Product Standards & Specifications

 Apparel professionals are involved in development

, selection, presentation,sale & management of
apparels
 Challenges include providing target customers
with products that satisfy customer’s with products
that satisfy customer’s priorities & needs while
making a profit.
Factors for analyzing product standard
 Potential new styles
 Styles produced by their competitors
 Styles made available by vendors
 Styles produced by their factories and or
contractors
 Products & processes developed by suppliers &
chemical & equipment companies
 Products available in market place
 Product standard
 Standards are a set of characteristics or
procedures that provide a basis for resource &
production decisions

 Apparel Manufacturer & retailers establish

standards for quality, fit & performance for the
product they produce & distribute
 Company standards for quality,size &
fit ,performance
Quality standards
 These are part of a firm's standard operating
procedure ,product development & production
planning
 The fundamental purpose is to provide
consistency between product & product lines
 Continued…
Size & fit standards

A firm’s basic pattern blocks represent its

standard for size & fit which provides a basis for
consistency among sizes for a variety of styles
Performance standards for materials & finished
products
 The consumer is often concerned with performance
related to aesthetics ,end use,& care of finished
products.
 Market research is used to identify the customer’s
expectations while standards are developed by
company
 Two types of performance standards are used in
product developments

1. standards related to the performance of materials

2. standards for performance of finished product
 Developing & using specifications
 Standards are used in developing specifications
for each style.
 Specification: These are brief, written descriptions
of materials, procedures, dimensions &
performance of a particular style.
 Specifications are used to communicate standards
& provide control of products during production
 Continued…
 Size standards: A firm’s size standards are the
basis of developing finished garments that
consistently fit the target customer
 Specifications for fit are sets of measurement for
each style, allowable tolerance,& specific points of
measurements.
 Continued…
Engineering specifications:

these are developed during the production planning

about the equipments & lay out ,handling
procedures & quality systems
 Continued..

 Tolerances allow variation from the specified value

in the specification

 Tolerances are a means of loosening restrictions

& making the specifications less rigorous

 When a product does not meet specifications it is

considered as seconds

 Defects: these are variations from allowed

minimums & tolerances
 Garment Analysis & specification
development
 Style: it is a unique piece of merchandise in a product
line identified by a style number

Professional garment analysis involves the following

goals, processes & limitations
• To satisfy the needs of target customers
• Decisions are made in the context of the product lines &
the firm’s strategic plan’
• To meet the target customers in term styling, fit, fashion,
quality & value
 Continued…
 Sound technical knowledge of materials & garment
assembly is needed to determine product
performance.
 Alternative product development, production & or
marketing processes are assessed
 The bottom line ,the potential profitability of the
product is always considered in evaluating
alternatives
 Quality standards are based on perceptions of
target customer’s expectations
 Analysis may be focused on one particular aspect of
a product such as production cost or specification
 Methods of Garment Analysis
 Visual Inspection
 Augmented visual inspection aided by simple test,
measuring equipments,
 Laboratory analysis with standard set methods
with specialized testing equipments
 Aspects of garment Analysis
Professional analysis works best if conducted in
small segments including following aspects

 Style descriptions
 Positioning strategy
 Sizing & fit
 Materials selections
 Component assembly
 Final assembly& finishing
 Style presentation