Impressions - April 2018 - 32

This idea isn't limited to garments. Other items, such as hangtags,
polybags, ink, thread or special packaging may be necessary to complete orders. Adding notes for these items helps your team schedule
and deploy labor, and prioritize accordingly.
Also, ensure your purchasing department adds identifying details
to the order, including the customer's purchase-order number, name
or another identifier if it is written on the vendor's packing slip when
the item arrives. This is a good standard practice in the receiving department, but it doesn't work unless purchasing plays along.
3. Monster Orders. If your shop has ever been lucky enough to
work on gigantic orders, the purchasing department also can help
with a few things in that regard.
First, find out if the supplier is sending the inventory on skids
or if it will be floor-loaded. Skids can be unloaded by a forklift in
minutes, while floor-loaded inventory requires a team of employees
to spend an afternoon unpacking and sorting boxes. You don't want
surprises here.
If possible, request a delivery appointment on the day the goods will
arrive. Not only will this help with production planning, but you can
ensure the correct labor is arranged if the inventory is floor-loaded.
4. Quality Control. Errors happen, the two most common of
which are ordering the wrong color or entering quantities in the
wrong fields. Though easily made, such errors must be controlled.
Making these types of mistakes on critical or rush orders can result
in a lost customer if the problem gets out of control.
One tried-and-true method of ensuring quality in the purchasing
process is a simple checklist. If airplane pilots can do it before takeoff,
your team can do it before clicking the order button.

Create checklists to ensure
certain factors, such as garment
color and quantity, are input
correctly before purchasing.
Photo courtesy of Visual
Impressions, Milwaukee.

A few times a year, schedule a short meeting with everyone that is
influenced by your purchasing team. Which of their decisions or
habits impact others in your shop? Don't make this a finger-pointing
exercise, but one of constructive criticism.
The only way your team can get better is to learn about challenges. What works? What are the opportunities for improvement?
Who has an idea that could work?
Shops purchase thousands of products each year. That money should
be spent in the best possible way. Get the opinions of the people
who use the products, as well as those in the receiving department
who check in the goods. Consider also getting customers' opinions.
Many shop owners often don't even know or realize why they
use certain products. When asked, they simply say, "We've always done it this way." This doesn't mean it's wrong, but is there
a better way?
What or how the purchasing department makes decisions has
a tremendous impact with your shop, so there should be stakeholder involvement in the process. That's how speed increases. 
Marshall Atkinson, owner of Atkinson Consulting LLC, is a decoratedapparel industry production and efficiency expert who focuses on operational
efficiency, continuous improvement, workflow strategy, business planning
and more. For more information or to comment on this article, email Marshall
at marshall@marshallatkinson.com.

P.32

i m p r e s s i o n s m a g . c o m APRIL 2018

When working on big orders,
the purchasing department
should first f ind out if the
supplier is sending the inventory
on skids or if it will be floorloaded. Photo courtesy of Visual
Impressions, Milwaukee.

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Impressions - April 2018

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