Quality control
Every order is inspected before it ships
When production finishes we inspect the goods in-house against the sample you confirmed and against your order. Your approval matters, but it is not a substitute for that inspection - and finishing production is not the same thing as being ready to ship.
The standard
What an inspection is measured against
An inspection is only worth as much as the standard behind it. Ours is your confirmed sample and your order - not a general impression of how the goods look.
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The sample you confirmed
The physical standard for the order. Your confirmed sample is kept with the pattern, and it is the reference the bulk is compared with, again on a repeat order, and again if a question about the goods is raised months later.
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The pattern and its version
The motif and its repeat, the width, the ground, the construction and the edge - the pattern as it was confirmed, not as it was first discussed.
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Colour and hand
Colour is judged against the confirmed sample and our own standard under proper light, never against how it looks on a screen. Hand, drape and texture are treated as qualities to be checked, not as adjectives in an email.
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Your order conditions
Quantity, packing, labelling, delivery terms and any special quality requirement agreed for that order. Where a tolerance is not agreed with you, our own rule applies - we do not assume one universal percentage for everyone.
On the order
Where it happens, and what you see of it
Inspection is not one final look at the end. Checks run alongside production, and the last one stands between your goods and the container.
- Your sample is confirmed, and the pattern goes into production with a confirmed reference to work against.
- Checks run while the order is being made - the repeat being measured, colour being matched, the goods being looked at on the machine rather than only after it.
- When the lot is complete it is inspected in-house against the sample and the order, and the quantity that passes is recorded for that lot. On a part shipment, each lot carries its own record.
- Goods are released for shipment only once that inspection has passed, and once any pre-shipment confirmation your side asked for has been given.
- Before it ships you receive the material to approve the shipment with - a bulk sample, photographs, video, or whatever was agreed with you for this order.
Tolerance
Colour, measurement, and what counts as a pass
Colour
Colour is locked when you confirm it, and the bulk is judged against that sample and our own colour standard. If your tolerance is stricter than that, say so before production - a tighter limit agreed afterwards cannot be applied to goods that are already made.
Measurement
Width, weight, repeat and quantity are settled on the measuring method agreed with you for the order, and against the records behind it: the pattern, the lot, the rolls and the packing list.
Quantity
Where your order sets a quantity tolerance, that is the one that applies. Where it does not, our own rule applies to the order rather than a percentage we quote to everybody.
When something is off
A deviation is never shipped on a promise
The purpose of inspecting the goods is to be able to do something about them before they leave. A known deviation does not travel on the assumption that it will be acceptable on arrival.
Handled, made again, or accepted by you
Goods with a real deviation are put back through the process, produced again, or shipped only if you have clearly accepted the deviation in writing. That decision is taken with you before shipment, not explained to you afterwards.
A complaint
What happened, compared with the confirmed sample and the order, then the cause, then a remedy you can accept. Anything beyond a routine case - a significant credit or a claim - goes through our own approval instead of being settled on the spot.
The lots you have not opened yet
If a fault could affect more than the piece in front of us, we check whether it is systemic and whether other lots are involved, rather than answering only about the one that was queried.
Whose line it ran on
This does not change the answer. Quality responsibility is ours whether the goods came off our own line or a partner line, and a partner's problem is not passed to you as yours.
Your part
Four things only you can decide
Quality is a shared standard or it is an argument waiting to happen. These are the points where we need your decision rather than our assumption.
- Confirm the physical sample, and where your product needs it, a sample made up into the garment. That is the reference the bulk is judged against.
- Confirm and lock the colour before production, with your tolerance stated if it is tighter than the standard we work to.
- Tell us your measuring method and your quantity tolerance if they differ from the ones in your order conditions.
- Raise testing and certification requirements before the order is placed. A test that is only mentioned after production has a different cost and a different date attached to it.
Next step
Ask us how your order would be checked
If you have a standard you work to, a test you need run, or a tolerance your own quality team applies, tell us before the order rather than after it. It is easier to build into the order than to argue about later.
Email gdp@lace-dog.com
Phone / WhatsApp 86-13185381515 WhatsApp