INTELLIGENT SOURCING® Detail

As most of the world’s textile production capacity shifts to Asia, inefficiencies along the supply chain seem to be growing in proportion to the distances involved. It is a situation in which sourcing of materials has become more and more complex, and increasingly difficult to find reliable suppliers whose products and processes you can depend on.

In this environment it is quite challenging to assure the quality of intermediate materials effectively. USTER^® Experts have identified significant quality costs at almost every step of the textile value chain – in total equal to more than 10% of the final sales value. High costs like these are especially damaging if they arise from problems at the start of the process, in yarn manufacturing. Expensive end-products may have to be scrapped or graded as seconds.

Some companies sourcing textile products or intermediates believe they can take quality for granted: If a delivery is substandard, they return it to the supplier, along with a claim for compensation. But such a policy deals only with the symptoms of defective quality – not with its root causes.

More and more companies are now taking a more intelligent approach to quality management of their entire supply chain. They have realized that it is vital to control quality at the first production step, yarn spinning. The quality achieved here has a massive influence on the economics of the final product.

As the leading supplier of quality measurement systems, Uster Technologies is in a unique position to help companies along the entire textile value chain with their fiber and yarn quality problems. Poor quality in yarns can be attributed to several causes, which can be classified in two main groups:

• Insufficient quality management systems and procedures in the spinning mill.
• Failure to specify accurately the yarn quality standards required at subsequent stages in the supply chain.

Traders, knitters, weavers, garment manufacturers and retailers have approached USTER^® for help in these areas: for improving the quality of the yarns they source.

A majority of the quality problems in the textile industry can be traced back to yarn quality parameters such as evenness, imperfections, count variations, hairiness and strength. Yet, often companies dealing with yarns or yarn-based products may not understand enough about yarn and fiber quality to define their requirements clearly. This vague situation creates great economic inefficiencies in sourcing: the quality levels are either too low or too high.

USTER^® INTELLIGENT SOURCING starts with an analysis of the issues faced by a company sourcing yarns or yarn-based products. Based on sample testing in one of USTER^®’s laboratories, the focus areas are pinpointed.

The next stage is for a dedicated training workshop, run by USTER^® Quality Experts, which aims to deliver, as quickly as possible, the critical factors affecting yarn and fiber quality. This training is the basis for improving the sourcing process. It also starts off the process of reducing quality costs at their point of origin, instead of waiting for problems to arise downstream.

Any effective purchasing or trading transaction involving fibers or yarns relies on a clear definition of the actual quality needed. For this, both customers and suppliers depend on USTER^® STATISTICS. This is an authoritative listing of the critical quality standards and benchmarks in textiles worldwide, based on data gathered and updated periodically by Uster Technologies. In 2007, USTER^® STATISTICS reached its 50^th anniversary.

The specific textile application determines the quality requirements for yarns and fibers. As part of the USTER^® INTELLIGENT SOURCING approach, powerful application-specific tools have been developed. The Yarn Quality Profile, for instance, helps to define the precise quality requirements. Not only does this make a big difference to the transparency of supply chain dealings, it also makes buyer-seller communications easier and more effective.

Once the buyer and seller speak the same language in terms of quality, it is easy to identify the quality champions and help or isolate the poor performers. There are many ways to assess this, but USTER^® INTELLIGENT SOURCING suggests periodic testing of yarn samples from each supplier, to provide a clear overview and continuously monitor the quality of materials sourced.

USTER^® Quality Experts evaluate reports from these tests – carried out in one of USTER^®’s own textile laboratories – and provide decisive evidence and advice for the yarn buyer. This can be applied to individual suppliers or to an entire supplier portfolio.

Sourcing specialists know that only continuous involvement with their suppliers can bring sustainable improvement in the collaboration. With the help of USTER^® INTELLIGENT SOURCING, there are several options for improving the entire yarn supplier portfolio.

The development of quality suppliers is one approach, in which USTER^® Quality Experts can provide unrivalled and specific support for the quality management of spinning mill operations.

Another way would be to transfer sourcing to other companies with better quality management. USTER^® can refer to its pool of spinning mills with the USTERIZED^® seal. These spinning mills are acknowledged industry-wide as highly-reliable partners producing yarn under consistent and stable quality conditions. They manage relevant quality information successfully and according to worldwide standards – as audited by Uster Technologies.