Producing clothing under your own brand at a factory in China follows the same sequence every time: tech pack, costing, samples, fabric sourcing and bulk production, quality control, packing, shipping. On top of that come the labelling and compliance rules of the market where you sell - settle them before production, not after the goods have shipped.
Below is what happens at each stage and which decisions the factory needs from you. We write from the factory side: TYX Manufacturing produces clothing under OEM and ODM models across eight factories in China and Cambodia.
Order stages: from idea to stock in your warehouse
- Tech pack. You send the factory a specification for the style, or develop it together with the factory.
- Costing. Based on the tech pack, the factory works out fabric consumption, trims and labour, and states the minimum order.
- Samples. The proto sample checks construction, the fit sample checks fit, and the pre-production sample becomes the reference for the bulk order.
- Fabric and bulk production. Fabric is usually ordered after the fit sample is approved, followed by cutting and sewing.
- Quality control. Fabric is checked on arrival, garments during sewing, and the finished order by sampling.
- Packing and labelling. Garments are folded, tagged and labelled to the requirements of your market.
- Shipping and customs. The Incoterms in your quote define where the factory's responsibility ends and who pays for transport; then come freight, customs and delivery to your warehouse.
Each stage is covered in more detail in separate articles on our blog - links are in the sections below.
OEM or ODM: what to bring to the factory
The most important thing to say in your first message to a factory is whether you already have a finished tech pack. The answer determines how you will work together.
| OEM | ODM | |
|---|---|---|
| What the brand has | finished tech packs, specifications, a sample | an idea, a sketch, a reference |
| What the factory does | produces to your documentation | develops the style: patterns, fabric selection, samples |
| Who is responsible for the construction | the brand | the factory together with the brand |
| Who it suits | brands with a technical designer or production experience | new brands without a technical designer |
Under OEM, the factory produces garments to your tech packs, specifications and approved samples. Under ODM, the factory's development team builds the tech pack with you: it makes the patterns, suggests fabrics and sets the measurements. If you have no tech pack yet, you can still place an order - start with ODM development.
You can send your project for costing in either format through our inquiry form - we reply within 4 business hours.
What to prepare before your first inquiry
A factory cannot give a real price without a tech pack: the cost depends on fabric consumption, trims and sewing time, and those only show up in the specification. We explain what goes into a tech pack in What Is a Tech Pack. In short, gather this in advance:
- technical flats, front and back, with construction details;
- a bill of materials: fabric, composition, weight, trims, labels;
- a measurement chart for the base size with tolerances;
- grading rules across the size range;
- labelling and packing instructions;
- a rough quantity per style and per colour.
Ask the factory separately what the minimum applies to: per style, per colour or per whole order. The fabric minimum is often stricter than the sewing minimum. We explain how this works in How MOQ Actually Works.
Samples: what to approve before bulk
At a factory, the word "sample" covers three different stages, each with its own job:
- the proto sample checks the silhouette and construction and is often made in a substitute fabric;
- the fit sample checks fit against the measurement chart and is cut in the final fabric or one close to it;
- the pre-production (PP) sample is made in the approved materials, using the bulk production method.
You sign off the PP sample as the reference: the whole order is compared against it at quality control. Do not approve bulk from a photo: a photo will not tell you how the fabric feels, and stitching and colour under real light do not always show. More in Proto, Fit and Pre-Production Samples.
Bulk production and quality control
Fabric and trims are usually ordered after the fit sample is approved, because fabric consumption depends on the final pattern. Then come cutting, sewing and inspections.
In a well-run factory, quality is checked several times, and the pre-shipment inspection is only the last of them. Fabric is inspected on arrival, cut pieces are checked against the pattern, and spot checks run during sewing. The finished order is inspected by AQL sampling - an acceptable quality level - rather than piece by piece. We describe each stage in How Quality Control Works at Every Stage.
Two things to settle before production starts:
- Put the AQL standard in writing, with photos of what counts as a defect. Without it, the final inspection comes down to your opinion against the factory's.
- Allow a margin for defects. Some garments fail final inspection even in a good factory, and if you order exactly what you need, you will come up short.
Labelling and compliance: depends on where you sell
Label and compliance rules are set by the destination market, not by the factory. At a minimum, a care label usually carries fibre content, care instructions, country of origin and, depending on the market, the manufacturer's or importer's details. The EU, the US and China each have their own rules on wording and care symbols. We cover this in How to Read Fabric Care Labels.
Put the label requirements for your market into the tech pack's labelling instructions, so they are sewn in during production rather than fixed after shipment.
Shipping and the full cost of an order
The delivery terms in a factory quote answer who arranges and pays for transport and who is responsible for the goods in transit. The three most common options:
- EXW - the factory only makes the goods ready for collection at its own premises;
- FOB - the factory loads the goods onto the vessel at the port and handles export clearance; costs after that are yours;
- DDP - the factory or its forwarder handles export, freight, import duties, customs clearance and delivery to your door.
Do not compare one factory's EXW price with another factory's DDP price: the difference between them is the cost of logistics and customs clearance. More in Incoterms Explained.
The factory price is not the full cost of a garment. Work out the landed cost: FOB price per unit plus freight and insurance, duties and customs fees, inland logistics and a defect margin. We walk through the formula in How to Calculate the True Landed Cost.
Common first-order mistakes
- Sending the factory a mood board instead of a tech pack - anything missing from the documents, the factory has to guess.
- Approving bulk from a photo of the sample without handling the garment.
- Counting only sewing days and forgetting samples, fabric sourcing and shipping. What makes up the timeline from sample to shipment is covered in Production Timeline.
- Ordering exactly the quantity you need with no defect margin.
- Not putting the quality standard in writing.
- Leaving labelling and market compliance until after shipment.
For a breakdown of why these mistakes happen, see Common Mistakes on a First Production Order. And for what to check about the factory itself before paying a deposit, see How to Choose the Right OEM Garment Manufacturer.
Sources
- TR CU 017/2011 "On the safety of light industry products" - regulation page on the Eurasian Economic Commission website (in Russian)
- TR CU 007/2011 "On the safety of products for children and adolescents" - regulation page on the Eurasian Economic Commission website (in Russian)
- Marking of imported light industry products - Chestny Znak (in Russian)
Whether you have a tech pack or just an idea for a style, send us what you have through the inquiry form and we will cost your production.