Buyers argue about process more than about any other figure in non-woven, and they usually argue about the wrong part of it: the number itself rather than the tolerance behind it.
What process actually controls in non-woven
Determines strength, softness and whether the edges fray.
It also explains why process is the first line a buyer loosens and the last line a claim refers to.
For Non-woven fabric, the working range is spunbond / spunlace / needle punch / SMS. Inside that band the choice is commercial; outside it, the product changes category and so does the price.
How to choose a process option
| Option | What it changes in non-woven | When it is the right choice |
|---|---|---|
| spunbond | The lowest-cost option in the family. Low CD strength is where it usually ends up. | Cost-led programmes with a short service life |
| needle punch | The volume middle: enough margin for process variation without paying for headroom the end product cannot use. | Most repeat programmes, and the safest default |
| SMS | The top of the family, where the process is controlled tightly enough to guarantee it. | A warranty, a tender, or a specification that cannot be renegotiated |
These are alternatives, not points on a scale. Process is chosen by the application rather than by price, and a supplier who quotes one option as if it were interchangeable with another is quoting a different product.
The middle is where most programmes should sit, and it is the hardest position to defend in a price meeting because it has no story attached to it.
The figure that decides the outcome is not process itself but the tolerance around it. A supplier who quotes spunbond / spunlace / needle punch / SMS without a tolerance has not quoted a specification, and the first lot will define the tolerance for you.
How to measure process
The reference method here is Mass per unit area, run to ISO 9073-1, with an acceptance of +/- 5 % of nominal. The method is the easy part; sampling and conditioning are where reports diverge.
Take samples from the beginning, middle and end of the run. A single sample from the top of a roll tells you about the top of that roll, and process varies more across a run than most buyers expect.
Record the measured value rather than pass or fail. A marginal pass on process tells you the process is running at the edge, which is the information you need before the next lot rather than after it.
Process does not stand alone
Process moves with weight (15-200 gsm) and with tensile strength (MD 20-60 N/5 cm). Tightening one usually costs money in another, and a supplier who accepts every tolerance without comment has either not understood the interaction or is planning to substitute.
If a quotation is significantly cheaper, the difference is usually in one of these neighbours rather than in the figure being discussed.
The clause to write for process
The line below is the version we can quote against without inventing anything. Process appears with a tolerance and a test, not as a standalone number.
Polypropylene spunbond, 80 gsm +/- 5 %, 160 cm, MD tensile >= 30 N/5 cm, CD >= 18 N/5 cm, UV stabilised, Pantone 19-3906 TCX
A specification without a test method is a preference. It becomes a requirement when the method and the acceptance value are both named, because then a substitution is visible.
When process goes wrong
Low CD strength. Material tears across the roll when pulled or sewn.
The cause is usually fibre orientation biased to machine direction, typical of cheap spunbond.
The test that catches it: Tensile MD and CD per ISO 9073-3; require both figures.
What to specify instead: Specify a CD:MD ratio above 0.6, or choose a cross-laid process.
The pattern is consistent: the failure appears months after delivery, is hard to attribute, and the cost lands on the buyer. That is the argument for measuring process on every lot rather than on the development sample.
Four questions about process, before you order
- What tolerance do you hold on process, and what did your last three lots measure against it?
- Which method do you use for mass per unit area, and which laboratory signs the report?
- When process falls outside spunbond / spunlace / needle punch / SMS, do you rework, downgrade, or ship and hope?
- Which of weight or tensile strength would you move first to hit a lower price?
The answers are more useful than a certificate, because they show whether the process is controlled or merely inspected. Full ranges for non-woven are on the product page, and the measurement regime is described on the quality control page.
Questions buyers ask before ordering
Do you quote MD and CD strength?
Yes, and you should insist on it. A single tensile figure usually means MD only, which hides the direction that fails.
Can you supply UV-stabilised material?
Yes, with a stated exposure period. ‘UV treated’ without hours or months is not a specification.
Failure modes worth a clause in the purchase order
Claims rarely come from a batch that was obviously wrong. They come from a tensile strength figure that sat inside the quoted band and outside what the product needed.
| Failure | What triggers it | Test to demand on the production lot |
|---|---|---|
| Weight shortfall | Nominal gsm quoted from the line setting, not the delivered goods. | Mass per unit area — ISO 9073-1; acceptance +/- 5 % of nominal |
| Colour lot variation | Surface dyeing at low gsm; poor bath control. | Tensile strength — ISO 9073-3; acceptance MD >= 20 N/5 cm, CD >= 12 N/5 cm |
The other two, with acceptance numbers attached, are in the full failure analysis for non-woven. A supplier who cannot name the mode he sees most often is describing a catalogue, not a process.
Seven lines that turn a quotation into a specification
Most post-delivery arguments are not about quality. They are about a document that never said which figure would be measured, on which instrument, at whose cost.
- Elongation (20-80 %): fix the value per shipment, and state who pays for the re-test if a lot lands outside it.
- Width: 160-320 cm is not an answer on its own. Ask for the last three lots’ actual readings and the spread behind them.
- Hydrophilic / hydrophobic: agree the test method with the number. Two labs, two methods, two answers, one argument.
- Colour fastness (>= grade 3-4): state where in the band this order sits. The middle of the band is not what a tolerance is for.
- Price validity: the period during which the quoted figure holds, and what happens to it when the raw-material index moves.
- Remedy: rework, replacement or credit, and the point at which each applies.
- Sample retention: one production sample per lot stays with the mill for twelve months. Claims are settled against it, not against memory.
Need process specified and tested against your end use?
Send the end use, the quantity and the destination market, and we will come back with a specification that meets it, a price at your volume and the test reports that back it up. Samples are free for qualified programmes; we charge the courier only.
Related reading
Sample cut with your values on it · Neutral packing and private label · Consolidation, documents and lead times
