Defect Categories
A QC Defect Category is the named taxonomy of problems your team finds. "Stitching defect → Skipped stitch." "Fabric defect → Hole." "Print defect → Misregistration." The category tree is what every Defect entry on a QC Inspection references.
The reason this is a structured tree, not free text: categorized defects roll up; free-text defects don't. "Skipped stitch on the third sleeve, line 4, Tuesday" is a useful free-text note. But it only becomes a usable signal if it's filed under "Stitching → Skipped stitch" — at which point a heatmap can show you that Line 4 is producing 3× the skipped-stitch rate of every other line and Tuesday's afternoon shift is the worst.
Getting there
Awesome bar: Cmd/Ctrl + K → type
qc defect category→ pick QC Defect Category List (or Tree)Click path: Desk → GarmentFlow → Quality Control → QC Defect Category card
The Tree view is the right starting point — defects are hierarchical and the tree makes the structure obvious.
What's on a category
- Defect Name — the human-readable name.
- Defect Code — short code (e.g.,
STC-SKIPfor Stitching Skipped). Useful for compact display on dashboards. - Parent Defect — links to the parent in the tree. Used for grouping defects in reports.
- Is Group — checkbox. Group categories hold child defects; leaf categories are what inspections actually pick.
- Color Code — used on the heatmap dashboard and in defect-by-type visualizations.
- Description — full text describing what the defect actually is, with examples. Especially useful for new inspectors.
A starter tree
Most factories don't need to invent this from scratch. A reasonable starter structure:
- Stitching (group)
- Skipped stitch
- Broken seam
- Puckering
- Uneven topstitch
- Wrong stitch count per inch
- Fabric (group)
- Hole
- Shading
- Slub
- Bowing
- Color streak
- Cutting (group)
- Wrong size
- Notch off
- Off-grain
- Print / Embroidery (group)
- Misregistration
- Wrong color
- Off-placement
- Missing element
- Wash / Finish (group)
- Uneven dye
- Chemical mark
- Shrinkage outside tolerance
- Construction (group)
- Wrong trim
- Wrong label
- Mis-aligned closure
That's six groups and around 25 leaf defects. You'll add more as patterns appear; what you have on day one doesn't need to be exhaustive.
QC Root Cause Category and QC Defect Probable Cause
Two related masters worth knowing about:
- QC Root Cause Category — the underlying cause taxonomy: Operator error, Machine setup, Material defect, Environment, Design issue. Each defect can be tagged with a probable root cause, which is what enables defect → cause analysis.
- QC Defect Probable Cause — links specific defect categories to their typical causes. Used for the NCR (Non-Conformance Report) workflow: when a defect is logged, GarmentFlow can suggest the probable cause for the inspector to confirm.
You don't need to use these on day one. As your data matures and quality reviews start asking "why are we seeing this defect," the root cause data becomes the next layer to enable.
Discipline tips
A few habits that keep the tree useful:
- Keep the tree shallow. Two or three levels is enough. Deeper trees become hard to navigate on a tablet.
- Don't create a new category for every variant of the same problem. "Stitching skipped" covers a lot. Sub-categories only when you really want to track them separately.
- Use color codes on group categories so the heatmap is colourful and readable. Each top-level group gets its own colour family.
- Disable, don't delete. Old categories with historical references stay in GarmentFlow disabled.
What to do next
With parameters, templates, and defect categories in place, the last setup step is Alert Configuration — turning captured data into prompts.