We visited several motorcycle glove dealerships recently.

I have to be candid: the workmanship on some of the gloves I observed at retail was not good — mainly at the lower price points, but not exclusively.

If you are responsible for a glove line, you might want to think about what steps you can take to engineer quality into the finished glove.

After all, quality has a huge impact on customer satisfaction with your brand.

The best time to insure that you get the quality you need? Before production starts!

Build Quality Into the Glove Manufacturing Process

Ensuring quality is an overlooked, and underappreciated, part of the glove manufacturing process.

Given how important quality is to customer satisfaction, it doesn\’t get the attention it deserves. If you see signs that quality or consumer satisfaction are not what they should be, fix the problem ASAP.

As an example, here\’s a case study that details the quality improvement process for a brand that started seeing an unacceptable level of consumer returns for one particular glove style.

But the best way to ensure quality is to avoid problems like that in the first place.  Here are some tips to help you do that.

To build quality considerations into your manufacturing planning process, be sure to consider the following:

1. Clear Communications:

A top quality glove starts with a good design and pre-production sample. Once approved, how will those standards and specs being  communicated to the glove factory?

When it comes to some garments, a ¼” seam tolerance might be fine. When it comes to a technical glove fitting your hand perfectly, ¼” can mean a fit problem.

To ensure exact fit, what basic manufacturing processes are being used?

– Reference Samples: Is there agreement about what is desirable, and what will be rejected?  Make sure everyone involved in production has seen and understands the approved reference standards, both for components and finished goods.

Build Quality into Sourcing Due Diligence and Supplier Qualification

Take it from someone who has seen his share of glove quality issues: don’t leave a discussion of glove quality to the final day of container loading, or you may be in for a rude surprise.

• Once goods are finished, you have far less flexibility to resolve problems, without unnecessary expense and the risk of late deliveries.
• The time to think about quality processes is BEFORE you place an order.
• Ask detailed quality questions as part of your supplier partnership conversation, and visit the prospective supplier\’s glove factory to assess their manufacturing processes.
• If you see signs that quality or consumer satisfaction are not what they should be, fix the problem ASAP.  As an example, here\’s a case study that details the quality improvement process.

These steps will help to ensure that your customers get a top quality glove.

For more questions that should be part of the glove sourcing conversation, download our free sourcing checklist … or call us to discuss your glove manufacturing challenges.

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