When I took over management of sewing production at Rittenhouse Needlepoint I inherited some unique problems. The biggest problem was that the order re-do rate for the department was quite high. Customers were sending pillows and other soft sculptures back to be re-constructed and, in general, not happy with the quality of work overall. This was obviously costing the company a lot of money, and hurting their relationships with customers.
This problem had more to do with the ordering system than the quality of work produced by department employees. Historically, all orders (no matter how complex) were written up, by hand, on slips of paper, usually by someone on the retail side of things - with little sewing experience. (If we were lucky, there might be a detailed email of the customer's wishes stapled to the back of the ticket.) I worked with the general manager to come up with a new system for billing the sewing work through a series of order forms - some with illustrations.
These forms greatly reduced the department's re-do rate, and they also work as a great marketing tool. ("Oh, you can do that!?") The RN's customers no longer have to possess a working knowledge of sewing and upholstery to place an order for a finished item they will love.
