Send to factory
How to send a garment to a factory
Sending a garment to production means handing a factory a complete, unambiguous tech pack, technical flats, a graded measurement spec, a bill of materials, and construction details, in a format they can open and act on. The clearer the pack, the faster and cheaper the sampling.
What a factory needs from you
Before a factory can quote or sample, they need:
- Technical flats, front, back, and detail views.
- A points-of-measure spec and graded size chart.
- A complete bill of materials with trims and closures.
- Construction, stitch, and finishing details (callouts).
- Colorways, artwork placement, and labeling / packaging notes.
Common handoff mistakes
Most delays trace back to gaps: a missing measurement, an unstated trim, or an ambiguous construction note. Factories quote and sample what's written, anything missing becomes an assumption, a wrong sample, or an extra revision round. A complete tech pack is the fix.
Exporting a factory-ready pack with SpecForm OS
SpecForm OS assembles your outputs into a composed tech-pack preview and exports factory-ready files, a shareable PDF and editable technical-flat SVGs, with the artifacts under your control, so your handoff is clean the first time.
A factory handoff checklist
Before you send anything, run the pack against a simple test: could a factory that has never spoken to you quote, sample, and produce this style using only the document in front of them? If the answer is no, the gap you just found is the same gap that would have come back as a wrong sample.
Walk the pack top to bottom and confirm each of these is present and unambiguous:
- Technical flats with front, back, and any detail views the construction needs.
- A points-of-measure spec with values, a 'how to measure' note, and tolerances.
- A graded size chart covering the full range you intend to produce, not just the sample size.
- A complete bill of materials with composition, placement, consumption, and trims.
- Construction and stitch callouts for anything that could be built two ways.
- Colourways, artwork placement shown on the flat, and labelling plus packaging notes.
- A single, versioned file so the factory is never working from an old draft.
The sampling loop, and how a clean pack shortens it
Sending to a factory is the start of a loop, not the end of the job. The factory quotes, sews a first sample, and returns it for a fit session; you comment, they correct, and the style moves toward a sealed sample that bulk production is measured against. Every gap in the pack adds a lap to that loop, and every lap costs time and money.
A clear pack front-loads the questions so they get answered before the first sample is cut instead of after. When measurements, materials, and construction are all stated and toleranced, the first sample lands close, the fit session is about refinement rather than repair, and you reach a sealed sample in fewer rounds. That is the entire economic argument for spending the extra hour on the pack before you send it.
FAQ
Common questions
What do I need to send a garment to a factory?
A complete tech pack: technical flats, a points-of-measure spec and graded size chart, a bill of materials, construction and finishing details, colorways, and labeling notes, exported in a format the factory can open.
What format should a tech pack be sent in?
A shareable PDF is standard, often alongside editable technical-flat SVGs. SpecForm OS exports both so factories can read the pack and work from the flats directly.
How do I choose a factory for my garment?
Match the factory to the product and the volume. Factories specialise, so a knit-jersey specialist is the wrong home for a tailored coat, and a high-volume line rarely wants a tiny first order. Look at their existing product type, their minimum order quantity, and whether they sample in-house. Whichever you pick, a complete tech pack lets them quote accurately, which is also the fastest way to compare factories fairly.
What is a minimum order quantity?
Minimum order quantity, or MOQ, is the smallest run a factory will produce, often set per style or per colour. It exists because setup, cutting, and material sourcing carry fixed costs the factory needs to spread across enough units. MOQs shape which factories fit a small brand, so it is worth confirming early, before you invest in sampling.
Should I send a tech pack as a PDF or an editable file?
Both, ideally. A shareable PDF is the standard document a factory reads and quotes from, and editable technical-flat SVGs let their team work directly from your line art. SpecForm OS exports both, so the factory has a clean read-only pack plus the source flats, and the artifacts stay under your control.
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