EXECUTIVEPAGESDefect Classsification – Zones
When inspecting garments for cleanliness and fabric flaws, the location of the defect and its effect on
the appearance and performance of a garment must be taken into consideration. Size and severity also
have an impact on the acceptability. Defects which are noticeable on a garment but are not in the focal
area of the garment may not be a cause for garment rejection if the garment’s performance, fit or
general appearance is not impaired. Our standard defect classification for all merchandising catego-
ries; Fabric, Appearance, Color, Shade, Workmanship & Construction, Cleanliness and Packing is
classified using zones.
Zero Tolerance – Zero Tolerance covers the entire garment and applies to any sharp objects or a
chemical product that poses a safety hazard to the customers. (Example: broken needles, sharp burrs/
hardware, harsh chemical reaction to the end user). Zero tolerance will be classified under CRITICAL
defect. Critical Defect: A defect likely to result in a hazardous or unsafe condition for an individual
using the product or fails to meet Government mandatory regulations. One Critical Defect found during
the inspection would cause the final QA audit to fail. The failure will be resulting in a 100% inspection
by factory to remove all critical defect items prior to re-inspection again by a 3rd party auditor or
PacSun QA Manager. Zone A - Where the visual appearance of the garment is considered a MAJOR
area of critical importance. Major Defect: Anything that adversely affects the appearance, perfor-
mance including fit or customer satisfaction to a degree that would provide a discerning customer with
justification for no purchase, a return or complaint. Zone B – Where the visual appearance of the
garment is considered a Minor area of importance but not critical. This is not as noticeable to the
person wearing the garment or to an observer at first glance. Minor Defect: Any variation from the
standard that is not sufficient in degree to be classified as major, and that would not provide a discern-
ing customer with justification for non-purchase, a return or complaint. Counting of defects: When the
number of defects is being recorded, a single defect is taken into account. In every case it will be the
most serious defect encountered by the individual sample being inspected regardless of the character-
istic.
Example, when a garment being inspected contains both a Major defect and a Minor defect the most
severe defect (Major defect) will be classified a defect on the inspection report. Minor defects will be
tallied at the end of the inspection by using the formula: 3 minor defects = 1 major defect. e.g. If the
inspectors totaled 10 minor defects on the visual report, the minors will be calculated using the formula
above. In this case 10 minors = 3 majors. All major defects will be added to the major defects list.
Exceeding the allowed amount of major defects will results in a failed inspection and must be 100%
screen for all major defects encountered.
ments depending on the destination market’s regulations, so a quality control checklist usually includes
a section defining the standards for those specific markets.
Textiles destined for the European Union must comply with REACH directives, while products for the US
market are regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). Saudi Arabia has its
own standards and regulations under SASO.
The EU’s REACH directives are widely considered a world standard for regulating textiles and all other
products for the EU market. Textile manufacturers must be able to prove that any of the toxic chemicals
regulated by REACH are within safe limits.
What Should Be Included in a Garment Quality Control Checklist for Textile Testing?
Along with the checklist, the following tools are usually required by quality control inspectors to carry out
inspections. You should make sure these tools are either brought by any third-party QC inspectors, or
made available for inspections along with your quality control checklist.
Measuring tape: Durable strip of flexible plastic or fiberglass with metric (cm) and imperial (inches)
measurements to verify general retail packaging and shipping boxes. Dial calipers: More accurate than
tape measures, calipers are used for more precise measurements of products such as the thickness of
materials. Digital camera: Photographic evidence of defects or before-and-after photos of textiles and
products can save a lot of time when any questions need to be answered over long distances. Defect
stickers: These are an essential part of the quality inspector’s arsenal, used to easily keep track of
products marked as defective as well as to pointing out or describe the defect. Tracking defects with
stickers saves time and money. Pantone color swatch: This allows quality control inspectors to make
color comparisons during inspections against specific color codes determined by the manufacturer. This
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