Military uniform businesses always from the sample, stock sample, or new making sample. Tender always needs to make the uniform according to the document. So what are the common steps for a military uniform factory to make a uniform sample? And how long for each step? In this article, we will answer those questions.

Deal with the document(1-2days)

After getting the document or sample uniform from the customer, we always need to read the document carefully and translate it. Then hand it over to our technical manager and purchase manager to simultaneously make the model and fabric. Correspondingly, purchase the required accessories as well.

Making the fabric(7-20days base on the different situation)

After receiving the requirement, the purchase manager always starts to collect the standard accessories and sending our request to the fabric factory to making the fabric sample.

Fabric sample dealing step is divided into two situations:

Gray fabric:

First is the fabric factory already with the required gray fabric in stock, which could be directly sent to the dyeing factory.

Second is they don’t with matched gray fabric so need from weaving, this always takes at least 7 days to finish. Then it is the same as the first step, to send to the dyeing factory.

Dyeing fabric:

Before the fabric arrives at the dyeing factory, the dyeing factory will compare the document’s pattern or the sample fabric. If they don’t have the existing same one, they need to start by drawing the pattern. After 95% similar to the required design, they will start the dyeing process.(15-20days)(Note: If need camouflage pattern, they always need full pattern design or the finished pattern may not be the same.)

If with the pattern in their design library, they will immediately start the dyeing work. (3-7days base on the order situation.)

The big dyeing factory and fabric factory always have orders on their production line, so they will not accept every sample order or deal with the sample work immediately when receiving the sample cost. This is why I said in my article (3-most-important-factors-to-choose-uniform-manufactures-suppliers) that the cooperate relationship is significant when cooperating with a factory which owns a long term cooperated supply chain.

Making the Marker(1-2days)

Making the Marker in the uniform factory and making the fabric always could work at the same time. The technical manager draws the design on their computers base on the document size and design. Then the whole process will go to the next step.

What we would like to talk more about this step is that in bulk order, the experienced technical manager will make the Marker in the most suitable way, which means make the most of the fabric in this step. (So if the buyer would give their own fabric to the factory to make, the technical manager’s experience is the thing you must check.) (The explanation for the word”Marker“)

Cutting the paper model(By machine so could finish in a few hours.)

Model divides into two different parts, hard paper model,

and soft paper model.

The factory will always save the hard paper model for bulk order use if nothing changes on the confirming step. But the soft paper model will only use once, it is also made base on the shape of the hard model. Cutting the fabric will base on the soft paper model.

Cutting the fabric(Few hours)

After confirming the design without defects, the tailor will cut the fabric sample base on the hard paper model.

Making uniform sample(1-2days per set)

The penultimate step of the whole process is making the uniform sample. The sample sewing worker will check the translated document, talk with the technical manager carefully, and then finish the sewing work.

Compare the document and finish sample(1 day)

The last step for the responsible company is comparing the document and check the quality of the uniform sample. The sales and technical manager will work together to compare each part of the uniform step by step.

Above are the common steps for a factory in China to make the uniform sample and each step’s time.

Other situation

At the end of this article, I would like to add another situation of making a sample using stock fabric and accessories. This always happens when the uniform isn’t in a new design or adds a little change to the existing design. Some of this situation is that just the buyer wants to check the sample making the quality of the supplier.

The sample cost will be much cheaper than everything customize if in this case, and the time could be as short as 3 days.