Textile Quality Manager

1. Fabric & Raw Material Quality Management

• Establish quality parameters for fabrics, yarns, trims, accessories, and other textile raw materials.
• Inspect incoming fabrics and raw materials against approved specifications and quality standards.
• Check fabric construction, composition, GSM, width, shade, hand feel, appearance, and other applicable parameters.
• Identify defects such as weaving/knitting defects, stains, holes, slubs, colour variation, streaks, bowing, skewing, and other fabric irregularities.
• Ensure only approved-quality materials are released for production.
• Maintain inspection records and supplier quality performance data.

2. Pre-Production Quality Control

• Review buyer specifications, tech packs, approved samples, lab dips, strike-offs, colour standards, and quality requirements before production.
• Establish clear quality checkpoints and inspection criteria for each product/order.
• Coordinate with Merchandising, Sourcing, Production, and Design teams to understand buyer-specific requirements.
• Ensure quality standards are communicated clearly to suppliers and production teams before bulk production starts.

3. Fabric Testing & Laboratory Coordination

• Coordinate textile testing as per buyer requirements and applicable standards.

• Monitor testing parameters such as:

• Colourfastness

• Shrinkage

• Fabric strength

• GSM

• Dimensional stability

• Pilling

• Abrasion

• Composition

• Washing performance

• Other buyer-specific parameters

• Review laboratory test reports and ensure corrective actions for failed parameters.

• Coordinate with internal and external testing laboratories wherever required.

4. Colour & Shade Management

• Control colour consistency from lab dip/strike-off to bulk production.
• Review and approve colour standards, lab dips, shade bands, and bulk fabric against buyer-approved standards.
• Monitor shade variation within and between fabric lots.
• Coordinate with Dyeing/Processing teams and suppliers to resolve colour deviations.
• Maintain proper records of approved colour standards and submissions.

5. Production Quality Control

• Monitor quality at different stages of production rather than relying only on final inspection.
• Establish and monitor inline, mid-line, and final inspection processes.
• Conduct regular production-floor quality audits.
• Identify recurring defects and work with production teams to eliminate their root causes.
• Ensure production teams follow approved quality procedures and buyer specifications.

6. Garment / Finished Product Quality

• Ensure finished products comply with approved samples, measurements, workmanship, appearance, and construction requirements.
• Monitor stitching, finishing, pressing, packing, labelling, trims, accessories, and overall presentation.
• Conduct final inspections before shipment.
• Ensure defects are identified and corrected before goods are packed and dispatched.

7. Buyer Quality Compliance

• Understand and implement individual buyer quality manuals, inspection procedures, tolerances, and specifications.
• Ensure production and suppliers are aligned with buyer-specific quality requirements.
• Coordinate buyer inspections and address observations raised during inspections.
• Maintain proper documentation for buyer approvals, inspection reports, testing reports, and corrective actions.

8. AQL & Final Inspection Management

• Establish appropriate inspection procedures for finished goods.
• Manage final inspections based on applicable AQL requirements and buyer standards.
• Review inspection results and determine acceptance/rejection of shipments based on defined quality criteria.
• Coordinate corrective actions for failed inspections.
• Ensure rejected goods are reworked, re-inspected, and cleared before shipment.

9. Supplier Quality Management

• Evaluate and monitor the quality performance of fabric mills, processing units, garment manufacturers, dyeing/printing units, and other suppliers.
• Conduct supplier quality audits where required.
• Develop supplier quality scorecards covering quality, consistency, responsiveness, and corrective-action performance.
• Work closely with suppliers to improve quality and reduce rejection rates.
• Support Sourcing and Procurement teams in supplier evaluation and development.

10. Quality Issue & Root Cause Analysis

• Investigate customer complaints, production defects, inspection failures, and shipment rejections.
• Conduct Root Cause Analysis (RCA) for recurring quality issues.
• Implement and monitor Corrective and Preventive Actions (CAPA).
• Track closure of quality issues and ensure the same defect does not recur.
• Maintain a database of major quality issues and preventive actions.

11. Quality Documentation & MIS

• Maintain quality inspection reports, test reports, approval records, defect reports, supplier evaluations, and audit documentation.

• Prepare regular quality MIS for management.

• Track key quality indicators such as:

• Defect rate

• Rejection rate

• First-pass quality

• Supplier quality performance

• Customer complaints

• Inspection failures

• Rework percentage

• Analyse quality trends and recommend improvement actions.

12. Cross-Functional Coordination

• Work closely with Merchandising, Sourcing, Production, Design, Sampling, Stores, Logistics, and Management.
• Participate in pre-production and production review meetings.
• Provide technical quality inputs during product development and sourcing.
• Ensure quality concerns are communicated immediately to the relevant stakeholders.

13. Export Shipment Quality

• Ensure shipment quantities are inspected and cleared as per buyer requirements before dispatch.
• Verify packaging, carton quality, assortment, labelling, barcode, tags, folding, and presentation requirements wherever applicable.
• Coordinate with Merchandising and Logistics teams to ensure quality clearance is completed within shipment timelines.
• Prevent shipment delays caused by unresolved quality issues.

14. Team Management & Training

• Lead and develop the Quality Control/Quality Assurance team.
• Allocate inspection responsibilities and monitor team performance.
• Train QC staff on fabric defects, garment workmanship, inspection procedures, buyer standards, and quality documentation.
• Conduct regular training and quality awareness sessions for production and supplier teams.

15. Continuous Improvement

• Identify opportunities to reduce defects, rework, rejection, and quality-related costs.
• Develop preventive quality systems rather than relying only on final inspection.
• Introduce improved inspection methods, quality checkpoints, and reporting systems.
• Analyse recurring defects and implement long-term process improvements.
• Drive a strong Right First Time” quality culture across the organization.

Key Performance Areas

• Fabric & garment quality
• Buyer complaint reduction
• Supplier quality performance
• AQL inspection performance
• Reduction in rejection and rework
• On-time quality clearance
• Compliance with buyer specifications
• Testing and quality documentation
• Root cause analysis and CAPA closure
• Quality team performance
• Customer satisfaction