FABRIC INSPECTION SYSTEM AND GUIDELINES

FABRIC INSPECTION PROCESS

Fabric Inspection done at the cut and sew manufacturer (CMT businesses)

The supplier is responsible for performing initial fabric inspection following the NPG Fabric
inspection guidelines outlined in this section. The NPG Supplier Fabric Inspection Report format,
used to report the findings, is located at the end of this section.

The initial Supplier’s Fabric Inspection Report is sent to the Agent (agent businesses) or NPG
Quality Engineer (QE) for direct businesses.

The Agent / NPG QE will review the inspection reports. Comments and/or recommendations will
be communicated to the appropriate NPG production planner, within a day of receipt of the report
and sample. Note: fabric exhibiting tailing, listing and/or shading should be held and a sample
sent to NPG QE for review and comment.

Pass- proceeds with cutting and sewing. Sample/swatch of the fabric does not need to
be sent.
Fail- the Agent comments on the Suppliers Fabric Inspection Report using the Fabric
Inspection Report-Defect Comment form and e-mails both forms to the NPG QE. A
sample/swatch of the defect is sent to the NPG QE, clearly marked with roll identification,
along with the copy of the reports. After reviewing the samples and reports, the NPG QE
will e-mail comments to the planner. Depending on what Agent/QE advised, the Planner
will need to make a decision whether or not the fabric is salvageable and will
communicate the decision to the Agent/Supplier.

At the request of the Agent (agent businesses) or NPG Planners (direct businesses) an
additional 10% is inspected. The planner also notifies the mill of the failure.

Additional 10% is inspected.

Pass- proceeds with cutting and sewing. Planner is responsible for re-capturing the cost
of any claim.
Fail- 100% inspection is required.
The planner will direct the Agent/Supplier to send a sample of defective fabric to the mill
and the planner. The planner is responsible for negotiating with the mill for the cost of
inspection, and re-capturing the cost of second quality goods (using a charge back claim
form).

FABRIC INSPECTION POLICIES

Fabric inspection is the best way to determine acceptability from a quality viewpoint and to avoid
loss of material or time during the garment manufacturing process. The mills that produce the
fabric usually will inspect before shipping, but it is a good idea
to inspect fabric before cutting.
NPG uses a 4 Point System for fabric inspection (American Apparel Manufacturers Association
point grading system for determining fabric quality). The flaws or defects are assigned a point-
value based on the length of a defect or the dimension of a hole. The maximum number of defect
points to be counted against any one linear yard is four points. The overall fabric quality is
assessed on the number of defect points per 100 square yards.

Nordstrom requires that all production fabric to be inspected according to the

4-Point System. Fabric inspection is done at the mill, a cutting and sewing facility or by an
independent Inspection service.

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The purpose of fabric inspection is to determine the acceptability of the Quality and also to map
and mark defects.

Fabric inspection, mapping or marking defects is important prior to spreading and cutting
because:
• Spreading can be done more quickly because the spreader is not also inspecting the fabric.
• A cutter’s productivity will increase because the defects are already marked.

INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS
• Trained inspector
• Inspection Frame (lighted)
• Fabric running face-up in the frame
• Light above frame
• Inspector views fabric from a distance of three feet

FABRIC SAMPLING PLAN

The following sampling plan lists the minimum quantity of fabric for each pattern, color way, or
print, which must be inspected. All rolls to be sampled will be randomly selected by the inspector.
Once a roll has been selected, no adjustments will be made.

SAMPLE PLAN
Lot Size Inspection Lot Size Inspection Percent of
Yards Yards Meters Meters Total Lot

0 - 2,500 not less than 500 0 - 2,300 not less than 460 20%
2,501 - 5,000 251 - 500 2,301 - 4500 230 - 450 10%
5,001 - 20,000 400 - 1,600 4,501 – 18,300 360 - 1465 8%
20,001 - 30,000 1,200 - 1,800 18,301 – 27,400 1,100 – 1,645 6%

All inspected rolls will be identified with an inspection mark. This mark may not be removed by
anyone prior to the production cutting.

