Managing quality control and production efficiency in today’s production environment is a bit like fighting a war on two fronts.

First, there is the “internal front”—not exactly a war zone, but a challenging environment for production, characterized by spiking costs for textiles, utilities, labor and more; plus merchandise and staffing shortages and/or high turnover with inexperienced employees who may not follow quality protocols due to limited training or pressure to meet productivity goals. “Turnover will absolutely affect the consistency of delivering high-quality products due to the retraining,” says David Struminger, president and COO, Virginia Linen Service Inc., Petersburg, VA. He ...