Clothing Manufacturers In China: How To Find The Right Factory

selecting a clothing manufacturer in China

Looking to design your own shirt or launch your own knitwear collection? Exporting from China or another low-cost country might be your only option. In this article, I’ll explain what you need to know when selecting a clothing manufacturer in China, substance regulations, material quality, and managing product development and production processes.

Whether you’re an enterprising textile company looking to try out a new product line, or considering the next Karl Lagerfeld, this article is loaded with advice for you. But first, I’ll explain why buying clothes from wholesalers in China is rarely an option.

Buying clothes from wholesalers from China?

The Minimum Order Required (MOQ) for apparel and textile items is often 500 to 1000 pieces, per design. That translates to a higher investment, assuming you want to launch an entire collection. Many importers assume that the solution to this is to avoid manufacturing, and buy finished clothing from wholesalers.

Of course, there are clothing and textile wholesalers in China. In fact, there are tens of thousands of them. However, these wholesalers trade products manufactured for the Chinese market. Take a look at Taobao.com (the Chinese eBay) and you will see. You can get a T-shirt for two dollars and a pair of jeans for the price of a Big Mac. But China is not a dreamland where economic foundations do not apply.

In fact, you could have more than you really want. At least in terms of regulated substances, like formaldehydes and AZO colors. Substance regulations in China are weaker than those in the West. For this reason, buying clothes from wholesalers from China is rarely (if ever) an option, unless you’re willing to risk having your goods seized by customs – or falling into a forced recall.

Important factors when selecting a clothing and textile factory

Not all clothing and textile manufacturers are the same. Making a random online selection, without verifying if the supplier is capable of meeting your quality requirements, is likely to end in disaster. Below is an introduction to the three factors that really matter, when selecting clothing manufacturers in China.

1: Substance control and compliance with foreign textile regulations

Textiles and clothing are regulated in many countries, including the United States, Europe, and Australia. Most applicable safety regulations, such as REACH (Europe) and FHSA (United States) regulate substances, such as formaldehydes, AZO colors and asbestos. Many Chinese manufacturers, especially small ones, are not aware of the substances contained in their textiles.

It’s a deep-rooted problem that goes beyond the manufacturer. The number of subcontractors can vary between two or three, up to more than one hundred. Ensuring that no non-compliant fabric slips out requires the supplier to test a large number of samples, which most small factories consider too expensive and time consuming.

For importers based in Europe, America, Canada and Australia, it is critical to choose a supplier that can demonstrate prior compliance with applicable substance regulations, and prove it. That is why we include both confirmation of applicable product regulations and labeling requirements, in your country, when purchasing our services.

2: Textile labeling requirements

Clothing and textile regulations are not only limited to substances but also to product labeling and packaging. These labeling requirements vary widely between different countries. However, most countries require the label to include the Country of Origin (Made in China), the fiber content of the textile, and washing instructions.

However, a supplier cannot or cannot really meet the labeling requirements. In fact, it is your job to design the label of the textile, and verify if it complies with the applicable regulations in your country. The provider’s job is to print it. Needless to say, the supplier should be able to provide you with information on the fiber content of the textile and the washing instructions.

3: Fabric quality

Good suppliers offer high-quality fabrics and bad suppliers offer low-quality fabrics. Sure? It’s not that easy. I learned it a couple of years ago, in the worst way.

In 2011, we were tasked with managing the development process of a new polo shirt collection for a European brand. They had chosen a new supplier in the southern Fujian province to manufacture their new designs. He was a good provider. Clean facilities, long history, lots of capital, modern machinery, and a strict quality management system.

The customer received the samples and the tests began. After a few weeks of use and washing, it was clear that the quality of the material was far from the customer’s expectations. While they wanted to match brands like GANT and Ralph Lauren in terms of quality, this sample would go straight down the drain.

Obviously the customer was upset about this, and we sent a complaint to the supplier. They made another batch of samples. But the result was the same. This is where we realized that it was a reliable supplier, although it was not able to meet the quality requirements of our client. We discovered that they specialized in making inexpensive clothing, and they did it very well too!

Before you begin, you need to get your fabric specifications in order. Never assume that a Chinese clothing and textile manufacturer specializes in making items that meet your quality requirements, regardless of your technical qualifications.

Product development process

When you’ve chosen a few providers (not just one, as I explained earlier in this article) it’s time to put them to the test. Read on, and find out how to manage the development process and the clothing production process:

Step 1: Design sketch, material selection and product specifications

Chinese manufacturers are totally used to producing articles according to the specifications of the buyer. While some vendors offer design services, they certainly won’t help anyone design a new collection based on a random choice on the Alibaba website.

Before you even bother to contact the manufacturers, you need to sort out your specs.

