picked up by hand and taken to the cutting table tops which stretches the fabric.

6.0 QUALITY CONTROL IN THE CUTTING SECTION Good sewing begins with good cutting. If the cutting of garment pieces is bad then it will result

in sewing defects, excessive repairs and slower production. The quality control in the cutting

section can be split into 4 distinct areas -

- Fabric

- Spreading

- Cutting

- Cutting Accuracy, Numbering and Bundling

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6.1 Fabric All fabrics that are delivered to the cutting room from the warehouse should be correct for

colour, handfeel and quality. However, even in the best of vendors, mistakes can be made

which can prove very costly for a company, especially when you consider that 50 - 60% of the

cost of a garment is fabric.

A Master Cut Sheet (REF M.C.S) is prepared by the cutting room manager prior to any

spreading and cutting taking place. This is the plan for the spreading and cutting of a particular

style by colour. All the Cutting Room Spreading and Cutting Reports (REF C.R.S.C.R) are

taken from this Master Cut Sheet (REF M.C.S).

6.2 Spreading Spreading can begin as soon as the fabric has been approved by the fabric manager, and subject

to relaxing, if it is a stretch fabric.

The cutting room manager will issue a Cutting Room Spreading and Cutting Report (REF

C.R.S.C.R) for every lay that an order may have.

Every spreading and cutting report will have a swatch of the correct fabric attached to it for

colour, handfeel and quality. These attached fabric swatches are the second check. They are to

make sure that the fabric about to be spread is the correct one.

The spreading personnel are totally responsible for the spreading of the correct fabric (colour,

handfeel and width) to the required marker length and ply height. The fact that the quality

control department have passed the fabric does not necessarily mean that it is correct - a mistake

may have occurred. Making the spreading personnel accountable for the fabric about to be

spread (with correct actual swatches) will ensure better control. They will not be able to point a

finger at someone else, should a problem occur after it is spread.

At the beginning and end of the spreading operation the spreading personnel write down the

time they started and finished that particular lay as well as their names. It will now be possible

to calculate the time it took to spread that particular lay should an incentive scheme be

introduced into the cutting room at a later date. It can also be checked to see which spreading

operators are taking too long to spread a lay. The signed and dated report is then given back to

the cutting room manager.

As soon as the spreading is finished the quality control inspector will then be asked to double

check it again before cutting can commence. This will be the third fabric check before cutting

commences. This inspection will also ensure the following;

i) Fabric - the fabric is the correct type (colour, handlfeel,

width)

ii) Number - the lay has the correct number of plies of fabric in it of plies

- (both ends of the lay should be counted).

iii) Length - the lay is the correct length according to the marker. Of marker

iv) Ends - what wastage of fabric has occurred with either too much or too little

fabric being laid up for a particular marker.

v) Correct - the marker is the correct one for that particular lay. Marker

vi) Ratio’s - the marker being used has the correct ratio of garments as well as the

correct number of pieces.

vii) Tension - the tension must be checked during spreading - especially on knit

fabrics (minimum 24 hours relaxing of fabric before cutting can take

place).

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viii) Narrow - check the far edge of the lay (the one opposite the fabrics

vertical edge - magic eye) for any narrow fabrics. All the plies

should extend past the marker width.

ix) Remnants - the left over fabric must not be longer than the

shortest splice length (and should be numbered with

the roll number as well as the length / yardage).

x) Splices - check that fabric is not laid up too short (1/2”) or too

long (1 ½”) at the splices.

xi) Pattern - the patterns which the quality controller receives checking from the

pattern department must be compared to the paper or fabric marker

to ensure that the marker patterns are correct.

Any defective work found by an inspector will be noted down on the Cutting Room Spreading

and Cutting Report (REF C.R.S.C.R) and brought to the attention of both the head of quality

control and the cutting room manager. The supervisors need to sign the spreading report to say

that they have been advised about the problem at the time it happened.

The quality control inspector will sign, date and advise the time the inspection took place on the

Cutting Room Spreading and Cutting Report (REF C.R.S.C.R) and give it back to the cutting

manager. As soon as these reports are signed and approved the cutting room manager can issue

the Cutting Room Spreading and Cutting Report (REF C.R.S.C.R) to the cutter to perform the

next operation.

6.3 Cutting Once the go ahead has been received from the quality control inspector and the cutting room

manager, the cutting can take place.

The cutting room manager will issue the Cutting Room Spreading and Cutting Report (REF

C.R.S.C.R) for every lay that an order may have. Every Cutting Room Spreading and Cutting

Report (REF C.R.S.C.R) will have a swatch of the correct fabric attached to it for handfeel as

well as for colour. These attached fabric swatches are the second cutting room check

undertaken so far - not including the independent inspection by the quality control department.

These swatches are to make sure that the fabric about to be cut is the correct one.

The cutting personnel are totally responsible for what they cut. They must ensure that the fabric

(colour, handfeel, width), as well as the required marker length and ply height are correct. The

fact that the spreading personnel as well as the quality control department have passed the fabric

does not necessarily mean that it is correct - a mistake may have occurred. Making the cutting

personnel accountable for the fabric about to be cut (with correct actual swatches) will ensure

better control. They will not be able to point a finger at someone else, should a problem occur

after it is cut.

At the beginning and end of the cutting operation the cutting personnel write down the time they

started and finished that particular lay as well as their names.

It will now be possible to calculate the time it took to cut that particular lay should an incentive

scheme be introduced into the cutting room at a later date. It can also be checked to see which

cutting operators are taking too long to cut the lay. The signed and dated report is then given

back to the cutting room manager.

As soon as the cutting is finished the numbering people will take over and individually number

each of the cut pieces. The reason why it is first numbered before inspecting the quality of the

cutting is so that the top plies do not get mixed up with the bottom ones. The quality control

inspector (as will be discussed later) has to inspect the top, middle and bottom plies of the lay.

They may turn a bundle over and forget to turn it back again so making the top ply now the

bottom and visa versa.

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6.4 Cutting Accuracy, Numbering and Bundling As soon as the numbering people have finished numbering the garment pieces the quality

control inspector will take over. They have to inspect the cutting accuracy and quality of the cut

pieces as well as the numbering of the pieces.

A Quality Control Cutting and Numbering Report (REF Q.C.C.N.R) for every lay will be issued

by the cutting room manager. This report will have the actual fabric swatches attached to it.

This report is then given to the quality control inspector for their verification.

The quality control inspector will check the cut and numbered pieces, before bundling, for the

following;

i) Accurate - cutters must split the line formed on the paper cutting marker. Any

variations over 1/16” (for woven) and

1/8” (for knits) must be noted.

ii) Ragged - cutters must push the cutting knife smoothly and cutting

evenly when cutting. If not then jagged edges will be found on the

cut pieces.

iii) Matching - the top, middle and bottom plies must be checked against an original

paper pattern to ensure that all the cut pieces are the same. If not

then the cutting is substandard and requires attention. A maximum

tolerance of 1/8” is allowed between the cut piece and the pattern

piece for knits and 1/16” for woven. Any more and it should be

classified as a reject.

iv) Numbers - the stickers which have been attached must have the correct number

and be accurately positioned on each piece. If they are not accurately

positioned then the sewers may stitch through the middle of the

sticker or have to remove it and then re-attach it. If this occurs then

the stickers will be difficult to remove after the garment has been

made and may cause rejected garments.

v) Notches / - All notches must be checked using the quality drill holes

control inspectors paper pattern to ensure that they are in the correct

position. NO DRILL HOLES ARE TO BE USED.

Any defective work found by an inspector will be noted down on the Quality Control Cutting

and Numbering Report (REF Q.C.C.N.R) and brought to the attention of both the head of quality

control and the cutting room manager. The supervisors need to sign the Quality Control Cutting

and Numbering Report (REF Q.C.C.N.R) to say that they have been advised by the quality

control inspectors about the problem at the time it happened.

