Inspection Guidelines Raw Material

(Edition: July 2012)

Corporate Quality Assurance Department
~Internal Use Only~

Internal Inspection Guidelines - Raw Material (Edition: July 2012)

List of Contents

Objectives and Scope of the Inspection Guidelines 1

1.1 Objectives 1
1.2 Scope.................... 1

Responsibility for Material Inspection 2

Sampling Guidelines

Fabric Inspection Guidelines.

4.1 Fabric inspection procedure.
4.2 Documentation
4.3 Quality expectations

4
4
5
6

Inspection Guidelines for Materials (Excluding Fabrics). 6

5.1 Materials (excluding fabrics) inspection procedure 6
5.2 Quality Expectations.............. 6

Triumph Internal Inspection Guidelines Raw Material

Edition: July 2012

1 Objectives and Scope of the Inspection Guidelines

1.1 Objectives
This guideline shall be used in conjunction with the Triumph Global Quality Manual
Raw Material to determine the quality and acceptability of materials for our
garments. The objective of this guideline is to provide general instructions for
performing receiving inspection.
This guideline aims to ensure that inspections are carried out efficiently, uniformly
and to a high standard. For Triumph Centres it is intended for use as guidance,
outlining typical procedures and defining normal requirements for the various
categories of inspection. It is not intended to provide a definitive solution in all
situations, as the party best able to decide on the appropriate course of action is
the inspector undertaking the work and the Quality Managers in each Production
Centre.

1.2 Scope
This guideline applies exclusively for Triumph International.
companies may have their own method and requirements.

Other Triumph

The procedures and requirements described in this guideline are applicable to

material and components that will be used in the final garment. However, this
guideline does not cover packaging materials such as hangers, boxes and bags.

Triumph Internal Inspection Guidelines Raw Material

Edition: July 2012

2 Responsibility for material inspection

- Production centres must carry out material inspection for each delivery upon
arrival.
- It is the responsibility of the Quality Manager in the Production Centres to discuss
internally and decide the appropriate course of action when any inspection issues
arise.
- Material suppliers must be able to show the quality of their material by providing
completed inspection reports together with the goods shipped to all Triumph
Production Centres.

3 Sampling Guidelines
Sampling of incoming shipments of material of a continuous length in roll form
such as fabric, lace etc. shall be performed at random. A general guideline for
the minimum amount of material to be inspected is shown in Table 1. If any
quality problems are found during the random inspection, increase the inspection
quantity as necessary in order to quantify the problem. (Random inspection
means selecting the material for inspecting according to no specific pattern.)
The material must be placed in a quarantined area or computer quarantined
stock status until inspection and testing has taken place and can only be issued
to production once it can meet the inspection and testing requirements. Any rolls
of rejected material should be clearly marked with a QA rejected label.
Table 1 Minimum sample inspection for material of continuous length in rolls
Shipment lot size
Minimum Sample Inspection
Up to100m
100%
100-500m
30%
500m up
10%
*Note: The inspected quantity in Table 1 is proposed as a general guideline for minimum
sample inspection. The final decision shall be made by Production Centres based on their
experience and the overall quantity of material to ensure that the material is adequately
inspected before it is released to production.

If the material is of a continuous length but packed in boxes such as narrow

elastics, a general guideline for the minimum number of boxes to be inspected is
shown in Table 2. Within each inspected box it is suggested to pull out at least
six strands of material for checking the appearance, handfeel and width of the
material. The length of the strands for checking should be at least 0.5m or
sufficient to cover one pattern repeat.
If any quality problems are found during the random inspection, increase the
inspection quantity as necessary in order to quantify the problem. The material
must be placed in a quarantined area or computer quarantined stock status until
inspection and testing has taken place and can only be issued to production once
it can meet the inspection and testing requirements. Any boxes of rejected
material should be clearly marked with a QA rejected label.
2

Triumph Internal Inspection Guidelines Raw Material

Edition: July 2012

Table 2 Minimum sample inspection for material of continuous length in boxes

Number of boxes per shipment
Minimum Sample Inspection
1-3
All boxes
4-10
3 boxes randomly
11 or more
5 boxes randomly
*Note: The inspected quantity in Table 2 is proposed as a general guideline for minimum
sample inspection. The final decision shall be made by Production Centres based on their
experience and the overall quantity of material to ensure that the material is adequately
inspected before it is released to production.

If the material is offered in a packed condition and is comprised of pieces such

as PU cups, motifs etc., 10% of the packages in the lot (per item, colour and size)
subject to a minimum of two and a maximum of 5 packages shall be opened by
selection on a random sampling basis.
Pieces (per unit of product which may be single article or a pair) required for
detailed inspection shall also be selected on a random basis from all the opened
packages. Based on the total shipment quantity, the minimum number of samples
for inspection shall be according to:
Inspection Level General Level II
Sampling Plan Single Normal
Acceptable Quality Level (AQL) 1.5
For example, for a shipment size 30,000 pieces of a bow motif by referring to a
single sampling plan for normal inspection level II table the sample size to inspect
is 315 pieces. By having an AQL of 1.5, the maximum number of defective pieces
acceptable in the sample is 10.
*Note: The inspected quantity is proposed as a general guideline for minimum sample
inspection. The final decision shall be made by Production Centres based on their experience
and the overall quantity of material to ensure that the material is adequately inspected
before it is released to production.

