Testing and QC in

Textiles
Dr Engr Md Saifur Rahman
National Expert, Testing and QC
BQSP (Textile/RMG Component)
 Role of Textile Industry on
Bangladesh Economy
 Provides 4.7 million jobs of which 70% are women
 78% of nation’s total export earnings (~USD 9 billion)
 Contributes 10.5% to GDP
 Creates 1 million indirect employment in related
areas
 9,800 PT and RMG companies
 Faces challenge from big competitors
 Quality and productivity improvement key to survival

Jan 2008, TSMU, MOT&J

State of PT and RMG Industries
 54% companies want to expand in export market,
13% want to be the market leader
 21% practice systematic QC & 2% practice
compliance (ISO series, labor safeguard etc.) very
efficiently
 31% newer spinning mills have latest testing
equipments, 8% RMG factories have good testing
facility, 7-18% have labs without skilled personnel
 49% neither have labs nor proper knowledge of QC
standards; only go to SGS, BV, ITS etc. under
pressure from buyers

UNIDO-sponsored Survey, May 2006

 Quality Means Profit and Growth
 Quality and productivity are closely related
 Undetected defects cost money and time
 Essential to quickly identify a defect and its causes
and eradicate it in shortest time
 Consistency in quality should be maintained by
testing raw materials, intermediates and final
products regularly
 Online process control to achieve premium quality
 Final products must conform to international
standards and should be globally competitive in price
 Quality Key Issue in Export
 Bigger competitors with no restrictions
 TBT, new regulations on textile imports by importing
countries (e.g. REACH, Organotins, Phthalates)
 More than 100,000 international standards, thousand
new more introduced each year
 Environmental and social compliance major issues
for Bangladesh textile export
 Awareness needed among suppliers about newer
standards and to share responsibility with the buyers
in the serviceability and safety of end product
 Testing and QC Scenario at Present I

 Surveyed 10 top and medium-ranking textile companies as well

as commercial testing facilities and a few educational
institutions
 Except commercial service providers, none maintain standard
testing atmosphere (Temp & RH)
 Some PT companies have latest costly machines but need
more trained & qualified personnel, companies face difficulty to
keep such persons in job after providing foreign training and
better salary
 Textile graduates, diploma holders and science graduates
working in labs know very little about ISO standards, new
regulations, necessity of daily calibration and high level of
accuracy required in testing
Testing and QC Scenario at Present II
 Nearly all of the test sample pass the harmful azo
test, but frequently fail in toxic metals and harmful
chemical tests
 Small & medium-scale companies cannot afford to
buy costly testing equipments and to have highly
paid qualified personnel and need support in testing
and QC at a minimum cost
 Some companies need their personnel to undergo
training and skill development in various standards
and how to operate and maintain sophisticated
machines
 Conclusion
 An accredited and fully equipped
laboratory in NITTRAD could provide
necessary support to the most of the PT
and RMG companies in terms of training,
skill development, testing services etc.
 Improvement in quality will increase
competitiveness of Bangladesh textile
exports and ensure sustainable growth