Fabric Inspection Jimmy K.C. Lam The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Fabric Inspection n Why, when and where n Inspection Systems –Four-Point System –Ten-Point System n Inspection Condition n Sampling n Acceptance Level

Fabric Inspection (I) When, why, where n Producer likes to know the quality of his products (says quality for 500,000 yds fabric) n Buyer wants to assure the product quality he ordered. n 10% check will give buyer some ideas of his product quality n 25% check maybe necessary for new supplier n 3% check maybe enough for a proven record supplier

Fabric Inspection (II) n Fabric inspection must be selected randomly n The fabric sample must be selected from different place, different lot and different time n Inspector must use a packing list and select different bales on different place n The samples should be selected from early, middle and late production.

Inspection Standards n Ten Point System –Oldest and most used in woven finished fabric n Four point System –Widely adopted and used in knitted fabric n The Graniteville’78 System –major and minor types, used in garment pieces

Ten Point System

n The earliest inspection system and is designed to identify defects and to assign each defect a value based on severity of defect n Published in 1955 by Textile Distributors Institute and National Federation of Textiles

Ten Points System (Woven) n Warp Defects –10-36 inches10 points –5-10 inches 5 points –1-5 inches 3 points –up to 1 inch 1 point n Weft Defects –Full width10 points –5 inches to half width 5 points –1-5 inches 3 points –up to 1 inch 1 point

Ten Point System n Standards for examination of finished goods (woven mainly) n Penalties to be assigned for imperfection of warp and weft defects n Grading is designed to apply to every imperfection according to size, regardless of type. n For print cloth, any piece of grey which contains less than 50% more penalty points than yardage may be passed for printed fabric.

Ten Point System (Note) n No one yard should be penalized more than 10 points n Any warp or weft defect occurring repeatedly throughout the entire piece makes it “second” n A combination of both warp and weft defects when occurring in one yarn should not be penalized more than 10 points

Ten Point System Grading n “First Quality” – A piece is graded as “first” if the total quality points do not exceed the total yardage of the piece. Eg. 100 yard piece got the penalized of 70. n “Second Quality” –A piece is graded a “second” if the total penalty points exceed the total yardage of the piece.

Four Point System

n It was published in 1959 by the National Association of Shirt Pajama Sportswear Manufacturers n It got the biggest support for American Society for Quality Control. n It was endorsed by federal government for military inspection and American Apparel Manufacturers Association

Four Point Systems Knitted Fabric n Grading of fabric quality according to penalty points n Penalty points are based on the length of defects measured in inch. n Fabric inspection is only on one side of fabric and is based on fabric width of inches (knitted fabric) n Four penalty points per linear yarn up to 64/66 inches in width n The quality shall be expressed in the number of penalty points per 100 yarn length

Four Point Systems (others) n All products sold must be have the following properties: n Grey Goods: –construction –blend –width –weight n Finished Goods n Buyer must inform seller on any particular condition of goods

Calculation n Points per 100 square yards = – (Total points scored X 3600)/ (Cloth width in inches X yards examined) n e.g inspected 100 yards fabric and got 100 penalty points,fabric width is 72 inches, the points per 100 square yards is : –(100X3600)/(72X100) =50

The Graniteville ‘78 System

Graniteville’78 System n It was introduced in 1975 for the field of fabric grading. n The system divided defects into major and minor types n The major defect was one which was very obvious and lead the goods to second quality n The minor defect was one may or may not have caused garment to second, depending on its location in the end use item

78 System Point n Penalty Point Assignment of Graniteville’78 n Defect LengthPenalty Points –9”1 –9”-18”2 –18”-27”3 –27”-36”4

78 Points- Notes n The principle was established in garment cutting piece, which the short length defects (less than 9”) will normally be removed. n The system tries to balance the importance of longer defects (over 9”) and put less weight on 1- 10” defects such as slubs n The system also suggests the viewing distance of 9 foot instead of normal 3-foot viewing distance. n The system tend to eliminate very small defects from the total penalty score.