Quality Certification in Textiles

Deepti Bohra (M.Tech Scholar)

MLV Textile and Engineering College, Bhilwara
Email bohra.deepti@gmail.com
Abstract: Marking and quality certification of products and services have become very
important in today's rapidly changing business scenario. This paper present different type of
textile industry certification, importance of it and application of certification in textile. Marking
and quality certification of products and services have become very important in today's rapidly
changing business scenario. The present paper will help the readers to understand certification
and its process, benefits of certification in textile .Also include type of ISO certification and how
to implements in textile industry

Keywords: ISO, Quality, Oeko-Tex 100, TQM.

1. Introduction
In the changing world, the importance of quality system in organization is increase day by day.
To keep pace with the market scenario, industries rely more on quality and innovative fabrics,
and apparels, and quick response to the needs of the customer. Innovations in the fields of nano
textiles, nonwovens, electro textiles, medical textiles, and geo textiles are providing new
opportunities for the manufacturers and tap the market. Simultaneously, these opportunities also
encompass them with critical challenges. Organizations today engage in many international trade
activities, and this certification proves a pre-requisite for their survival in international
competition. ISO certification helps the companies in market creation and penetration.
Implementation of ISO 9000 requires the establishment and development of a documented
system, and the involvement of all the employees in adhering to it.

2 Applications in the Textile and Apparel Industries

Textile and apparel industries have many complicated activities and challenges involved in the
course of its operation. Their operation incurs heavy expenditure to the manufacturers. Many
textile and apparel industries have implemented ISO standards to lower its operating costs and
improve the quality of its output, ultimately increasing the level of customer satisfaction. Textile
and apparel industries account for a sizable percent of manufacturing jobs in a global
perspective. They employ millions of people directly and indirectly. They form a massive
industrial complex and prove to be a big contributor among the manufacturing industries of any
country. With ISO many other certification are use in textile industries which also described in
this paper. Some textile and apparel industries view ISO certification is only necessary as a
factor for exports. But, the main matter of concern in textile industry is that an imperative
relation exists between the quality of the materials and the quality of the final product. ISO
standards enable the industry to enhance the quality of raw material input, thereby strengthening
the quality of the ultimate product. This will result in a systematic approach to management,
incessant performance improvement, factual approach towards the decision making process, and
a mutually benefiting suppliers relationship. Thus is helps the manufacturers in 'Weaving a
Quality Industry'[1, 2]
Term which used in textile industry certification
1. TQM(Total Quality Management)
2. Quality control
3. Quality Assurances
4. Inspection

TQM: TQM is customer driven and continue process which involves whole origination. Main
object is customer satisfaction.
Different authors give different definitions of TQM & Quality

3 What products can be certified?

In principle, all Textile products can be certified as well as the accessories used in products.
Examples of products that can be certified are: Fiber, Yarn, Grey fabric, Finished fabric, Buttons
and zippers, Finished garments, Sheets Towels and Labels Oeko-Tex 100 sets different
requirements for different types of products.

4 Major Certifications
Following are some major certifications:
1) ISO 9000/ 9001/2000

2) ISO 14001

3) OHSAS 18001

4) SA 8000

5) ISO 17799/BS 7799/BS 15000

6) Oeko-Tex 100

Benefits of ISO
Implementation of ISO helps the textile and apparel industries to enhance their product and
process quality, minimizes defective supplies and reworking. Furthermore, it can also be used as
a marketing tool. As it is a well-recognized standard for quality, it shows the customers that the
company takes quality seriously. ISO certified companies focus more on the quality of its
products and operations. It also motivates the employees in improving quality. The cost of
implementing ISO is comparatively cheaper to the benefits derived out of it. Many ISO certified
companies positively assert that their total costs went down to a considerable extent regarding
quality maintenance after the implementation of ISO.[1]

4.1 ISO 9000

Quality management system base on 8 principal.
1.

Customer focus

2.

Leadership

3.

Involvement of people

4.

Process Approach

5.

System approach to management

6.

Continuous Improvement

7.

Factual approach to decision making

8.

Mutually beneficial supplier relationships

Quality Management System : Fundamentals & standards (ISO 9000:2000)

Quality Management System Requirement (ISO 9001:2000)
Quality Management System Guidelines for Performance (ISO 9004:2000)
Fundament Concept of Quality Management (ISO 9000:2005)
ISO 9001/2000

Gaining competitive advantage through quality

In term of textile it certified Quality Management System, process and process sequence

Background
Successful companies are those driven by quality from the way they operate, to the customer
service standards they set and the products they deliver. Focusing on quality makes for a learner,
fitter organization, and one that is better equipped to win new opportunities in an increasingly
competitive global marketplace. Certifying your organization to ISO 9001 offers proof of your
commitment to quality and, as a benchmark, allows you to measure your progress towards
continual improvement of business performance

Benefits to Organization
ISO 9001: 2000 is an international standard related to quality management, applicable to any
organization from all types of business sectors and activities. It is based on eight quality
management principles (all fundamental to good business practice) when fully adopted these
principles can help improve your organizational performance.

