Question 1

What does AQL mean in garment quality control?

Accepted Answer

AQL means acceptance quality limit: the share of defective units agreed as acceptable before an order is placed. We check against it at two points rather than one: inline while the order is still on the line, and in a final AQL inspection before dispatch, so a fault is caught during production instead of after it.

Why there are two inspections
Quality control is stage six of seven, and it is a multi-stage process rather than a single check at the end. Inline inspection runs during production, so drift in measurement or stitching shows up in the first pieces while there is still time to correct the run. The final inspection runs before packaging and dispatch.

What each one catches
The inline check catches repetition - the same fault appearing across pieces while the line can still be adjusted. The final check confirms that what leaves the floor matches the approved sample on fit, fabric, colour and labels. Between them the two cover the run rather than a sample taken from it.

Why it matters on a repeat order
Reorders run at 15-25 days against 30-60 for a first order, and that speed only holds if the first run was consistent enough that nothing has to be reworked. That is what the two checkpoints protect. It matters most where a second batch has to match the first exactly: school uniform and corporate workwear orders, a denim programme shipping in waves, or a t-shirt and jacket range restocked through a season.

Where it sits in the process
The seven stages are design and tech pack, sourcing, sampling, approval, production, quality control, packaging and dispatch. Inspection is not bolted on afterwards - the inline check happens inside production itself, and the final check gates the packaging step.

Ask what the inspection points are for your style when you send the brief. The answer tells you how the run will be controlled.

Question 2

How many samples are made before bulk clothing production?

Accepted Answer

Three samples are made before bulk production. A proto sample comes first, then a fit sample, then a pre-production sample, and each one is approved before the next begins. Bulk production starts only once fit, fabric, colour and labels are signed off against that final sample.

What each one is for
The proto sample is the design made physical for the first time - the construction and the fabric exactly as the tech pack specified them, before anything has been tuned to a body. The fit sample is where the garment is judged on how it actually sits: measurements corrected, the size set settled. The pre-production sample is the last confirmation before bulk - fabric, colour, labels and finishing exactly as they will run.

Why they run in order
Each sample is approved before the next one starts, and that order is the useful part. A fit problem found at the fit sample costs one round and a few days. The same problem found after bulk begins costs the run, and the lead time with it.

What adds a round
Custom labelling, custom packaging and a first-time colour standard each need their own confirmation, so each adds a sampling round rather than being decided on the line. Construction does the same thing: a straightforward cut-and-sew tee settles faster than a jacket with trims and finishing, so style choice moves the schedule as much as quantity does.

How it affects your lead time
Development - tech pack, sourcing, the sampling rounds and approval - sits inside the 30-60 days quoted for a standard first order. Repeat orders take 15-25 days, because fit, fabric, colour and labels are already approved and sampling does not run again. A t-shirt programme, a school uniform order and a corporate workwear run all follow that same sequence, and all land on that faster cycle when they reorder.

Send a design, or a sample you want matched, and we will tell you which rounds that style needs.

Question 3

What is a tech pack in clothing manufacturing?

Accepted Answer

A tech pack is the build specification a manufacturer works from: measurements, fabric, construction, labels and packaging collected into one document. You send designs or references and we create the tech pack. It is the first of seven process stages, and everything after it - sampling, approval, production - is checked back against that document.

Why it comes first
The seven stages run in order: design and tech pack, sourcing, sampling, approval, production, quality control, packaging and dispatch. Fabric cannot be ordered before it is specified, and no sample can be cut before measurements exist. Writing the document first is what stops the later stages drifting away from the design you actually wanted.

What goes in it
Measurements and the size breakdown. Fabric, from the range we work in - cotton, denim, silk, wool, linen and synthetic blends - with the weight called out where it matters: 100-240 GSM for t-shirts, 280-380 GSM for hoodies and sweatshirts. Construction and finishing. Labels, custom poly bags and cartons, because packaging is part of the approved specification rather than something decided at dispatch.

What you need to send
Designs or reference images. A sketch, a tech pack from an earlier season, a photo of a jacket or a pair of jeans you want matched, or a plain description of the garment is enough to start. We build the document from whatever you have. If you are starting from nothing, reference images are usually the fastest route to a first draft.

How it saves time later
Once the pack and the samples built from it are approved - fit, fabric, colour and labels - the specification is settled for good. A repeat order then runs at 15-25 days against 30-60 days for a first order, because the development work is not repeated.

Send your designs or references with a target quantity and we will come back with the tech pack, the MOQ for that style and a lead time.

Technical Insights

What does AQL mean in garment quality control?

How many samples are made before bulk clothing production?

What is a tech pack in clothing manufacturing?