The QC Check Points

The secret on how to scale your production and quality control process lies in clarity on the specs. The meaning of 'good looking finishing', or 'reasonable distance between buttons' may seem obvious to you as the brand owner and/or designer of the clothes. However, to assure consistency in the checking process when it is done by multiple people, we require measurable points to be checked. Your Project Coordinator will review your QC Checklist before the start of the project, and let you know if we need more clarity on certain check points or the tolerances. We strongly recommend discussing the QC Checklist with your production partner before the start of production, to make sure both you and the production partner are on the same page regarding the specs and your expectation.

Most often we check colors (or finishing like matte or shiny), print placements, pull tests (for example on buttons, open/close tests (for products with lids), measurements, labels/hangtags (placement and correct label on the product), stains and loose threads. The exact QC checklist will depend on your product and wishes.

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Tolerances

It is uncommon to find goods that are 100% identical, especially when it comes to shape and measurements. Ceramic plates for example may have slightly different measurements depending on their position in the oven, or your garments may have slight variations in measurements. In most cases these slight variations do not affect the aesthetic and functionality of the product (we have never seen a customer return a dress because it was 1cm longer than the other dresses in the same size). We believe it is part of an ethical production process to allow tolerances for all specs, and preferably discuss these with your production partner at the start of production. There is no standard for how much tolerance should be allowed, as it depends on the needs of the product. For example, if you are making ceramic cups with wooden lids, you can't have a lot of tolerance, because simply the lids won't fit if measurements are too far off. However, if you're producing cups that do not have a lid, the tolerance may be bigger, as a slightly larger or smaller circumference will not affect your customer's experience when drinking from the cup. It is recommended to discuss tolerances with your manufacturer up front, as stricter tolerances may affect the process and price of the production.

Tolerances can be absolute or relative. An example of absolute tolerance is "the spec for the distance between buttons is 3cm, the tolerance is 0.5 cm". This means if the distance is 2.5 - 3.5 cm this will be allowed.
An example of relative tolerance is "the spec for the distance between buttons is 3cm, all distances should be the same with a tolerance of 0.5cm, and max absolute tolerance of 1cm". This means if the buttons have a distance between them of 2cm, it will still be allowed, as long as all distances are the same (with 0.5 slack).

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The Quality Control Result

We note our findings per product and per point in the Quality Control Report. Please click here for an example of such a report. In the report you will find:

• writings in black, meaning the spec was approved

• writings in red, meaning the spec was not approved

• writings in red with a green background, meaning the spec is out of tolerance, but according to our team can still be approved

• writings in green, meaning after revision the spec was approved

For the items that have specs that need to be revised, we will attach a hangtag with notes for the manufacturer. 

Why not use stickers/tape? In our experience stickers will often be removed after revision, which means if after revision the items should be checked again, all specs will need to be double checked, rather than only the revised spec. Having said that, for certain types of revisions, such as stains, we will use tape to point out the position.

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Production Fault vs Design Fault

These are often being confused, but it is important to understand the difference. Here is an example to explain the difference: A brand has worked with their manufacturer to produce foldable rattan chairs. The chairs can be carried on a leather strap, which is attached to the chair with rattan loops. These loops have a thickness of 1cm and a tolerance of 0.2mm. After production, some customers return the product, because the rattan loops broke, even though they were made according to the specs.
This is an example of a design fault, and this should have been picked-up during the sampling stage of the product when the product was tested for use.
If, for example, the loops were made with a thickness of only 0.5cm, and were therefore not strong enough, this would have been a production fault.

Please note that during the quality control process, we cannot pick-up design faults, but we can only confirm whether or not the product was made as per confirmed specs.

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Random Checking

In some cases, our clients request only random checks. This usually means we check 10% of each style. Based on the report of the 10% you can then decide whether you want to continue to check all products, or whether the other 90% can be shipped without third-party quality control.

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Assistance with the QC Checklist

If you are not sure where to start or how to make a QC checklist, we can make it for you. We do need a confirmed prototype of the product for this. Please note there will be an additional fee if you require this service. The fee will depend on your product and will be mentioned in the quotation for your project.

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Checking Location

We do the checking in our office, located on jl. Gunung Soputan 61. In some cases, for example if the products are large/heavy or very large quantities, we can send our team to do the checking at the manufacturer or the cargo warehouse. We do however prefer to do the checking in our office, in order to keep the process efficient (and keep the checking rate as low as possible for you). If we need to do the checking for your project on a different location, there will be an additional fee for this. The fee will depend on the details of the project and will be mentioned in the quotation for your project.
At this stage we can only do Quality Control at locations in Bali.

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Make a booking

We recommend making a booking for our Quality Control service before the start of your production process. First of all, to make sure we have availability for your project at your preferred time slot. But also, because it is important that your manufacturer is aware of the points that will be checked, so there are no surprises later on.
In our experience, our client's production timelines do sometimes shift, and we understand this. To anticipate on delays, we will book an anticipated time slot up front, and confirm the actual slot when we have received the goods. This means we can usually start the checking process around one week after receiving the goods.
If you are on a tight schedule and need us to start checking right away, we can book dates for you up front. However, please note that you will still be charged a fee if you booked a fixed time slot, but later it turns out the products are not ready on time. The fee depends on your project and will be mentioned with the pricing details in the quotation for your project.

 

Refund

We are happy that we have received many great responses from past clients about our Quality Control service. However, if you find that some items that were not made according to the specs in the QC checklist were approved whereas they should have been rejected or revised (we will ask you to provide pictures to clarify), we will refund your Quality Control fee. Please note that we can only refund the fee that was paid for the Quality Control process, but we cannot refund any other costs, such as the production, material or shipping costs.