Introduction to the Principles of Textile Testing - MA Wilding

Topic 10: Aspects of Quality, and Concluding

Remarks
1. Introduction
A course in testing which does not address, however superficially, the
important question of quality, cannot claim to be in any way complete.

To begin with, what do we actually mean by "quality"? In many respects it

is a rather abstract and elusive concept. In essence, though, it is
associated with "fitness for purpose". There are several definitions
available, some of which are (fortunately!) of practical use. Saville
(Chapter 11) offers the following five:

1. Transcendent
This term refers to a certain “something” possessed by a product
(or service) which renders it superior to its competitors. The
disadvantage of this as a definition is that it is vague, subjective and
virtually impossible to quantify.

2. Product based
This is a more useful definition: quality is judged purely on the basis
of a product's performance. Thus, for example, if it were a garment
it might include abrasion resistance, wash/colour fastness and so
on. It is quantifiable, and usually objective.

3. User based
This addresses the extent to which a product satisfies customers’
preferences and expectations. Inevitably these vary considerably
from person to person, and it is therefore highly subjective. Again it
is difficult to quantify, although there are ways around this problem.

4. Manufacturing based
Manufacturers generally set their own internal production standards.
This definition relates to how well the product matches its stated
specifications, as determined by the organisation itself. It is
generally quantifiable and objective.

5. Value based
This is a broader definition of quality which takes into account not
only how well a product performs, but also its price. It is therefore a
measure of "value for money". It is of course consumer-based, and
therefore largely subjective.

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1.1 The importance of quality in the manufacturing process

To coin a phrase originally applied to computer software development
(and still very relevant!)…

Garbage in …

… garbage out!
This principle is sound common-sense and is not, of course, limited to the
world of computing. At the time of writing there is a rapidly-growing
emphasis on all things quality across the entire industrial spectrum. In
many respects the textile industry had to face up to such considerations
much earlier than most others. For example, spinning of cotton or wool
fibres into any yarn (let alone a 'good' one) requires at least a degree of
uniformity - something for which natural fibres are not particularly noted!

Then there is the rapidly intensifying demand, on the part of consumers,

for hard-wearing, easy-care, safe, hygienic and fashionable yet value-for-
money products. These and other factors have led to enormous pressures
being placed on suppliers to refine the way they manage quality; and of
course, this must be done with as little (downward) impact on profit-
margins as possible! Hence, economics and market forces also play their
roles.

As someone once said: "In cotton, as in every other sector of the textile
trade, the issue of quality begins with the fibre producer, but it certainly
does not end with the finisher(!)". In this final part of the course, we
begin with an examination of factors determining fibre and yarn quality.
This will be followed by a brief introduction to more general quality issues,
including recent developments in quality management.

2. Fibre Quality
The issue of quality clearly relates to every activity within the textile
industry, but it is particularly evident when it comes to fibre- and yarn
production, and perhaps at its most critical with regard to the two most
important natural fibres: cotton and wool. Both these fibre types are
associated with a number of special factors which are usually outside the
direct control of the producer.

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2.1 Cotton Fibre Quality

What exactly do we mean by "fibre quality"? One way to define it might
be:

"that combination of a fibre's properties (or factors) which

together determine the likely quality of yarn(s) to be produced
from it."

Notice that there is a "knock-on" effect here, since the above definition
begs, in its turn, the question of what "yarn quality" meansa. For the
present discussion, however, we need not be concerned with answering
that one!

Cotton-production is of course a very well-established and mature

industry, so there is a wealth of experience available on which to base the
assessment of quality. By general consent, the most important factors
determining the quality of a given batch of cotton are its:

• fineness;
• staple length;
• maturity
• uniformity
• grade

Most of the factors listed above have been touched upon already, but
'grade' needs some explanation. Different types of cotton are best suited
to different end-uses: for example, one may be suitable for hosiery yarns,
while another may be more appropriate to shirting fabric, and it is the
grade which largely specifies this.

Once the type has been decided upon, the spinner needs some degree of
continuity of the quality of the raw material delivered. Quality can vary
year-to-year, field-to-field, and even bale-to-bale, so some system of
classifying the grade is required so that the spinner can guarantee
smoothly-running lots. If this is not done, continual adjusting and re-
adjusting of the processing machinery may become necessary, with
correspondingly increased costs.