  • Design sketches
  • Design elements (eg neck)
  • Dimensions
  • Fabric type (eg 96% cotton and 4% spandex)
  • Fabric weight (eg 120 gsm)
  • Printing or embroidery (eg screen printing)
  • Pantone colors
  • Buttons (design, material)
  • Seams
  • Textile label (design and dimension files)
  • Compliance with requirements (for example AZO color free)

You can also supplement the specifications with physical product samples, in case you are trying to replicate a certain color, material, or design elements of an existing product. However, certain components, such as buttons, are best left open until you know what the vendor has to offer.

If you fail to provide sufficient product specifications, it is very likely that you will receive very poor quality items. Misunderstandings happen easier than you can even imagine, and there is no universal definition of “good quality.” Nothing should be left out in the product specifications.

Step 2: Sample development

This is where it gets interesting, but exercise caution. First of all, it is too early to make a final supplier selection at this stage. Instead, you should choose at least three or four vendors that produce clothing samples simultaneously.

In my experience, about 50% of suppliers fail to produce satisfactory samples. They may lack precision in making the seams straight, offer poor quality materials, or prove that they don’t really care to follow your design requirements.

Samples take time to develop, and often require some revisions. Suddenly three months will have passed. If you have chosen a provider too soon, you may need to start all over again. That’s why it’s critical to keep multiple provider options on hand at this stage. In this way, you can simply scrap the supplier that fails to produce satisfactory samples, and move on to those that have been successful. Yes, it costs a bit more to buy samples from four vendors, rather than just one. But, consider the time and money you will save, it really is worth it.

Step 3: Compliance testing

Pre-compliance means that a supplier can prove that they are capable of ensuring compliance. Although it is key in the qualification requirements, it is not a guarantee of future compliance. That is why you must submit material samples to compliance tests before starting mass production.

But, this is also where everything gets really complicated. Fabric samples that are available during sample production may not be available when you order. Even if the fabrics used for mass production are visually identical, they could come from another batch (which could contain other chemicals) or from an entirely different subcontractor.

In a worst-case scenario, this means that you could end up with clothing made from non-compliant fabrics, even if the pre-production fabrics passed compliance tests. However, despite that risk, testing of pre-production fabrics is critical. One way to minimize future risks is to do compliance testing on fabric samples as soon as the batch used for your items reaches the supplier’s warehouse, but before mass production begins. That way you can at least avoid the situation where you are left with an entire batch of non-compliant clothing. Sounds complicated? Not much, if you follow the following process:

  1. Select fabrics and confirm applicable substance regulations
  2. Ask your supplier if fabrics used for mass production originate from the same batch and / or from the same subcontractor
  3. Collect and send reference samples of pre-production fabrics to a testing laboratory
  4. Supplier begins mass production and orders fabrics from one or more subcontractors
  5. Collect and send a sample batch of reference fabrics to a testing laboratory
  6. If compliant: approve production

Sometimes a material, or even a color, requires separate compliance testing, costs are increased if you use different fabrics and colors. If you are on a tight budget, try to limit the number of different fabrics used in your clothing.

Step 4: Sales contract

Before the deposit is paid and production begins, your clothing manufacturer must sign a Sales Contract. The main purpose of the Sales Contract is not to prepare you for future disputes, but to prevent them.

First, you must prevent misunderstandings. For this reason, you should include product specifications, design sketches, material specifications, and color swatches. You can also add physical samples, for the supplier to sign and seal.

However, these specifications may be of no use unless you put pressure on the vendor to adhere to them. This can only be accomplished if you make the vendor understand that you will verify compliance, and that you have a bargaining chip in hand, in case they don’t.

In order to verify compliance, you need to perform a Quality Inspection by ATIhongkong. I will talk about it later. Payment is also critical. If you pay the supplier 100% in advance, they will not have an incentive to redo or repair defective items, in case the Quality Inspection fails. That is why the final balance payment should be withheld until the quality is verified.

Step 5: Quality Control

Manufacturing is not a science. Quality problems certainly do occur, to varying degrees. They cannot be completely eliminated, but they can be managed and reduced to a degree where they do not visibly affect your business.

Forget returning defective parts to China. Low-cost manufacturing is cheap for a reason. Instead, you should verify that your clothing meets quality requirements before it is packed and shipped. For this reason, a Quality Inspection must be performed at the manufacturer’s factory, after production – but before shipment.

There are a number of defects that could occur when manufacturing clothing. Below is a list of defects that I have stumbled upon:

  • Poor seams (eg, crooked seams, loose threads)
  • Discoloration
  • Crumpled embroidery
  • Wrong dimensions
  • Buttons or zippers missing
  • Dust and dirt

However, certain quality problems cannot be detected during a simple factory inspection. For example, low-quality fabrics can lose their shape after a few washes. This is why extensive sample testing, and current usage, are critical, before production begins. Feel free to  contact us, if you have any further questions about finding reliable and fulfilled clothing suppliers in China.

Are you interested in importing from China as an expert and dominating your competition? We present our new DominaChina Online Course where you can learn each of the import stages in depth and you will have access to the best strategies to excel in each of them. With a 100% online mode  , you choose your schedule and the place of study.

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