If you’re like most garment importers, the question of whether or not your imported garments will fulfill the quality standards that you have asked for lingers inside your mind day in and day out.
Because you’re perhaps hundreds or thousands of miles away from the site of production, there is no definite way to supervise each and every process to make sure that all quality requirements are met timely. The option to wait until you actually receive the shipment physically to make sure that all the products are defect-free is too much of a gamble: what if a significant amount of products show up damaged? Not only will you have to bear the expenses of repair and rework along with the cost of transportation, but you’ll also be facing significant delays in delivering the products to your customers on time.
In such a scenario, most garment importers would like to turn to quality control in order to be assured that they do not face such issues. If you do not have an internal quality control team, it is quite common to hire an outside team to do the job. Over the years it has become apparent that hiring a third-party quality inspection firm may actually be more economical than employing your own staff to perform this job. Perhaps this is among the many reasons why garment importers are moving towards third-party QC inspectors more and more.
Are you confused regarding whether to employ an internal team or hire a third-party QC inspector for your garments?
Here are the top five reasons why many importers, like you, prefer third-party QC inspectors over any other approach:
1- Swift Reporting That Enable you to Quickly Address any Potential Problems
It may considerably difficult to operate as an importer when you’re so far away from your manufacturer, especially keeping in minds the different time zones. If you receive the detailed report outlining all details regarding the products quickly, you have more time to tackle the issues in order to avoid any potential time delays in the production process.
In addition to issuing a prompt quality report within 24 hours of carrying out an inspection, most third-party inspection firms also offer you the service of operating very efficiently in order to make the best use of your time. Third-party inspection companies use acceptance sampling in garment inspection to make the entire process more efficient.
Most third-party inspection companies do not sample each and every piece in a shipment to ensure the quality. Rather, these firms make sure of acceptance sampling methods such as AQL to set aside a statistically significant number of garments that will be inspected and will adequately represent the quality of the entire shipment.
This technique has helped QC inspectors all over the work to operate more efficiently by saving time and energy: also keeping the cost lower, because more third-party inspection firms charge their clients according to the time spent performing the inspection.
Because the AQL method has proven to be statistically efficient over the years, you can trust the results with confidence that they accurately represent the true quality standards of the entire shipment. Inspectors design an outline that systematically categorizes the defects that can be found in the garments based upon their severity as well as determining the maximum number of acceptable defects that you can tolerate in your sample size.
Therefore, it is extremely important to clearly specify the requirements that you expect of your shipment so that there is no potential confusion between you, the inspectors, or the manufacturers- they would be able to properly issue a report that represents your interest in the best possible manner. Allowing you enough time to address any potential issues and defects
A good QC inspection team will ideally include ample details regarding the products and the production process so that you can adequately be aware of any issues or defects. The report will include including detailed remarks, photos, measurements, on-site testing results and more. These details will help you form decisions regarding the shipment and any other associated details.
Thus it makes sense that the earlier you receive this report, the more informed decision you can form. If you need to rush into any decision, the chances of making a mistake are much higher than if you have ample time to think about the procedure you need to undergo. A rushed decision will usually occur when you have to meet a strict deadline.
Not only do you need time to make an informed decision, on some occasions you might want to have enough time on hand that you can physically inspect the defected goods yourself. If you wish to do this, the inspector will send you a sealed sample at your office for review. This is most common in the case of very delicate or highly-priced goods, or in a case where defects can only be identified when the fabric is felt by hand.
If you feel that the defects found in your garments are too many, or too severe, you may ask the manufacturer to repair or rework the products. This also requires ample time so a timely inspection report will allow the manufacturer to fix any defects without delaying the whole shipment significantly.
2- Accurate Garment Measurements to Ensure a Proper Fit
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.
Reporting garment dimensions that exceed the maximum tolerance levels decided
Even if the manufacturer itself has QC experience when it comes to garment production, it is advisable to have the sizes inspected by your own team keeping in mind how crucial size is in determining the satisfaction of buyers who purchase your garments. Because garment production is such a labor-intensive job, it is not uncommon to find variance and defects in the measurement of the garments.
This is the reason why you must provide your third-party QC company with a range of tolerances allowed when comparing the actual end products with those given as sample to be copied. The inspectors will then use these ranges to decide whether a garment passes the inspection or not.
It is also a common approach to fit the clothes on a mannequin in order to examine. How the well the garment sits on a model of each particular size. This is especially useful when a garment might appear to fit nicely when laid flat on a table. During the inspection but may not look good when put over a mannequin. Perhaps due to reasons such as uneven strap directions. This is why a good inspection report must include clear photographs of clothes on mannequins. To determine the fit of the garments.