Grading itself varies from place to place, in both method and terminology.
Even in markets relatively close together there can be considerable
differences in the grading systems used. It is inappropriate to consider all
systems in use, but two major ones may serve to illustrate the varying
criteria employed:

2.1.1 American Cotton Grading

Grading of American Upland cotton is based on three characteristics:
a
and quite nicely highlights the need for Total Quality systems (to be discussed briefly later).

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• colour - 'extra white'; 'white'; 'spotted'; 'tinged'; or 'yellow-

stained';
- colour is influenced by variety, weather, soil, picking efficiency etc

• trash content (or foreign matter) - broken leaf, pod, sand, dirt
etc;
- an increased problem with mechanical pickers which can't
discriminate;

• preparation - this assesses the efficiency of 'ginning';

- it is denoted by A, B, C for good, intermediate and poor,
respectively;
- poor ginning may give damaged fibres, neps, stringy looking lint
etc

Note that fibre length is not a factor determining the grade, although it
does affect overall quality.

In total, 32 cotton grades were officially recognised in 1941. These are

still in use today, and are based on eight main grades, each with a rather
quaint but descriptive title:

• Middling fair
• Strict good middling
• Good middling
• Middling
• Strict low middling
• Low middling
• Strict good ordinary
• Good ordinary

'Middling' is used as a benchmark for setting the price of American cotton.

2.1.2 Sudan-Egyptian Cotton Grading

The Sudan-Egyptian system originated in the cotton-growing region of the
Gezira Plain. It uses six full grades, with half-grades denoted by 'X'
(meaning 'extra').

On the Sudan-Egyptian system, assessment includes:

• staple length
• fineness
• appearance
• colour
• trash content

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The cotton is given an initial grading before ginning, and perhaps a

second grading after reaching the shipping point (Port Sudan).

The relative importance of fibre length over trash content, as compared

with the American system, can be seen with reference to plots of each
factor for the two systems:

5
Tra sh Conte nt (%)

4
3

2
1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
S uda n-Egyptia n Gra de

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Effe ctive Fibre Le ngth (1/32")

54

52

50

48

46

44
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
S uda n-Egyptia n Gra de

2.1.3 Measurement of Trash Content - the Shirley Analyser

Described in Booth (Pp 198-200), the Shirley Analyser is a machine for
separating the heavy trash particles from the finer fibres & dust, which
are carried through the machine on an air stream. The trash is gathered
in a tray. The dust is extracted by exhaustion through a perforated drum,
on the surface of which the fibres are collected. Ultimately, the cleaned
fibre is delivered into a box. A complete sample may be analysed in about
15 minutes.

The trash content is determined by weighing the trash and expressing this
weight as a percentage of the initial sample weight. Two samples are put
through, and the mean determined. Differences from the mean of less
than 20% are not regarded as significant.

The Shirley Analyser has various practical functions in relation to quality

assurance. For example:

• to provide purchaser and seller with definite figures for

relative proportions of trash and clean cotton;

• to provide cotton & waste spinners with accurate idea of

capabilities of their machinery on particular class of cotton
or waste;

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• to determine state of cleanliness at any stage up to and

including carding;
• to ascertain the quantity of spinnable fibre in the waste from
any production machine;

• to determine the loss of good fibre in the opening/cleaning

processes;

• the preparation of cotton for Micronaire and WIRA

fineness/maturity tests;

Note: the 'Southern Regional Research Laboratory Non-lint Tester' is an

alternative to the Shirley Analyser, based on similar principles. Its main
advantage is faster operation.

2.2 Wool Fibre Quality

Like cotton, wool fibre is a natural product, and equally subject to
variation through many factors. In general, wool quality is assessed in
terms of:

• fineness
• crimp
• length
• scaliness
• handle
• lustre

The most important of these is generally reckoned to be fineness.

Although the mean fibre diameter is important, an indirect measure of

fineness tends to be used. Since, other things being equal, a fine fibre will
spin a fine yarn, wool fineness was originally graded on a scale according
to the fineness of the finest yarn that could be spun from it (using
a particular spinning route).

Thus, wool grades were expressed as '58s', '36s' etc. Nowadays, even
though developments in spinning technology have made finer yarns
possible from any given wool grade, the original grading system continues
to be employed.