The quality control inspector will sign, date and advise the time the inspection took place on

their Quality Control Cutting and Numbering Report (REF Q.C.C.N.R). As soon as these

reports are signed then the cutting room manager can allow the garment pieces to be bundled up

ready for production.

As soon as the garment pieces are put into bundles, but before they are passed to production for

stitching, a random quality check will be carried out on them. This is to ensure that the pieces in

any particular bundle are correct for;

- bundle ticket, order number & cut piece numbers,

- colour, shade of fabric,

- size of cut pieces and

- quantity of cut pieces

The quality control inspector will record all findings (good, bad and comments) on the Quality

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Control Cutting and Numbering Report (REF Q.C.C.N.R) and advise the cutting room manager

and head of quality control.

7.0 QUALITY CONTROL IN THE SEWING SECTION Good sewing begins with good cutting. If the cutting of garment pieces is bad then it will result

in sewing defects, excessive repairs and slower production. The quality control in the sewing

section can be split into 4 distinct areas –

- Roving In-Line Quality Control Inspection

- Static In-Line Quality Control Inspection

- 100% End-of-Line Quality Control Inspection

- End-of-Line Quality Control Audits

7.1 Roving In-Line Quality Control Inspection Roving in-line quality control inspection allows for the monitoring of quality on each of the

processes and operations on a garment, within the manufacturing cycle, a certain number of

times per day. All quality issues need to be inspected within the bundle i.e;

- correct measurements,

- correct stitch tension and stitches per inch (SPI),

- correct size and colour of thread,

- correct stitch width and formation,

- correct seam width,

- correct type of seam,

- correct fabric type and colour,

- correct accessory, trim type and colour and

- correct position etc.

These repeated inspections will identify potential quality faults at the source, as they happen.

They will also highlight poorly skilled operators, supervisors and quality control inspectors.

However, before they can carry out any inspections they need to have all the information

regarding the operations they will be checking. This information will come from the spec packs

(PDM / PLM) that American Eagle Outfitters has sent. This is in addition to all the comments

that were passed back to the vendor both before bulk was approved to start and after the samples

have been made.

Roving in-line quality control inspections will provide the necessary information to minimise the

recurrence of any such problems from happening again on that particular style or model in the

future.

There should be 1 roving in-line inspector for a maximum of every 35 - 40 sewing machine /

marking / pressing operators. Each roving in-line inspector will check each operator a minimum

of 5 times randomly per day in a 10 hour shift (more times if the working hours are longer). The

checking of operators must be undertaken randomly. No pattern of movement must emerge for

operators to know when an inspector is coming to inspect their work.

If the Quality Control Roving In-line Inspection Report (REF. Q.C.R.I.L.I.R) does not state the

exact time that the inspectors checked each operator then how does anyone know if they

checked the operators randomly or in sequence? So without any actual times on their reports

they could check sequentially along the sewing line – see Sewing Line (A) – Sequential

Checking below. At the start of the 1st day the roving in-line inspector goes to operator number 1

and then 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 etc. On the 2nd day the roving in-line inspector goes to operator 1 and then

2, 3, 4, 5, 6 etc. These are both sequential along the sewing line and without any times written

down, no one can check.

SEWING LINE (A) – SEQUENTIAL CHECKING

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14 SEWING MACHINES

IINN--LLIINNEE IINNSSPPEECCTTOORRSS

RROOUUTTEE 8.00 / Start 8.00 / Start

1

14 10.10/ 10.10

8.10 / 8.10 2

13 10.00/ 10.00

8.20 / 8.20 3

12 9.50 / 9.50

8.30 / 8.30 4

11 9.40 / 9.40

8.40 / 8.40 5

10 9.30 / 9.30

8.50 / 8.50 6

9 9.20 / 9.20

9.00 / 9.00 7

8 9.10 / 9.10

If the roving in-line inspectors go along the sewing line sequentially, then the operators will

know the approximate time that they are coming for the inspection. This could mean that they

sew better quality garments just before each visit which may mean that the amount of defects

found will be a lot less than if the inspections were done randomly. After the roving in-line

inspectors have inspected the garments and moved off to the next operation (sequentially down

the line), the sewing operators could increase their speed of sewing and so increase the number

of defects being stitched. This is until they see the roving in-line inspector coming back along

the sewing line sequentially, when they will slow their sewing speed down, and sew good

quality garments.

This sequential way of checking will give a bigger degree of difference of information between

the roving in-line inspections and the 100% end-of-line inspections than if the inspections were

carried out randomly.

If the roving in-line inspector’s write down the exact time that they checked each operator on

their reports (REF. Q.C.R.I.L.I.R) then it is possible to see that they went along the line

randomly and not sequentially – see Sewing Line (B) – Random Checking below. At the start of

the 1st day the roving in-line inspector goes to operator number 1 before moving onto operator

number 12, 6, 8, 3, 14 etc. On the 2nd day the roving in-line inspector goes to operator number 5

before moving onto operator number 10, 2, 13, 7, 9 etc. In this way the operators will not know

exactly when the roving in-line inspector will visit them next. This will keep the operators on

their toes producing better quality garments all day, every day - month after month. It will also

give more accurate results of what is actually happening in the sewing lines.

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SEWING LINE (B) – RANDOM CHECKING

14 SEWING MACHINES

IINN--LLIINNEE

IINNSSPPEECCTTOORRSS RROOUUTTEE

8.00 / Start 1

14 8.50

8.20 2

13 8.30

8.40 3

12 8.10

4

11

8.00 / Start 5

10 8.10

8.20 6

9 8.50

8.40 7

8 8.30

Bundles which are inspected from an operator must be completed or have pieces which have

been individually finished if the production system is single pieces. Each bundle being

inspected will have 5 pieces checked in that bundle i.e. a bundle that has 18 pieces in it will have

5 pieces inspected.

The pieces chosen for inspection must be picked at random, from within the bundle. They could

be the 1st, 3rd, 10th, 14th and 18th pieces on the first bundle and the 2nd, 5th, 9th, 15th and 17th pieces

on the second bundle.

The roving in-line inspectors must not always take pieces either from the top half or the bottom

half of any bundle otherwise the operators will become aware of this and ensure that the top or

bottom half of the bundle is of a better quality than the balance of the bundle.

Random means random. All operations should have an approved, signed and dated, counter standard attached to the

machine for that operation. The roving in-line QC inspectors as well as the operators have a

standard to follow.

The roving in-line inspectors also need to check, and make sure, that the stitch tension, stitch

balance, as well as the stitches per inch (SPI) for all sewing operations, are correct. They can

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write this information on the same report (REF. Q.C.R.I.L.I.R) that they write the quantities

checked etc. If there are any discrepancies then the operator must be stopped immediately and

the stitches per inch (SPI) changed to the correct one. If there is a problem with the stitch

tension then again the operator is stopped until the mechanic can be found to rectify the

problem. Once the problem is solved then the mechanic can sign the roving in-line inspectors

report.

If 1 or more (of these inspected pieces from the 5 pieces checked from the bundle) is incorrect

then the inspector will write down their findings on the Quality Control Roving In-line

Inspection Report (REF. Q.C.R.I.L.I.R). The roving in-line inspectors will fill in the types of

defects using the Defect Code references (REF D.C) as well as the quantity of each type of these

defects. These defect code references will allow the supervisors and management to see what is

happening, when it is happening and if the types of defects are being reduced over the course of

the day, week and month. If they are being reduced then the system is working. If they are not

being reduced then the supervisors and management are not doing their jobs properly.

