Technical Audit Checklist of Garments Industry

Technical Audit

Technical Audit is a process of auditing the production process, quality control, calibration, testing, procedures, and SOP implementation; overalled full manufacturing system’s technical examination and verifying process. And Technical audit is done by the customer or 3rd party based on a quality management system (QMS) like ISO or own QMS guideline line of a customer. Every garment buyer set a QMS guideline for their supplier/ vendor and periodically an audit takes place. Garments manufacturers have to go through a technical audit of their buyers if they want to get new orders and keep continue running the business.

Technical Audit Checklist of Garments Industry

A technical audit checklist of the garments industry has all the quality parameters for every section, from materials storage to finished goods shipment, everything is covered here. Here below checklist would help you to know about all the checkpoints of a technical checklist.

Raw Materials Storage and Inspection in Technical Audit Checklist

• What types of materials are used?                                          
• List any nominated sources of fabrics & accessories?
• Are all yarns, fabrics & trims purchased against a relevant specification?                                
• Are yarns, fabrics & trims checked for conformance on the receipt?                                 
• Are trim cards readily available?                               
• Are yarns, fabrics & trims tested?                                            
• Are there approved standards for lab dyes & handles for each fabric?                                        
• Are fabric & trims suppliers visited and audited?                               
• Are yarns, fabric & trims rejections monitored?                                 
• What is done with rejected fabrics/trims?
• Are incoming materials inspected against specifications/samples?                          
• Is there a formal inspection system in place and does it guarantee the quality of the raw materials?
• Are the above defect classifications clearly documented?                             
• Are adequate written inspection instructions available for inspectors?                    
• Are adequate inspection records maintained to prove that raw materials are checked and that they meet the requirements?                 
• Are rejected materials identified and segregated?                           
• Are raw materials properly labeled, stored, and traceable?
• Are all visible electrical wires and plugs neat, tidy, and safe?                                         
• Are yarn and fabric stored in the correct manner?                                       
• Is fabric stored in color batches?                                           
• Are fabric rolls ticketed and identified?                                 
• Are accessories identified per customer?                                              
• Are fabric and accessories store areas clean?
• Are accessories issued and identified against orders?

Lightbox and Shade inspection

• Is the lighting in this room acceptable?
• Are all visible electrical wires and plugs neat, tidy, and safe?                                         
• Is there a process in place for checking the color continuity of fabric/trims?                                                                             
• Are there controls in place to prevent fabric shading problems in garments?                                        
• Is there a spectrophotometer in use?                                     
• If yes, what make and model is it?                                            
• Is there a lightbox in use?                                                            
• What are the primary and secondary light sources used within the lightbox?                                        
• Is there a process in place for checking trims to fabrics?                                 
• Is there a process in place for measuring color performance? Example: Average number of lab dips; Bulk. The number of lab dips per year/season etc.
• Is there a process in place regarding controlled/banned dyes/chemicals?   

Design and Pattern Department

• Does the factory have design capability?                                               
• Does the factory have in-house pattern development?                 
• Is the grading computerized?
• Is there a sample room?               
• How many machines are there in the sample room?
• The average number of samples produced per year?

Pre-production Sampling

• Are samples of a pilot run carefully reviewed to ensure all safety /                            
• functional aspects are being met?                           
• Is there any documentation from management, QC, or engineering to authorize mass production?                             
• Are drawing, records, and specifications that reflect an adequate                               
• History of changes readily available?

Fusing, Pressing, Needle Policy, Pull testing and Snap button

Cutting room

• Is the lighting acceptable?                                           
• Are all visible electrical wires and plugs neat, tidy, and safe?                         
• Is the cutting room clean and tidy?                          
• Are chainmail gloves provided?                
• Do the cutters wear the chainmail gloves provided?                        
• Is the cutting machinery correctly guarded?        
• Is straight knife cutting used?    
• Is band knife cutting used?         
• Are there automatic laying up machines?             
• Are there controls in place for the segregation of shaded panels?             

