Establishing quality control
Part 3
It is in the finishing area where
inspectors have the most problems. It is here where you must
show as well as tell.
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Since it is in this area that most
inspectors are least knowledgeable (due to a lack of training),
a great amount of time should be spent in the training phase
for quality points in finishing. If the inspector is a former
finisher, he or she should still be trained to look for the
quality points that are established by management, not the
inspector.
The former finisher should be instructed
not to correct errors for finishing personally but to send
badly finished garments back to the finisher responsible. An
inspector with no finishing experience could do as well as one
with finishing experience if given the proper training. The
technique of show and tell is very critical when training a
novice inspector.
Training of the finishing inspector
begins with the Check List. This Check List is based on all the
quality points to be looked at.
Remember to post a copy of the Check List
at each finishing unit as well as in the inspection area to
minimize any conflicts between the finisher and the inspector
when a garment is rejected.
The Check List
A typical Check List for various garments
is as follows:
Pants
No removable spots, stains or ground-in
soil.
No rips, tears, open seams, torn belt
loops, open cuffs, missing buttons, missing or broken waistband
clamps or hooks, waistband lining not tacked.
Note: By inspecting at the counter, most
of these deficiencies would be charged for when pointed out to
the customer. Remember, the difference between a paid repair
and a free repair is one caught at the counter as this is also
the difference between a clerk and an efficient customer
service representative.
No lint or fuzz balls.
No double creases.
No crotch wrinkles.
No uneven crease heights.
No vacuum channels.
Smooth pocket flaps and buttoned.
No leave-off marks where the top meets
the upper leg area.
Cuffs are squared.
Zipper works easily and is not damaged.
Note: The inspector should apply a clear
wax pencil or stick to the zipper’s teeth.
Men’s suit coats
No removable spots, stains or ground-in
soil.
No rips, tears, open seams, loose hems,
missing buttons, lining extended below the bottom and each
cuff, armhole not tacked; and cuffs must be squared at bottom.
No lint or fuzz balls.
No limp lapels; must be firm and crisp
without shine.
No waves on edges of lapels; must be
smooth.
No improper lapel break.
Note: Lapels should roll to a point about
3Ú4 of an inch above the first button or button hole.
No rolled or wrinkled collar (both inside
and out. Must be creased to a point about 1 1Ú2 inches below
the gorge seam (where the collar is sewed to the lapel). This
will ensure the proper lapel break as noted above.
No buttons mashed into the fabric and no
button impressions.
Pocket flaps or open pockets must be
smooth and closed.
No pocket flap impressions or uneven and
non-squared open pockets.
No heavy shine or seam impressions.
Cuffs not bell-bottomed or flared; lining
not extended beyond bottom of cuffs.
Yoke lining should be finished and
creased in center.
No wrinkles in full linings.
Sleeves should be “shaped”
and not round or creased unless requested by customer.
Sleeves should not be dented at the top
and shoulder.
No open vents or vent impressions.
Ladies’ suit coats
All the points for men’s suit coats
except:
No sharply creased collars, but mildly,
lightly creased to produce a “shape.”
No mashed appearance in the bust area.
Dresses and blouses
No removable spots, stains or ground-in
soil.
No rips, tears, open seams, loose hems,
missing buttons and hooks, loose details.
No distortion.
No seam impressions.
No leave-off marks, no iron marks.
No sharp creases in roll pleats and
sleeves.
No shine on dark colored fabrics.
No mashed or hard appearance on soft
finish fabrics.
No “rough dry” appearance on
hard finish fabrics (cotton, linen, silk, polyester-cotton
blend).
No sticking zippers.
No bows or other ornaments pressed flat.
No limp feel where crispness is required.
Bodice and skirt portion should have same feel.
No inside facings or allowances wrinkled
or unfinished; collar points not creased.
No pleat impressions or ripples in
pleats.
No sharply creased hemlines in crepe and
soft, napped fabrics.
Skirts
No removable spots, stains and ground-in
soil.
No rips, tears open seams loose hems,
missing buttons and hooks.
No lint or fuzz balls.
No distortion.
