7 QC Tools in Apparel
7 QC Tools in Apparel
7 QC (Quality Control) tools are very effective for apparel or any other type of factory
to solve almost every type of problem in a factory operation. These are the tools of
troubleshooting quality issues, based on the numeric value. 7 QC tools in the
apparel industry are a set of data analysis tools used to support continuous quality
improvement efforts. If you can use these seven fundamental tools, then definitely
quality control will be effective for your company.
Benefits of 7 QC Tools
Histogram
The histogram is also a bar chart. It is a graphical chart based on numeric value for
showing the frequency distribution of the database. People become confused
among Histograms and Bar Charts. A histogram is used for continuous data, where
the bins represent ranges of data, while a bar chart is a plot of categorical variables.
Some authors recommend that bar charts have gaps between the rectangles to
clarify the distinction.
2.
Check Sheet (Tally Sheet)
The Check Sheet/Tally sheet is a simple document that is used for collecting data in
real-time and at the location where the data is generated. A document is typically a
blank form that is designed for the quick, easy, and efficient recording of the desired
information, which can be either quantitative or qualitative. When the information is
quantitative, the check sheet is sometimes called a tally sheet. A tally sheet to
collect data on the frequency of occurrences which custom-designed by the user.
3.
Cause-and-effect diagram (Ishikawa Diagram / Fishbone Diagram)
A cause-and-effect diagram looks like a fish that’s why it’s called Fishbone Diagram,
also called Ishikawa diagram, herringbone diagrams or Ishikawa diagrams, a
visualization tool for categorizing the potential causes of a problem in order to
identify its root causes. Causal diagrams created by Kaoru Ishikawa that show the
causes of a specific event. Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa developed the “Fishbone Diagram” at
the University of Tokyo in 1943. To break down (in successive layers of detail) root
causes that potentially contribute to a particular effect. This diagram is used in
process improvement methods to identify all of the contributing root causes
likely to be causing a problem.
If you find a problem and want to make a fishbone diagram. First, need
brainstorming about the defect to find out types of causes based on 6 basic things.
These are:
▪ Machine
▪ Manpower
▪ Environment
▪ Method
▪ Materials
▪ Measurement
Brainstorm all the possible causes of the problem. Ask: “Why does this happen?” As
each idea is given, the facilitator writes it as a branch from the appropriate category.
Causes can be written in several places if they relate to several categories. For
example, you can see fishbone in the below:
4. Pareto Chart (80/20 Rule)
A Pareto chart is a bar graph. The lengths of the bars represent frequency or cost
(time or money) and are arranged with the longest bars on the left and the shortest
to the right. In this way, the chart visually depicts which situations are more
significant.
The Pareto principle (also known as the 80–20 rule, the law of the vital few, and the
principle of factor sparsity) states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects
come from 20% of the causes. More generally, the Pareto Principle is the
observation (not law) that most things in life are not distributed evenly. In the apparel
industry, you can see the data in the below that first 5 defects covered 50% of a total
defect. So 80-20 rules will not cover all-time 80% problem for 20% causes. It can
mean all of the following things:
The scatter diagram graphs pairs of numerical data, with one variable on each axis,
to look for a relationship between them. If the variables are correlated, the points will
fall along a line or curve. The better the correlation, the tighter the points will hug the
line. The scatter diagram Collect pairs of data where a relationship is suspected.
6. Control Chart (Shewhart Chart)
Stratification is a method of dividing data into subcategories and classify data based
on a group, division, class, or level that helps in deriving meaningful information to
understand an existing problem. The main purpose of Stratification is to divide the
data and conquer the meaningful information to solve a problem. The visual nature
of the chart makes patterns jump out.