Although garments vary significantly in terms of product types and materials. Ranging from a vast variety including knitted garments and leather bags-successful garment businesses find that they benefit greatly from carrying out the
pre-shipment inspection. Garment inspection is a complex task.
This is crucial in determining the quality standards of the garment by identifying any defects that the garment may have. Given that garment manufacture is a highly labor-intensive job, it is always helpful to make sure that the products being shipped meet the set requirements and specifications.
Consistency in garment size is one of the key factors that determine the success of a garment business. Think of it this way, you have a hundred pieces of t-shirts in size small; however, each size small varies slightly from the other. A customer buys three size small t-shirts for herself, but upon wearing them finds out that each shirt fits differently.
One of them is loose from the shoulders, the other is slightly longer in length than the others, and the third one just sits differently on the body altogether. The customer will most likely return the t-shirts for a refund and because of this unfortunate experience that she has had with your brand she may switch to other brands in the future- even worse; she’ll share this experience with her friends and family and discourage them from doing business with you too.
Competition In The Garment Industry
In today’s day and age where competition in the garment industry is fiercer than ever, it is extremely important for you to keep a stern check on the quality of products that you are producing, otherwise, it would be very difficult for you to remain profitable in your business.
As another example, imagine that you haven’t specified clearly the tolerances for dimensions in your jeans that you have imported from China. The shipment that you receive varies greatly in size and fit from what your customers demand. Because it was you who failed to provide a detailed description of the maximum size of the defect in the size of the jeans that you will accept, you will be stuck with over a thousand pieces of unsellable jeans in your warehouse. Definitely not something you ever wish to experience!
For these reasons (and countless more), third-party inspection and Garment inspection is becoming increasingly popular with importers all over the world to make sure that the garments that they receive are up to their standards and they do not have to face any hassles in their business due to substandard products being shipped to them.
The Garment inspection team acts as your eyes and ears in the supplier’s factory without you ever having to visit the country or the factory physically. However, even with a competent third-party inspection team on ground to ensure the quality of the garments, they will not be able to accurately do their job unless you clearly specify all of your requirements in an in-depth document, including all the steps for inspection that you wish to achieve.
Key Areas of QC Inspection for Garments and Textiles
Garment inspection is a complex task that consists of checking on a number of factors related to the garment, such as:
- Careful measurement and reporting of measurements
- Sizing
- Symmetry
- Button alignment
- Stitching
- Trim and linings
- Color shading, tags, and labeling
Make sure that all the legal requirements are fulfilled, which includes conforming to rules such as the Textile fiber products identification act and the wool products labeling act- being in compliance with these rules makes sure that your products are ready for sale in the country.
On-Site Tests To Check Different Aspects Of The Materials
Several on-site tests to check different aspects of the materials such as:
- Crocking
- Fabric absorbency
- Seam strength
- Stain resistance
- Waterproofing
- Fatigue tests for fasteners
- Stretch tests for elastic fabrics and straps
It would not be wrong to say that quality is the backbone of any business; without quality products and services, especially in the highly competitive market that businesses operate in these days, any firm is unlikely to survive. This holds even the more important for garments, where quality is difficult to nail given the labor-intensive nature of the product.
Unlike large scale machine-manufactured products that can be made in large amounts with the exact same specifications for each unit, garments are stitched by hand and therefore are always subject to the risk of inconsistency between consecutive products and unsatisfactory quality.
However, given all the difficulties in achieving a consistent garment inspection quality, the business has to make sure to minimize any variability in quality in order to ensure that customer expectations are met adequately. If the garment importer is unable to satisfy the expectations of the customer regarding the garment that is being purchased, then there always remains the risk of losing potential customers to competitors who are better able to meet with these quality standards.
Consistency is key in garments
When deciding on which garment to purchase, one of the foremost key consideration for any consumer is the overall fit of the garment. No matter how appealing an item may look hanging on a rack or poised on a mannequin if it does not fit you well, you’re likely not to purchase that garment. This is why detail-orientation towards the size measurements is of utmost importance to the quality inspectors, who should provide you with an in-depth report of the sizes produced by the manufacturer.
Specifying tolerances for garment dimensions
In the garment manufacturing industry, an error of as little as 1/8 of an inch can result in fabrics being potentially unsellable and bringing along the risk of losing thousands of dollars. This is why it is extremely important for you to provide your supplier as well as your quality control staff with precise dimensions that state the maximum error that you are willing to tolerate in your garment in terms of dimension, also known as tolerances.
Your inspecting staff will then use these tolerances when they inspect garments and form their report, and to ultimately decide whether or not each piece of garment falls within the maximum margin of error provided, and if not, reject that item.
Specific point of measurements for each garment
The specific point of measurements for each garment: every garment would require a differing point of measurement, for example a shirt would need the measurement of the sleeves whereas a pant would require the measurement of the waist size.
The standard measurements for each size: given that each style of the garment would come in differing sizes, the business should carefully think about the measurement for each size. This would depend upon the preferences of the customer as well as the garment type.
