From Tech Pack to Quotation: An Inspection Plan for an Outerwear Series

For a requested series of outerwear, a fully developed tech pack was already available before the actual quotation planning began. The document alone is not enough to turn it into a reliable quotation. Production route, sample sequence, quality inspection and import planning had to be brought together before costing made sense at all. The following example shows this process using a current enquiry. It is documented quotation and approval planning, not proof of a production or delivery that has already been completed.

From tech pack to agreement with the producer

The tech pack already contained measurements, material details and construction details. For a reliable quotation, however, that alone is not enough, because a tech pack usually leaves room for interpretation that has to be closed before costing. The open product specifications were therefore taken into the agreement with the producer: which material details are fixed, which tolerances apply, which alternatives are acceptable for trims such as buttons or zips, and where a query to the customer is needed.

Only with these points clarified can a quotation be costed that will also hold up later in manufacturing. A quotation based on unresolved assumptions merely shifts the risk to a later point in production, where corrections are far more costly than in the agreement phase.

Production route and approval sample

A production route in Guangdong province was prepared for the series. A physical approval sample is planned before series production starts, following the process we also describe under sampling. Production is only to begin once it has been approved in writing. Without this sample, the costing would rest on paper specifications alone, with no confirmation from a real reference piece in material, hand feel and workmanship.

The order has a reason. A quotation can already be costed on the basis of the tech pack and the agreement with the producer, but approval for series production depends on the confirmed sample. This way the customer can see which planning step is complete and which is still outstanding.

An inspection plan with two on-site checks

In parallel with production planning, an inspection plan was defined that accompanies manufacturing instead of assessing quality only at the end. Our own team in China checks the goods on site at the producer:

• Approval sample as reference: the sample approved in writing and the specification define what the goods are checked against
• Check during production: inspection of ongoing manufacturing at the producer
• Final check after production: inspection of the completed series before shipping

This sequence spreads the control over the production period instead of concentrating it solely on the time before shipping. A deviation spotted during the check in production can usually be corrected more easily than a finding that is only discovered at the final check, when the series is already finished. How sampling methods such as AQL work in general is explained in our article on pre-shipment inspection. For quotation planning, what matters is that these inspection points are fixed from the start and do not have to be negotiated afterwards.

DDP import planning up to the delivery address

Alongside production and inspection, the import route was planned as a DDP delivery to the named delivery address. Transport, insurance and customs clearance are thus part of the planning, not a separate step to be settled only after manufacturing. This allows the approval points of production and the requirements of import to be aligned before costing, instead of being added at the end of a manufacturing run that is already under way.

A quotation that plans production and inspection properly but leaves the import open is, in the end, only a partial calculation. Only when production route, inspection plan and import route are fixed together is there a basis for a reliable overall quotation.

What this example means for your own enquiry

The example shows how we turn a large textile enquiry, starting from an existing tech pack, into a verifiable quotation and approval process. Production route, sample sequence, inspection stages and import route are laid out before a quotation is prepared. This reduces the risk that assumptions have to be corrected only during manufacturing, and gives the customer clarity, even before order confirmation, on how their product will be inspected and imported.

If you are planning a recurring textile series from 300 pieces, you can send us an existing tech pack or a reference product. We first check which information is still missing for a reliable calculation and name it specifically, instead of preparing a non-binding quotation on an incomplete basis. You will find the contact details on our contact page.