THE SPINNING MILL IN PREPARATION FOR QUALITY AGREEMENTS

Anja C. Schleth

ABSTRACT

In the 90's, thesp@ngniill experienced a distinct intensification of business pressures, particularly in the industrialized countries.

The international yarn trade tends to give preference to the producers of better and cheaper products, and there are many producers who can offer yam of a satisfactory quality level. High priority is given to there action tiTne (quick response). The yam quality has to conform to the requirements of the processes leading to the end product. Thus, in order to be able to compete, ne must invest continuously. Although a certain amount of unemployment is apparent at the moment, there is also a lack of competent and experienced technologists with a good knowledge of the complete textile process (Frey, 1992) (see figure 1).

In order to satisfy the expectations of the customer, the quality of the raw material and of the yarn is, in many cases, highly over-dimensioned for safety reasons and according to the motto: "Quality is when the customer returns and not the goods"

Quality, however, can be achieved with an efficient quality management system! A successful quality management system is based on close communication between the supplier, the manufacturer and the end-user. The spinning mill has to establish a partnership with the subsequent interfaces such astheweaving andknitting mill, aswell aswith theproducer of the raw material or his local agent. The agreement between the weaver on knitter and the spinner based on yam quality specifications can help to reduce the raw material costs and to improve the quality of the yarn.

This leads to the following four Key Statements For Quality Management, based on the ideas of PhUipp Crosby (Furter, 1992):

1.1 Quality means that the agreed requirements with respect to a product or a service are fulfilled.

As mentioned before, this is rather important. However, many quality problems in the textue industry, as well as customer complaints, are the result of the absence of suitable agreements.

1.2 Preventive rather than corrective action is taken.

Experience in the textile industry shows that prevention is practiced best where a profound knowledge of the manufacturing processes exists. In order to beable to take preventive action, permanent supervision of all production positions must be available, for example by an "On-Line" quality monitoring system.

1.3 The objective is to fulfil the requirements continuously, i.e., to attain zero-deviation.

The emphasis ties here on the word objective of not producing any faults at all. It is fairly true, that there will never be a zero-deviation as long as human beings are involved in the manufacturing process. But it is also a fact that yam or fabric produced 35 years ago would not be accepted with today's quality levels. To attain the zero-fault target, again an "On-Line" supervision of all production positions is necessary.

1.4 The cost of quality is to be measured in order to be able to correctly apply the means available, and in order to be able to assess the progress made.

In many companies, quality is still not considered a management duty. The costs for maintaining quality are not budgeted or they are insufficiently estimated. But the costs for manufacturing a correct product from the beginning can be much lower than taking back an off quality product or selling it at a reduced price. Finally, the financial loss can be even greater if you loose the customer due to continued off quality shipments.





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Document last modified July 8, 2004