We’ve all heard the horror stories. Working with a clothing factory can be super exciting but also super stressful. There are so many moving parts it’s easy for something to fall through the cracks. Over the last 15 years, I have seen a lot of things go wrong. And although many of them aren’t totally preventable, there are ways to set up your business to limit the impact. That’s why, today I’m sharing eight things you should check off your list BEFORE your clothing factory starts production.
To watch the video, you can click through on the image below.
If you’d prefer to read along just scroll on down.
1. Have an approved pre-production sample for each colour
First you’re probably wondering what a pre-production sample is. Right? This is a sample that your clothing factory will make and reference as their standard when they go into production. It should include the fabric and trims that you have ordered for production.
Sometimes factories try to get away with using sample yardage or substitute trims for the pre-production sample. I strongly encourage you to have as many of the production components in this pre-production sample as possible. This is your reference of what you final product is going to look like. The more things that are substitutes, the less visibility you’ll have to what your final product will look like.
And remember, you should get a pre-production sample for each colour that you are making. There can be significant variances in fabric quality for different colours. You want to make sure you are reviewing each one separately.
2. Wear and wash your pre-production sample
In order to give your customer the best experience of your product, make sure it stands up to the wear and care you are recommending. Even if you have done this in the initial development stage, I recommend doing it again in the pre-production stage. There can be minor or significant differences in fabric from roll to roll and you want to make sure that you are recommending the correct washing based on the fabric you are using for production.
3. Inspect a cutting of your production fabric and compare it to your sample yardage
Ask your fabric supplier to send you a yard from the production fabric before they ship the full order to your clothing factory. This will give you the ability to compare it to the sample yardage that you had previously approved. There are so many factors that can change the look, feel and shrinkage of your fabric. If there is a significant difference, you will want to address this before your factory goes into production. Better yet, address this before your fabric ships to your factory.
In order to make this negotiation easier, include a cutting of your approved sample yardage quality with your purchase order to your fabric supplier. That way, they will understand that you are watching for consistency and that you will be holding them to that particular standard.
4. Sign off on a trim card for each colour way
A trim card is a single place (usually a piece of card stock) that has all of the exact production trims that will be used for a particular colour of a style. The funny thing about a trim card is the simple act of having one created means that you are checking that all of your trim colours match. But, I have worked in companies that didn’t do this and were constantly surprised by a piece of trim on the garment.
When you are working on a product with a lot of different components, it can be hard to keep track of the big picture. How everything looks together. By creating (or better yet, having your factory create) a trim card, you will get an easy visual of how all of your materials come together.
And if something doesn’t look good? You have the option to change that trim BEFORE your factory sews it on to your product.
5. Have a pre-production meeting with your factory
A pre-production meeting is an opportunity for you to sit with your clothing factory and go through any specific things to watch for when going into production for your style. For example, you can reference past samples and remind them how they had difficulty in the past securing the collar cleanly, and remind them that you’ll be watching for this in production.
Like the trim card, the simple act of having a pre-production meeting and talking about any possible concerns or things to watch out for let’s your factory know you are serious about quality. It also give them specific things for the factory manager to be looking out for as your style is in production and they will feel more compelled to address this with their sewers. In the end, this will give you better quality.
6. Have a signed purchase order with a delivery date and agreed cost
This might seem obvious but with all of the balls you are juggling, people sometimes skip over confirming the FINAL cost and the delivery date. Get it in writing and highlight this in your pre-production meeting.
7. Have established measurement tolerances for each of your points of measure
A measurement tolerance is the little bit under or over that a specific measurement on a garment can measure and still be acceptable. For example, you may call out that your front length should be 28″ and allow a 1/4″ tolerance. This would mean that if it measured anywhere from 27 3/4″ to 28 1/4″ in production, it would still be withing tolerance and acceptable.
If you don’t have a tolerance set for each point of measure, you will have a hard time telling your factory that something is unacceptable. A factory will inevitably tell you it’s impossible to have everything measure perfectly and will default to their own (probably higher) tolerances.
Best to set this up front. And be realistic.
There is no way that every measurement will be perfect so set tolerances that drive a consistent experience for your customer and are still manageable from a production perspective.
8. Set a packing standard
Communicate clearly how you would like your finished product to be folded and packed. When you’re starting out, this can be as quick as taking pictures of a sample folded the way you would like it to be done.
As you get larger, you can set folding standards and then have illustrations done for each folding standard and then have this called out in your tech pack.
When you are giving folding and packing instructions, take into account:
- How you will be storing the product in your warehouse. If you can have the factory fold it the way you will want to have it stored, this will make managing your inventory easier.
- You will want to fold your product in a way so that it gets the least amount of wrinkles.
- Packing your product in a way so that it stays clean. This generally means having your factory put it into a poly bag but you can definitely get creative with your packaging.
- The visibility of the style and colour numbers. The faster you can identify this information the more time you will save when processing inventory.
So that’s it. Eight things to check off your list before your factory goes into production.
If you want download and print out a quick pre-production checklist, you can grab it here. And if you’re struggling with finding a clothing factory, I’d recommending checking out this post here.
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