Inspecting for quality control
Part 2
At the finishing area: The finisher
should inspect the garment after it has been pressed. All the
important areas of the garment should be looked at to show the
finisher that the garment presents a good “first
impression” and has “eye appeal.” After all,
the press job is what the customer first sees and forms his/her
perception of what is appealing and what is not.
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At the inspection station
A central inspection area is where all
garments are inspected at one point. If this is a large area in
a large production plant, the inspector can concentrate on
garment inspection for the entire day without any distractions.
This is the main advantage of the central inspection station.
A big disadvantage of the central
inspection station is that any garment rejected at the
inspection point has a long way to travel back to the point
where the problem can be corrected. This may create a late
garment in the assembly area, holding up an entire order.
Another disadvantage is that fatigue and boredom can result
from constant inspecting.
However, regardless of the advantages and
disadvantages of the central inspection station, it is a vital
necessity to quality control and should be fully utilized,
especially in plants with a sizable volume of work.
Another method of inspection is the use
of the “roving inspector.” In this method the
inspector goes to the work area and inspects all garments ready
to leave that station (finishing or tailoring). The main
advantage of this method is that a rejected garment is at the
unit or section where the problem must be corrected.
Consequently, it gets to the assembly area much quicker.
Roving inspection has two disadvantages:
• There is no inspection being
performed where the roving inspector is traveling from one
station to another or while he/she is moving the pass-ups to
the assembly area.
• The light at the finishing unit or
tailoring area may not be adequate for complete inspection.
However, these disadvantages are slight
and can be easily compensated for, especially if the inspector
is also utilized to transport garments from the work stations
to the assembly area.
In plants that have normal volumes, the
inspector can also double as the assembly person. In this
method it is important that bad work be returned to the work
station responsible rather than re-pressing or attempting minor
stain removal at the inspection point. This will caution the
spotter and pressers to be more conscious of the quality of
their work.
Fortunately, the modern manager is
usually very careful in choosing an inspector. He or she is
more thoughtful about the things that determine the choice.
To begin with, what kind of temperament
does the person have? Does this person go to any lengths to be
liked by everyone in the plant? Will the fear of making enemies
keep him or her from rejecting as many garments as is
necessary? This type of person will not make an effective
inspector.
Is the person a paranoid type who wants
to dominate others? Is the person fanatically critical or so
particular that the finishers and spotters will want to quit
because they feel that they are being harassed? Does the
inspector possess enough knowledge of finishing and spotting to
discern between what can be corrected and what cannot? Can the
inspector tell if the spotter has substituted the “sorry
tag” for stain removal? Is the inspector’s tone of
voice and domineering attitude going to alienate and upset the
production workers? This type of person will not make an
effective inspector.
Usually, a former cleaner/spotter and/or
finisher will make a very good inspector since he or she will
have a more viable working knowledge of what can be corrected
and what cannot. Also, that background is essential in knowing
special details in finishing that a non-finisher, or one with
no plant experience, would have no knowledge of, such as what
gets creased and what does not, should the hem be rolled or
pressed flat, etc.
On the other hand, if you choose one of
your finishers, is he or she particularly friendly with one of
the other finishers? If so, you could be asking for trouble.
This could create an air of tension among the other finishers
if the inspector shows obvious favoritism toward one of the
finishers.
How does your inspector feel about the
company? Is this person dedicated and loyal? Does he or she
sometimes work at the counter? If so, does he or she wish to
satisfy your customers and avoid the embarrassment of
delivering inferior quality? This type of person will
definitely make an effective inspector.
Can this person accept constructive
criticism? This is very important since any complaint coming
from a customer due to faulty inspection should be discussed
with him/her. If this person is one who becomes angry or
argumentative when criticized then he or she cannot be
effective.
Does this person have good vision and no
color blindness? If his or her vision is bad, how can he or she
see small spots that the customer knows are there when the
garment was brought in, or how can slight traces of residual
dye from incomplete spotting be detected?
Controlling quality
The plant manager should be directly
involved in quality control inspection. As a consultant on
assignment, the following is performed when I am tasked
specifically with quality control. Perhaps this procedure would
be a good approach for the plant manager:
All production employees are informed
that a weekly inspection will be performed for evaluation of
quality work coming from all areas. No particular day will be
chosen.
The program is begun by observing each
work area, beginning with marking.
How can proper marking effect the quality
of inspection? If the marking tags are not attached to the
garment in the proper place, and they are difficult to locate,
this will slow the inspector down in identification, especially
if the inspector is also an assembler and bagger. Consequently,
the inspector’s overall inspection of the garment for
defects will be rushed and not be thorough.
Make sure that all stains are identified
(as much as possible) and noted on the invoice as well as on a
“pre-spot” flag tag. See that marking tags are
attached in areas on the garment that will not interfere with
proper pressing.
In the drycleaning area, you should
determine if the clothes are coming out bright and with no
spots or residual soil. If the garments are coming out bad, the
problem should be discussed with the cleaner/spotter, inspector
and plant manager. You should observe the methodology used by
the spotter, including the proper spotting tools and chemicals.
Is the spotter tamping too violently or misusing the spatula to
cause surface scuffing, etc.?
Most important, is the spotter inspecting
each garment for spots after it has been removed from the
cleaning machine? Explain how a spot can be invisible before
cleaning and how it can be brought to the surface after
cleaning. Explain how vital this post-cleaning inspection for
spots is to saving valuable production time avoiding
re-cleaning and re-pressing.
If a presser notices a spot after the
garment has been 75 percent pressed and it is sent back for
spotting, then that amount of pressing time has been a total
loss.
All garments with “pre-spot”
flag tags attached should be inspected for spot removal before
cleaning, but do not inspect the other garments that have no
“pre-spot” tags attached since that will only slow
up the cleaning production (all spots are checked during the
post-cleaning inspection). Most spots can be removed in the
cleaning machine if the right amount of moisture is added to
the system. The cleaning process should be thorough enough and
solvent maintenance good enough to remove all regular soil.
All the above points must be pointed out
to the cleaner/spotter and inspector. Emphasize the
post-cleaning inspection of each garment for spots.
In the finishing area, this training will
have to be based on the quality desired and the equipment
available. If the equipment is in need of repair, the steam is
too high and too dry, the unit’s layout is inefficient,
or there is no hand iron, puff iron or water spray gun in the
unit, then the inspector’s job will be more difficult and
quality will suffer.
The finishing checklist
An inspection checklist should be
prepared for both the inspector and the finisher. The inspector
should be shown the actual areas to be inspected on each type
of garment. The finisher should be shown, or explained if
thoroughly experienced, the fine points on the garment which
the inspector will be looking at. This checklist should be
prepared by management in accordance with the type of area that
the plant and its branches are located in and the prices
charged. For instance, if you are operating in an affluent area
where your prices are quite high, you might expect to have a
rather extensive checklist.
Most important, make sure that your
finishers are thoroughly trained to properly press the garments
in accordance with your checklist.
Some of the points emphasized herein are
repeated in previous and succeeding articles for this series
due to their critical nature for successful quality control.
Next month we will discuss the training
of the finishing inspector and the fine points of the
inspection.
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