On Friday 21st February four NEXT apprentices attended an onsite session at the Fashion-Enter Ltd head office in Haringey.
The morning session began with Caroline Ash, the Production Director at Fashion-Enter, focusing on the Supply Chain and Customer Base unit. This lesson introduced the apprentices to the concept of a supply chain, explained how the Fashion-Enter supply chain is structured and organised, and highlighted the differences between traditional and modern supply chain models.
An open discussion followed, where the apprentices had the opportunity to share their current understanding of the supply chain in their workplace. The engaging four-hour session included discussions, examples, and a presentation covering key and current issues affecting the supply chain.
Afterwards, the apprentices toured the factory, during which Caroline explained the cutting procedures at Fashion-Enter, an overview of the industrial machines, quality control processes, pressing, fabric testing, the lightbox and how AI can speed up the production process.
In the afternoon, Sonia Watson conducted a session on Quality Assurance Procedures, during which the apprentices learned about the processes, language, and terminology used in production management to create a quality control checklist. She also covered the sealing process and explained what the Acceptable Quality Limit (AQL) means for quality assurance.
Feedback from the apprentices was fantastic and included:
“Really good information session and good industry examples.”
“Really helpful; relating info to real-life situations, which made it clearer to me.”
“Good presentation and layout of information. Easy to relate and to engage.”
“Good, detailed presentation thoroughly explained.”