A comparison between Quality assurance and Quality control systems used in apparel sector can be seen in this document.

1. RMIT
TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT
ASSIGNMENT
MITHILA ERANDA LIYANAARACHCHI
STUDENT ID - 3570101
RMIT UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIA,
MELBOURNE

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Quality Assurance and Quality Control systems in
clothing manufacturing factories
What is Quality Assurance?
QualityAssurance canbe simplysaidas“ZERO DEFECTS”. If a companyispracticingqualityassurance
system,theyshouldneverproduce defects. Bringingqualityintothe product at designingstage is
Quality Assurance.Qualityassuringisbeingproactive.Proactive meansthinkingforwardbefore
somethinghappensandtakingnecessarymeasurestopreventthem. Soinotherwords,we can say
QualityAssurance is“Prevention”. Pointtobe note inthissystemis, thiswill be quite expensivethana
QualityControl system.Thatisbecause of higherfactoryoverheads,expensivemaintenance andhigher
salaryscalesof workers because theyonlyrecruitveryskilledworkers.
So these kinds offactories will only getorders from leadingbrands like Nike, Zara, H&M,Adidas,
Gucci,etc.
What is Quality Control?
QualityControl isdone whenadefectoccur.So thisis the “Reaction”forthe occurred defect.Underthis
theyact after somethinghappens,notpriortothat. For instance,machine operatorswillhave todo
re-workwhenthose defectsare produced. SothisisaReactive systemandthere will be defectswithout
a doubt. To be note,thissystemisnotverycostlyas a QualityAssurance system,becausethe factories
will notuse latesttechnologiesandmachinesforproduction. Andalsotheydon’trecruitonlythe skilled
people.
So the leadingbrands will neverplace an order in a factory which practicesQuality Control system.
They will receive ordersfrom mid-range brands like banana republic, M&S,La-Senza,etc.
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What is better,Pro-actionor Reaction?
Thisin otherwords,whatisbetter,QualityAssurance orQualityControl?The answerisprettysimple,
wholikesdefective items? Butsince we are talkingaboutapparel sector,there isthis“cost factor”
whichfactorypeople are muchconcernedabout.Or else beingproactiveisalwaysbetterthanbeing
reactive.Sowe can preventthe thingsthatwe do notexpectandstay withoutreactingunnecessarily.
Whenconsideringthe status-quoof Sri LankanApparel industry,the numberof produceddefectsis ata
higherlevel. Sothatmeansit incursadditional costforre-work.Therefore practicingQualityAssurance
systemisthe bestway toproduce garments.
E.g. Assume two differentfactoriesare there,one as “A” and other one as “B”.
Factory “A” practicesthe traditional QualityControl system and the factory “B” practices Quality
Assurance system.They both produce trousers...
After the manufacturing process,end products of both the factorieslook perfectlysimilar.
But afterwearing it for like 3months, the trouser whichwas made out from factory “A” which is
practicing QC has got pillingonit around the seating area. And the one came out from factory “B”
which is practicing QA, still looksperfectlynew.
The reason behindthe above incident is,Factory “A” (QCfactory) is not looking forward. Furthermore
they neveruse first qualityraw material and methodsfor the production. So there will be more
customer complaintsand customer dissatisfaction. And there is also a possibilityoflosingorders.The
factory “B” (QA factory) usesquality raw material and methodsfor the production, so there are no
defectsand no complaints regardingits quality.Therefore they will receive more and more orders.
Comparison between Quality Assuranceand Quality Control system (with regard
to a clothing manufacturing plant) will be on the following page…
P.T.O

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Comparison between Quality Assurance and Quality Control System
Quality Assurance system (QA) Quality Control system (QC)
1. Zerodefects
2. Durable productand lesscomplains
3. Manufacturingcost will be expensive
whencomparedtoQC (Due to expensive
factoryoverheads,salaryscalesand
maintenance )
4. Onlyskilledoperatorsare workingunder
QA system
5. Bestmachines/technology are usedfor
manufacturinginQA system
6. Uses the bestavailable methodforeach
and everyoperation
7. More customersatisfaction
8. More possibilityof gettingmore new
orders
9. Higherinitial cost
10. QA systemiscostlywhencomparedtoQC
system(Salaryscales,maintenance cost
will be higher)
1. Defectscan be made
2. Notdurable andmore complains
3. Manufacturingcost isnot so expensiveas
QA
4. Notveryskilledworkersare workingunder
QC system
5. Notusingthe bestmachines/ technology
for manufacturinginQCsystem
6. Notusingthe bestmethod,butthe cheapest
method
7. Lesscustomersatisfaction
8. Lesspossibilityof gettingmore orders
9. Initial costisnot higherasQA system
10. Notverycostlyas QA system.Maintenance
cost and salaryscaleswill be verylowwhen
comparedto QA system
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