Quality Does Not Have to Come at the Cost of Labor
Shortcomings of the Typical Decoration Process
In many screen print and embroidery shops, there are quality inspectors checking on quality inspectors. The reason these shops have to spend so much labor on catching mistakes is that their business processes are prone to error. Problems include:
- Sales orders can be entered with invalid design numbers
- Sales orders for new designs have no process to ensure a correct matching of submitted new art to the exact design file
- Personalization is hand entered, which is error prone, and is not verified in sales order by customer
- Sales orders do not list design number and position for each garment
- Stitch files and Adobe files cannot be used, so second hand art files must be used to describe designs
- Work order process flow is too simple, such as a fixed four steps (art, approval, production, invoice)
- OR, work order flow is too rigid so, for example, a partially received order cannot be advanced
- Color selection is done outside the order, so there is no visible linking of product colors and threads or inks
- Color history by account, design and product is not kept or retrieved, so mistakes are made on repeat orders
- Work orders are handwritten, or are incomplete and do not show the actual art file to be done
How EmbTrak Deals with the Root Causes of Quality Issues
EmbTrak collects clear and complete information from the point of initial data entry, thus avoiding the need to verify at each step.
- Users must select existing designs in order to continue an order
- OR, users must create a new design record with a number (done without leaving the sales order)
- Personalization must be entered on a formatted screen, or by use of an Excel template filled out by the customer
- Sales orders are complete with selected positions appropriate to a product type
- Stitch files or Adobe files can be selected in the order and viewed on screen to confirm correct art
- Work flow process can be configured for every process and operation step, but allows user bypass
- Color selection is done in each work order, line by line, using matching background and thread or ink palettes
- Color history is saved and retrieved for the way every product was colored the last time it was sold.
- Work orders are complete with full, process specific information and a picture of the actual art file
