Clothing quality inspector

Description

Clothing quality inspectors inspect manufactured components, ready-made garments in order to ensure compliance with quality standards and to identify defects or deviations from specifications and in order to classify them according to their quality. They inspect, test products, parts and materials for conformity with specifications and standards. They ensure all work produced meets or exceeds the department’s quality standards.

Other titles

The following job titles also refer to clothing quality inspector:

clothing quality control inspector
garment quality controller
garment and textile quality controller
clothing quality control supervisor

Minimum qualifications

A high school diploma is generally the minimum required to work as a clothing quality inspector.

ISCO skill level

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

  • the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
  • the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
  • the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Clothing quality inspector is a Skill level 2 occupation.

Clothing quality inspector career path

Similar occupations

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to clothing quality inspector.

clothing cutter
clothing product grader
wearing apparel patternmaker
embroidery machine operator
digital prototyper

Long term prospects

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of clothing quality inspector. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of clothing quality inspector with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

clothing process control technician
clothing CAD technician
textile chemical quality technician
textile sourcing merchandiser
textile quality technician

Essential knowledge and skills

Essential knowledge

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of clothing quality inspector.

  • Manufacturing of wearing apparel: The  processes used to fabricate wearing apparel and the different technologies and machinery involved in the manufacturing processes.
  • Manufacturing of made-up textile articles: Manufacturing processes in wearing apparel and made-up textiles. Different technologies and machinery involved in the manufacturing processes.
  • Apparel manufacturing technology: Traditional and advanced apparel manufacturing technologies. Technologies including processes, machinery, etc. in order to compile and design pattern requirements, contribute to product costing and finalise assembly sequence and quality assurance criteria.
  • Standard sizing systems for clothing: Standard sizing systems for clothing developed by different countries. Differences among the systems and standards of different countries, the development of the systems according to the evolution of the shape of the human body and their usage in the clothing industry.

Essential skills and competences

These skills are necessary for the role of clothing quality inspector.

  • Evaluate garment quality: Evaluating stitching, construction, attachments, fasteners, embellishments, shading within the garment; evaluating pattern continuity, matching; evaluating tapes and linings.
  • Coordinate manufacturing production activities: Coordinate manufacturing activities based on production strategies, policies and plans. Study details of the planning such as expected quality of the products, quantities, cost, and labour required to foresee any action needed. Adjust processes and resources to minimise costs.
  • Distinguish accessories: Distinguish accessories in order to determine differences among them. Evaluate accessories based on their characteristics and their application in wearing apparel manufacturing.
  • Create patterns for garments: Create patterns for garments using pattern making softwares or by hand from sketches provided by fashion designers or product requirements. Create patterns for different sizes, styles, and components of the garments.
  • Inspect wearing apparel products: Inspecting and testing products, parts and materials for conformity with specifications and standards; discarding or rejecting products, materials, and equipment not meeting specifications.
  • Perform process control in the wearing apparel industry: Perform process control to wearing apparel products in order to assure mass production in an uninterrupted production manner. Control processes to ensure that processes are predictable, stable and consistent.
  • Distinguish fabrics: Distinguish fabrics in order to determine differences among them. Evaluate fabrics based on their characteristics and their application in wearing apparel manufacturing.
  • Make technical drawings of fashion pieces: Make technical drawings of wearing apparel, leather goods and footwear including both technical and engineering drawings. Use them to communicate or to convey design ideas and manufacturing details to pattern makers, technologists, toolmakers, and equipment producers or to other machine operators for sampling and production.
  • Grade patterns for wearing apparel: Grading patterns by performing processes of resizing initial patterns in order to create nest of patterns to fit various body types and sizes.
  • Operate garment manufacturing machines: Operate and monitor machines which make miscellaneous wearing apparel articles. Operate and monitor machines that fold cloth into measured length, and measure size of pieces.
  • Operate computerised control systems: Operate electronic or computerised control panels to monitor and optimise processes, and to control process start-up and shut-downs. Monitor and inspect equipment and systems to detect malfunctions.
  • Prepare production prototypes: Prepare early models or prototypes in order to test concepts and replicability possibilities. Create prototypes to assess for pre-production tests.
  • Check quality of products in textile production line: Check characteristics of textile products like yarns, woven, knitted, braided, tufted or nonwoven textiles, finished cloths, ready-make-garments and determine the product quality along different stages of the textiles or clothing production line.

Optional knowledge and skills

Optional knowledge

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of clothing quality inspector. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

  • CAD for garment manufacturing: Softwares of computer aided design for garment manufacturing which allow create 2 or 3 dimensional drawings.
  • Properties of fabrics: The influence of chemical composition and molecular arrangement of yarn and fibre properties and fabric structure on the physical properties of textile fabrics; the different fibre types, their physical and chemical characteristics and different material characteristics; the materials used in different processes and the effect on materials as they are processed. 

ISCO group and title

7543 – Product graders and testers (excluding foods and beverages)


References
  1. Clothing quality inspector – ESCO
Last updated on October 22, 2022

Discuss this topic in our forum

Found this article helpful? Have additional insights or questions about this job description? Join the discussion in our dedicated forum and share your thoughts with the community. Our forum is a great place to connect with others in your field, ask questions, and continue the conversation.