Iso Certification In Textile Sector

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ISO CERTIFICATION - ITS GAIS AND ADVANTAGES IN TEXTILE SECTOR Introduction 1.

Textile industry has been the bulwark of Pakistan's economy. It contributes

more than 60% to the total export earnings of the country, accounts for 46% of the total manufacturing and provides employment to 38% of the manufacturing labor force. The availability of basic raw material for textile industry, cotton, has played a principal role in the growth of the industry. 2.

In this era of rapid technological changes and new innovations, every

customer has become quality conscious. Customers now a day want the assurance of quality either through product design or through image or the personality of the product. In response to this trend, marketers all over the world are either offering to the customers, products with high quality design specifications or they are concentrating on the image marketing. The ISO 9000 is the answer of every customer demand through which the organizations can assure customers of their products, high quality. Coping with this many Textile Mills in Pakistan have achieved “ISO 9002” Quality Award. It gives those Textile Mills the international recognition as the producer of High Quality Yarn and Grey Cloth. 3.

In the whole world, it is now a general rule that without ISO Certificate, an

organization cannot export. Hence for Textile Mills also, ISO has become a basic requirement. Textile Industry in Pakistan 4.

Textile industry has been

premier industry in Pakistan and a major source of export earning and employment. It also helps in value

addition

to

the

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manufacturing sector of the economy. During the six years between 1993 and 1998, production of yarn (in quantity terms) registered a steady annual growth rate of 302% in Bangladesh and 405% in India. On the contrary, Pakistan registered a growth rate of 101% per annum in yarn production although it ranked third after China and India in the global yarn production during the same six years. In exports, while Taiwan, India and the republic of Korea registered an annual increase of 18.1%, 27.7% and 5.4% respectively during 1993-1998, Pakistan registered a negative growth of 4.8% one important development was that till 1997, Pakistan was the world’s largest exporter yarn followed by India. However, in 1998, India gained the NO 1 position, leaving Pakistan at NO 2 In the case of cotton cloth production, a number of Asian countries have been emerging in the international market to compete with Pakistan. These countries are Bangladesh, India, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Turkey, Sri Lanka and Iran. The latest available date on overall export performance of Pakistan comported with some regional countries is given in table : The above-mentioned presentation in the context of international scenario highlights the adverse

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position of Pakistan’s textile industry when is likely to continue further following the full implementation of WTO agreement from 2005 onwards when an era of free trade will start globally. Notwithstanding the above fact, current stagnation in the local textile industry can be overcome through efforts, consistent with charges occurring in the international market. It must be appreciated that all successive governments since the birth of cotton textile industry in Pakistan have been encouraging the textile exporters to penetrate into new market and also to broaden the base of exportable commodities by including value added textile goods so that reliance on exports of cotton, cotton yarn and coarse fabrics gradually become minimal. 5.

During the period 1973 to December 1992, some 71 spinning units with

1,136, 835 spindles, 6,600 rotors ands 7,329 looms were closed down. In 1992, a foreign consultant form was hired by the government to look into the stagnating conditions in the local textile industry. One of the observations of the foreign consultant was “Pakistan has failed to make real progress in the international market and is being over taken by many of the neighboring competitor countries. The spinning sector, traditionally the core of the industry, is already in the crisis with many spindles lying idle and mills being forced to close. Worse still, this sector will be hit by the projected decline of its major markets in Japan and Hong Kong in the coming years.” 6.

Pakistan’s textile sector earned US$5.77 billion during the outgoing year,

compared with US$5.577 BILLION OF 2000-2001 indicating a growth of 0.69%. “Textile vision 2005” has identified the present status and opportunities to make in roads in conventional and hew markets and has developed sectarian recommendations, hence the sectarian committees set up by the federal textile Board (FTB) would play an important role be ensuring the availability of quality raw materials on competitive prices and improvement in designing, and would

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adopt quality standards and increase productivity levels. It would attract foreign brands and promote Pakistani brands with world-class standers. 7.