When the roving in-line inspectors find a defect they will get hold of the line supervisor and

advise them of the problems that they have found while checking that particular bundle. They

will give the defective pieces to the supervisor. The supervisor will then sign the Quality Control

Roving In-line Inspection Report (REF. Q.C.R.I.L.I.R) to prove that they have had this problem

brought to their attention, and have received the defective pieces, in case they decide to deny

this fact at a later date. The roving in-line inspector will now move onto the next operator

(randomly) for further inspections.

The roving in-line inspectors are not there to un-pick the mistakes that the operators have made

(see Quality Systems at the beginning of the manual).

The supervisor should then decide why that operator is having so many quality problems and

eliminate them so that they do not occur again.

After the supervisor has re-trained or re-instructed the operator, had the machine repaired etc.

then the operator can start sewing again but only after first repairing all the incorrectly stitched

garments which were found in the rejected bundle.

That operator should not produce anymore poor quality garments again. If they do then it could

mean that –

- they may not be a good sewer and maybe should not be on that particular job

- they may not have been correctly shown how to do the job at the beginning

- the supervisor may not be doing their job correctly in re-training or re-instructing the

operators

- the mechanics may not doing their job correctly

- the cutting may be of poor quality

This statistical quality control system allows all personnel to be monitored. A library can be

built up as to which operator is best suited to a particular operation. Then if anyone is absent or

leaves, the management know which are the most versatile operators for each operation and can

plan their work flow or production accordingly.

A daily quality control graph (REF.Q.C.G) can be produced for each operator per month so that

every line supervisor can quickly see who the best performers of quality are. The management

do not have to rely on the supervisors “critical analysis based on experience but no hard

evidence” ie:

The conversation between a manager and two supervisors would go something like this if no

hard physical evidence (signed and dated) was available -

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Conversation 1

Manager - “How is the quality going?”

Supervisor 1- “Fine”

Manager - “Then why did we get 12% rejects yesterday from your section?”

Supervisor 1- “That isn’t my section - it couldn’t be. All my machinists are very

good. It must be from

supervisor’s 2 section”.

or Conversation 2


Supervisor 2- “Fine”


Supervisor 2- “That isn’t my section - it couldn’t be. All my machinists are very

good. It must be from supervisor’s 1 section”.

or

Conversation 3


Supervisor- “Fine”


Supervisor- “No one told me about any quality problems”.

Manager - “The inspectors told me that they told you all the problems that were

found on the line”.

Supervisor- “If they had told me then I would have solved all the problems.”

Inspector- “I did tell you all the problems yesterday.”

Supervisor- “No you didn’t. If you had then I would have solved the problems”

Sound familiar? Who is the manager supposed to believe? Without timely, accurate

information they can’t believe anyone or make an informed decision on what action to take.

Supervisors cannot remember what quality was produced by each operator yesterday, let alone

last week, if no written information is available. A closely monitored inspection system that

deals in facts and not “experience” is essential.

With the right system in place the work-in-progress will all be of good quality, as the roving in-

line inspectors are checking the operations as they are being stitched and informing the

supervisors about any quality issues as they happen. The garments do not wait to reach a

particular point for action to be taken, as is the case with static in-line quality control inspection

or 100% end-of-line quality control inspection.

7.2 Static In-Line Quality Control Inspection Static in-line quality control inspection means that pre-determined control points are set up

within the manufacturing cycle. These will vary depending on the product but will generally

cover a number of consecutive operations.

Having determined the control points a daily static in-line quality control inspection report is

prepared for each control point e.g. fronts, backs, sleeves, etc. This report is the same as the

100% end-line inspection report, but with different operations listed on it – Quality Control

Static / End Line Inspection Report (REF. Q.C.S.E.L.I.R).

These inspection reports allow the following to be assessed -

- the quality of the garments for that section or line

- the ability of the end-of-line quality control staff (when comparing roving, static in-line

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and end-of-line inspection report sheets)

- the ability of the static in-line quality control staff (when comparing roving, static in-

line and end-of-line inspection report sheets)

- the ability of the supervisors on that section or line (when comparing how often a

sewing operator is having problems).

- the ability of the management (when comparing the performances of the lines).

These reports are filled in and totalled up every 2 hours. After every 2 hours the total output as

well as the types and totals of defects, plus the percentages, can be seen. The supervisors, as well

as the roving in-line inspectors need to come and review these reports every 2 hours. Once

reviewed, they will sign at the bottom of those 2 hours. By signing, the management will know if

these personnel are doing their jobs correctly or not. These cannot be signed at the end of the

day. They must be signed every 2 hours during the day.

This process achieves a 100% inspection rate. This sounds very impressive but unfortunately

there is always work-in-progress. Most factories have many hours of work-in-progress waiting

between operations as well as at the static in-line quality control points.

If the static in-line quality control inspector finds a quality problem it may mean that the next

few hours will be spent un-picking and repairing all that work-in progress.

Each static in-line quality control inspector should have an approved, signed and dated,

standard. This is placed on the same table top where they will be checking garments. It is easier

to review a garment when it is on the same plane as the garments being inspected. Hanging them

up is no good as the static in-line quality control inspectors will not use them. They will also

look different as the light is catching them at a different angle to the garment being checked flat

on the table top.

A lot of factories rely on this static in-line quality control method as their safe guard to better

quality. Whilst it is better than no quality control at all, it is not very efficient. The garments are

inspected hours after they have been stitched and not while they are being stitched as is the case

with the roving in-line quality control.

This inspection system could be used if a particular operation is having quality issues to help

eliminate any problems later on down the lines.

7.3 100% End-of-Line Quality Control Inspection Once the garment has passed through the roving and static in-line quality control systems the

quality of the finished garments at the end of the line should have been greatly improved.

However, this will only be the case if the inspections have been taken randomly and the

management is having meaningful meetings to rectify the quality problems. Repairs and rejects

should have been significantly reduced so allowing the end-of-line inspectors more time to

check each garment thoroughly for fabric, measurement and stitching defects.

The 100% end-of-line inspectors will inspect 100% of all garments passing through them for

both fabric and stitching problems. These inspectors will also measure a percentage of garments

per size, per colour per day according to the official size specification.

Each end-of-line quality control inspector should have 2 approved, signed and dated, standards

placed on either side of the table top (see photo below). One is the front and one is the back.

These are placed on the same table top where they will be checking garments. It is easier to

review a garment when it is on the same plane as the garments being inspected. Hanging them

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up is no good as the end-of-line quality control inspectors will not use them. They will also look

different as the light is catching them at a different angle to the garment being checked flat on

the table top.

Many times you see a sample hanging up at the end of the line with paperwork all over it. These

will never be used by the end-of-line quality control inspectors or anyone else as no one can see

them (see photo below).

The 100% end-of-line inspectors will fill in a Quality Control Static / End Line Inspection

Report (REF. Q.C.S.E.L.I.R) on every garment that is inspected per day, good or bad.

These inspection reports allow the following to be assessed -

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- the quality of the garments for that section or line

- the ability of the end-of-line quality control staff (when comparing roving, static in-line

and end-of-line inspection report sheets)

- the ability of the in-line quality control staff (when comparing roving, static in-line and

end-of-line inspection report sheets)

- the ability of the supervisors on that section or line (when comparing how often a

sewing operator is having problems).

- the ability of the management (when comparing the performances of the lines).

These reports are filled in and totalled up every 2 hours. After every 2 hours the total output as

well as the types and totals of defects, plus the percentages, can be seen. The supervisors, as well

as the roving in-line inspectors need to come and review these reports every 2 hours. Once

reviewed, they will sign at the bottom of those 2 hours. By signing, the management will know if

these personnel are doing their jobs correctly or not. These cannot be signed at the end of the

day. They must be signed every 2 hours during the day.

