Achievement highlights
The Eurofins Assurance QA-QC Team addressed issues in the production of polo shirts at an early stage, successfully reducing the defect rate of collars from 20% to zero. This improvement saved $280,000 by eliminating the high rework costs associated with defective goods.

What was the issue? 

Excessive end threads were found at the collars of polo shirts during the quality check of production samples. This defect occurred in approximately 20% of the production samples, accounting for about 5% of the total quantity across 50 containers of goods.

Why did the issue happen? 

At the request of the customer, the Eurofins Assurance QA-QC team examined the production planning, flow, and processes of the factory to identify the underlying cause of the defects at the collar. While it may be easy to attribute the defects to workmanship failure, a closer inspection revealed that the absence of an experienced Production Engineer to set up and verify each manufacturing process was the root cause.

In garment manufacturing, given the variability in materials, designs, and production methods, it is crucial to have a Production Engineer (or sometimes referred to as an Industrial Engineer) to design and validate the production steps in accordance with product specifications and the capabilities of the production lines.

During the manufacturing of these polo shirts, loose end threads of 2 to 3 cm were left after the knitting of the collars was completed. Mending Operators were responsible for manually concealing the loose ends in the collar edge tubes before the assembly process took place. Trimming the entire loose thread was not feasible, as this would compromise the integrity of the knitting and cause the entire component to fall apart. 

The issue arose when the Mending Operator attempted to conceal all three loose threads (with three-color tipping) at the collar corners in a single attempt. Furthermore, the end trimming of the protruding threads was not consistently performed correctly, as no standard operating procedure (SOP) was available.

How did we fix it? 

Having performed the diagnosis on-site, our QA-QC team identified the cause of collar defect promptly as illustrated above.   

Our team picked up the role of Production Engineer of the factory, and re-constructed the production steps of this polo shirt to eliminate the defect:  

• The Mending Operators' hiding process has been revised from a one-shot to a two-shot method. With the two-shot technique, the loose end threads can be concealed perfectly within the collar edge tubes. It is common practice in the industry that multiple shots of hiding are required when there are more than two loose end threads on one side, as our team's experience has shown.
• A standard operating procedure (SOP) has been created to document both the hiding and end trimming processes, ensuring that all operators can easily follow the guidelines.
• Mock-up pieces were produced and demonstrated to the operators during a dedicated training session.

On top of these corrective actions, defective pieces were reviewed and reworked where possible as remedy. Rejected pieces were isolated completely.   

To ensure true improvement, regular monitoring was of course carried out by our team with Daily visit to the factory and production inline, and QC running checking quality check. Corrective Action Plan was documented so factory can take note and improve for future similar orders.  

What were the results? 

It was highly motivating to find that no identical defects were discovered after all the corrective actions were implemented. The defect rate decreased from 20% to zero in the mass production of one million pieces.

If the goods had arrived at the brand’s warehouse, it would have cost at least $280,000 to return and rework them in the country of origin, and then ship the reworked goods back to the market. In addition to this direct expense, potential delays in stock availability for retail and consumer complaints would have resulted in further damage to the brand's reputation and finances.

Eurofins Assurance’s QA-QC program effectively resolved these issues, providing maximum cost-effectiveness that fashion brands and retailers can rely on.

This case underscores the importance of having a Production Engineer in the garment production process, a role that no garment factory should overlook.

Needing a hand in your garment and textile production? Check out how our QA-QC Programme for apparel and garment industry can help!