|
|
|
|
|
NetMark Support to African Net Manufacturers To meet public health needs for effective nets and ITNs and to meet the challenge of imported nets, African net manufacturers need to focus on the quality of their products. Since mid-2003, NetMark has been providing technical support to African net manufacturers to help them increase their productivity and the quality and variety of their products. This support has included technical visits to various companies to review overall operations, design quality testing procedures, and assess the feasibility of converting an existing textile plant to net production. Companies are provided with confidential reports detailing improvements that can be made in their systems. Quality Control Workshop To help net manufacturers apply international quality assurance standards to their factories, NetMark organized a three-day workshop on Quality Control for African Net Manufacturers from September 27-29, 2004 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Staff members with quality control responsibilities from ten African net manufacturers participated in this workshop led by two textile experts from Global Textile Partners, Geert de Clercq and Dan McCreight, with assistance from Will Shaw. The participants represented ten of the major net manufacturers in Africa:
The workshop focused on the three aspects of a textile quality control program:
This workshop reviewed the fundamentals of an effective onsite quality control system, how to generate and analyze relevant data, the laboratory equipment possibilities, and what is important at each process in the manufacture of mosquito nets. It outlined the major quality control problems identified by NetMark assessments of African manufacturers and discussed how those problems can be rectified. Specific topics covered included:
The
workshop provided a basic understanding of establishing and operating
an effective quality control program. It gave participants experience
in doing the essential calculations routinely used in the control of quality
in textile manufacturing and prepared them for higher level training in
the more advanced quality control concepts and in statistical process
control (SPC). These advanced methods are essential for systematic improvement
of processes and products of those processes. Instructors: Global Textile Partner (GTP) designed the technical content of the workshop. GTP is part of The Picanol Group that has played a pioneering role as a developer and manufacturer of highly productive weaving systems for more than half a century. Instructors de Clercq and McCreight have combined experience of 60 years in the textile industry. Both have managed textile manufacturing plants, taught textile technology at the college and graduate level, and have carried out many QC assignments to textile companies, including net manufacturers. Workshop Sponsors: This workshop was organized by the USAID NetMark Program with funding from the Regional Economic Development Services Office (REDSO) of the U.S.Agency for International Development and technical leadership from Global Textile Partner. Funding for Nigerian net manufacturers was provided by the WARP office of USAID. Download printer-friendly version Handbook of Practical Quality Testing Methods for the Mosquito Net Manufacturer (474 KB, pdf)
|
QUALITY
CONTROL 
The
participants received a packet ofresource materials including: 1) the
book Statistical Methods for Textile Production; 2)