In addition to ensuring that the product coming off the line is within the standards set by

American Eagle Outfitters, it is also important to ensure that the makeup details are exactly as

per the Green Tag garment.

It must be noted that everything that a 100% end-of-line inspector states is good normally ends

up being shipped to the customer. This, however, may not be the case. If an end-of-line

inspector is finding 15% defective garments per day then there is a chance that they will be

passing a similar percentage of 15% of poor quality garments onto the next stage that will end up

in cartons. No 100% end-of-line inspector is 100% perfect, but no additional checks are

normally done on these 100% end-of-line inspectors. So who needs to be checking these 100%

end-of-line inspectors to ensure that the pieces that they state are good, and are passing onto the

next stage, are indeed correct That is where the end-of-line quality control auditors come in.

7.4 End-of-Line Quality Control Audits End-of-line quality control auditors are very necessary in any manufacturing environment. They

will carry out audits on the 100% end-of-line inspectors good / passed garments. Their

paperwork is based on the style, the line making the garments and the work orders.

Every bundle that the 100% end-of-line inspector says is good needs to be checked by the end-

of-line auditors. These end-of-line auditors will check 20% of every bundle that have been

passed as good by the 100% end-of-line inspectors eg. the 100% end-of-line inspectors pass 10

garments, the end-of-line auditors will check 2 garments from this bundle (randomly 20%).

If the end-of-line auditors find any defects within the bundle they will write down what they find

on the Quality Control Auditors Inspection Report (REF Q.C.A.I.R) and give the whole bundle

back to the quality control supervisor who is in charge of the 100% end-of-line inspector who

passed these defective pieces (the Sewing Operation Breakdown code (REF S.O.B) as well as

the Defect Code (REF D.C) will be written down). The quality control supervisor will sign the

Quality Control Auditors Inspection Report (REF Q.C.A.I.R) to say that they have been advised

about the problem. The quality control supervisor will pass this bundle back to the 100% end-

of-line inspector who carried out the inspection on that bundle and get them to re-check the

whole bundle again. The supervisor will also find out why the 100% end-of-line inspector

missed these defects.

The auditor will then start checking another bundle. If they find a good bundle then a green

sticker (the size of a thumb nail with an identification number on it) is attached to the bundle

ticket. This will show the person who is moving the bundles to the next operation (measuring,

washing, pressing etc.) that the quality of that bundle is good and it can be transported. If there

is no sticker then the bundle will be passed back to the quality control supervisor for re-

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inspection.

This report will advise which end-of-line inspectors are passing a lot of defective garments and

the percentages of those defects. If this is happening then a corrective action plan can be put

into place.

8.0 QUALITY CONTROL IN THE FINISHING SECTION Once the garments have finished being audited in the sewing section, and have been passed,

they can then be moved to the next operations.

8.1 Washing, Pressing, Folding & Packing, Quality Control Inspection Washing, pressing, folding and packing of garments have similar inspections carried out on

them as the end-of-line auditors (REF Q.C.A.I.R – 1).

Here again, measurements (see section 8.2 – Measuring for Quality) as well as quality need to

be properly inspected.

Silver tag standard samples need to be readily accessible to ensure that the handfeel of the

garments, after wash, is exactly what American Eagle Outfitters is looking for.

8.2 Measuring for Quality Measurements probably lead to some of the biggest problems in the garment industry. However,

most vendors are not measuring garments anywhere along the production cycle so it is hardly

surprising that problems are found. If they are then they will measure only a few pieces per size

per colour per PO.

In today’s marketplace this is totally unacceptable.

Vendors need to buy into the measurement process.

Before and after wash measurement charts are required for any washed products. Without this

information it is impossible for the production or quality control personnel to carry out their

duties correctly.

Once these have been implemented then measuring points need to be added to both in-line

quality control, end-of-line quality control as well as after wash and after pressing. These areas

need to be decided upon by the vendors.

For American Eagle Outfitters every garment (100%) needs to have the critical measurements

checked, after wash, to ensure that the measurements are correct before they are packed and

shipped.

Everyday 10 pieces, per style, per size, per colour have to have all the measurement points

which are on the PDM / PLM measured. These measurements also need to be recorded on a

daily basis and be available to American Eagle Outfitters QA personnel for checking.

This needs to be done in both the production lines as well as in the finishing section. Before

wash measurements are taken after the garments have finished being stitched and then after

wash measurements are taken after the garments have finished being washed. All these

measurements need to be recorded. The balance must have the critical measurements taken.

The out of tolerance garments need to be recorded together with the total quantity of garments

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actually being measured. This is done on the Quality Control Measurement Report – Static /

End-of-Line (REF Q.C.M.R). In this way a percentage of defective garments can be recorded.

This is useful information for the pattern makers, as they may not be adding the correct

shrinkage allowances onto the paper patterns, so causing these measurement discrepancies.

Measurement problems may also be occurring due to sewing operators trimming off too much

fabric when stitching. Either way, an action plan needs to be implemented to ensure garments

measure correctly.

All tape measures need to be calibrated 4 times a year (ie every 3 months). The date that they are

calibrated, together with the name of the person who calibrated them, needs to be stuck onto

each tape measure so that QA / QC can constantly check that the measuring tapes are correct..

9.0 Quality Control Personnel The training, movement and meetings of quality control personnel within the factory are critical

to the company’s success. These all revolve around the SOP that the factory implements.

9.1 Movement of Quality Control Personnel All Q.C inspectors, whether they are in the cutting room, roving in-line, static in-line, 100%

end-of-line, measuring, pressing, 100% finishing, packing, auditing etc., should be moved from

section to section, line to line, department to department every month etc. so that –

- they can learn all the processes that go into the

construction of a garment and get a better understanding

of the whole quality process.

- they do not become too friendly with the operators that

they are checking so being biased into passing rejected or

substandard garments.

- if any shortages or absentees of personnel occur then

the gaps can easily be filled with experienced personnel.

An excel spreadsheet should be used to control this. This will show where each quality control

person has been in the past (by section, line etc.) and where they are going to be in the future (by

section, line etc.).

9.2 Training People in Quality It is very important for everyone who is associated with quality (QC, production and

management) to be properly trained (see American Eagle Outfitters Multi Skilled QC

Training Program). Once trained then a monitoring system needs to be set up to see which

personnel are able to find quality problems or not.

9.2.1 Training procedures How can you quantify who is a good inspector and who is not? This is what every factory

should be asking themselves. We know that factories will show QC personnel slides or

garments and have discussions and meetings on quality issues about the types of defects or

construction issues. But how do the management know who is actually effective in finding

these defects and who is not?

When a QC manager is asked this question they will say that they know because they walk

around the factory and see who is doing a good job as well as review the QC reports. However,

what constitutes a “good job”? Reviewing the QC reports only shows what has been found to be

defective and not what has been missed. As you can see this is totally unacceptable and

inadequate. Gut feelings or instincts have no place in managing a modern company, only

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information and facts do.

So what procedure can be put into place to ensure everyone knows who is able to find defects or

who needs additional training based on facts and not gut feelings?

Bundles of defective garments need to be collected and kept in bundles of 10 pieces. These will

be individually numbered in bundles e.g. bundle 1 will have garments numbered from 1 to 10.

Bundle 2 will have garments numbered from 11 to 20, and so on. The defective garments can

have single or multiple defects on them.

These could be anything from dirt, measurements, stitching defects to construction or fabric

defects. There can also be some good garments in each bundle as well. When these defective

garments have been collected, a qualified QC inspector will thoroughly check each garment.

Every defect they find will be noted down in a book for garment 1 to 10 under bundle number 1.

Bundle 2 will have a new page in the book and then have all the defects written down for each

garment.

So, for example, you may have the first bundle of 10 garments with 30 defects in total.

