Quality control is important for companies to survive in today's competitive marketplace. Quality can be defined in many ways such as meeting customer expectations, product attributes, and manufacturing standards. Dimensions of quality include performance, reliability, conformance to standards, and aesthetics. Quality control aims to prevent significant variations between similar products by setting upper and lower limits. It is practiced throughout the manufacturing process. Both manufacturers and customers can have differing views of what defines quality.

1. INTRODUCTION

2. QUALITY CONTROL

4. The definition of Quality can vary according to perceptions & expectation levels of performance, durability, reliability, etc. of that product or service.

5. Quality can also mean meeting or exceeding customer expectations. Again there should be some frame of reference while measuring expectation levels.

7. DEFINITIONS BASED ON- Product (attributes & features sameness or free from variation) User (perception, needs & wants) Manufacturing (conformance of standards) Value based (price vs. value)

9. Features- secondary supporting characteristics

10. Reliability- malfunctioning in given period of time

11. Conformance-minimum standards of manufacturing

12. Durability- product life or duration

13. Serviceability- nature of after sales services

14. Aesthetics- looks, feel, smell, sounds

16. The quality standards The quality standards of the manufacturer & the retailer may differ from the consumer’s concept of quality. The reasons can be- The manufacturer/retailer may be unaware of the consumer’s wants & expectations. The consumer may be unaware of the many factors which have to be taken into account to manufacture & retail the textile/clothing item.

17. The quality of the textile/clothing is generally influenced by the following: The quality control methods practiced by the manufacturer & retailer The consumer’s knowledge of textiles & clothing Rules & regulations laid down by government

18. Quality control measures are practiced by everyone involved in the entire value delivery process Starting from fibers, spinning into yarns, weaving & knitting into fabrics to the finished products, legislations, standards set by the epic bodies across the globe.

20. Quality control means maintaining a standard of excellence.

21. If all the products of a line of manufacture could be made identical in all respects, then there would be no need for quality control

22. However, this is not possible although all the products can be made very similar, giving the look of being identical

23. Being very similar means that there is a very small variation between the products.

24. To ensure that this variation is confined within narrow limits is why quality control comes into picture

26. ISO (International Standards Organization) “The totality of features & characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs” Quality should be differentiated from Grade Grade is related to the target customers. Two products or services can have superior quality but different grades