Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Garment Quality Assurance: why does it matter?

Quality assurance and control is a very challenging and complex part of the apparel and garment manufacturing industry. There always has been a debate on the importance of garment quality and if product quality has an edge over product price with regards to customer satisfaction. 

Quality of a product is undeniably a prerequisite for building customer trust, retention and boosting your ROIs. If a product fails to meet the quality benchmarks of a customer, it basically fails to retain that customer. While a good quality product helps you earn higher ROIs due to fewer defects and field failures. It also means lower manufacturing and service costs. 


But what parameters define the quality of a garment? Are garment quality and quality assurance the same? What is the acceptable quality limit? What should you know about fabric quality? 

Keep reading to know the answers to the above. 

Why is quality important? 

According to a report by First Insight, 53% of the surveyed consumers rated quality as the most important factor when making a product purchase decision.  

Product quality is a competitive market for apparel brands that can affect their consumers purchasing decisions and thus their company’s profitability. 

A good quality product helps businesses build trust with their customers. A poor-quality product can result in the loss of countless potential sales as the brand fails to establish a connection with the end customer. A product that matches the quality standards fuels positive word of mouth and social media recommendations for your product. 

You also face fewer customer complaints and product returns. But the most important point that strengthens the case for garment quality is its connection to profitability. High quality produces a higher return on investment at any given market share. 

This is the reason why garment quality and assurance are becoming important for apparel manufacturers and women clothing exporters. 

Garment quality assurance and quality control

When it comes to the apparel industry, two terms are often coined together – garment quality assurance and quality control. Quality assurance is not the same as quality control, but quality control is an inherent part of quality assurance. 

Quality assurance takes care of quality at every step of the manufacturing process. This includes the initial design concept stage, production, and final product completion stage. 
Quality control accesses the quality of the garments after they have been manufactured and sorted into categories. All apparel and women’s apparel manufacturers assess quality in the pre-manufacturing phase, during manufacturing, and final inspection once the product is completed. 

Things to consider when it comes to fabric quality control 

When analyzing fabric quality, one needs to understand the acceptable quality limit. It is the worst tolerable quality level i.e. the maximum number of quality defects that are acceptable during the random sampling of quality inspection. 

Fabric quality can be accessed by considering its comfort, colorfastness, and durability. 
Comfort is checked in terms of elongation, elasticity, heat retention, conduction, moisture absorbency, waterproofing, water repellency, air permeability, etc. 

Colorfastness defines how well the fabric is able to preserve its color and appearance against time. When testing for colorfastness the fabric is exposed to different acid and alkali solutions and other environmental conditions. 

Durability tests the performance of the fabric under different conditions. 


Takeaway

As an apparel brand, you cannot overlook the aspect of garment quality. Choose a garment or women’s apparel manufacturer who can give you complete garment quality assurance. You should also communicate your product measurements and acceptable quality limits to the manufacturer. 

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