Fabric Store Department

The Fabric Store Department and accessories stores are centralized in the apparel industry, and all the fabrics and accessories first come from the supplier to the unit and are audited here and kept until distributed to other departments.

Maintaining a well-organized & well-equipped inventory of the system is essential.

This department's main responsibility is to store all the raw materials needed to make the garments.

Fabric dispatched from supplier
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Fabric receiving
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Fabric details entry by security guards
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Fabric checking by Fabric Dept
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Inspection
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Quality checking for defects
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Send to the merchandiser for approval
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Fabric lot approval/rejection
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Kept in store

The 4-Point fabric inspection method is commonly used for fabric quality inspection in the apparel industry. 

You need to learn the following items to use this system.

Type of fabric inspection or preparation.

Criteria for giving penalty points based on defects and length of the defect.  

Total penalty points measurement system for total defects contained in a roll of fabric or as a test sheet or format for data recording.

Knowledge of various types of defects (how a defect feels, and how it appears).

Fabric Inspection Method

Fabric is the primary raw material for the manufacture of clothes, comprising 60-70 percent of the total cost of clothing. 

To ensure that only quality fabric is used in garments, the factory takes precautionary measures and establishes a department for fabric inspection with qualified personnel.

According to quality standards, the factory prepares through three reports before cutting bulk production and receives approval from the authorized person. 

Fabric inspection report

Fabric shrinkage report

Shade band report for 100 percent fabric rolls (applicable to dyed and printed fabrics).

The three reports above are sent within "48 hours" of in-house fabric for approval.

Initially, only 10 percent of the fabric rolls are inspected on a 4-Point System according to Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).

If there is any question about approval, 10 percent of the total rolls of fabric will be checked.

Many factories tend to inspect 100% of the fabric to ensure that only quality fabric is cut and fed to the line.

Inspectors mark all the defects during fabric inspection so they can spot them during spreading and remove the pieces after cutting.

If a fabric is cut without being inspected, complete responsibility will be in the department of fabric quality inspection, as this is a critical aspect of the violation.

Purpose: Decide whether to accept or reject tissue roll (For Woven).

Inspection of the fabric is carried out using 4-point method.

Guidelines for the movement of fabric Minimum index for checked rolls not to exceed "28 points/100yd² Total indexes for rolls not to exceed" 40 points/100yd².

Activity	Requirement
1.      Select rolls	Roll to be chosen at random
2.      Check the roll as per 4 points system.
3.      Give penalty points for defects
4.      Calculate index for each individual roll.	Points / 100 sq. yd.    =         (Total points in roll * 36 * 100)/   (Total length in yards * width in inches)
5.      Calculate final average index for the total no. of rolls inspected.
6.      Decide acceptance or rejection of the fabric

The following criteria are used to assign points for defects in both the warp and weft direction for woven and the course/wale direction for knits:

Maximum points measurement per yard In 4 point system fabric standard unit points/100 sq. yd are measured.  

Points / Sq. 100. Yd. (Total points in roll* 36* 100)/ (Fabric length in yards* Fabric width in inches)

Generally, Fabric roll with 40 points per 100 square yards are appropriate.

The length of the faults shall be measured in the direction of the warp or weft, and the direction in which the fault is the longest is the direction of the fault. However, when the length of warp and weft is the same and the penalty for the shorter direction is heavier, take the fault of the direction the penalty is heavier in.

When the fault in the warp direction exceeds 1 yd, the part that exceeds 1 yd is deemed to be the fault of others of the same type.

When two or more faults overlap, only apply the faults which are the heavier penalty.

When two or more faults occur within 1 yd range and the penalty points reach 4 points, the points above 4 points are not applied.

The inspector must be at a distance of 3 feet from the inspection table and the linear inspection speed should not be less than 0.1 meters per second when an inspection is carried out on a cloth inspection machine.

4-Point Inspection System: Acceptable level (Points per 100 square yards)

Textile manufacturers, clothing brands and consumers in the fashion and textile industries set their own standards for appropriate points. 

We use ASTM (American Society for the Testing of Materials) specifications.

Instead of just passing/failing the fabric roll or fabric lot several mills rate fabrics as first quality and second quality. Also, the number of penalty points per 100 square yards is measured based on.

Acceptable points can be described as points per 100 linear yards and points per 100 square yards, respectively. 

Furthermore, acceptable points are set at different levels for single roll and acceptable average points of all rolls.

As per quality manual of an International Buyer

Any defect that is running more than 4 continuous yards will cause the roll to be rejected.

Fabric width of up to 64-66 inches shall be classified as first quality if the number of penalty points per 100 linear yards do not exceed 50 points therein. 

Of fabric widths greater than 64-66 inches appropriate penalty points should be 50 per 100 linear yards. (Use 64 inches for calculation).

Acceptable levels of' points per 100 linear yards' or' points per 100 square yards' are usually different for different types of fabric.

For example:

28 points per 100 square yards (23 points per 100 square meters) for Cotton Twill/Denim fabric roll

For all synthetic fabrics 20 points per 100 square yards (16 points per 100 square meters) for individual fabric rolls.

Fabric shade band report:

For styles the necessary apparel washing is submitted before and after washing (3 sets each) covering all rolls and is attached to the continuity card of the shade.

A 100% shade band is made that covers all rolls and all colors relevant to a certain style/consignment and is accepted before the bulk fabric is cut.

Shade band preparation process: The production department gathers fabric panels covering all rolls within 6 hours of the store no sooner than the fabric is in house.

Cut 6 inches from roll top. 

Enter all panels by stitching the cover in the correct direction of the grain line to be in a blanket shape.

When the style is non-wash system two sets the is prepared.

If the style consists of a certain wash, then 4 blankets are prepared-2 unwashed blankets and 2 blankets with the style wash accurately approved.

Once the shade bands are ready, segregation is achieved by dye lot or hue. If the Shade Band consists of 2-3 different shades, these shades should be divided into A, B, C, Etc families. 

A copy of the shade segregation is sent to the department store, cutting room, merchandising, and production. Stores will not have a problem and the department of cutting and production will continue without mixing, as per the separated shades.

Fabric shrinkage report:

For all styles, a 100 percent Shrinkage report is submitted, and the washing shrinkage must be done according to the type of wash needed for the bulk.

Garment fit is a very significant factor in the customer's purchase decision.

Misfit will lead to premature rejection at any point in the garment's existence and give the brand a bad perception.

After each use, a garment is required to be washed and intended to maintain the same fit and appearance during the garment's lifetime.

For dimensional stability, the fabric must be checked. For this, shrinkage checks are conducted to adjust the patterns in the same ratio to avoid any measuring issues during the washing of the fabric.

Shrinkage Templates (25cm*25 cm or 50cm*50 cm) are used in industry for direct measurement of the shrinkage factor.

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