Quality control is never easy. It requires constant attention and monitoring throughout the supply chain. The quality of raw materials plays a crucial role in determining the overall product quality.
In this article, we will explore the significance of raw material quality and discuss various quality control methods that can be employed to ensure the quality of raw materials.
Why You Need to Focus on Raw Material Quality Control
The quality of raw materials is the basis of your product quality. How is it possible to make high quality products out of poor-quality raw materials? Improving the quality of raw materials can benefit your business in numerous ways:
Enhance Material Performance
Raw materials of poor quality can lead to products that fail to perform as intended. For example, furniture made of substandard quality wood is more likely to suffer from dent marks and insect infestation. On the contrary, improving the quality of wood materials can enhance furniture performance and provide users with a better experience.
Extend Durability and Longevity
Improved raw material quality can extend products' durability and longevity. Take sportswear for example. Sportswear made of high-quality raw material can withstand more wear, washing, and tearing, extending product lifespan.
Reduce Safety Concerns
Certain industries, such as food packaging, have strict safety requirements for raw materials, as the quality of raw materials directly affects the user’s physical health. Improving raw material quality can reduce the risk of contamination, health hazards, or regulatory non-compliance.
Improve Brand Reputation
The success of a brand depends heavily on its reputation. High-quality raw materials can be used as a marketing point to attract more consumers, enhance brand reputation, and contribute to the brand's longevity.
What Are Common Raw Materials Used in Manufacturing Industry?
Cotton
Cotton is one of the most popular raw materials of apparel for its excellent wearability. It’s soft, fluffy, and has good color retention. In fact, humans have been using cotton for over 7,000 years.
In 2021, cotton accounted for approximately 24% of global fiber usage, equivalent to 26.2 million tonnes of softline products.
According to Statista, India, China, and the United States are the largest cotton producers. These three countries are responsible for over half of the world’s total production volume, which exceeds 60 million bales.
Wood
Wood is a great raw material widely loved for its versatility, durability, and sustainability. It is a natural material that can be easily shaped, carved, and finished to create a wide variety of furniture styles, from traditional to modern. Wood’s inherent strength and stability make it ideal for creating long-lasting furniture that can withstand everyday use. Additionally, the natural beauty of wood, with its unique grain patterns and warm tones, adds a timeless, organic quality to furniture, making it a popular choice for both manufacturers and consumers.
Plastic
In the realm of manufacturing and production, plastic is an exceedingly common raw material that is utilized in nearly every daily-use product. It started being mass-produced after the Second World War and has since gained popularity.
Plastics are created from natural materials such as cellulose, coal, natural gas, salt, and crude oil through a process of polymerization or polycondensation. It is cheap, versatile, sanitary, and can be easily manufactured into various forms for a wide range of industries.
Metal
Metal is a highly used raw material in industrial and machinery. It can be used in many products, including buildings, vehicles, furniture, and even food packaging.
Plus, metal is a highly recyclable material. Almost all metal, including steel, aluminum, steel, copper, and bronze, can be recycled and reproduced into new products.
Problems Raised by Poor-Quality Raw Materials
Poor-quality raw materials can significantly affect the overall quality and performance of finished products. It will take more time and money to fix product quality at the final stage than at the beginning.
The consequences of poor-quality raw materials are numerous. Here are some examples:
- Fabric prone to pilling and tearing: Poor-quality cotton has shorter fibers, which results in looser knitting of the fabric. As a result, the garment becomes easier to pill, tear, and fade. In contrast, high-quality cotton typically has longer fibers, resulting in tighter and more durable fabric.
- Hazardous substances and chemicals: raw materials of poor quality might contain hazardous substances and harmful chemicals. This is especially important for food-contact materials (FCM). These hazardous substances and chemicals might be released during usage, such as heating or freezing, and pose a risk to human safety.
- Furniture with a short lifespan: In the wooden furniture industry, the quality level of the wood directly determines the lifespan of the furniture. High-quality woods usually of higher hardness, strength, and density so they can withstand more mechanical wear and tear. They are also less likely to be damaged by insects. On the other hand, inferior wood may have more knots, cracks, or moisture, making it prone to warping, splitting, or rotting over time. This can shorten the lifespan of furniture and affect user experiences.
- Metal that easily breaks under stress: substandard metal is prone to break and have poor durability. It tends to be brittle, weak, and more likely to rust, bend, or crack. When used in building structures and machinery, low-quality metal can cause lethal safety hazards and lead to expensive repairs.
Quality Control Methods for Raw Materials
Quality control on raw materials can save brands and importers from potential repair costs and quality issues. Here we have collected some useful quality control solutions to verify and enhance your raw material quality.
- Pre-Production Inspection: this is the simplest way and a basic solution to check on the quality of your raw material. In this inspection, the inspector will visit your supplier's factory and check on the raw material itself, its condition, and its storage. It helps verify if the supplier is using the raw materials you specified and if they are stored in proper condition for future manufacturing. The inspector can also conduct some simple testing such as Pantone Color confirmation or limber moisture test to give you more insights.
- Mills Technical Audit: this is a solution specially designed for the garment industry. For garment brands, the earlier the quality issues are detected the better. And Mills Technical Audit helps to identify quality issues while the raw materials are still in the cotton mills. It assists brands in the softline sector to mitigate risks associated with the textile product at the very early stage of the supply chain.
- Chem Scan Check™ (CSC): backed by WORMS SAFETY, we have developed Chem Scan Check™ (CSC). This check-through chemical scan gives you visibility into the potentiality of 320+ chemicals that may be present in one product in a single test. This solution is also cost-effective for businesses as only one screening is required.
- Raw material lab testing: this is a quality control method that can be applied to a wide range of raw materials. At AQF laboratories, our experienced lab experts use various machinery and methods to explore the safety, performance, durability, and more of your products. Common tests we do include recycled content validation for fabrics, usage resistance tests for furniture, and resistance tests until breakage for toys.
Ensure Product Excellence With AQF
Ensuring the quality of raw materials is crucial for maintaining the quality, safety, performance, and longevity of your final products. By conducting quality control on raw materials, you protect your brand’s reputation and deliver consistent value to your customers.
Partnering with a third-party quality control company like AQF can save you time and effort in quality control. We are dedicated to providing you with customized supply chain assistance with our teams with solid technical foundations. Contact us today to safeguard raw material quality, enhance product safety, and strengthen your competitive edge in the market.
