Comments on: Pop Quiz #468

By: Lisa B.

Lisa B. — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 01:28:24 +0000

I can’t say either way because it depends on the cause of the difference and if I knew why, I could say.

By: Colleen

Colleen — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 17:41:45 +0000

Ok, giddy with glee?! Thanks, Eric, for the hint. If there is 1/2″ tolerance at the inseam, the navy could be -1/2″ while the black is +1/2″ making for an 1″ difference in inseams. Both pants, though, meet spec within tolerance. So, why are you giddy with glee?

By: Dana

Dana — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:29:35 +0000

I’m with Diane. Very common for large private label people to use multiple factories. One large mail order company I used to work for had as many as 3-5 factories per style. Usually one domestic, the others overseas.

By: Diane

Diane — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 06:02:48 +0000

I’m guessing they were manufactured in different factories.

By: Eric H

Eric H — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 23:08:22 +0000

Ok, here’s a hint: there was jig dancing and other merriment (not by me) when I came out and pronounced the black a little roomier than the navy.

By: Todd Hudson

Todd Hudson — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 22:58:48 +0000

You would be giddy to find the black a different length. You’ve said this before that different colorways, especially black, shrink differently. Therefore each colorway would be graded for shrinkage differently. After washing, both colors should shrink to the same size.

This difference in length tells me that the manufacturer did testing on each colorway (or at least black versus other colors) before making the markers.

If this was a pre-washed garment, such as jeans, and the colors turned out to be different lengths off the rack, I might say that the manufacturer did not test for different shrinkages before making the marker.

By: Vesta

Vesta — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 22:24:52 +0000

I voted giddy, because I would be annoyed, and Kathleen rarely reacts to things as I would.

Seriously, though, if you’ve already washed them and determined that the black shrank more, then you’d be giddy, I’d say. I would be, as the manufacturer, for figuring differential shrinkage into my products. Oh, and I agree with JC. I shield my customers the machinations of patterns to a great extent, for simplicity.

By: Big Irv

Big Irv — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 20:55:19 +0000

Just how shorter is the navy pair ? I guess Dillards give varying degrees of tolerance when they miss on such a key measurement.

If more than say .5 ” , I’ll bet they chargebacked their contractor.

By: sfriedberg

sfriedberg — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 20:36:19 +0000

Being short and stout, I have to hem every pair of pants I buy. So neither annoyed nor giddy, just resigned. Although if I felt any ownership for Dillard’s QA, I would be annoyed.

By: J C Sprowls

J C Sprowls — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 20:18:36 +0000

I think there are several things to rule out.

I would expect the black to have different distortion grading applied, so the length difference doesn’t surprise me, much. I’m of the opinion that the style number listed on the package’s label does not need to match the style number of the pattern. This would expose pattern room management to the Buyer, Consumer and Competitors as well as make the line sheets more difficult to read. I’m sure a reasonable argument could be presented for simplicity, though.

I suspect this analysis would end, here. But, if not, I’d continue:

Secondly, depending how the factory is set up, the cutter may not yet be at fault. I have typically seen trousers all cut one length (e.g. 37″ inseam) and then trimmed using a guillotine just before finishing the cuff/hem. If a problem does not lie with packaging, I’d rule out an error at this stage before investigating the cutters.

Thirdly, I would rule out, like Alisa says, cutting. If the stack is deep, the angle of the upright knife becomes more pronounced, especially under strain (i.e. cutting too fast, forcing the knife, etc.). In some cases, the top ply might be an entire 1/4″ smaller than ply closest the table. The cutter needs to know if the knife has an angle and then needs to use that angle consistently. If the entire stack cannot be cut | |, then it should be cut / / instead of / \.