ABSTRACT
This research work assesses quality-related problem in Ethiopian garment enterprises in order to develop an applicable quality improvement model to improve the overall performance of the sector. A sample of 11 garment enterprises was taken considering the unexpected response rate, requirements for performing statistical analysis, available time, and survey cost. Primary and secondary data were collected and analyzed to identify quality-related problems of the sector using a well-structured questionnaire, interviews, personal observations, and review of previous works. The study performs a preliminary gap analysis is made by considering a case study to investigate the quality associated costs and apply SQC tools to identify the potential areas of improvements. Then, a quality improvement model is developed along with primary steps to implement the model to improve the competitiveness of the sector.