If the number of defects found during the random inspection is greater than the
general accepted quality level, increase the inspection quantity as necessary in
order to quantify the problem. The material must be placed in a quarantined
area or computer quarantined stock status until inspection and testing has taken
place and can only be issued to production once it can meet the inspection and
testing requirements. Any packages containing rejected material should be
clearly marked with a QA rejected label.

Triumph Internal Inspection Guidelines Raw Material

Edition: July 2012

4 Fabric inspection guidelines

4.1 Fabric inspection procedure
The inspector responsible for fabric inspection must have access to the following
facilities and equipment which must be in good working order.
- Fabric inspection machine (sufficiently wide to enable the fabric to be
examined full width.)
- Light cabinet
- Measuring tape and scissors
- Stickers to identify the faults
- Digital camera for taking reference photos if necessary
- Master sample for reference
The inspection procedure should be carried out as follows:
- Determine the fabric quantity to be inspected.
- Select the fabric rolls for inspection
- Put the rolls on the fabric inspection machine.
- Cut off a 15cm piece across the width of the fabric from the beginning of the roll.
Mark this piece to distinguish the right and left side of the fabric. Use the strip to
check the shading side to side and end to end by checking it at least against the
middle of the roll and once at the end of the roll.(*Further details of the colour
checking procedure in the PCs shall be documented in the SOP for Production
Centre colour checking of incoming raw materials.)
- Inspect for visual defects/flaws with the light on at a speed slow enough to find
the defects. Sometimes the light may have to be switched off to see how the
defect/flaw will affect the appearance of the garment. (For further information
on fabric defects/flaws refer to ASTM D3999, ISO 8498 and ISO 8499)
- Check that the roll contains the correct length as stated by the supplier.
- Check for bowing and skewing/spirality of the fabric.
- Mark any defects/flaws found with a sticker during inspection for its traceability
and corrective action during the cutting stage.
- Record the defect/flaws of the fabric on the Fabric Quality Report and calculate
the number of points per 100 metres using the below 4-Point System in Table 3.
This 4-Point System shall be used as a means for communication with the supplier
on the rejection/compensation required for the sections of material containing
the defects/flaws. This only applies if the material received cannot cover the
production requirement to meet the garment delivery schedule. If the material
containing the defect/flaws can cover the production requirement or if the
supplier has already compensated for the defect/flaws this shall be used as a
record only or as a means to request the supplier to improve for future deliveries.
Table 3 Number of points assigned according to the length of the defect
Length of Defect/Flaw
7.5cm
>7.5cm 15cm
>15cm 23cm
>23cm

Points Assigned
1 point
2 points
3 points
4 points

Triumph Internal Inspection Guidelines Raw Material

Edition: July 2012

No more that 4 points can be assigned to any single metre of fabric.

Any hole (other than a pin hole at the fabric selvedge) shall be considered a major
defect and assigned 4 points for penalty
Any defects of a continuous/running nature i.e. barre and full width defects are
not assigned penalty points. These conditions must be judged as to extent and
degree to which they affect the garment being produced.
Irregularities which are normal to the existing state of art i.e. the nature of the
material or beyond reasonable control of the manufacturer shall not be classified
as defects and shall not bear penalty points.
Defects/flaws appearing outside the usable width shall be disregarded.
Regardless of the length of the fabric, the quality shall be expressed as the number
of penalty points per 100 metres and number of defect/flaws per 100m.
Calculations
1) Points:
Total number of points for a roll:
Points per 100m= 100 x Total points for the roll
Inspected length (m)
Total number of points for a shipment:
Total shipment points per 100m= 100 x Total shipment points
Shipment Inspected length (m)
2) Number of flaws and defects:
Total Number of defects/flaws per 100m = 100 x Number of defects/flaws
Inspected length (m)
4.2 Documentation
Fabric inspection documentation on the inspection report shall include the
following information:
- Fabric supplier
- Fabric item number
- Colour reference
- Batch/Dye lot number
- Purchase order number
- Piece number(s)
- Useable width per piece and contracted width
- Piece length
- Number of defects/flaws
5

Triumph Internal Inspection Guidelines Raw Material

Edition: July 2012

- Inspector comments if any per roll

- Date of inspection
- Name of inspector
4.3 Quality expectations
For quality expectations refer to the latest version of the Triumph Global Quality
Manual Raw Material.

5 Inspection guidelines for materials (excluding fabrics)

5.1 Materials (excluding fabrics) inspection procedure
For all other materials the assessment and measurement methods in Section 1 in
the catalogue of test methods in latest edition of the Triumph Global Quality
Manual shall be performed.
5.2 Quality Expectations
For quality expectations refer to the latest version of the Triumph Global Quality
Manual Raw Material.