The training then takes place. If it is decided, by the industrial engineering department, that

each garment normally takes the end-of-line QC inspectors 2 minutes to inspect, then the same

time will be used in the training exercise.

This means that bundle number 1 with 10 garments in it will take 20 minutes to check all the

pieces. The first person who will take the test is then given the bundle. They have 20 minutes

to check all the garments.

They need to fill in a report for these 10 inspected garments. The number of the first garment

checked is written down together with all the defects that they find for that garment. The same

happens for the next 9 pieces. After 20 minutes, whether they have finished inspecting all 10

pieces or not, they are stopped and the answers are marked. This person may have found 15

defects in all 10 garments. This means that they found 50% of all defects (15/30). They will

then be shown the other 50% of the defects that they did not find. In this way they will see what

they missed and so become more aware of the types of defects that they should be finding. How

often should a person who only finds 50% of all the defects be tested? A question should first be

asked – Is the factory happy with a QC inspector only finding 50% of the defects in the

garments passing through the sections? Obviously the answer is no. So if this is the case then

these people need to be tested every day until their percentages start to improve on a constant

basis eg. 1st day they find 50%, 2nd day they find 55%, 3rd day they find 60%. This is good as

they are steadily improving. However, this is not always the case. The person may find 50% on

the 1st day, 50% on the 2nd day and 50% on the 3rd day. In this case there are 2 scenarios which

may be at play;

Scenario 1. The person may have problems with their eyesight. So their eyes need to be tested

etc. Once their eyesight is corrected then they take the tests again eg 1st day they find 50%, 2nd

day they find 55%, 3rd day they find 60%. So in this case the correction helped and they can now

see and carry it out correctly.

Scenario 2. They may just not be good enough to be a QC inspector in which case they will be

transferred to another job.

If they are only finding 50% of the defects in the test bundles then they will be finding a similar

proportion of defects when they are on the production sewing or pressing lines. This means that

those percentages will be passing along the production cycle. Obviously these percentages will

not pass any AQL inspections.

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An excel spreadsheet – Quality Control Training Report (REF Q.C.T.R) - is kept for everyone

who takes this test. Each person is tested a minimum of 2 times per month once they get to a

rate that is deemed satisfactory by the factory management. By doing this a chart will build up

of who are the most effective QC inspectors and those who need additional training. This is

actual data and can then be viewed by management into planning who does what and where they

are going to be placed to do it.

Who needs to be tested in this way? All QC inspectors (fabric, cutting, in-line, end-line,

auditors, washing, pressing, packing, pre-final, final) as well as all production supervisors,

managers etc. need to be trained in this way.

With this type of training it will be found that over the months each person will be finding more

defects in the production sections. Obviously when an inspector takes these tests they are given

different bundles each time they take the test.

An additional piece of information to know is that when an inspector is checking a garment they

will waste a lot of time if they have to write down what the actual defect was as well as where

they found it (i.e. the location of the defect and the sewing operation). This information is vital

if the vendor is to find the source of the defect and then be able to stop it from happening again.

Therefore a Defect Code (REF D.C) and a Sewing Operation Breakdown (REF S.O.B – Knits,

Pants & Shirts) needs to be drawn up and used by all QC inspectors during production as well as

during the bundle testing.

9.3 Meetings for Quality and Co-operation between Departments Daily meetings should be held by line between the Q.C personnel, production line supervisors,

floor managers and QC managers to ensure that all quality issues are thoroughly discussed and

addressed each day. This will help to reduce the percentage of rejected garments in production.

These meetings should be looking at the roving in-line inspection reports, static in-line

inspection reports, 100% end-of-line inspection reports, end-of-line audit reports, the washing,

pressing, folding audit reports, 100% finishing reports and the pre-final and final audit reports.

This will allow everyone to see;

- which sewing operators are not performing,

- which roving in-line inspectors are not performing,

- which static in-line inspectors are not performing,

- which 100% end-of-line inspectors are not performing,

- which end-of-line auditors are not performing,

- which production supervisors are not performing,

- which mechanics are not performing,

- which washing inspectors are not performing,

- which pressing operators are not performing,

- which folding operators are not performing,

- which packing operators are not performing,

- which daily packed carton AQL auditors are not performing and

- which final packed carton AQL auditors are not performing.

Once these non performers have been targeted then they can be re-trained and easily monitored

to ensure they perform better. In this way quality will definitely improve.

These meetings, held by line, should take no longer than 15 minutes per line. These should be

set at the same time everyday for each line. In this way it will also be a discipline for the people

having this meeting to ensure that they are ready and waiting at the time specified, in an office,

to hold this meeting.

Each person in the meeting will have an exercise book to write down who is a poor performer,

or which operation is having problems etc. The management will then be able to see what was

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discussed and what, if any action, is taking place. Results should be pretty dramatic at the

beginning, provided that the meetings are held and conducted constructively and correctly.

Action needs to be taken by the production personnel, as well as management, to ensure poor

performers are looked at very closely and re-trained to perform at the required level.

If this action does not take place at production or management level then no results will be seen.

THIS PART IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE PROCESS. There is no point in

going to all the trouble of identifying the trouble spots and areas only for management to do

nothing about them.

9.3.1 Better understanding between management, production and quality personnel – 2

hourly checks It must be made clear that there must be one goal for all to achieve within an organisation, and

that is making a quality product first time, and on time.

There must be more cooperation between production, quality and management. To facilitate

this, the following procedures also need to be implemented and maintained.

The roving in-line inspectors and static in-line inspectors need to go and look at the same line’s

or section’s 100% end-of-line inspectors report every 2 hours (REF Q.C.S.E.L.I.R). This is to

ensure that they see what defects are being found at the end of the line. They need to review this

report and see if they are also finding the same defects in-line. If not then they need to be

paying more attention to those operations that are having defects found at the end-of-line. They

need to sign this report when they check it. This needs to happen every 2 hours during the day.

The same needs to happen with the production supervisor for that sewing line as well. They

need to go and review the static in-line and 100% end-of-line inspectors report every 2 hours.

This is to ensure that they see what defects are being found in the line as well as at the end of the

line. They then need to go and see why those operations are having high defect rates. They

need to sign this report when they check it. This needs to happen every 2 hours during the day.

In this way, both the in-line inspectors and production supervisors know what defects are being

found at the end of the production line and have, by signing these reports, acknowledged what

they have seen. If they are good and have been trained correctly, the defects should start to

disappear and quality should dramatically improve.

It is up to the QC and production managers to ensure that these signatures are not all done at 5

pm, but every 2 hours during the day.

This means that the management have to go around the factory during the day to check that the

production supervisors and in-line inspectors are carrying out their jobs correctly.

When the managers visit these areas they also need to sign these reports under the hour that they

were there. The QC manager also has to check the in-line reports as well and sign those adding

the time that they were there.

Having this happen ensures that no one can say that they didn’t know a problem was occurring.

This will prove who can do their jobs effectively or who cannot.

There is written signed proof to this fact.

10.0 AUDITING PRODUCTION FOR QUALITY Having established a framework of systems and procedures for inspecting quality within the

factories, checks now need to be made to monitor compliance of these practices both within the

factory as well as within any sub-contracting factories that may be used ie embroidery, printing

etc.

10.1 Garment pre-production

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The pre-production garment meeting is extremely important. This meeting is between all the

factory personnel and the agent who is handling this order, if not direct business. All issues

from fabric and accessories to the way the garment is to be stitched, washed, packed and shipped

should be discussed at this meeting with the merchandisers as well as the production and quality

personnel. It is at this meeting that any issues such as potential difficulties or areas that need

special attention during production need to be discussed and sorted out. An example of this is

the Denim Pre-production Meeting in the Appendix (REF D.P-P.M).