2.2.1 Length
Unlike cotton, in wool the longer fibres tend to be coarse, and the shorter
fibres fine.

For worsted yarns, long, fine, uniform fibres are preferred. Because, more
often than not, a combing process is used in the preparation of worsteds;
these grades are referred to as 'combing' wools. Where a lofty handle is

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wanted, and where fibres are carded, the shorter fibres are chosen, and
termed 'clothing' wools.

2.2.2 Ellipticity
This is a further factor which may be taken into account. Wool fibres are
rarely circular in cross-section, being more usually elliptical. Some
authorities believe the closer the fibre is to circular, the better will be the
yarns spun from it. The ratio of the major and minor axes is taken as a
measure of ellipticity, and called the 'contour ratio'.

The following figures illustrate some wool fibre features.

Scales on the Surface of a Wool Fibre

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Ellipticity=Contour Ratio=b/a
Other fibre types which have special quality features include flax and
jute. Reference should be made to, for example, Booth, Pp 134-208 for a
detailed discussion of fibre dimensions and quality.

3. Introduction to Yarn Quality: Uniformity & "Evenness"

Testing
In the above discussion, attention was centred on fibre quality but, as is
obvious, the quality of the subsequent yarns, fabrics, etc is no less
important. There are very many aspects of this, and it is not feasible to
cover them all here. The subject of "evenness" testing is one which should
at least be mentioned. Non-uniformity in yarns is probably one of the
most likely causes of downstream problems and fabric faults. For this
reason, many methods and measuring instrumentsa have been developed
to assess yarn irregularity, and several characteristics are routinely used
to quantify it. Examples of these are:

• the number of "thick" places per unit length of yarn;

• the number of "thin" places per unit length;
• the number of neps per unit length;
• the extent and character of any periodic variation in yarn thickness;
• variations in twist level;
• variations in yarn strength;
• "hairiness".

A knowledge of the measurement statistics are particularly important in

relation to yarn quality; the standard deviation of yarn thickness, for
example, is often used as a direct measure of the degree of irregularity.
For a fuller discussion of evenness testing and related topics, the reader is
advised to consult Booth, Chapter 9.

4. Quality Assurance and Quality Management

This is a very wide and diverse subject in its own right and again, it is not
possible to cover it in any depth here, except to note the ever-increasing
emphasis on quality in the manufacture of textile products.

a
the most commonly encountered being the "Uster" Yarn Evenness Tester

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4.1 Total Quality Management (TQM)

The growing emphasis on quality across the broad spectrum of
manufacturing (and service) industries is evidenced by the steady
adoption of TQM systems. In the UK, this was initially formalised by the
introduction of the The British Standards Institution's (BSI) BS5750 (See
reference 6 in the bibliography at the end of this lecture topic).
Subsequently, BS5750 was ultimately incorporated into the international
standards ISO9000 and ISO9002. These are described in the appendix
to this topic. You may also wish to visit the following websites:

http://www.bsi-global.com/index.html
http://home.earthlink.net/~reolson/iso9000.html)

In terms of textile manufacture, if a producer wishes to ensure product

quality (whether of yarn, fabric, or finished article), then it is imperative
that the quality of the incoming raw material is maintained. In other
words, no stage in the production chain should be viewed in isolation.
Hence the quotation given at the beginning of this chapter: "garbage in
… garbage out".

The international standards set out the criteria and mechanisms for
arriving at TQM (or absence of garbage!). Upstream and downstream
stages of production are of equal significance, and any manufacturer
wishing to be accredited is required to monitor the quality of his supplier
and customer (where the latter is not the final consumer).

The all-embracing character TQ standards can be appreciated by the fact

that, for example, BS5750 contained seven sections, most having a
number of sub-sections.

4.2 Quality Control

Quality control is just one of the mechanisms by which TQM is
implemented. It deals with the specific actions carried out to maintain the
quality of any given production process, and can therefore be regarded as
a sub-set of TQM.