Implementation of ISO 9000 in a Indian Textile Unit

For implementing ISO 9000, the following points were considered:
1. The time target for implementation was short because of the immediate effort given to
exports.
2. The mill is located in a rural area and was the first mill to attempt ISO 900 certification in
this region.
3. There was a language barrier, i.e. only the local language was for all internal
communication.
So the work started with interacting with top management

Top Management Involvement

Top management commitment and involvement were first assured for the planning of
implementation of ISO 9000. The management realized the need for proper planning,
maintenance and control in implementing the system. Some of the activities taken were:
1. Planning for development and implementation of the system and distribution of the plan
to all management staff. This was finalized after discussion with the management staff.
2. The formation of a task force for developing and implementing the QS.
3. Ensuring employee participation in the formulation of quality policy and objectives.
4. Planning for required training programmes.

Training Programmes
The next step taken by management was to impart necessary training to all employees. The
training programmes were conducted by the consultancy organization. It was ensured that all
employees attended the relevant training programme.

In the second stage, a training programme on implementation of ISO 9000 was conducted by the
organization in a top-down manner. Initially the MD and MR trained the other members of the
management committee, who later became the trainers for the task force members

Quality Improvement Study

During review, formal and informal audits, certain deficiencies were identified in order to
remove these deficiencies, team member work on it and study ,solve it . One of the deficiencies
was identified at first processing stage, i.e. at the blow room. Cleaning efficiency (CE) at the
blow room is an important quality characteristic, and this was 49% against the standard of 60%.
The problem discussed by the team possible causes were identified. Other studies which Yielded
encouraging results are given in Table

Certification (Initial) Audit

Four months after the trial implementation, audit leading to certification was carried out by a
leading certification agency. Twenty-seven NCRs were raised by the auditors, and they were
closed during the audit period itself. [4]

Table 1. Results of quality improvement studies

4.2 ISO 14000

Indian textile industry having positive experience with ISO 9000 quality management system ,is
poised to adopt ISO14000 standard to better environment protections and safety.
ISO 14000 Proving your responsibility to the environment

Benefits to Organization

ISO 14001 is part of a series of international standards applicable to any organization, anywhere,
relating to environmental management. Based on the Plan Do Check Act cycle, ISO 14001
specifies the most important requirements to identify, control and monitor the environmental
aspects of any organization, and also how to manage and improve the whole system. Some
business benefits are:
Customer, investor, public, community assurance by demonstrating commitment, Improving cost
control through conserving input materials and energy, Reducing incidents that result in liability,
therefore reduces insurance costs, Assisting the attainment of permits and authorizations for local
trade.
Benefits of EMS (ISO 14000)
Receiving certification to ISO 14001 standards demonstrates that the organization has an EMS
that conforms to these globally accepted standards and that it is continually improving its
environmental performance. ISO 14001 standards, therefore, help organizations to: Achieve
market-place recognition through enhanced corporate image, Satisfy regulatory and legal
requirements, Minimize legal and financial risk, reduce operating cost, Improve operational

efficiency by better utilization of materials and resources, and. Improve staff morale and work
environment
Implementation of ISO 14001 in Indian Textile Unit
Alps Industries is one of the first few textile industries in India who have voluntarily opted for
ISO 14001 certification as an initiative to protect and preserve the environment from pollution
ISO 14001 is a part of the overall management system which includes organizational , structural
and planning activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources for
developing, implementing, achieving, reviewing and maintaining the EMS on a continual basis.
The EMS starts from establishing commitment in the form of environment policy followed by
plan-do check- act cycle for total system improvement (Fig. 1). [3,5]
Environmental policy
Planning
Implementation and operation
Checking and corrective action
Management review
Fig. 1 Plan-do check- act cycle

4.3 SA8000

Enhancing your company reputation through social responsibility

4.4 CERTIFICATION CORRESPONDING TO OEKE-TEX 100 STANDARDS(STeP)

Sustainable Textile production (STeP) is the new OEKO-TEX@ certification system for brands,
Textile chain manufacturing , retail company. Oeko-Tex 100 is the most well known label for