Sewing room

• Is the lighting acceptable?
• Are all visible electrical wires and plugs neat, tidy, and safe?         
• Is the sewing room clean and tidy?
• Is the sewing room well laid out?             
• Are needle guards in place?
• Are sharp tools (blades and scissors) attached to the workbenches throughout the factory, including the final packing area?
• Does the factory use a one-piece sharp tool for the trimming process? (BREAKAWAY BLADES ARE NOT ACCEPTABLE )                                    
• Is the distribution of sharp tools/needles controlled by a single person or carefully controlled by other means?
• Is there a record book to register the issue & return of all sharp tools, including broken tools, at the end of the day?
• Is there a formal procedure to look into the cause of missing sharp tools?
• Are records kept for this procedure?      
• Does the factory use sewing guides?
• Are there proper machine belt guards in place?
• Is there a regular machine maintenance program in place?    
• Are there quality standards for each process at needlepoint?                                     
• Are inline inspections carried out?
• What percentage is conducted?
• Are quality records kept?                              
• Are there approved samples on the factory floor?                                            
• Is the work in process (WIP) excessive and/or untidy?

Quality control systems

• Is there a quality manual containing documented procedures?  
• Is the quality personnel structure sufficient to enable the necessary control?                                       
• Are regular internal audits conducted to ensure procedures are                                 
• carried out and records maintained?
• Is there evidence of a planned training program?
• Does the factory implement all QC procedures correctly?
• Is all test and measuring equipment regularly calibrated?
• Is all QC test & measuring equipment sufficient to test the product to ensure ongoing compliance?
• Is there adequate QC supervision on all shifts?
• 2 shifts are works
• Do the quality personnel fully understand the factory’s quality policy?    
• Does QC have adequate basic knowledge & expertise on products being                                
• manufactured and the associated technology?   
• Are products batch / date-coded?
• Is rejected work segregated and identified?
• Are raw materials properly labeled, stored, and traceable?
• Has the factory taken adequate measures to ensure raw materials conform to required specifications before use?                
• Is a vendor rating procedure in place?
• Is there a vendor audit procedure?
• Please attach a copy                                      

Finishing, packing, finished goods, and Final Inspection

• Is the finished goods warehouse separate from production?
• Is the lighting in this room acceptable?
• Are all visible electrical wires and plugs neat, tidy, and safe?
• Is the packing done in a metal-free zone?
• Is a final inspection carried out?
• Are repairs identified?
• Is there a repair system?
• Average % of repairs?    
• Are seconds identified? PASS / FAIL ONLY
• If yes, what is done with them?
• Average % of seconds?                 
• Are rejects identified?
• If yes, what is done with them?                                
• De-labeled and sold off in the local market after an agreed time period. Average % of rejects?              

Safety, Child Care

• Approved to produce children’s / babies’ products from customers?
• Are there any pins/staples or other metal objects used in the work areas?
• Are there a straight knife and a safety knife policy in place for issuing & retrieving blades?
• Is there a broken needle policy?
• Are all snips and scissors securely fastened to workbenches?                                     

Machine Maintenance

• Is the button sew machines lockstitch?
• If ‘Yes’ what is the class number of the lockstitch button sewing machine(s)?                                                                              
• Are popper machine pinch settings checked? If so, how often?                                   
• Are the areas around the popper machine clean?                                             
• Are there poppers on the floor?                               
• Are the poppers stored correctly in cartons and not in separate plastic bags?                                       
• Are the poppers manually put into the popper machines?                                            
• Do poppers machines have hopper feed attachments?
• Does testing take place on the attachments of the poppers by opening and closing?                                         
• Are all the embroidery machines lockstitch and carry threads?                                        
• Are the garments with enclosed hands, feet turned inside out when examined & thread ends trimmed?                                 
• Are all trims securely attached?                      
• Does metal detection take place in an airport system? Is the machine tested using a test card?                                  
• Is packing done in a metal-free zone and are the cartons used for packing staple-free?                                     
• Is there metal or plastic bins available for loose metal objects?

If we follow this technical audit checklist, it will solve most of the technical audit solutions for any buyers of garments industry.