3- Clear Reporting of the Production Process Status to Judge whether the Deadline will be Met on Time
Timely delivery of your products is most probably a high priority for you; however, this priority may not be completely reciprocated by your manufacturer. Especially if he has to produce several orders at the same time. This is why your manufacturer may not always be completely honest and transparent about the production schedule with you. Concealing a lot of delays and possible production breakages.
This is why a vigilant inspection firm will you promptly up to date with the production schedule. So that the manufacturer feels compel to deliver on time. And so that you may take any measures in a timely manner. If there is a potential backlog in the schedule.
A third-party quality inspection company is able to conduct garment inspection at any time that you require, including:
- Pre-production inspection: verifying raw fabrics and other material
- During production (DUPRO) inspection: inspecting the product when about 60% of it is finished
- Final inspection/Pre Shipment inspection: conducted when at least 80 percent of goods are finished and packed
Avoiding shipping delays by timely addressing any issues caught in the earlier production
There are certain issues that, if caught during the inspection. Cannot be addressed through product repair or rework. These include holes found in the garment or a shade variation. Due to the wrong kind of fabric shade being used. These issues can only be resolved by producing new items that meet the requirements of the importer.
In addition, if the defect is due to a shade variation. Then the manufacturer will have to reorder the raw materials. Which will then require even more time. Therefore, if you wait till the final products are delivered to you to inspect the quality of the products. Then there will be an inevitable halt in your delivery schedule- leading to unsatisfied consumers. Who do not receive their products on time. Carrying out inspections during several stages of production helps to catch these defects early on. So as to not only waste a large number of products that will go wasted eventually. But also to keep the production schedule on track.
4- A Third-Party Inspection Team Keeps your Suppliers Accountable to you
Not only does quality inspection help to spot any defects in the products in a timely manner. But the process will also inevitably help to reduce these defects altogether. The fear of being inspected at any possible time by the third-party inspection team. Which will make suppliers, be more vigilant about the production processes. Avoiding any acts that may cause defects in the process. They will also be more attentive to the requirements asked by the importer. So that the chances of products being rejected on the basis that they do not meet requirements are minimized.
It is thus very important for you to fully brief your supplier about all the requirements and expectations. That you have of him so that he is able to plan and prep accordingly. This will also minimize any potential disagreements in the future. Thus is it advised to always present the requirements to him in writing. So that all the parties in this transaction have a record of the requirements. Gradual fall in quality over time.
After years of working with a supplier who has produced goods of adequate quality. You may be inclined to think that there is no longer any need of carrying out frequent quality inspections. However, the experience of hundreds of importers. Who have gleefully had this thought proves that this is not a good idea.
Because the interest of you and your supplier are not likely to be the same. He would want as low cost as possible incurred so that his profits go up. However, this means the quality decreases- this would mean that the moment you stop regularly inspecting the goods. He is likely to slack in quality.
Thus it is a very good idea to have your quality inspection team performs timely inspections to make sure that your supplier does not slack off and makes sure to meet with your requirements. To ensure this, a third-party inspection team can help you by:
- Maintain a detailed and updated checklist for quality control
- Verify that the supplier is maintaining an acceptable level of quality in between subsequent production runs
5- Why would you Prefer a Third-Party Inspection Team Over Other Types of Garment Inspection?
- Cost: third-party inspection teams are located locally very close to your supplier, so it reduces time and the money required to commute to and from the site.
- A local inspection team will also be fully familiar with the culture and ethics of the local workforce, so that they may be able to perform their job with more efficiency and ease.
- Maintain high integrity: a third-party inspection team is likely to put your interests above that of the supplier by maintaining high integrity practices.
- They are less likely to collude with the suppliers or accept bribes because of the nature of a third-party set-up: the inspection management teams make sure that no particular person becomes too familiar with the manufacturing staff as to be in a position to accept bribes or any other sort of favors.
- Third-party inspection teams also have strict regulations in place against receiving any kind of benefit, including meals and transportation, from the production staff.
Conclusion
A third-party inspection team may seem a bit unfamiliar to you at first. Can you really trust them with looking after one of the most important aspects of your business? Thousands of importers all over the world today use third-party inspection teams. To make sure that their suppliers comply with the quality standards that they have specified for them. These firms also greatly reduce the cost associated with the business by reducing the time required. To identify and report defects- ultimately reducing the number of overall defects in your shipment.