Apparel Production, Quality Control and Maintenance
What the domain covers
This domain covers production planning, cutting, sewing line flow, finishing, inspection, defect analysis, and machine maintenance. Questions test quality standards, defect classification, and preventive maintenance.
Core rules and concepts
- Production stages: fabric inspection, marker making, cutting, bundling, sewing, finishing, pressing, final inspection, packing.
- Line balancing matches operation time to takt time so work does not pile up at one station.
- Quality control uses specifications, in-line checks, end-line checks, and final inspection. AQL sampling is common in export lots.
- Defects may be critical, major, or minor; critical defects affect safety or legality.
- Preventive maintenance follows schedules; breakdown maintenance repairs after failure.
Worked example
An inspector checks 80 garments and finds 4 defective pieces. Reasoning: percent defective = 4 ÷ 80 × 100 = 5%. If the lot standard allows no more than 4% defective, the lot fails. The next step is to classify the defects, trace them to operations, and check whether the fault is random or clustered at one machine or operator.
Traps that cost marks
- Relying only on final inspection instead of in-line checks.
- Confusing percent defective with defects per hundred units.
- Treating all defects as equal severity.
- Ignoring maintenance until breakdown stops the line.
Exam focus
Calculate the quality measure, classify the defect, then recommend a corrective action.