Apparel manufacture is an important value-added sector of the textile

industry of Pakistan. This sector manufactures and exports ready-made garments, woven as well as knitted, of all types such as trousers, ladies suits, jeans, Children garments, maxi’s, blouses, skirts etc. There are 12,000 knitting machines, which spreads all over the country. The capacity utilization is approx 70 percent. Besides locally manufactured machinery, liberal import of machinery under different modes is also being made and the capacity based on exports is being developed. This sector has tremendous export potential. However, the sub-sector remained under pressure from its competitors during the year under review and recorded a decline of 8.0 percent in exports as against last year amid tough competition emerging from the newly-inducted members to the European Union (EU) belonging to the former East European bloc. 8.

Exports from ready-made garments and knitwear sectors crossed $1.0

billion mark each for the first time in the history of Pakistan in 2002-03, contributing about 30.27% to total textile and clothing exports and 52.78% to total value-added exports. The jump in apparel (ready- made garments and knitwear) exports from $ 1,723 million in 2001-02 to $2.24 billion in 2002-03 was mainly due to the concessions allowed by the E.U, mainly increase of quota by 15% with effect from 01.12.2001 and abolition of import duty with effect from 2002. 9.

However, with effect from March 2004, the E.U. re-imposed import duty @

12%. Currently, textile and clothing exports from Pakistan to E.U. are subject to an import duty of 9.6% because these are more than 1% of the E.U. market for textile and clothing. Consequently, these exports being ineligible for GSP concessions have remained almost stagnant in 2003-04 and 2004-05 at about $2.47 and $2.74 billion. In fact, textile and clothing exports from Pakistan are under severe strain after the commencement of WTO, the World Trade

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Organization, with effect from 01.01.2005. In contrast, Bangladesh and Sri-Lanka enjoy better access to the E.U. market. The textile and clothing exports from these countries are subject to Zero and 50% of import duty respectively as compared to Pakistan’s textile and clothing exports. Compliance Issue 10.

In post WTO era, sectors of Pakistani economy particularly industry, agriculture and

services are increasingly exposed to various challenges. One of the major challenges for lowincome countries towards adopting the path of sustainable development is the limited enterprise capacity to comply with the international buyers’ requirements. International buyers are increasingly demanding compliance on quality, safety, environment and social standards. 11.

Compliance in Certification. Compliance to international standards on

quality, environment and social accountability has been universally recognized as one of the key strategic elements of product competitiveness in both domestic and international markets, along with price and delivery factors. Quality is the pre-requisite for successful market access and for achieving continued customer satisfaction. a.

The Standards and Quality Management program address the quality related needs of exporters and concentrate on institutional and capacity development in the export quality management.

b.

Companies use international standards that either want to implement their own in-house systems or to ensure that suppliers have appropriate systems in place. International standards promote international trade by providing one consistent set of requirements recognized around the world.

c.

These systems and standards define and establish an organization's policy and objectives. It also allows an organization to document and implement the procedures needed to attain these goals. A properly implemented systems ensure that procedures are carried out

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consistently, that problems can be identified and resolved, and that the

organization

can

continuously

procedures, products and services.

review

and

improve

its

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d.

For example, ISO 9000 quality management system can enable your enterprise to increase profitability and customer satisfaction through reduced waste and rework, shortened cycle times, improved problem tracking and resolution and better supplier relations. The primary value of this certification is consistent delivery of a product or service to a defined standard and improved bottom line performance. It results into perceived higher quality product/service. The standards are voluntary or are required by the buyers. ISO certification also has a significant bearing on market credibility as well. Enterprises wishing to do business in Europe may have no choice but to adopt it as it is an accepted part of doing business.

12.

How much does a certification cost to a Company? The certification

firms give quotation of their services in regard of any certification considering the following factors

13.

a.

Size of organization

b.

Number of employees

c.

Complexity of situation

d.

Complexity of site.

Consultancy services for certification if required may cost ranging from Rs.

100,000 to Rs. 300,000 depending upon the above-mentioned factors. Consultancy may not be required if the staff is competent for carrying out the requirements of implementation of a standard. ISO Certification 14.

What is ISO.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is

a worldwide federation of national standards bodies from some 130 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

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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. 15.

Why is international standardization needed?

The existence of non-

harmonized standards for similar technologies in different countries or regions can contribute to so-called "technical barriers to trade". Export-minded industries have long sensed the need to agree on world standards to help rationalize the international trading process. This was the origin of the establishment of ISO. International standardization is well-established for many technologies in such diverse

fields

as

information

processing

and

communications,

textiles,

packaging, distribution of goods, energy production and utilization, shipbuilding, banking and financial services. It will continue to grow in importance for all sectors of industrial activity for the foreseeable future. 16.

