Department of Fashion Design and Technology

Uttara University
 Assignment on : Root cause analysis in Apparel Industry in Bangladesh

Submitted By : Submitted To :
Md.Amir Hossain Mr.Sudipta Bain

ID : 2171401011 Assistant Professor and Coordinator

Semester : 11th Department of FDT

Batch : 14th Uttara University

 Index
Serial Number Description

1. Abstract

2. Introduction

3. Literature Review

4. Root Cause Analysis for Quality Control in the

Apparel Industry of Bangladesh

5. Root causes of seam puckering

6. Root causes for the missing label in a garment

7. Root causes of stains in a garment

8. Root causes for broken stitch

9. Conclusion
Abstract
RMG Industry of Bangladesh has a great contribution in the economy of Bangladesh .From the
beginning of RMG Industry now it has become one of the most earning sources for Bangladesh
.In the era of Globalization the competition is getting higher and higher in RMG industries like
other industries .To survive in the global market the manufactures are improving better quality
service by developing latest design features and using the latest technologies to the
garmnets.The main objectives of this report is to indicate the root causes of sewing defects of
apparel industry of Bangladesh and the continuous improvement in reducing the defects through
Kaizen (continuous improvement )system

Introduction
Most root causes can be easily identified by discussing with the experts and can easily represent
with the graphical diagrams, and the last phase, continuous improvement. Kaizen
implementation is the vital phase of minimize defects in apparel industry . Kaizen is a Japanese
word which means to take something in order to make it better. In here, I am taking quality
control defects to reduce the number of apparel quality defects by using Kaizen method. Kaizen
technique is used to continuously improve the defect situation. Kaizen process starts with
brainstorming the process and then finally implement the action to get the results.

Literature Review
The root cause analysis or RCA is a standardized problem-solving tool used to relate the root
cause of any fault or problems. This is one of the seven basic Quality Control Tools which are
graphical techniques used to troubleshoot issues related to quality. This method of finding root
causes is also known as Fishbone Diagram and Cause-and-effect diagram. In this report I discuss
the steps used for preparing a root cause analysis diagram and a few examples of applying this
tool in quality control in the apparel manufacturing industry.
Root cause analysis comes to an effective tool that can be used to solve such problems and
perform any corrective and comprehensive system based review of any defects, irrespective of
its criticality. It does so by focusing on pinpointing the root cause of the specific defects and its
contributing causes. After that these factors are represented in a pictorial representation
wherein all the factors are sorted according to their groups which lead to the effect. This makes
visualization much easy for analysis of the problem.
 Root Cause Analysis for Quality Control in the Apparel Industry
The quality of any apparel is depended a lot on the absence of any defects. And this can be made
possible and consistent only if the quality in the manufacturing is kept at a strict control. Defects
in apparel can arise from cutting, sewing, finishing etc. only to name a few and the key job of any
quality management team is to figure out the key source/cause of such defect to rectify it. And
Root Cause Analysis comes a great way to identify those defects and work on them.
The following are some basic examples of defects of which the root causes have been found out
through this method.

Finding the root cause of seam puckering

Seam puckering in one of the common problems found in the garment seam. The appearance of puckering
in a garment is not desirable. So, to eliminate the generating puckering in a seam can do root cause
analysis and prepare this diagram. If the possible causes are listed down in the cause-and-effect diagram,
we will find the following.

Puckering can be generated due to - incompatible sewing thread and fabric, fabric feeding in a sewing
machine, unskilled sewing operator, components that are sewn together may not be equal in
measurement. The cause might be machine set-up - the machine is not adjusted to fabric or thread
tension is not set-up correctly.

Machinery Manpower
/People

Machine not adjusted to fabric Unskilled operator

Improper thread tension

Seam
puckering

measurement not similar Fabric feeding Incompatible sewing

Measurement Method Material

Fishbone diagram for seam puckering

Finding the root cause for the missing label in a garment
The possible causes for 'label missing' in a finished garment can be one of the following.

Manpower
/People

Label in wrong position

Improper cutting of label

Label
Label Procurement missing

Method

Fishbone diagram for label Missing

Finding the root cause of stains in a garment
The possible causes for 'stains' in a garment can be one of the following. This diagram will help
to find the root cause in a systematic way. After finding the root cause, we can prepare a plan
on how to avoid such stains in the garment.

Machinery Manpower Environment

/People

Rust in sewing ,washing Improper material handling Dirty workplace

Neglect in machine cleaning

Oil,
Satin
Improper handling of large component Finishing chemicals rust spot

Method Material

Fishbone diagram for oil ,satin rust spot

Finding the root cause for broken stitch
Broken stitches are commonly found in a garment seam and broken stitch in a garment is a
critical defect. To reduce the frequency of such defect generation, we can do the root cause
analysis. Here the possible reasons for broken stitches in garments shown in four categories.

Manpower
Machinery /People

Improper threading Unskilled labor

Thread tension Incorrect needle positioning

Improper pressure foot

Broken
stitch
Improper feeding of fabric Wrong thread size

Poor thread quality

Method Material

Fishbone diagram for Broken stitch

Conclusion
The above are only a few examples of defects. After the causes are identified these need to be handed
over to the responsible person for corrective action and execution. The important feature of this chart is
that once the format is set at destined places such as in-line, end-line inspection the causes and effect
can be made dynamic and changed depending on defects and style change.