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4.3 Product Labelling

A further important aspect is that of product labelling. This is quite an
extensive subject, and the reader is referred to other sources for a more
detailed discussion (eg Saville, Chapter 11). In brief, there is an array of
legal requirements regarding the labelling of textile goods. These include:

Fibre content
- Percentage composition must be shown in decreasing order
of content

Flammability
- Babies’ clothing (<3 months) must show whether or not
meets the BS5722 flammability standard
- Children’s nightwear must meet BS5722
- If treated chemically, must be indicated

Origin
- Complicated; it is not always required, but if used must be
truthful

Care Labels
- For laundering etc; complex and varied

5. Suggested Further Reading

JE Booth, "Principles of Textile Testing", Newnes-Butterworth, London
(1983). ISBN: 0408014873. Chapters 2, 5, 9 & 11.

BP Saville, “Physical Testing of Textiles”, Woodhead, Cambridge (1999).

ISBN: 1855733676. Chapter 11.

H Weston, "Physical Testing and Quality Control", Textile Progress, 6,

No.4 (1974).

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Appendix 10-A
An Introduction to I|SO & the ISO 9000 Series
Re-printed from
http://home.earthlink.net/~reolson/iso9000.html

What are standards ?

Standards are documented agreements containing technical specifications or other
precise criteria to be used consistently as rules, guidelines, or definitions of
characteristics, to ensure that materials, products, processes and services are fit for their
purpose. International Standards contribute to making life simpler, and to increasing the
reliability and effectiveness of the goods and services we use.

What is ISO?
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a worldwide federation of
national standards bodies from some 100 countries, one from each country. ISO is a
non-governmental organization established in 1947. The mission of ISO is to promote
the development of standardization and related activities in the world with a view to
facilitating the international exchange of goods and services, and to developing
cooperation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific, technological and economic activity.

ISO's work results in international agreements which are published as International

Standards.

How ISO started

International standardization began in the electrotechnical field: the International
Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) was created in 1906. Pioneering work in other fields
was carried out by the International Federation of the National Standardizing
Associations (ISA), which was set up in 1926. The emphasis within ISA was laid heavily
on mechanical engineering. ISA's activities ceased in 1942, owing to the Second World
War. Following a meeting in London in 1946, delegates from 25 countries decided to
create a new international organization "the object of which would be to facilitate the
international coordination and unification of industrial standards". The new organization,
ISO, began to function officially on February 23, 1947. The first ISO standard was
published in 1951.

ISO - What it really means

Many people will have noticed a lack of correspondence between the official title when
used in full, International Organization for Standardization, and the short form, ISO.
Shouldn't the acronym be " IOS " ? Yes, if it were an acronym - which it is not.
In fact, "ISO" is a word, derived from the Greek isos, meaning "equal ", which is the root
of the prefix " iso-" that occurs in a host of terms, such as " isometric " (of equal
measure). From "equal" to "standard", the line of thinking that led to the choice of "ISO"
as the name of the organization is easy to follow. In addition, the name has the
advantage of being valid in each of the organization's three official languages - English,
French and Russian. The confusion that would arise through the use of an acronym is
thus avoided, e.g. "IOS" would not correspond to the official title of the organization in
French - Organisation internationale de normalisation.
What does international standardization achieve?
Industry-wide standardization is a condition existing within a particular industrial sector
when the large majority of products or services conform to the same standards. It results
from consensus agreements reached between all economic players in that industrial
sector - suppliers, users, and often governments. They agree on specifications and
criteria to be applied consistently in the choice and classification of materials, the

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manufacture of products, and the provision of services. The aim is to facilitate trade,
exchange and technology transfer through :
enhanced product quality and reliability at a reasonable price,
improved health, safety and environmental protection, and reduction of waste,
greater compatibility and interoperability of goods and services,
simplification for improved usability, reduction in the number of models, and thus
reduction in costs, increased distribution efficiency, and ease of maintenance.
Users have more confidence in products and services that conform to International
Standards. Assurance of conformity can be provided by manufacturers' declarations, or
by audits carried out by independent bodies.

Types of ISO members

A member body of ISO is the national body "most representative of standardization in its
country". It follows that only one such body for each country is accepted for
membership.

The member bodies have four principal tasks:

• informing potentially interested parties in their country of relevant international

standardization opportunities and initiatives,
• organizing so that a concerted view of the country's interests is presented during
international negotiations leading to standards agreements,
• ensuring that a secretariat is provided for those ISO technical committees and
subcommittees in which the country has an interest,
• providing their country's share of financial support for the central operations of
ISO, through payment of membership dues.

