Statistical Quality Control in Textiles

Module 1:

Introduction to Quality and Quality Control

Dr. Dipayan Das

Assistant Professor
Dept. of Textile Technology
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Phone: +91-11-26591402
E-mail: Dipayan@textile.iitd.ac.in
Introduction to Quality
Concept of Quality

Simply, quality refers to one or more desirable characteristics

that a product should possess.

Quality is inversely proportional to (unwanted) variability.

Product A

Product B
Quality Characteristics

Every product possesses a number of properties that jointly

describe what the user or consumer thinks of as quality. These
properties are known as quality characteristics.
For example, fiber length is known to be one of the important
quality characteristics of a fiber.
Quality Cost

Preventing, detecting and dealing with defects cause costs that

are called quality costs or costs of quality.
Quality costs can be broken down into four broad groups.
(1). Prevention Costs:
product/process design.
Process control.
Burn-in.
Training.
Quality data acquisition and analysis.
Quality Cost (Continued)

(2). Appraisal Costs:

Inspection and test of incoming material.
Product inspection and test.
Material and services consumed.
Maintaining accuracy of test equipment.
(3). Internal failure Costs:
Scrap
Rework
Retest
Quality Cost (Continued)

Failure analysis
Downtime
Yield losses
Downgrading/ off-spacing
(4). External failure costs:
Complaint adjustment
Returned product/material
Liability costs
External costs
Quality history [1]

Year Event

1700-1900 Quality was largely determined by the efforts of an individual craftsman.

1915-1919 WWI- British government began a supplier certification program.

1919 Technical Inspection Association was formed in England, this later becomes
the Institute of Quality Assurance.
1924 W A Shewhart introduced the concept of control charts in Bell Laboratories
technical memorandum.
1928 Accepatance sampling techniques were developed and refined by H. F.
Dodge and H. G. Romig at Bell Labs.
1931 W. A. Shewhart published Economic control of quality of manufactured product
outlining statistical methods for use in production and control chart
methods.
1932-1933 British textile industry began use of statistical techniques for
product/process development.
1944 Industrial Quality Control began publication.

1954 E. S. Page introduced CUSUM control chart.

Quality history (Continued)

Year Event

1960 The concept of quality control circle was introduced in japan by K. Ishikawa.

1960 The zero defects (ZD) programs are introduced in US induatries.

1975-1978 The concept of total quality management (TQM) was developed in the US.

1989 The journal Quality Engineering was appeared.

1989 Motorolas six sigma initiative began

Introduction to Quality Control
Concept of quality control

Quality control describes the directed use of testing to

measure the achievement of a specified standard.
Quality control is a superset of testing, although it often
used synonymously with testing.
The concept of quality, namely that the object, the service,
the performance whatever it is should be fit for
purpose.
Quality does not mean being at the top of the range, but it
does mean being efficient (so things happen on time and on
cost), reliable (whatever the weather, every day of the
week) and giving good value for money.
The goal of quality control should be to identify process steps
that best predict outcomes - A. Blanton Godfrey
Link Among Quality, Productivity, and Cost

Take an example.
A ring frame machine produces 1000 cops per day. The production cost per
cop is Rs. 15. It is seen that 75% of the cops conform to specifications and 60%
of the non-conforming cops can be reworked at an additional expense of Rs. 5
per cop, the rest 40% of the nonconforming cops is scrapped.

15 1000 5 150
Rs.17.50
The cost per good cop is then Rs.
1000 250 150
900 no.of good cops

After implementation of process control program, it is seen that 80% of the

cops conform to specifications and 60% of the non-conforming cops can be
reworked at additional expense of Rs. 5 per cop, the rest is required to be
scrapped.
Rs.
15 1000 5 120
Rs.16.96
The cost per good cop is then
1000 200 120
920 no. of good cops
Quality Control Methodology

Statistical process control

Statistical product control
Six sigma
Total quality management (TQM)
Total quality assurance (TQA)

Note: TQM and TQA are beyond the scope of this course.
Statistical Process Control

Statistical process control involves measurement and analysis

of process variation by using statistical techniques namely
control charts.
This is most often used for manufacturing processes, in the
intent of statistical process control is to monitor product
quality and maintain processes to fixed targets.
Statistical Product Control

Statistical Product Control involves in making dispositions on

accepting or rejecting a lot (or batch) of product that has
already been produced.
It is most often used to evaluate products that are received
from outside sources and where it is not possible to
implement statistical process control.
Six Sigma

Technical products with many complex components typically

have many opportunities for failure or defects to occur.
Motorola developed the six-sigma program as a response to
the demand for such products.
The focus of six sigma lies in reducing variability in key
product quality characteristics to the level at which failure or
defects are extremely unlikely.
Frequently Asked Questions & Answers
Frequently Asked Questions & Answers
Q1: A ring-spun yarn shows more strength variability that a rotor-spun yarn. Can we
say that the ring-spun yarn offers better strength quality than the rotor-spun
yarn?
A1: Yes
Q2: Is it so that the application of statistical techniques for quality control in textiles
has started recently?
A2: No, the British textile industry began use of statistical techniques for
product/process development in 1932-1933.
Q3: Why quality control is at all required?
A3: Effective quality improvement can result in increase in productivity and
reduction in cost.
References
1. Montgomery, D. C., Introduction to Statistical Quality Control, John Wiley &
Sons, Inc., Singapore, 2001.
Sources of Further Information
1. Montgomery, D. C., Introduction to Statistical Quality Control, John Wiley &
Sons, Inc., Singapore, 2001.
2. Grant, E. L. and Leavenworth, R. s., Statistical Quality Control, Tata McGraw Hill
Education Private Limited, New Delhi, 2000.
3. Leaf, G. A. V., Practical Statistics for the Textile Industry: Part I, The Textile
Institute, UK, 1984.
4. Leaf, G. A. V., Practical Statistics for the Textile Industry: Part II, The Textile
Institute, UK, 1984.