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The Textile Magazine
JUly 2012
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71
ITMA Asia + CITME 2012
‘barré’ – unwanted stripes appear-
ing in the finished fabric through
high micronaire variation.
Cotton Incorporated has
conducted studies showing
that a single occurrence of
barré can cost as much as
CNY 200,000 ($28,000) in
terms of resulting off-quality
product value.
In China, mills typically buy
lots consisting of 100 bales of
cotton, where micronaire can
vary from 3.7 to 5.1 between
individual cotton bales. A recent
USTER study of the situation in
China found eight instances over
a six-week period where micro-
naire varied significantly enough
between laydowns to cause barré
(the threshold lies at ±0.1 variance
between subsequent laydowns). To
address this issue and create a mate-
rial mix with a constant micronaire,
it is normal for mills to rely on
sample testing of cotton, covering
10 per cent of the bales.
As the study shows, this is not
enough and will probably produce
yarn causing barré defects on a
regular basis. The result will be
claims – increasing cost and drain-
ing profitability for the mill.
By using the fiber testing
instruments USTER HVI or
USTER MF100 specifically
developed for the require-
ments of Chinese spinners,
mills can test enough sam-
ples to control the variation
of micronaire in every laydown.
The solution is a simple two-step:
sample testing of 25 per cent of the
bales of each lot to identify outliers,
and 100 per cent testing of all bales
within each lot containing outliers.
This solution corresponds to the
second element of Total Testing
– shifting from sampling to con-
tinuous testing – and demonstrates
how preventing a single instance of
barré-affected yarn can save a mill
as much as CNY 200,000 ($28,000)
in claim costs.
Total Testing – the Uster Tech-
nologies approach supporting Chi-
nese spinners for greater success,
helping them progress from uncer-
tain results to predictable profits.
The Uster Group is the lead-
ing high-technology instrument
manufacturer of products for qual-
ity measurement and certification
for the textile industry. It provides
testing and monitoring instruments,
systems and services that allow
optimization of quality through
each individual stage of textile pro-
duction. This includes raw textile
fibers, such as cotton or wool, all
staple fiber and filament yarns, as
well as downstream services to the
final finished fabric.
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