Textile products. Particularly in Europe more and more importers require the Oeko-Tex 100
label for the products supplied to them. Oeko-Tex 100 is a label that focuses on minimizing the
presence of dangerous chemicals in Textile products. The reason why more and more European
importers require Oeko-Tex 100 is on the one hand that consumers are becoming aware that they
and their children are exposed to hazardous substances in Textiles when wearing their garments,
on the other hand, there is a very complex situation in Europe as far as legislation is concerned.
There for example exists harmonized legislation that is applicable in all 25 European Union
Member States for the presence of hazardous amines from azo-dyes in Textile and leather
articles in contact with skin.
Object of Step certification is environmentally friendly production process.
The certificated textile with Oeke-Tex label must respect over 100 criteria of human ecology
concerning the detection of injurious of health substances. These criteria are periodical revised to
content the more recent information about noxious substances, their normal ranges, detection
techniques, offering an equal or more rigorous standard as the imposed legal standards.
The Testing Covers The Main Criteria As:
The Ph Value (Acidity Or Basicity), The Bioacids, The Chlorinated Phenols (E.G.
Pentachlorinephenol Pcp), Colorants (Allergenic Or Azinic Colorants), Fireproof Substances,
Heavy Metals That Can Be Remove, Formaldehyde
Colorant/Free Coloring, Phthalate, Pesticides
The Textile Goods Were Divided In Four Classes:
Baby textile, textile with direct contact the skin, textile without direct contact with the skin,
decorative textile
Each class of textile contents a group of different articles used in the same purpose. The
components of the articles, for each class can be certificated in all phases fiber, threads, tissues
and knitting) but the accessories and the finite goods can be certificated too. Today, over 5000
textile and wear producers from 75 countries use the Eco-Tex system to improve the quality of

their goods. Over 30 000 certificates have liberated. The implementation of Eco-Tex 100
standard contributes to increased importance of ecological Oeke-Tex label for the consumers.
The advantages offer by the Oeke-Tex 1000 standard:
1. It offers competitive advantage showing that the technological developments from
production

process are reflected in environment protection.

2. The certification system is available at international level, beside the EU EMAS system
can be used only in European Union.
3. The consumer receives a high level of protection. The goods from a certificated center
fulfill the ecology of human resource too.
4. The certificated goods refer at all production yards, beside the EU EMAS system that
evaluate only one production place.
The certification corresponding to the Oeke-Tex 100 plus standard
This certification it can be made in some conditions if the company was certificated conform the
Oeke-Tex 1000 standard and if the goods was previous certificated Oeke -Tex
100.[6].Certification process will take step as shown in fig. 2

Fig.2 Process of certifications

4.5 ISO 17799/ BS 7799/ BS 15000
Helping you for the security of your business.

Background
Information is most valuable asset to your organization. Virtually every business now depends
on information and information technology. The larger and more complex these systems become
the greater the disruption should they fail. For many organizations, in healthcare, transport,
utilities and finance for example, system failure of mission critical networks can spell total
disaster. Protection (against system failure or security risks) is a key concern, not only for your,
but also clients, suppliers etc.
Approximately 882 operative licenses are operative in banking sector, chemicals, cement,
construction, dairy plants, education, electricity generation, engineering services, health sector,
insurance, information technology, mining, machinery, petroleum, plastic, pharmaceuticals,
textiles, telecommunications, transport, wood, etc.[3]

Benefits to Organization
Organization can protect themselves from potential system failure or misuse by investing in an
independent audit of information security management systems. The BS 7799 standard, involves
a thorough review of all aspects of IT security. From data loss, unauthorized access and virus
attack to electronic commerce, hacking and disaster recovery, the BS 7799 initiative carefully
assesses the risks to your business and highlights the areas where improvements need to be
made. BS7799 sets a new standard for handling of sensitive information. An information security
management system has A Certificate tells your existing and potential customers you have
defined processes in operation. The certification process helps you to focus on continuous
improvement of your information security thus enabling greater information exchanges with
your key partners and clients [7]

5] Conclusions
We conclude that implementation of ISO 9000 certification achieves organization performance
excellence, they are moving towards total quality management and management realized the
benefits of the system. ISO 14000certification provide to textile company effective frame work
for developing environment benign process and products improving environmental performance

and reduce cost of environment responsibility. Also understand certification process and some
important term which used in certification.

6] Reference
1]

ISO Certification for Textile and Apparel Industries Fibre2Fashion.com

2]

http://www.iso9000council.org

3]

PradipV.Meht, Indian Apparel Industry Survey Report Benefiting from ISO

Certification, Stitch World, Vol VI, Issue 8, October 2008

4]

Ashok Sarkar, Implementation of ISO 9000 in a textile mill, Total quality management,
Vol- 9,NO. 1, pp.123-131, 1998

5]

Mangala Joshi Environmental management systems for the textile industry A case
study, Indian Journal of Fibre & Textile Research Vol. 26, pp. 33-38, March-June 2001

6]

Compliance with International Standards - Guidelines for Textile Industry

7]

http://en.wikipedia.org