10.2 Nature of Audits Whilst any audit is of a post-mortem nature, it is a valuable exercise in -

- highlighting practices not in conformance with specified procedures (feedback and

correction),

- generating pointers for further staff education and training,

- staff performance appraisal,

- demonstrating a commitment to improving quality of operations,

- demonstrating team participation and

- proposing changes and up-dates for the quality assurance requirements.

10.3 Acceptable Quality Level Auditing (AQL) This section describes how an audit by a visiting quality control inspector or the factories own

auditing inspector should be carried out during production in a manufacturing unit using an

A.Q.L system (REF A.Q.L). An A.Q.L system utilises the concept of acceptance inspection.

This can be defined as the process of measuring, examining, gauging or otherwise comparing

the item to acceptable requirements, resulting in a decision whether the item or lot is acceptable.

The key components of acceptance inspection are the sampling plans to be used, and the type of

A.Q.L to be adopted. A.Q.L is the maximum percentage proportion of defective units that, for

the purposes of acceptance sampling, can be considered a satisfactory average quality.

Whilst the use of A.Q.L is debatable, experience has shown that the vendor is generally well

protected if the samples drawn from inspection are properly examined and are representative of

the bulk from which they are drawn.

The two key parameters are therefore -

- random sampling of the lot tendered for inspection,

- accurate and precise examination and reporting of non conformance to requirements.

Sampling procedures will vary according to timing of inspection. As noted earlier in the

manual, a prime function of assurance is to assist the vendor in controlling their quality. Stage

inspection visits are therefore a very important part of the process of verifying whether or not

the production or assembly process is under control.

The following sampling procedures will apply -

- In-Line Inspection – Double sampling plan, Normal Severity Level – AQL 2.5 using

American Eagle Outfitters – Garment Inspection Manual – prepared by ITS.

- Final Inspection - Double sampling plan, Normal Severity Level – AQL 2.5 using

American Eagle Outfitters – Garment Inspection Manual – prepared by ITS.

The most important time for any vendor to see how their production is progressing in a factory is

when it first starts being cut and sewn. Many companies seem to put more value in inspecting an

order that is already 80% finished in export cartons than making sure that the start-up of

production is correct.

In-line, pre-final and final inspection audits all need to be carried out for every style and order.

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All details that are found when inspecting the garments need to be recorded.

Each Quality Control Garment Inspection Report (REF Q.C.G.I.R) is made up of 4 sections.

These are used for any pilot, in-line, washing, pre-final or final inspection for an order.

The first page (REF Q.C.G.I.R 1) is where it states the A.Q.L level to be used, how many pieces

need to be inspected, the pass or failure rate of this A.Q.L as well as a place to report what is

actually found during the inspection of the garments on that particular day.

The second page (REF Q.C.G.I.R 2) is a checklist which the inspector must fill in to ensure that

nothing is forgotten when the inspection is carried out i.e.;

- fabric details,

- accessory details,

- label details,

- construction / make up details and

- packing / marking / carton details

The third page (REF Q.C.G.I.R 3) is the measurement report for that order. This is where the

inspector records the actual measurements for the production that they inspected.

The fourth page (REF Q.C.G.I.R 4) is the washing and handfeel report for that order. This is

where the inspector records the actual wash effects for the garments being processed as

compared to the standard.

Copies of these finished reports will be given to the vendor being audited.

The quality assurance staff should be informed about the objective of an audit.

Subsequent audits should address issues previously noted, to gauge how and where the

improvements have been made.

10.4 In-line Audit Inspection and Production Status Reports The in-line audit is the most important inspection procedure that can be performed on any

orders. If any factory cuts and makes the garments in the correct way at the start of production

then 95% of the battle to get a good shipment is just about taken care of.

As soon as the go-ahead for cutting is given then there still should not be any make up or

production issues outstanding.

It is at this stage that the agents audit inspectors should return to the factory to check on the

early progress of the garment. Some of the early questions that need answers are;

- How has it been cut?

- Has it been cut in the correct ratio?

- Are the rest of the markers / ratios correct?

- Has it been cut correctly?

- How are the cut pieces being loaded onto the line?

- Are they in ratio - by colour and size - or not?

- Is the stitching detail correct?

- Are the measurements correct as per the size spec?

- Does the garment look the same as the Green Tag sample?

Daily monitoring and communicating with the factory for total cut, total loaded onto the line,

total finished off the line, total washed, total packed and boxed and total shipped figures are

required by PO to plan the next quality control inspection. This report is the Production Status

Report (REF P.S.R).

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Once production and sewing begins then every sewing operation should be looked at in detail

until finished garments start to come off the line. These garments should then be carefully

inspected for make up details as well as measurements. Particular attention must also be paid to

all the sizes and not just the first ones that come off the line.

If the garments coming off the line at this point in time are correct, according to all the

specifications (size and make up), then it can be assumed that the majority of the production will

more than likely be accurate than if the first inspection had taken place when 80% of the

production had been finished and in export cartons. All items checked during in-line inspection

must be written down on the garment inspection report (REF Q.C.G.I.R 1 / 2 / 3 / 4).

10.5 Corrective Action Plan If any issues are found by American Eagle Outfitters, their agents or the vendor during the in-

line inspection audit (see 10.4 - In-line audit inspection) then some solutions need to be found by

the vendor so that they don’t happen again. A corrective action plan – daily and weekly - (REF

D.C.A.P and W.C.A.P) needs to be undertaken to ensure that a complete record is kept of these

issues together with the vendors undertaking as to when and how the problems will be solved.

These also show how these issues are progressing as well as the vendor’s amount of commitment

to ensuring these issues don’t happen again.

The Daily Corrective Action Plan (REF D.C.A.P) is used by all production and quality control

personnel on the sewing lines during the week. All the issues that were found when an audit was

done are noted down onto this report. These are then issued to the production and quality control

personnel. They will monitor these points as well as carry out their normal day to day functions.

The supervisors and management will review these Daily Corrective Action Plans (REF

D.C.A.P) at the daily meeting that are held between the quality control and production personnel

on a daily basis (see 9.3 - Meetings for Quality and Co-operation between Departments). If any

additional issues have been found that are not on the daily corrective action plan, then they will

be added at these meetings. Again, these will be monitored daily until they have been rectified

and do not happen again.

A Weekly Corrective Action Plan (REF W.C.A.P) that covers the month is also filled out and

monitored on a weekly basis by management as well as at the daily meetings mentioned above.

The amount of defects being made within the factory will be greatly reduced by constantly

monitoring these issues and taking action to solve them.

10.6 Pre-final Audit Inspection A pre-final audit is any check done on finished stock before 100% of the order is in the cartons.

All items checked during a pre-final inspection must be written down on the Quality Control

Garment Inspection Report (REF Q.C.G.I.R 1 / 2 / 3 / 4).

When should these inspections be taken? There is little use carrying out a pre-final inspection

when 80% of the garments have been finished and packed because if a problem is found then all

these garments will need to be unpacked, re-inspected and then re-pressed, re-packed and made

ready for another pre-final inspection.

It is much better if daily pre-final inspections are carried out. So, for example, 20 cartons have

been packed on Monday. These need to be audited on Tuesday in a pre-final AQL 2.5

inspection to check if they are correct or not. If they are correct and are passed then they can be

put into the main warehouse, noting down their carton numbers. The same happens on

Wednesday and Thursday. However, the pre-final audit on Friday fails. These 20 cartons need

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to be unpacked, re-inspected, re-pressed and then re-packed.

Once finished packing another pre-final inspection will be carried out to check if the re-work

was successful or not. When 100% of the garments have been packed, it can be safely assumed

that the final audit will pass the inspection – provided that the auditors have been correctly

trained to carry out pre-final and final inspections in the first place.

