Incoming Inspection for an Upholstery Fabric Roll
Inspect an upholstery fabric roll before anyone cuts panels from it. Record the roll identity, the face, the backing, the width note, and the visible defects while the cloth is still a whole roll. A later complaint about shade or width is much harder to judge after the roll has become cushions. This sheet is the incoming record. It is the list a receiving team can send back with a question.
What should the incoming check record before the roll is cut?
Write the supplier name, the quality or construction name, the color name or code, the lot or batch if it is printed on the label, and the roll number. Add the date and the name of the person who opened the roll. Those six lines let a later email point at one roll instead of “the blue shipment.”
Measure or record width the way your cutting team will use it. If the ticket says one width and the cloth on the table presents another, write both numbers and where you measured. Our note on fabric width and roll planning covers how buyers plan yield. This article covers the moment the roll arrives and the ticket has to be checked against the cloth.
Keep commercial quantity in a separate line. For standard upholstery fabric the published quantity on this site is 1200 meters per color. The incoming sheet still records the meters on this roll. The order quantity and the roll length answer different questions, and the sheet should show both when both are known.
Open the first meters under the same light you will use for shade comments. A loading-dock lamp and a sewing-room lamp can make one solid color look like two lots. Note the light in one short line so the comment can be repeated later.
Which face and backing details belong on the sheet?
Mark which side is the face and which side is the backing before you comment on streaks, joins, or coating. Upholstery cloth is often judged from the face and stitched from the back. A note that says “lines on the fabric” without naming the side sends the mill to the wrong surface.
The comparison of face and backing types belongs to the backing article. On the incoming sheet you only need identity: the side you called the face, the side you called the backing, and any label that already says so. If the roll is wound so the backing is outside, say that too. Wind direction changes what a quick glance sees.
| Sheet line | What to write | What the line decides |
|---|---|---|
| Roll identity | Quality, color, lot, roll number, date, inspector | Which roll the comment belongs to |
| Face | The side that will show on the sofa, plus any streak or join you can see | Whether the visible surface is acceptable to discuss |
| Backing | The side that will be inside the cover, plus coating, knit, or loose yarn you can see | Whether sewing and glue will meet the side you expect |
| Width note | Ticket width and the width you measured, with the position on the roll | Whether cutting plans still fit |
| Defect map | Meters from the start, side, and a plain description | Whether to cut around a mark or hold the roll |
Photograph the label and the defect with a tape or a meter mark in the frame when you can. The storefront photographs in this article show cloth faces we already publish. Your incoming photos should show the roll in front of you, including the label. Those two kinds of pictures should not be swapped in the claim file.
How does a hypothetical width miss change the decision?
Imagine a hypothetical ticket that says 142 cm usable width. At three meters into the roll, the receiving table measures 138 cm between the edges the cutter can use. The rest of the roll is still uncut. The sheet now has a decision: hold the roll, cut only the confirmed width, or ask the mill before the marker is made.
| Recorded fact | Hypothetical ticket | Hypothetical table | Decision the sheet supports |
|---|---|---|---|
| Width | 142 cm | 138 cm at 3 m | Ask before the marker uses 142 cm |
| Face | Jacquard face named on the label | Same face, no second quality in the opening | Keep the comment on width, not on a different cloth |
| Backing | Knit backing named on the label | Backing looks consistent in the opening | Leave backing as identity, not as the defect |
| Next cut | Marker drawn at ticket width | Marker not yet released | Hold the marker until the width note is answered |
Use the sketch to brief a new inspector. Replace every number with the roll in front of you. A held marker is a cheaper outcome than a set of panels cut on the ticket width after the cloth has already shown a narrower opening.
If the difference sits inside the tolerance your own cutting standard allows, write that tolerance on the sheet and release the roll. If you do not have a tolerance, the sheet’s job is to ask, not to invent one in the loading bay.
Which visible marks belong in the defect map?
Map a mark when you can point to it in meters from the start of the roll and describe it in plain words: hole, stain, crease, missing yarn, print gap, or a streak that follows the length. Say whether it is on the face or the backing. A word such as “bad” cannot be matched to a meter of cloth.
Separate running marks from one-off marks. A crease in the first meter may be packing. A streak that is still there at ten meters may run the roll. The map should say how far you unrolled. An opinion about the unseen balance of the roll is a guess, and the sheet should label it as unchecked cloth.
On pile cloth, add the direction you used when you looked for streaks. Pile direction has its own article because it changes apparent shade. The incoming sheet only needs the arrow you chose and the comment you made under that arrow. Do not let a direction effect be written up as a dye streak until both directions have been looked at.
What should the supplier receive with the question?
Send the sheet, the label photo, the defect photo with a meter mark, and the width readings if width is the issue. Name the roll. Say whether the roll is held or whether you have already cut. A held roll can be rechecked. A cut roll needs the panel count as well.
Factory routines for this kind of check are described on the factory and quality page. The page does not replace your incoming sheet. It tells you which production controls to ask about when the sheet shows a repeated mark.
Send the file through the quote page or Request With WhatsApp. Start the message with the roll number and the line that failed, so the reply can address that line.