What is the difference between ISO 9001, 2 and 3? If you have heard of

ISO 9000, then it is most probably through ISO 9001, ISO 9002 or ISO 9003, the three quality assurance models against which organizations can be certified. At some stage, you have probably wondered what the difference between them is. The answer is that the difference is simply one of scope. It works like this: a.

ISO 9001 sets out the requirements for an organization whose business processes range all the way from design and development, to production, installation and servicing;

b.

For an organization which does not carry out design and development, ISO 9002 is the appropriate standard, since it does not include the design control requirements of ISO 9001 - otherwise, its requirements are identical;

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c.

ISO 9003 is the appropriate standard for an organization whose business processes do not include design control, process control, purchasing or servicing, and which basically uses inspection and testing to ensure that final products and services meet specified requirements.

d.

So, an organization chooses that its quality system be certified against ISO 9001, ISO 9002 or ISO 9003 according to the business processes covered by the quality system. There is no difference of quality ranking between the three standards.

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How does the ISO 9000 family of standards work? The requirements

for a quality system have been standardized - but most of us like to think our business is unique. So how does ISO 9000 allow for the diversity of say, on the one hand, a "Mr. and Mrs." enterprise, and on the other, to a multinational manufacturing company with service components, or a public utility, or a government administration? a.

The answer is that ISO 9000 lays down what requirements your quality system must meet, but does not dictate how they should be met in your organization - which leaves great scope and flexibility for implementation

in

different

business

sectors

and

business

cultures...as well as different national cultures. b.

So, the ISO 9000 family includes standards that give organizations guidance and requirements on what constitutes an effective quality management system. ISO 9004-1 (and the other parts of ISO 9004) are the standards giving guidelines on the elements of quality management and a quality system.

c.

The family also includes models against which this system can be audited to give the organization and its clients assurance that the

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system is operating effectively. The three quality assurance models are ISO 9001, ISO 9002 and ISO 9003. d.

Lastly, the family includes a standard on terminology, and other standards, which can be described as "supporting tools", that give guidance on specific aspects, such as auditing quality systems.

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Why should an organization implement ISO 9000? To keep customers

- and to keep them satisfied - your product (which may, in fact, be a service) needs to meet their requirements. ISO 9000 provides a tried and tested framework for taking a systematic approach to managing your business processes (your organization's activities) so that they consistently turn out product conforming to the customer's expectations. And that means consistently happy customers 19.

How are ISO standards developed?

ISO standards are developed

according to the following principles: a.

Consensus.

The views of all interests are taken into account:

manufacturers, vendors and users, consumer groups, testing laboratories, governments, engineering professions and research organizations. b.

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

c.

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

20.

Clauses in ISO. Each model is comprised of clauses. There are a total of

20 clauses that apply to one or more of the ISO quality models. Some models share clauses, and others may pertain to only one specific model. The quality manual will document and incorporate those clauses that apply to the

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organization's function(s). Listed below is a brief description of each ISO clauses : a.

Management

Responsibility.

This

clause

requires

that

management be committed to establishing and maintaining a quality management system. Management must appoint a Management Representative (MR) to oversee the quality system. The MR should possess appropriate rank and authority in the organization to establish, implement and maintain the quality system. The MR is responsible for coordinating responses to ISO standards, for initiating action to prevent nonconformity in the quality system, for identifying and recording quality problems, for initiating and recommending solutions to quality issues, for auditing ISO compliance, and for serving as a liaison between management and the ISO registrar. b.

Quality System. The organization must prepare a quality manual that documents the development and implementation of policies, procedures, and work instructions that relate to the ISO standards. The front of the manual will include an outline on the enclosed documentation.

c.

Contract Review. This clause mandates that prior to accepting a contract that customer requirements must be documented, roles of all contract parties will be understood, resources will be available, and contract performance must be within the organization's capabilities.

d.

Design Control. This clause requires the establishment and maintenance of documented procedures that verify and control the design process to ensure that products satisfy the customer's requirements.

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Document and Data Control. This clause standard requires the establishment of procedures to ensure that the organization uses only current documentation and data for producing quality products and services. Documentation should address the quality manual, referenced

procedures,

operating

instructions,

and

design

documents. f.

