Work Experience at Matalan- Quality Control

The Quality Assurance department makes sure that the items that have been manufactured, are fit for purpose, and don't breach any health and safety regulations. Whilst I was in Matalan I attended meetings about quality control and the things they have to look out for, e.g. fringing on a child's garment can't be too long as they can be seen as a hazard, buttons also have to be tight so that they can't be pulled off; these are just a couple of examples out of a many. With working on children's clothes and especially girls underwear, they have to make sure they create age appropriate items, as one woman wrote to Matalan saying that she was going to buy a 'my first bra' for her daughter but claimed it was too 'risque' for a bra for a young girl. This incident meant that the design team and the buying team had to rethink their original idea and design a new bra. Fitting rooms are in this department, where they check that the size and fit are what is expected for a certain age. In addition, a wash room is also featured in this department as they need to wash the items to make sure the colours don't run or the clothes don't go out of shape. The staff who work in the quality assurance department have to make sure all their suppliers are legitimate and reliable, and they check this by sometimes visiting the suppliers, or they get reviews from other companies who have used them. Matalan have their own postal room where many fabric samples, colour swatches and products are sent to the suppliers and manufacturers where they might need to be checked over or changed. Once products have had their gold seal of approval, they are then packaged up in the warehouse which is next to the offices, and they are held there until they are distributed off to the many stores around the UK. As Matalan get their products produced in countries such as India snd Turkey, they don't have to pay much to get their products manufactured, therefore this allows them to charge affordable prices in stores and online for their products. To improve quality, Matalan could look into paying more for their products to be manufactured, they may even be able to look into producing items in-house, however this would probably increase prices significantly, and then this would then change the brand identity of Matalan so maybe this would be something to look into for the future if the brand decide to bring out a more luxury diffusion line.


This is an article from the Daily Mail about a customer accusing Matalan of 'sexualising' a girl's 'My First Bra';  

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3586807/Matalan-accused-sexualising-children-black-bras-girls-young-EIGHT.html

Workers in a sweatshop in India

An example of a hazard on a child's garment