ISO has also established a third category, subscriber membership, for countries with very
small economies. These subscribers pay reduced membership fees that nevertheless
allow them to maintain contact with international standardization.

How are ISO standards developed ?

ISO standards are developed according to the following principles:

Consensus
The views of all interests are taken into account: manufacturers, vendors and users,
consumer groups, testing laboratories, governments, engineering professions and
research organizations.

Industry-wide
Global solutions to satisfy industries and customers worldwide.

Voluntary
International standardization is market-driven and therefore based on voluntary
involvement of all interests in the market-place.

There are three main phases in the ISO standards development process.
The need for a standard is usually expressed by an industry sector, which communicates
this need to a national member body. The latter proposes the new work item to ISO as a
whole. Once the need for an International Standard has been recognized and formally
agreed, the first phase involves definition of the technical scope of the future standard.
This phase is usually carried out in working groups which comprise technical experts
from countries interested in the subject matter.
Once agreement has been reached on which technical aspects are to be covered in the
standard, a second phase is entered during which countries negotiate the detailed
specifications within the standard. This is the consensus-building phase.
The final phase comprises the formal approval of the resulting draft International
Standard (the acceptance criteria stipulate approval by two-thirds of the ISO members

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that have participated actively in the standards development process, and approval by
75 % of all members that vote), following which the agreed text is published as an ISO
International Standard.

Most standards require periodic revision. Several factors combine to render a standard
out of date: technological evolution, new methods and materials, new quality and safety
requirements. To take account of these factors, ISO has established the general rule that
all ISO standards should be reviewed at intervals of not more than five years. On
occasion, it is necessary to revise a standard earlier. To accelerate the standards process
(handling of proposals, drafts, comment reviews, voting, publishing, etc.) ISO makes use
of information technology and program management methods.

To date, ISO's work has resulted in over 8,000 International Standards, representing
more than 170,000 pages in English and French (terminology is often provided in other
languages as well). A list of all ISO standards appears in the ISO Catalogue.

WHAT IS ISO 9000?

What are the ISO 9000 standards?

The standards define the Quality Systems or models applicable to: design, development,
production, installation and servicing, final inspection and test. Since not all endeavors
encompass all of these aspects of business or the quality model, three standards were
developed covering differing combinations of these disciplines, and a set of guidelines
was issued to assist in choosing the correct standard for application.

These standards are:

ISO 9001: Quality Systems - Models for Quality Assurance in Design, Development,
Production, Installation and Servicing. ISO 9001 is the superset of the contractual
models for quality systems. It contains 20 sections, each of which specifies requirements
for a component of the quality system.
ISO 9001 requires the development of a quality manual and documented procedures
which define the organization and operation of the quality system. It is the responsibility
of a company to create and maintain these documents, so that they are relevent and
appropriate to the specific business operation.
ISO 9002: Quality Systems - Models for Quality Assurance in Production, Installation and
Servicing. ISO 9002 is the contractual model for quality systems which include
production but do not include design. ISO 9002 is almost word-for-word equivalent to
ISO 9001, except that it does not include requirements for design control. It contains 19
sections or requirements. ISO 9002 requires the development of a quality manual and
documented procedures which define the organization and operation of the quality
system. It is the responsibility of a company to create and maintain these documents, so
that they are relevent and appropriate to the specific business operation.

ISO 9003: Quality Systems - Models for Quality Assurance in Final Inspection and Test.
This is the contractual model for quality systems which do not include design or
production. ISO 9003 contains about half of the requirements from ISO 9001, and
modifies some of the requirements to suit the inspection and final test application. ISO
9003 requires the development of a quality manual and documented procedures which
define the organization and operation of the quality system. It is the responsibility of a
company to create and maintain these documents, so that they are relevent and
appropriate to the specific business operation.

The set of guidelines is:

ISO 9004: Quality Management and Quality Systems - Guidelines.

What is the difference?

As indicated by the difference in title, the standards apply to the extent of activity in
which an organization engages. Those organizations involved with the last stages of

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product completion... Final Inspection and Test... would appropriately choose to abide by
ISO 9003. Percentage wise, the fewest number of organizations are registered to ISO
9003. Those organizations which include a stage of manufacture, prior to final assembly
and test, would choose ISO 9002. The largest percentage of organizations are registered
to ISO 9002. Finally, those organizations which undertake design and development
activities, manufacture those designs, and complete final inspection and testing, would
choose ISO 9001. In effect, ISO 9001 is the superset standard, with ISO 9002 and ISO
9003 being progressively smaller subsets of that standard.