4-POINT SYSTEM
The 4-Point System assigns 1, 2, 3 and 4 penalty points according to the size and significance of
the defect. Points are assigned according to the following criteria:

4-POINT SYSTEM DEFECT EVALUATION

Assigned Points Size of Defects
(In inches) (In cm)
1 < 3" < 8 cm
2 > 3" < 6" > 8 cm < 15 cm
3 > 6" < 9" > 15 cm < 23 cm
4 > 9" > 23 cm

• No more than 4 penalty points can be assigned for any single defect.

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• No linear yard or meter can contain more than 4 points, regardless of the number of defects
within that yard
or meter.
• Assign 4 points to each consecutive linear yard or meter in which a continuous running defect
exceeds
9 inches (23 cm).
• Assign 4 points to each full width defect.
• Obvious, noticeable and severe defects are to be assigned 4 points for each yard or meter in
which they occur, regardless of size or contrast.
• Assign 4 points for every yard or meter within a shipment, which has any continuous defect
(i.e., roll to roll shading, narrow or irregular width, creasing, uneven finish, barre’, skew, etc.).

POINT CALCULATION
FOR AN INDIVIDUAL ROLL:

Points per 100 Square Yards = Total Points for the roll x 3600
Inspected Yards x Cuttable Fabric Width (inch)

Points per 100 Square Meters =

Total Points for the roll x 100,000
Inspected Meters x Cuttable Fabric Width (MM)

FOR A SHIPMENT:

Points per 100 Square Yards = Total Points for the shipment x 3,600
Shipment Inspected Yards x Cuttable Fabric Width (Inch)

Points per 100 Square Meters = Total Average Points per Linear Meter x 100,000
Shipment Inspected Meters x Cuttable Fabric Width (MM)

ACCEPTABLE POINTS PER CLASSIFICATION

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Individual rolls exceeding the points allowed are removed from the shipment.
A shipment is rejected if the point total exceeds the allowable limit.

GROU DESCRIPTION POINTS ALLOWED POINTS

P PER INDIVIDUAL ALLOWED PER
NO. ROLL SHIPMENT
Dress Shirting’s - >50/1
Worsted/Woolens
I All Tailored Suiting Fabrics 15 points/100 yard2 10 points/100
yard2
Open End Denim 12-16 oz./ yd2 15 points/100 meter2 10 point/100
meter2
All Synthetics
Filament Rayon

Twills
Poplin/Oxford/Gingham Shirting
Lightweight Denims 4-8oz../yd2
Midweight Denims 9-12oz./yd2
II Ring spun Denims 12-16oz./yd.2 20 points/100 yard2 12 points/100
yard2
Canvas 20 points/100 meter2 12 points/100
meter2
Corduroy/Velvet
Basic Knits (see glossary)

All Plain Weave Fabrics

Chambray/Indigo Yarn Dyes
III All Silk 25 points/100 yard2 15 points/100
yard2
Flannel
All Novelty Weaves
(Seersucker,
Dobby, Jacquard) 25 points/100 meter2 15 points/100
meter2
All Specialty Knits
Wovens with Spandex/Elastane

Linen 40 points/100 yard2 32 points/100

yard2
IV Linen Blends 40 points/100 meter2 32 points/100
meter2
Rayon Blends

V Madras 60 points/100 yard2 50 points/100

yard2
Muslin 60 points/100 meter2 50 points/100
meter2

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PENALTY POINT GRADING

The following fabric grading and put-up standards are to be followed when inspecting all fabrics
to be used for Nordstrom product. Certain occasions may arise when the fabric conditions are not
outlined in the following text.
In such instances, the shipment is to be held and quarantined and Nordstrom must be contacted
immediately. Nordstrom will then assess the situation and advise disposition of the fabric.
All of the following fabric penalty point grading standards apply separately and collectively:
RUNNING DEFECTS
• Any defect found to repeat and/or run in a continuous manner must be assigned four (4) points
to every yard or meter of defect.
• Any roll having a running or repeating defect through more than three (3) continuous yards (3
Meters) shall be rejected, regardless of point count. (Running defects should be cut out)
FULL WIDTH DEFECTS
• Any roll with a full width defect over six (6) inches (15 cm) in length shall be rejected.
• No roll shall be accepted as first quality where more than four (4) full width defects are found
per hundred linear yards (100 Linear Meters).
• No roll shall be accepted which has defects in the first or last three (3) yards (3 Meters) of any
piece or splice within a roll.
• No roll shall be accepted as first quality that exhibits a noticeable degree of looseness
(waviness) or tightness along wither or both selvages, or any ripples, puckers, folds or creases
in the body of the fabric which would prevent the fabric from lying flat when cut into panels.
BOW/BIAS
Bias- Also known as skew. The filling or course yarns are off square to the warp or wales.
Bow- The filling or courses lie in an arc across the width of the fabric.
No roll shall be accepted as first quality that exhibits bow or bias of more than:

Fabric Maximum Bow/Bias Allowed

Width per Linear Yard or Meter
Solids Yarn Dyes/Prints

45" 1.0" 0.75"

60" 1.5" 1.0"
90" 2.0" 1.5"
120" 2.5" 2.0"
90 cm 2 cm 1.5 cm
150 cm 4 cm 2.5 cm

SHADE GROUPING
• No roll shall be accepted as first quality that exhibits a noticeable degree of shading (AATCC
gray scale shade rating 4-5) from side to side, side to center or end-to-end when evaluated in
the Nordstrom Color Matching System (d 65 light).
• All fabric rolls packed within a single case must fall within a single shade category.

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• A full width fabric cutting (5 to 12 inches or 13 to 30 cm wide) must be taken from each roll
during the mill fabric inspection process. Fabric cuttings must be presented to the inspector for
shade review at the time of audit.

SPLICES
Rolls can consist of several spliced pieces. No roll shall be accepted which contains a splice less
than thirty (30) yards (33) meters in length unless specified in the purchasing agreement.

HOLES
All defects that consist of two (2) or more broken yarns, regardless of size, shall be penalized a
maximum of four (4) points.

FABRIC ODORS
No fabric shall be accepted that exhibits objectionable odors. If there is a question as to how
objectionable the fabric is, fabric swatches must be submitted to Nordstrom for immediate
evaluation and disposition.

FABRIC AND ROLL TOLERANCE AND STANDARDS

FABRIC WIDTH TOLERANCE

• The cuttable fabric width will be no less than 1/8 inch (3mm) narrower than the specified fabric
width listed on the Nordstrom specification sheet.
• Fabrics are sold on the basis of a specified minimum finished width. Each roll fabric width will
be checked a minimum of three (3) times during the inspection (at the beginning, middle and
end of each roll). The roll width will be checked more often if the fabric is close to the specified
minimum width or if the fabric width is uneven.
• Usable fabric widths are measured and recorded to exclude selvages and bare or
uncoated/treated portions
of the base fabric on coated, foam backed, flocked, pile, printed, tufted or otherwise surface
treated fabrics. The fabric inspector will use a rigid metal ruler and will record to the nearest 1/8
inch (3 mm).

ROLL LENGTH
• The length of the fabric on any rolls shall not deviate more than +/-2% from the stated length.
• The entire shipment shall be rejected if the total measured yards or meters in the sample audit
deviates more than 1% from the total ticketed yards.

FABRIC CONSTRUCTION AND WEIGHT

• The weight of the fabric shall not deviate more than +/-5% from the weight specified on the
Nordstrom Fabric Specification sheet.
• Construction and weight will be randomly checked a minimum of two (2) times during the
course of
the inspection.

ROLL PUT-UPS
• All fabric rolls for Nordstrom product shall be wound on a spiral tube of sufficient strength so as
not
to collapse from fabric weight.

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• Fabric rolls are to be thoroughly protected from any foreign material or from any damage
caused by storing or transporting.
• Fabric shall be properly wound on roll. Any telescoped or loosely wound fabric will not be
accepted.
• Fabric rolls are to be a maximum length of 100 yards or 100 meters
per roll.

PROPER ROLL MARKING AND IDENTIFICATION

All Nordstrom fabric rolls shall be correctly identified, by an attached tag at the end of the roll,
which includes the following information:
• Mill Name
• Country of Origin
• Fiber Content
• Mill Reference Number/ Article Number
• Color Name and Number
• Dye Lot Number
• Roll Number
• Number of Yards/Meter
• Finished Width (excluding selvage)
The Fabric Face shall be properly identified at the roll header by stamping "FACE" on the correct
side.

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