The tolerances that you provide the supplier and the inspection staff can also be varied for each point of measure depending upon how critical you think that measurement is to the overall shape or fit of the garment. As an example, if you feel that the length of a skirt is extremely important to its look, then you might set smaller tolerances for the length dimensions as compared to the size of the zip on the side of the waist over that skirt, which might have slightly larger tolerances.
It is advisable to critically think each tolerance through, as well as the impact it will have on the overall shape of the garment before finalizing the maximum margin of error that you’ll allow. Discuss it with your supplier before he begins manufacturing the garments so that you both can be on the same page regarding every detail.
Tips on how to measure garments adequately
Here is a list of tips that would help in measuring garments adequately and consistently:
- The garment should be laid down on an even flat surface for accurate measurement
- The garment should not be stretched when taking the measurement so as to not to distort any reading
- An initial measurement should always be taken prior to fitting on a model
- If there is any stretchy material, that measurement should be taken last
5 ESSENTIAL TESTS FOR GARMENT ACCESSORIES
Pull test
This is a very simple test where inspectors apply a certain amount of force on the accessories of the garment. To ‘pull’ them and see if the break-off. In case the accessories become detached from the garment. The test would ‘fail.’ These are certain clothing items. Such as children’s clothing that are legally required to pass this test. As it can otherwise potentially cause the risk of choking.
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How do you specify a pull test requirement to your inspector in your QC checklist?
Your garment manufacturer will most probably have a pulling test machine present on site. However, in certain circumstance this machine may not be present for the inspector. To use on the day of the Garment inspection; perhaps it is being used in some other part of the factory or has broken down recently. In such a scenario. It is common for the inspector to conduct this test by hand instead of using the machine. The results, keep in mind, will not be as accurate as when using the machine.
It is important to include in your checklist in case the machine is not available- many importers forget to do so and therefore face unnecessary delay and inconvenience.
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Fatigue test
In this test, the fastener is opened and closed, such as any buttons or zippers at 50 cycles per fastener. If the fastener works adequately after these cycles, then the garment quality is up to mark. The inspector need not inspect each and every fastener. Because the supplier usually uses the same brand of fasteners in the entire branch.
How do you specify a fatigue test requirement to your inspector in your QC checklist?
If you’re using multiple kinds of accessories in your garments. Be sure to specify the standards or procedures for the fatigue test on each kind of accessory. If you wish to perform a more complex version of the fatigue test. It can be done so in a lab where specialized equipment is available. However, it is common among QC inspectors to perform this test by hand rather than the machine. As it is usually sufficient to replicate real-world usage of the garment.
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Stretch test for elastic fibers and straps
The inspector should stretch any elastic part of the garment to ensure that it functions properly. Upon stretching, the garment should not change shape or show any loose fibers. To ensure utmost quality control, the entire shipment should be inspected. Because the elasticity of the garment is of utmost importance to its functionality.
How do you specify a stretch test requirement to your inspector in your QC checklist?
As this test is one of the least time consuming on-site tests for garment accessories. It is often conducted on the entire sample rather than a few selected pieces. You should mention clearly any specific requirements or instructions that you have for the stretch test in your QC checklist.
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Checking buttonholes for stitching defects
You may have often noticed an extra button sewn to the garment when you purchase it. This is because buttons are most susceptible to falling off among all other garment accessories. This requires extra care when testing for the strength of the buttons. Attached so that they do not fall off easily.
The pull tests and fatigue tests can help you determine the durability of the button. However, the button merely by itself is of no use if it does not have a functioning buttonhole with it. There exist no specialized on-site tests to check for the presence of adequate buttonholes. However, your inspector should keep an eye out for them when doing garment inspection.
How to classify buttonhole defects in your garment inspection
it is common to classify all defects related to buttons as ‘major’ defects according to the AQL standards because they can give a rather unpleasant image of your brand to the customer. Therefore, most importers would wish to limit the number of defects regarding buttons as much as possible.
Some common examples of buttonhole defects and the problems they cause are:
- Incomplete, skipped stitches or untrimmed threads around the buttonhole can cause the button to catch or make it difficult to fasten the garment.
- An improperly sized buttonhole can make the garment easily come unfastened or difficult to fasten at all.
- Buttonholes are sewn vertically when they should be sewn horizontally and vice versa can affect the function and style of a garment.
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Visual test
Once you’ve conducted all the tests mentioned above. It is essential to conduct a final visual conformance test to ensure that all the accessories. Attached to the garment appear to be in order. Specifications for accessories could include color, style, brand, size, placement and any other physical attributes.
Conclusion
A single piece of defect may not look like a lot to you. But can cost you your customers in the long run if such occurrences keep on happening frequently. And when it comes to the garment manufacturing industry. It appears as though there are perhaps countless opportunities for such defects. To show up when you least expect them to.
This is why you should always conduct on-site tests. To ensure the durability and the quality of accessories attached to your garments.