What is covered by the ISO 9000 standards?

The ISO 9000 standards establish a standard framework for a Quality System. A Quality
System is a series of checks and balances which, when introduced and followed, will
ensure quality of output, or product. The framework, as embodied by ISO 9000,
identifies twenty requirements, each of which affect quality. Each of the requirements is
identified in the Quality Manual.

What is a quality manual?

The quality manual is the highest level of documentation of an ISO 9000 quality system.
It specifies or makes reference to documented procedures, which are more detailed
aspects of the quality system. The quality manual is the roadmap to a quality system. It
can be used as a training vehicle for employees, as a reference for employees, and as a
standard by which an auditor assesses the compliance and correct functioning of the
quality system.
What are documented procedures?
Documented procedures are the heart of an ISO 9000 quality system. They define the
correct and proper operation of a company in all aspects of quality, and the company is
audited to verify that it follows its procedures. Documented procedures are a pervasive
requirement of ISO 9000.

HOW DOES ISO 9000 AFFECT MY BUSINESS?

Why follow the ISO standards?

The ISO 9000 Standards are becoming world-recognized quality standards. Many
suppliers are demanding that their subcontractors and subsuppliers comply with the ISO
9000 quality standards so that they themselves can claim compliance to their customers.
This reinforcement gives customers a common identity of quality, and suppliers a means
by which to judge the likely quality of a subcontractor.
Some industries are required to implement ISO 9000
In Europe, the European Community (EC) requires ISO 9000 certification for some types
of products. These regulated products usually have special requirements for safety or
reliability. In the U.S., the major automobile manufacturers will require subcontractors to
be ISO 9000 compliant in the next year or two. Other industries are choosing to require
ISO 9000 compliance as well. Whether through government regulation or voluntary
choice of individual industries, ISO 9000 compliance is a requirement for doing business
in an increasing number of markets.

ISO 9000 is a competitive advantage

ISO 9000 compliance indicates that a supplier takes quality seriously. This fact alone
may influence a customer to choose one supplier over another. In an increasingly global
economy, the competitive advantage of ISO 9000 can be significant.
How can I verify that I'm following the standards?
Quality System auditing is an inherent part of the ISO 9000 standards (see ISO 9000-1
section 4.9.3). Such auditing may take one of three recognized forms: First party audits
- internal audits carried out by an organization's own staff. Second party audits - internal
audits carried out on an organization by customers (or on behalf of customers). Third
party audits - audits carried out on an organization by a certified body. Successful audits
by a certified body will result in Registration or Certification of Compliance with the
applicable ISO 9000 standard.

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ISO 9000 HANDBOOK FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

ISO has just published a new handbook entitled ISO 9000 for Small Businesses, designed
to help in the interpretation and implementation of the international quality management
standards.

Many thousands of businesses around the world are operating ISO 9000-based quality
systems to ensure that their products and services meet their customers' requirements.
In addition, small companies in some sectors are beginning to be pressurized by large
customers to implement ISO 9000 and achieve ISO 9000 certification to demonstrate
that their quality system conforms to one of the standards in the series. ISO explains
that small companies may view ISO 9000 implementation as a complex and costly
process more suited to larger businesses.

The new handbook sets out to dispel the myth that ISO 9000 is for big companies only.
Aimed at small business managers, it explains the quality system standards in plain
language, with the intention of putting improvements in performance, quality, customer
satisfaction and market access within reach of any manufacturing or service organization
regardless of size, through implementation of an ISO 9000 quality system.

ISO 9000 for Small Businesses has been written by experts from the Small Business Task
Group of ISO/TC 176, the ISO technical committee responsible for developing and
maintaining the ISO 9000 family of International Standards.

In their practical advice and guidance on how to get started, the authors point out that
quality systems should not be a source of bureaucracy, excessive paperwork or lack of
flexibility. "Remember, all businesses already have a management structure and this
should be the basis on which the quality system is built." For most companies large or
small, ISO 9000 is not therefore about imposing something totally new.