No leave-off marks where top meets the
body of the skirt.
No seam impressions.
No sharp creases in roll pleats
No shine on dark colored fabrics.
No mashed or hard appearance on soft
finish fabrics.
No “rough dry” appearance on
hard finish fabrics (cotton. linen, silk, polyester-cotton
blend).
No sticking zipper.
No limp feel where crispness is required.
No wrinkles in waistband.
Note: Skirts should be topped first then
bottom-finished.
No pleat impressions or ripples in
pleats.
No sharply creased hemlines in crepe and,
napped fabrics.
First Impression Quality – Preservation
A garment must be cleaned and finished
with enough quality, and be packaged with enough preservation
materials to preserve the quality which your employees have
built into it (refer to my National Clothesline article “Preservation
and Presentation,” August,
2005).
Why finish the lapels of a suit coat to
make them break just above the button and button hole if they
are not locked in by a good “lapel holder.”
Conversely, if the lapels do not break properly, the lapel
holder will not correct the improper condition, but actually
enhance the negativity.
Why spend valuable time inserting sleeve
expanders properly into the coat’s sleeves when using the
steam-air form finisher if the beautifully shaped sleeves are
not preserved with tissue before the jacket is bagged and filed
in the customer service area?
After all, it is the customer’s
first impression of the delivered garment’s quality which
sells the services of your plant. Take laundered shirts on
hangers, for example.
If the shirt collar is not broken
properly at the neckband seam with the collar area not smooth,
firm and wrinkle-free, the quality of your shirt service is
destroyed since the collar is the first part of the shirt
noticed by the customer upon its delivery.
Again, the first impression makes or
breaks the quality image of your plant. Your shirt’s
quality finish can be preserved very easily by inserting a
collar support behind and up under the collar button to hold
the collar up instead of letting it sag down.
To further preserve the shirt’s
quality (on the hanger), the second and fourth buttons should
be buttoned in addition to the collar button. The second and
fourth buttons are buttoned by the inspector or the assembly
person if that job is combined. This will permit the shirt to
lay flat and without “military creases.”
Put no more than three shirts to a bag
and do not choke and crush the collars by twisting a hanger tie
too tightly. A wide metal combiner clip or multiple clip device
is better.
While you are explaining to your
finishers the proper lays for quality, include your inspector
and assembly/bagging personnel in the presentation.
Point out the items which contribute to
quality as well as those which negate it. Explain how to
position the garment properly on a hanger so all parties
concerned will see to it that the garment is properly
positioned before it has been finally bagged as a completed
order.
Consistent Quality Finishing
Consistency of quality is as important as
the quality itself. If a garment is finished beautifully one
time but poorly the next time, this lack of consistency will
result in customer dissatisfaction with an eventual loss of
volume.
There are times when volume is low,
especially in bad winter and hot summer months, and your
finishers are forced to pace the cleaner/spotter in order to
spread out the work. Otherwise, they will make very little pay
since the smaller volume would permit the day’s finishing
to be accomplished in half the normal time.
When this happens, the finisher spends
more time on each garment, and he or she “builds
in” a better quality than normal, standardized methods
produce.
The better quality may be very obvious to
your very pleased customer, but the next time the same garment
comes into the plant, the finishing department could be back to
the normal volume. Then the operator would revert back to the
standard, which does not include the extra quality previously
built into the garment. If the difference in the two qualities
is obvious, the customer becomes dissatisfied.
The dissatisfied customer will be very
upset over the inconsistent quality and may not give you the
courtesy of filing a formal complaint. Alternatively, the
dissatisfied customer will tell others of the inconsistency in
quality, blaming it on an “I don’t care”
attitude of your management and staff. Many studies have
concluded that only a small percentage of dissatisfied
customers ever bother to complain — they simply go
someplace else.
Actually, this frustrated customer now
knows two things:
1. Your plant knows how to do a quality
job because you did a quality job in the past.
2. Your plant has capable and skilled
workers, but they are not supervised by capable managers.
Consistency, therefore, can be achieved
only by establishing three work policies:
1. Standard methods and procedures.
2. Proper inspection.
3. Constant supervision.
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