Is it Time to Change Your Workwear Supplier?

When sourcing and providing workwear for your staff, you need to choose garments that are smart and professional. Your staff are the face of your business and what they wear represents your company values.

If your supplier has been providing you with uniforms that fluctuate in quality, price, and customer service, you might look elsewhere. 

It is important to put a dress code in place because they help your employees work better as a team and boost morale, safety, and productivity. 

But for all of that to happen, you need a workwear supplier who provides you with high quality uniforms at reasonable prices and excellent service. If you spot any of the signs below, then perhaps reconsider your contract with them.

Here are the signs you need to change your workwear supplier:

1. The Quality has Changed
2. The Service is Not Efficient
3. They are Not Versatile
4. They have a Limited Range
5. They are Not Experts in Garment Decoration
6. They are Not Ethically Sourced or Eco-Friendly

1. The Quality has Changed

If your supplier provides you with low quality workwear and/or the quality fluctuates, it can be hard to trust them to do their job. Because of this, it can be difficult for you to know if your employees will be comfortable and/or even protected from hazards in the work place.

Workwear that is made from high quality materials is more durable and lasts a lot longer, which creates better cost efficiency.

All old uniforms and/or workwear will need replacing after a while because of wear and tear.

However, high quality uniform means you need not replace them as often as the materials used are more durable. This is cost-effective if the quality is consistent. 

2. The Service is Not Efficient 

If the workwear you ordered arrives and is not what you expected it to be, this can lead to disappointment and frustration for your company. This is sometimes because of the customer not double checking their PO, but also down to the supplier too.

A responsible service provider should ask the right questions to make sure your order is right. 

Personnel managers have a busy role and do not order workwear daily. Because of this, they may not always understand what questions to ask in order to ensure they get the products that match their needs.

Suppliers can help their customers order workwear daily. They should ask the right questions and cover a range of topics. This could include asking what your industry is, your preferred styles and how many employees are in your business in order to deliver what you want.

If this level of organised efficiency is not met, you might find that your workwear orders come with errors you could avoid. This can be a wrong style and/or size. You then need to reorder and your employees have to wait, which can affect productivity. 

3. They are Not Versatile

Your workwear supplier may be good in every aspect except for one - they are not versatile in the options they offer to you. For example, you and the managing directors want to incorporate a softshell jacket because you think it will best suit your company’s image and values.

However, when you go to order the jackets you realise you can not do this because of the lack of choice. You then compromise with a fleece jacket instead because even though your supplier does not fulfil your needs in this aspect, they do with the rest of your needs.

With company image, your employees’ appearance needs to be professional and smart. You do not want a mismatched image that communicates your company values to your customers.

Besides this, unless they work in the same department, not all of your employees will need to wear the same uniform. For example, should your Head Office team be wearing the same uniform as those working on a construction site? 

The best suppliers should be versatile, offering a wide range of workwear to suit a variety of workplaces and cover your varied required needs. They should not use a one size fits all approach. 

• 

• 

• 

4. They have a Limited Range

The ideal supplier is versatile between stock. For example, they can offer you polo shirts, waterproof trousers, and coveralls.

It is also important that you can have different options of the same workwear such as there are five types of polo shirts to choose from instead of only having one.

They have back-ups in case you dislike the first option that you see.

5 .They are Not Experts in Garment Decoration

Many companies require their employees to wear uniforms with their logos on them. Not only does this help to foster good team spirit as it helps people feel like they belong, but it also advertises your company to your customers. Your supplier might print logos onto your workwear, but may be limited in what they can do.

Your logo does not need to be elaborate unless it fits your company’s image. A more attractive and/or fancier logo is more memorable.

You do not want to be using a basic design that is forgettable because it will make a bad impression on your customers.

6. They are not Ethically Sourced or Eco-Friendly

An estimate in 2012 found that 24.9 million people were forced to work across the world who are underpaid and abused, often in third world countries.

The environment pays the price for mass-production of clothing. It should be a part of any company’s corporate social responsibility to purchase workwear that is sourced ethically and eco-friendly. 

There are many workwear suppliers who do not specify this in their trading policies. Make sure that you do your research before you place your orders and know whether or not they have ethical sourcing and manufacturing processes.

Conclusion

You should change your work supplier if the quality of clothing is low or it changes with each order you place. They may not ask the right questions and are therefore not efficient.

Also, there may not be a wide range of options for you to choose from or cover your required needs. They are limited in what they can do in terms of garment decorations and do not ethically source or are eco-friendly.