Fabric Technologist
To ensure all fabrics used for products meet the required quality standard for the customers, that acceptable colour continuity is maintained throughout the product range over time.
Key Responsibilities:
- Working with offshore personnel where appropriate, request from supplier’s lab dips and other colour approvals, fabric samples, and test reports for approval, clearly communicating requirements, in line with PO shipments dates
- Review and approve/reject lab dip submissions on new colours/fabrics.
- Set and maintain appropriate colour standards with suppliers, ensuring colour continuity is maintained between fabrics, suppliers, and orders.
- Maintain colour standard and colour continuity records for all fabrics
- Approval of bulk fabric submits for hand feel, colour continuity and performance test reports in line with quality standards and critical path timelines, avoiding delays to production.
- Maintain records of approvals and traceability of all test reports for the business
- Maintain Fabric Testing & Performance Manual, reviewing and updating as required, to ensure it remains relevant to the product and the end customer
- Create and maintain fabric specifications for all fabrics, and maintain fabric database with regards to quality, price, MOQ’s etc
- Manage supplier certification records relating to Oekotex/GSR/REACH etc.
- Provide mounted fabric cuttings as required by Design/Development, Customer Services and Sales team, presented appropriately
- Where appropriate, travel to overseas suppliers to work on fabric quality and testing requirements, quality control fabric.
Key Essential Skills:
- Be able to colour match by eye, and communicate shade differences clearly to suppliers
- Have an excellent understanding of textile testing methods and relevance, and of appropriate test results for different fabric and product types
- Possess a good understanding of fabric production methods, and be able to advise suppliers how and where to approve fabric quality
- Understand company timelines, and timelines for each project, and be able to organise workloads and work to deadlines to approve fabric for production
- Possess an understanding of REACH and restricted substances list, SVHC list etc, to ensure fabrics are sourced and approved within REACH regs, and products are compliant
- Ability to use Outlook, Excel, PLM system