As stated in the previous articles “How to Arrange an Effective Inspection” and “How to Set a Product’s Quality Level for Your Supplier”, to make full use of the inspection service, it is suggested that the buyers provide detailed files to check and verify during the inspection as the more details buyers send to the inspection company, the more effective the inspection will be.
Spending time to draft a plan will help diminish future quality problems down the road such as,
- Logos in different sizes, colors, and shapes
- Different materials/packaging/components
- Misspelled labels, shipping marks, user manuals, and much more.
In this article, we wanted to dig through the most common document that is normally sent to inspection companies for conducting accurate inspections on garments: tech packs.
Tech packs and its advantages
Tech pack is one of the most critical resources for improving the quality of your apparel product and making the communication phase between you, your factory and your inspection company more effective. However, many buyers are not very aware of this crucial step and its importance.
A tech pack will be needed to explain every important part of a design. For a lower risk of error, the tech pack must be detailed and robust.
Typically a tech pack will include measurements, materials, colors, trim, components, labels, tags, etc.
When you provide a tech pack to a factory and consequently to your inspection company, it offers them a clear roadmap for the concept of your design. It may be hard for factories to turn the design into a real product if they were not given a tech pack to be based on. Also, it often helps the factory to produce a garment, without consulting the designer multiple times.
Other advantages of providing a tech pack:
- Get error-free samples
- Get accurate quotations
- It keeps the manufacturer accountable
- It’s a reference point for quality control
- It saves you time and money
What’s in a tech pack?
Below are the parts that every tech pack should contain:
Technical Sketches
These are flat sketches which show each detail of a design in different perspectives (front, back, side, and inside).
They enable the manufacturer and the design team develop the first prototype as similar to the design as possible. Avoiding colors in technical sketches is the key to amplify accuracy. That's why they're rendered in black and white. The most common software to make a technical sketch is Adobe Illustrator.
Point of Measurement Diagram
This helps identify measurements by using sketch diagrams and labeled arrows which presents the location of each measurement on the garment.
Sample Sizes and Measurements
While developing specifications of a garment, providing measurement specs for each point of measurement (POM) is crucial to create the first prototype.
Constructions Details
All parts and details that are not apparent in the drawings must be specified though a diagram or a map of numbered arrows leading to the parts of the garment.
Bill of Materials (BOM)
This part is also a must as it specify in your tech pack a list all the materials and elements of the garment and states which material belongs to each garment part such as fabrics , pins and buttons, labels and tags, packaging, threads, components, etc.
Stitches and Seams
Stitches per inch, seams’ width, seam allowances and seam ISO numbers are included in this very important part of a tech pack.
Branding Artwork
Detail all brand component and their placement including labels, hang tags, embroideries or small prints.
Identification on Every Page
This part must contain the date you created/updated the tech pack, as well as, the name of your company, sample size, style no, collection reference, name of designer, version number if any changes are made, etc. Note that tech packs also evolve as much as your designs evolve. You should use tech packs to track everything throughout your product creation process.
Establishing Tolerance
Tolerance is one of the most critical aspects inside the tech pack. It’s the plus-or-minus measurement used to assess how well a product follows a specified standard of quality.
No two clothes of the same size can be expected to be precisely the same – that's why two of the same shirt's "smalls" can have a somewhat different fit, but both shirts can always come into a reasonable range.
V-Trust has a solid history in helping overseas importers ensure their products will be shipped in accordance with their quality standards and in compliance with markets’ regulations. Our customer service team will walk you through step-by-step helping you set your quality protocols for your suppliers in Asia.
For more information concerning quality control, please feel free to contact us at info@v-trust.com
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