The handbook will help to demystify ISO 9000 for small businesses, and to answer
typical questions on the series. It provides guidance on the three quality assurance
models - ISO 9001, ISO 9002 and ISO 9003 - with clear explanations and many
examples relevant to the small business.

The handbook does not set any new ISO 9000 requirements, or add to, or otherwise
change the requirements of the standards. It is intended as an informative and
comprehensive guide to ISO 9000. In addition to basic explanations, it suggests first
steps towards a quality system, whether to go it alone or use consultants, offers
guidance in matters such as training and auditing, and gives a brief outline of the
certification/registration process.

ISO 9000 for Small Businesses (ISBN 92-67-10238-9) is available in English from ISO
national member bodies or from the ISO Central Secretariat. The handbook consists of
128 pages in A5 ring-binder format, and is priced at CHF 48,50 per copy.

Other Web servers providing standards information.

International standards organizations

These are bodies having recognized activities in standardization. They are recognized at
international level and have as a principal function, by virtue of their statutes, the
preparation, approval or adoption of standards that are made available to the public; and
whose membership is open to the relevant national body from every country.

• ISO - International Organization for Standardization

• IEC -International Electrotechnical Commission

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• ITU-T- International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication

Standardization Sector

National standards bodies

These are bodies having recognized activities in standardization. They are recognized at
the national level and have as a principal function, by virtue of their statutes, the
preparation, approval or adoption of standards that are made available to the public; and
that are eligible to be the national members of the corresponding international and
regional standards organizations. These are some of the national level standards bodies:

Australia Standards Australia (SAA)

Canada Standards Council of Canada (SCC)
Denmark Dansk Standard (DS)
Finland Finnish Standards Association (SFS)
Germany Deutsches Institut für Normung (DIN)
Ireland National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI)
JapanJapanese Industrial Standards Committee (JISC)
Norway Norges Standardiseringsforbund (NSF)
SwedenSIS Standardiseringen i Sverige (SIS)
American National Standards Institute (ANSI)

http://home.earthlink.net/~reolson/index.html

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Concluding Remarks on Textile Testing

Course
In the preceding lectures, I have attempted to provide a flavour of what
is, after all, an exceedingly diverse and complex subject, without delving
into great experimental detail.

It has not been possible to cover more than a handful of topics. On the
other hand, those chosen probably represent some of the most important
and commonly encountered areas of textile testing, and it is hoped that
the reader will find the course a useful reference.

The following brief bibliography provides suggestions for appropriate

further reading.

Bibliography
1. Galileo, G. (1638), "Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences", Leyden;
translated by De Salvio, A., and Fabaro, A. (1914), Evanston, I11.
2. Peirce, F.T., J. Textile Inst., 28, T45 (1937).
3. Hamburger, W.J., J. Textile Inst., 40, P700 (1949).
4. Platt, M.M., Textile Res. J., 20, 1 (1950).
5. "Structural Mechanics of Fibers, Yarns, and Fabrics", Vol.1, Hearle,
J.W.S., Grosberg, P., and Backer, S., Wiley-Interscience (1969).
6. British Standards Institution. BS5750 "Quality Systems", Parts 0-3
(1987).
7. "The Physical Properties of Textile Fibres" 2nd Ed., Morton, W.E., and
Hearle, J.W.S., Textile Inst. (1975).
8. "Principles of Textile Testing", 3rd Ed., Booth, J.E., Newnes-
Butterworths (1968).
9. Cusick, G.E. et al., J. Textile Inst., 54, 52 (1963).
10. Harrison, P.W., J. Textile Inst., 51, T91 (1960).
11. Clegg, G.G., J. Textile Inst., 40, T449 (1949).
12. "The Internal Application of Synthetic Resins", Marsh, J.T., Chap. 16
of "An Introduction to Textile finishing", Chapman and Hall, London.
13. British Standards Institution. BS Handbook No. 11, p.21 (1963).
14. "Properties Depending on the Amorphous Regions of Fibres",
Meredith, R., Chap. 12 of "Fibre Science", Textile Inst., Manchester
(1953).
15. "The Meaning and Assessment of Cotton Fibre Fineness", Ramey, H.H.
Jr., Int. Inst. for Cotton booklet (ca. 1982).

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