You notice that repeat quality issues (e.g., measurement deviations, puckering, shade variation) are occurring across multiple styles and suppliers. How would you develop and implement a strategic improvement plan to reduce these defects over the next 6–12 months, and how would you measure its success?

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VirtualInterview.AI · Accepted Answer

If I see repeat issues across styles and suppliers, I first pull 6–12 months of data and cluster problems: e.g., measurement, sewing, and shade. In my last role, this showed 65% of quality claims coming from just 4 key operations and 3 mills.

I’d start with a cross‑functional workshop with sourcing, QA, and the key suppliers to agree on root causes and set clear targets, like “reduce measurement defects from 8% to below 3% in 9 months.” Then I’d harmonize our specs and tolerance tables, introduce mandatory pilot size sets, and standardize method of measurement and shade approval procedures. For sewing and puckering, we ran operator training on critical seams and adjusted SPI and feed settings.

I’d track monthly defect rates by factory and style, inline vs final AQL pass rate, right‑first‑time fit approvals, and supplier scorecards. In my previous plan, this approach cut total claims by 42% and improved on‑time approvals by 30% within a year.

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