Every industry strives to create the best products it can, fashion and garments included. However, garments quality control is an ongoing issue for some, as well as an occasional problem for even the best manufacturers. In order to create the best garments you possibly can, let's take a look at five reasons your garments' quality is lacking and how you can fix it.
1. Lack of Garments Quality Control Standards
One cause of poor quality garments is a lack of consistent standards in your quality control. This is especially a problem for newer companies who might not have defined this aspect of their business model yet. It's important to establish this standard, though, as having a way to check the quality of garments you're producing against the ideal model will greatly reduce the number of defective products that get shipped out.
Solution: Create standardization by developing a Quality Control Checklist
2. Low Quality Materials
A lot goes into sourcing raw materials for your garment operation. While some may have the instinct to purchase things for as cheap as possible, this will ultimately cost more money in the long term if your materials are of poor quality. Using inferior materials to make your garments inherently produces lower quality goods. This is something customers will notice, usually meaning less return business. It's worth spending some extra money to make a better product that people will enjoy.
Solution: Inspect the raw materials by performing a Pre-Production Inspection (PPI)
3. Improper Package Handling
Even if you've done everything right on the production side, your garments may still appear poorly made and low quality if they're damaged during shipping and handling. Package handling can be tricky, as some wear and tear on boxes is a normal part of business. However, if your garments are frequently being reported as damaged right out of the package, this is a sign that the people who transport them are being too rough.
Solution: Ensure safe transportation and delivery with Container Loading Supervision
4. Poor Storage
How you store your materials and finished products makes a big difference in what gets sold to customers. Like anything else, the fabrics needed to create garments can't just be thrown in a pile when not being used. Dust, dirt, water, and other things can cause nasty stains or discoloration on your materials, meaning that anything made with that material will share those problems. The same goes for completed garments that aren't being shipped, as storing them improperly leads to dirtying, wrinkling, and more.
Solution: Perform a Factory Audit to ensure they have a Quality Management System in place.
5. Bad Production Techniques
How something is made often has as much impact on the finished product as what it's made from. Garments aren't just sewn together by magic, but by people and machines working on raw materials. This introduces much room for error, from poor stitching to uneven seems to jagged cuts and more. Ensuring that everyone is doing their best work and keeping mistakes to a minimum is a big part of quality control, as is reevaluating if your current production processes aren't getting good results.
Solution: Ensure workmanship quality with a During Production Inspection (DUPRO)
You Can’t Ignore Quality Control
Quality control is important for making good products and keeping business thriving. If it seems like your garments aren't turning out quite right, try using these five areas to determine why your garments quality is lacking, then fix it.
Sign up for AQF Online today to start fixing some of these issues with our garments quality control expertise.