This is by far the safest way of getting good quality garments ready for an internal or external

audit and shipment. If these pre-final audits have been carried out everyday until each PO is

finished then when the internal QC inspectors come to carry out the final audit, the shipment

should pass. It is very dangerous for the factory that waits until a big percentage has been

finished and packed before a pre-final inspection is carried out, as can be seen from the above

explanation.

10.7 Final Audit Inspection A final audit inspection MUST be carried out only after 100% of the PO / order number is

finished. The sample size must be drawn from randomly selected export cartons. This finished

stock, however, must be in the correct colour, size and order ratio for the final audit to take

place. Again all items checked during final inspection must be written down on the garment

inspection report (see American Eagle Outfitters – Garment Inspection Manual – prepared

by ITS).

All sizes need to be measured for all measurements and an additional 10% of final audited

garments need to be measured for critical measurements (see American Eagle Outfitters –

Garment Inspection Manual – prepared by ITS).

So for example, if there are 5 sizes (XS, S, M, L, XL) and 5 colours (Blue, Green, White, Black,

Red) then 5 garments will need to have full measurements taken. These could be XS – Blue, S –

Green, M – White, L – Black, XL – Red. An additional 50 pieces (10% of the audit lot size of

500 garments) will then need to have their critical measurements taken.

The total measurement defects that are allowed are based on the AQL being used for that sample

size. So for 315 pieces in a double sampling plan, 11 measurement points or less would mean a

pass. 12 to 15 would mean it would go to a second audit of an additional 315 pieces. 26 points

or less would mean the shipment passed, while 27 points would mean it failed.

American Eagle Outfitters AQL inspection level is 2.5 Double Sampling so it would be

advisable for the factory making the orders to use AQL 1.5 in their own inspections.

In this way, if their internal audits pass the inspection at AQL 1.5 then when an outside

inspector comes to take a final inspection at AQL 2.5, it should easily pass.

Keep defect samples aside to explain about them to the factory production personnel. Discuss

and encourage areas for quality improvement. Record these also.

The findings must be represented factually and lot disposition noted according to whether the

defects are inside or outside the A.Q.L limits. The factory representatives should be asked to

acknowledge the results by signing the report.

In the event of disagreement, the area of disagreement must be noted by the quality assurance

staff on the inspection report. The head of quality control, technical design and production must

be immediately notified so that timely follow-up action can be made to settle the issue.

The inspection reports are to be submitted to the head of technical design not later than one day

after the inspection has taken place.

All findings are to be documented at the time of inspection.

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Avoid general terms such as "lighter colour". Take samples to illustrate such items.

10.8 Inspection Findings Review Procedure and Release Authority Levels The inspection report will be submitted to the head of quality assurance as well as the factory

manager for review and assessment of findings and samples.

Sign-off will be made, if the inspection is a final one, and the report will be given to the factory

manager and quality control manager. These reports will be kept in the appropriate Style Files.

In the event of a "reject" verdict, the factory may request the opportunity to rework and repair

the lot, and request another inspection.

In the event of a re-inspection, special attention should be taken to ensure that any re-working

has not introduced other aspects of non-conformance (e.g. dirt, packing defects etc.).

Should re-inspection lead to a "reject" verdict, any decision as to further reworking and re-

inspection must be taken by American Eagle Outfitters.

Through any of the above decision-making levels, time is of the essence and must be respected.

10.9 Traceability Measures All Style Files must be reviewed prior to any inspection visit. The inspector should check for

availability and clarity of American Eagle Outfitters specific requirements, availability of

reference samples, test reports, colour swatches, print and embroidery details, wash effects,

performance requirements, size specifications, pre-production details etc.

Clear identification of notification of any changes must be traceable to a person.

This review is the last step on the line before the actual inspection visit, and is therefore critical

for any clarification and or briefing on any points.

Reports generated by the quality assurance team must be traceable to specific individuals. Any

samples pulled from production need to be clearly identified and cross-referenced to the style

file, signed and dated.

Where any factory test equipment is used, the factory must be able to demonstrate that the

equipment is maintained and calibrated so as to provide precise measurement.

11.0 PRODUCTION CONTROL FOR QUALITY Production control doesn’t only mean the way an employee cuts, stitches or inspects a garment.

Production control can come in many different formats from attachments used on a sewing

machine to help the operator stitch faster with more accuracy, to the time it takes for a machine

to be repaired. Both of these are production controls and as was stated at the beginning of the

manual in quality systems - “a system under control will assure quality”.

Two further areas need to be studied in more detail as production controls. These are metal

contamination in garments (needle procedure and metal detection) and the management’s ability

to monitor a mechanics ability to repair sewing machines quickly, efficiently and cost

effectively.

11.1 Metal Contamination in Garments Any metal piece that finishes up in a garment could potentially end up in a lawsuit against the

company who sold or manufactured that particular garment e.g.;

A needle is found in a women’s jacket after the women was scratched by it. She take

the company who supplied the garment to court or they go to the press about it. The

bad publicity will hurt sales and image and the court action could result in a big

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damages claim.

Either way, it is bad for American Eagle Outfitters as well as the vendor who made the

garment. How can this be avoided?

11.2 Needle Procedure It is common when looking around any sewing floor or production area to find either whole or

parts of needles lying all over the sewing floor or on the sewing machines, if they don’t have

any needle procedure in place. All it takes is for a garment to fall onto the floor to become

contaminated with needle pieces. Normally most sewing operators will have a stock of needles

in their possession. This is so that they can replace the needle with another one should it break.

The first action that any company can take is to ensure that no needles or parts of needles find

their way into any garments. The way this can be implemented is by having a Needle procedure

(REF N.P) within the organization.

A needle procedure file is located on each sewing line or sewing floor. One person has the

responsibility to look after this file. They will have a stock of varying types of needles that are

required for that sewing line or sewing floor.

These needles are kept in a box that can be locked and in fact should be kept locked at all times.

As soon as all the needles have been cleared from the factory floor (i.e. located in drawers, on

the floor, in the oil sumps of sewing machines, stuck into cones of thread etc.) new ones can be

issued to the machinists. There should now be no needles anywhere in the production facility

apart from the ones in the machines being used.

When an operator breaks their needle they must find every piece of that broken needle. Once

they have found all the pieces of the needle it can be taken, by the supervisor, to the person who

has the needle procedure file. This person will literally stick this needle into the file, ensuring

that they have all the parts of this broken needle. They will fill in the following details beside it:

- the date and time the needle was brought in for a replacement,

- which sewing section the machine is on,

- what type of sewing machine is it,

- the operators name and number,

- a space for the broken needle so that it can be taped to the page,

- the supervisors signature and

- the needle number which has just been issued as a replacement.

If, however, the operator cannot find all the parts of the needle then the garment that is being

stitched is examined for the missing part. If this missing part still cannot be found then all the

garments in the area of that machine are picked up and examined by putting them through a

metal detector. The sewing floor is also checked. Once the part is found then the procedure

mentioned above is carried out so that a new needle can be obtained and production can

proceed.

This procedure ensures that no needles, or parts of needles are found anywhere in a production

facility except in the machines that are currently being used to sew. It also acts as a check

against the theft of needles - one needle in, one needle out.

11.3 Metal Detection

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A metal detector should be located in the finishing section and all garments must pass through it

before they are sent for packing. This will ensure that all packed garments are free from foreign

metal parts and contaminants.

If the metal detectors alarm sounds then the garment passing through it must be taken away and

checked for foreign contaminants. If found, it can then be passed through the metal detector

again for safety as there may have been more than one piece of metal in that garment.

