Fabric inspection systems for the apparel industry
Tuesday 20th February, 2018
Fabric quality conformance plays an important part in the garment value chain. If the garment maker is unaware of defects in fabric and begins manufacturing, the cost is not just the ‘seconds’ garments produced.
Real costs include the delay in shipping the full amount of first quality garments to their customer, re-equipping sewing lines and the additional labour – not to mention the cost of settling supplier disputes and resupply shipping costs.
It is not viable for garment makers to inspect 100% of the fabric they buy, so they rely on the information provided by their suppliers. In an ideal world, there would only be one reliable, accurate and consistent inspection process that all parties can rely on.
If the fabric supplier quality information is accurate, good and timely decisions can be made if there are issues. However, if the supplier information is also prompt, ie in advance of shipping the fabric, even better decisions can be made, not just to ensure quick resupply, but could also assist in improved yield from what previously may have been viewed as unusable fabric and possibly avoiding resupply.
If a reliable and accurate defect maps could be consistently be provided to the garment maker, lay plans could be adjusted to use fabric with defects, using technology to avoid the defects in the cutting process rather than claims, counterclaims and the cost of resupply.
Automated inspection systems can be used to inspect the fabric and create an electronic file of the total fabric width and length, with defect data and colour variation information.
Shelton’s fabric inspection systems employ advanced algorithms and techniques to detect and identify fabric faults based on your businesses unique specifications.
Our systems also have the ability to store not only defect maps but complete video of the total surface area that enables any dispute to be easily and fairly settled well in advance of the need to use the fabric.
Machine vision technology is becoming increasingly common across a range of industries, such as pharmaceutical companies and the automotive industry where traceability is key. Not only do companies need quality inspection systems to comply with ever higher standards, they also need to be ahead of their competitors.
Automated fabric inspection
Get in touch with us today to find out how Shelton’s fabric inspection systems could help your business reduce waste and increase profits. Please get in touch by completing our online contact form or call 0116 279 0920.