Purchasing. This clause requires procedures that specify what is being purchased, ensures that suppliers can deliver the required product or service, and verifies that what is delivered by the supplier conforms to applicable procurement requirements.

g.

Control of Customer-Supplied Product. Documented procedures are required to protect customer provided supplies from theft or destruction.

h.

Product Identification and Traceability. This clause requires that the organization have an audit trail for its products during any stage of the production, delivery, or installation process.

i.

Process Control. The organization must have documented controls for business practices that affect quality. Practices include: detailed procedures,

work

instructions,

personnel

assignments,

and

equipment used. j.

Inspection and Testing. This clause requires that the organization establish acceptance criteria for work to ensure that customer product requirements are met.

k.

Control

of

Inspection,

Measuring

and

Test

Equipment.

Procedures are required to ensure that equipment used to inspect, test, and measure products and services are properly calibrated and maintained.

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Inspection and Test Status. This clause requires testing (pass/fail) the status of products throughout the production process.

m.

Control of Nonconforming Product. The organization must be able to identify products that do not comply with the customers' requirements. This identification will take place before the product is delivered to the customer.

n.

Corrective and Preventive Action.

This clause mandates that

steps be in place to detect nonconformity, and to implement corrective and preventive actions. o.

Handling, Storage, Packaging, and Delivery.

The organization

must protect the product and service from damage or deterioration. p.

Control of Quality Records. This clause requires documentation on the collection, indexing, accessing, filing, maintenance, disposal, and storing of materials that address quality records.

q.

Internal Quality Audits. The organization shall document the audits of its quality process to identify nonconformity thus ensuring compliance with the standard.

r.

Training. The organization shall train their employees on ISO to ensure that duties are carried out consistently to support the objectives of the quality system. The organization will maintain the records of employees that receive training.

s.

Servicing. The organization will document those services provided on customer products, and verify that products provided comply with the customer's requirements.

t.

Statistical Techniques. The organization will draft procedures that implement and control the use of statistical techniques for the quality system.

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Example – Mehmood Textile Study 21.

In the whole world, it is now a general rule that without ISO Certificate, an

organization cannot export. Hence for Mehmood Textile Mills also, ISO has become a basic requirement. 22.

At MTM, management has a formal procedure to comply with the

ISO 9002 requirements. The organization keeps formal record of establishing and maintaining procedures for every kind of activity starting from purchase of raw materials till the dispatch of finished products. All the procedures documented in the ISO 9002 requirements are thoroughly followed at each and every activity. Moreover MTM carries out periodic Quality Control Audits to confirm its compliance with the ISO 9002 requirements. The Internal Audits are carried out almost once in a month, but the External Audits are carried out after six months (Each External Audit Costs almost Rs 90,000). In each External Audit, the auditors sec the compliance of the organization with the ISO standards. They see the various clauses of ISO that whether org is implementing them. Moreover they see various documents. They see people working, their awareness about ISO and their training levels. The company is implementing following clauses of ISO :a.

Management Responsibility.

b.

Quality System.

c.

Contract Review.

d.

Document and Data Control.

e.

Purchasing.

f.

Control of Customer Supplied Products.

g.

Product Identification and Traceability.

h.

Process Control.

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i.

Inspection and Testing.

j.

Control of Inspection, Measuring and Test Equipment.

k.

Inspection and Test Status.

l.

Control of Non-Confirming Products.

m.

Corrective and Preventive Action.

n.

Handling, Storage, Packaging, Preservation and Delivery.

o.

Control of Quality Records.

p.

Internal Quality Audits.

q.

Training.

r.

Statistical Techniques.

23.

MTM prouds to have achieved this award and hopes to keep up its

compliance with it in the long run. Conclusion 24.

Quality of textile products is crucial to improve the image of Pakistan textile

industry internationally, which currently is the perceived to be the lowest. The quality standards of a wide range of textile products are non-existent. The textile board will have the task to formulate product standards for textiles and implement them. Similarly lowering of tariff barriers will start a new phase of non-tariff barriers for the exporters of developing countries, these include quality system compliance with ISO, standards of engagement, child labor and environment standards. This will be another important function of the board to facilitate the industry gear itself and compete globally.

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