If all the pieces of a sewing needle cannot be found on the factory floor then the garments which

were picked up in the same area as the machine are sent to the metal detector. All these

garments, at whatever stage of construction, are passed through the machine. If they pass they

can then go back for stitching. If not, then the contaminant will first be removed before sending

it back for finishing.

The question may be asked about the inspection of garments which have metal already attached

to them e.g. zips, eyelets, press studs etc. Non-ferrous metal accessories will allow the garment

to be passed through the metal detector without the alarm sounding. If a needle point or piece of

metal is in one these garments then the alarm will sound. The correct type of metal detector has

to be purchased however.

A book is located next to the metal detector and all screening failures are noted in it. The metal

detector must also be calibrated every hour – 9 positions - to ensure that it is in proper working

order – and these findings are recorded.

A card (the same size as a credit card which has a very small piece of metal – 1.2mm size -

inserted into it) is passed through the machine. If it passes through without being detected then

the sensitivity of the machine is increased. Once checked, the machine can carry on with

production. The machine must be checked hourly. These tests are also catalogued at the back

of the metal detector book. American Eagle Outfitters requires the metal detection machines to

be set at 1.2mm of metal sensitivity.

11.4 Mechanics Repair Book How often has a machinist been heard saying “the mechanic has already been here 2 or 3 times

today to repair my machine” or “the mechanic has said that the machine is fine so I must stop

complaining”? Frequently I am sure.

How do companies know how efficient their mechanics are? How can a control be placed on

them to ensure greater effective use of their skill and time?

The answer is simple - a Mechanics Repair Book (REF M.R.B). This book is placed at the end

of the sewing line or in the middle of the sewing floor. This is filled in by the supervisors. It

also allows for an orderly repair schedule to take place, instead of the supervisors vying for the

mechanics attention to repair their machines first. Obviously, strategically placed or specialised

machinery will take preference in the queue when repairing machines.

If a machine is having a problem of any sort then the worker will immediately inform the

supervisor. The supervisor will then go to the mechanics repair book and fill in the details on

the next free line of the book. The details that are filled in are as follows;

- the date and time when this problem was reported,

- which line is the machine on,

- which machine is it (number and type),

- which operator is using it and

- what the problem is.

There are a further 3 columns. One is for the mechanics signature, one is for the supervisors

signature and the other is for the time that the machine was repaired and any comments relevant

to that repair.

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This book allows the mechanic to be checked in the following ways;

- how long is it taking to repair the machines?

- which mechanic repairs machines faster and why should this be? Is this good

or bad? An answer to this can be found if necessary.

It also allows the following to be asked about the machines;

- is it always the same machines breaking down or not?

- what are the main breakdowns being repaired?

- can these breakdowns be overcome so that they don’t happen as frequently?

- maybe it’s always the same operator who is having breakdowns with the

machines (could be the same machine or different ones). If so, why? Can the

problem be solved?

- do the same spare parts need replacing on machines frequently?

The supervisor must be informed, by the mechanic, when a machine has been repaired.

Together they will go to the repaired machine and check that the operator is happy about the

repair. If the operator is happy then they will both go to the mechanics repair book and both will

sign it as well as state the time the machine was repaired.

11.5 Special Machinery Control Report The Quality Control Special Machinery Report (REF Q.C.S.M.R) is to ensure that any special

items of equipment are regularly checked to confirm satisfactory operation and quality.

This control will focus on the following areas -

a) Fusing machines (see American Eagle Outfitters “Technical Guidelines and

Specification for the Fusing of Interlinings” for more information,

b) Button sewing machines,

c) Buttonhole machines,

d) Press fastener machines,

e) Eyelet machines and

f) Metal detectors

In each case the required standards must be available on each piece of equipment detailing all

the necessary specifications required. There should also be an approved, signed and dated,

mock-up of the garment being done on that machine.

Tests must be done on every machine 4 times per day. Each test must be done using a mock-up

which is made up of exactly the same fabrics and method of manufacturing as the bulk

production ie if the bulk has 6 layers of a certain fabric then the mock up must also have 6 layers

of the same fabric. Once the part has been attached to the mock up, it is then labelled with the

machine number, operator number, date and time that this part was attached. This is required in

case a quality issue is found later on in the production cycle.

When a machine is found to have a quality problem immediate corrective action must be taken

and a record of that action recorded. Any work produced since the previously passed control

recording must be re-inspected.

If this control was not there and a problem was found in a garment during an audit then all

garments finished through that machine and still in the factory would have to be re-checked and

repaired. This may be many thousands of garments which would be very time consuming and

costly to re-process again. They may even have to be airfreighted because of the delay that was

caused by re-inspecting all the stock.

12.0 PRODUCT TESTING FOR QUALITY This section refers to the development and maintenance of clear and complete documented

instructions and procedures that are necessary in communicating a customer’s Quality

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Assurance working requirements.

12.1 Sampling Procedures for Product Testing In the event that instructions call for test samples to be taken from the production line, it is

necessary that precise details are available as to what exactly is to be tested -

e.g. components - assembled product and also the test procedures to be followed -

e.g. customer specific guidelines and regulations.

The number of samples required for testing, and the distribution of final test reports also need to

be specified.

Samples must be taken by the customer’s / agents quality assurance inspectors. Samples

presented to the inspector by the factory are not acceptable - traceability and authenticity being

in question.

Samples should be taken from production in duplicate sets (two pieces) whenever possible. One

is for laboratory purposes and one is for merchandising reference. Such samples should be

clearly tagged and labelled (signed, dated etc.) using the coloured sample tags used by the

customer or agent.

If quality assurance takes the test samples, it must be clearly defined who will be responsible for

having the tests carried out on them. Is to be the responsibility of the quality assurance,

merchandising or purchasing departments?

American Eagle Outfitters uses Bureau Veritas Consumer Products Services, Inc. –

Softlines – Quality Assurance Manual as their accredited laboratory.

13.0 RESPONSIBILITY FOR QUALITY Ultimately the vendors are totally responsible for the quality of merchandise being supplied to

American Eagle Outfitters.

During the introduction of any new quality control procedures the agreed responsibilities apply to

all suppliers.

1) In-Line Process Control After initial introduction the quality controllers will

work more closely with their own

production personnel as well as with the

customers / agents quality assurance

personnel.

2) Pre-final & Final Inspection Daily and at 100%

3) Presentation Inspection As per Green Tag sample

4) Special Machinery Control This will apply to buttonsew, buttonhole, rivets,

snaps, fusing machines, needle procedures

and metal detectors etc.

5) Warehouse Audit Factory management should carry out

warehouse audits as well as quality

assurance personnel.

6) Samples, Visual Aids These should be introduced at certain key areas by

the suppliers production and quality

assurance personnel.

14.0 APPENDIX 1) REF F.I.R - Knits

2) REF F.I.R – Woven

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3) REF D.F.I.R

4) REF W.F.I.R

5) REF M.F.I.R

6) REF M.C.S

7) REF C.R.S.C.R

8) REF Q.C.C.N.R

9) REF Q.C.R.I.L.R

10) REF D.C

11) REF Q.C.G

12) REF Q.C.S.E.L.I.R

13) REF Q.C.A.I.R

14) REF S.O.B - Knits

15) REF S.O.B - Pants

16) REF S.O.B - Shirts

17) REF Q.C.A.I.R – 1

18) REF Q.C.M.R

19) REF Q.C.T.R

20) REF D.P-P.M

21) REF A.Q.L

22) REF Q.C.G.I.R 1

23) REF Q.C.G.I.R 2

24) REF Q.C.G.I.R 3

25) REF Q.C.G.I.R 4

26) REF D.C.A.P

27) REF W.C.A.P

28) REF N.P

29) REF M.R.B

30) REF Q.C.S.M.R

Documents

QUALITY ASSURANCE GUIDELINES 2014