Quality assurance

Quality assurance (QA) is a system of checks designed to ensure that fault-free products are produced that can be sold at a profit to satisfied customers. A quality-assurance system involves regular quality control [Quality Control: the checks made during manufacture to ensure that a product is being made to the appropriate standard. ] inspections which test and monitor the quality, accuracy and fitness-for-purpose of the product, from the design stage through to manufacture.

Critical control points

Quality-control checks take place at critical control points [critical control points: the predefined points in a manufacture system where quality control checks take place. ] (CCPs) in a product's manufacture. The following are typical CCPs in textiles manufacture.

1. Raw materials are tested to make sure they are the correct width, colour, weight and fibre content. Depending on the product end-use, the fabric may be tested for strength, durability [durability: the ability of a material to withstand wear, especially as a result of weathering. ], crease-resistance, stretch, shrinkage [shrinkage: reduction in length and/or width of a fabric during washing. ] or water-repellency.
2. Prototype. This is a mock-up of the product used to trial a design or pattern, see how materials and components behave, try out an assembly process, work out costs, and test fitness-for-purpose [fitness-for-purpose: suitability for the use for which the product is intended. ] in everyday use.
3. Production. During production there will be checks for stitch and seam strength, and seam allowances [seam allowances: amounts of material between the fabric edges and the seam lines. ] are tested to check if they meet the tolerance [tolerance: the amount by which a measurement can vary without affecting the ability of the product to be manufactured accurately ] stated in the manufacturing specification [manufacturing specification: document containing clear and detailed instructions for the manufacture of a product. ].
   

   Back of shirt, showing seam allowance (as dotted line) around edge of sewn seams. Seam allowance shown is 1cm +/-2mm

4. Final product. This is inspected for size and fit, and to see if the 'look' of the product meets the specification.