A Study on Quality Management in Micro Apparel Manufacturing Companies in Chennai Region

Abstract

Indian Textile Industry has historically served as a forefront in supplying the finest textile products to the rest of the world for many centuries and well known for its abundant resources. It exhibits rich cultural heritage of India with wide variety of fabrics, techniques and hues that reflect the diverse set of people and traditions across the country. This industry has prime importance because it accounts for 15 percent of total exports of our country and the second largest in providing employment opportunities. The textile industry is broadly classified into three segments namely Clothing textiles, Home furnishings and Technical textiles with Apparel manufacturing coming under clothing textiles. newlineIn India, apparels are produced in a very large scale to meet the demand of domestic as well as export markets by the large, medium, small and micro manufacturing companies. Most of the Micro Apparel manufacturers are not well versed with proper quality standards / quality follow-ups as they are functioning with an investment of less than 25Lakhs. The entire activities of apparel manufacturing are looked after by just few personnel in most of the micro apparel manufacturers unlike small and large manufacturers where they have a separate quality assurance department. There is no continual monitoring on the quality of the goods both inwards and outwards. In the final inspections issues surface e.g. some of the orders go for recheck, repair and some of the defects would be non- rectifiable and in extreme cases even reject. newlineThe study was undertaken to understand the quality management practices, number of orders undertaken, orders passed, orders rechecked, frequency of recurring defects and other major reasons for non-conformance of quality requirements in the micro apparel manufacturing units and hypothesis were accordingly formulated. A questionnaire with 7 main variables and 82 sub variables was designed comprehensively to get responses on A study on quality management in micro apparel manufacturing companies in Chennai region . For the purpose of the study, Convenience sampling is used for collecting the data. To test the proposed hypothesis, data collected from 252 micro apparel units. A sample of 252 respondents was administered with a pre-tested close ended questionnaire containing 106 statements. newlineThe data collected through questionnaire were scrutinized, edited and tabulated and were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). The statistical tools such as Percentage analysis, One sample t-test, one way ANOVA, Bivariate Correlation, Simple Regression Analysis, Multiple Regression Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling were used for the analysis. Chronbach s alpha of 0.84 showed that 84.0% of reliability for main study. Robustness of questionnaire well established through reliability and validity checking. Assumptions for regression analysis were met prior to undertaking analysis. newlineThrough the analysis, it was found that the companies which are following the below mentioned key functions properly are producing quality merchandise and issues related quality very minimal in their units. newlineand#61607; Separate quality team newlineand#61607; Engaging Qualified personnel newlineand#61607; Recording all the frequently occurring defects and communicating to the respective departments newlineand#61607; Having aware of cost of poor quality newlineand#61607; Proper follow-ups in general procedures, cutting, sewing department, inline and final checking newlineThe study revealed that the companies functioning with separate quality assurance team are producing quality products and passing its orders in the first inspection itself through the proper follow-up in all the stages of apparel production without re-inspection. The study has also revealed that the departments in which more attention is required and also the details of frequently occurring defects. It has thrown a light on the actual quality level of the micro apparel units and the area to be focused to improve the quality produced merchandise. newlineThe implications, limitations, directions for future research and recommendations have been discussed in the thesis. newline