Steps to Production Series - Tech Packs
A tech pack is the blueprint of your garment. It holds all the necessary information that your factory will need in order to make your perfect production. In this blog, I will walk you through what a tech pack is and some examples of what would be included.
Tech packs are incredibly important because each style needs detailed instructions in order to go into production. Many manufacturers will refuse to work with you without a tech pack, but not all. Regardless, it is important to be aware and prepared for this expectation. From this post I can show you the gist of what a tech pack is and why it is important. If you want a more in depth tutorial on producing on your own there are great online resources.
A factory may tell you a tech pack isn’t needed, which is great, right? You get to save money. Here is why this can actually be a bad thing:
They DO NOT want to have anything in writing that shows them exactly what they need to do.
This way, if they mess up, they can say they didn’t know or it wasn’t clear so you’re on the hook to pay for the mistake. However, if you have the specifics in writing, like the thread color is noted in the tech pack as white but they used black, they are on the hook to fix the mistake.
So even if the factory says that a tech pack isn’t necessary, it’s super important to create one anyway. Your ability to access your factory determines how detailed the tech has to be. Yes, of course it is always best to have every detail down in the tech pack but if you plan to visit the factory often, it is not as important to have everything in the tech as it is if you are doing your production offshore. When we are creating offshore tech packs they are extremely thorough and all details are included.
We do our tech packs in excel but there are many different programs you can use to create them. Our tech packs have multiple tabs each containing specific information about the style. And while they are created specifically for each garment, here is an example of what most tabs look like:
Cover
Sketches
Color Ways
Artwork Specs
Design Details
BOM
Graded Specs
Cutters Must
Sketches from your spec sheets are a great starting point for your tech packs. You will need the front sketch and back sketch with all details noted. What type of stitch details does your garment have? Are they to use a single needle stitch? Cover stitch? Everything your factory needs to know should be noted on this sketch. In addition, to the sketch of the front and back of the garment you can add detailed sketches of plackets, collars, zipper flaps or any other details that it would be useful to have a close up sketch of. Below is a detail of what I am referring to.
Colorways need to be noted as well. I am often asked if garments of different colors need different style numbers and tech packs. The answer is no, if the fabric is the same, only different colors. You will want to note any contract fabric and their colorways as well (referred to as “combo”) The below photo has the color noted for each element and another visual! Visuals are a great way to clearly show what you are looking to execute.
Artwork Specs and Design Details needs to clarify where your labels will be sewn in, where exactly to embroider the logo on the front pocket, what the screen print looks like and how many inches from the hem it is to be applied. I realize your garment might not have all these details but I just wanted to give as many examples as possible around what the art specs and design details look like.
BOM stands for Bill of Materials. This sheet lists out each and every fabric, trim, label, zipper, and button in the garment. It is also helpful to add swatches here as a visual to match back to the supplies. You should include all the information on the good here, which would be vendor, price, yield, placement, and anything else relevant. This sheet is extremely important in your own organization too! A few years from now you may want to use a button that you used this season and have a BOM with the vendor clearly listed is much better than digging through emails or old notes!
Graded Specs can get a bit complicated. Terms like HPS and CF are commonly used. HPS stands for “Highest Point in Shoulder” and CF meaning “Center Front”. You will want to measure your sample size and then talk to your grader for the graded spec measurements. For example, if your inseam is 32” on size M pants, and the graded spec is 1” larger in the Size L, the inseam length will be 33”.
There is also a tolerance for each measurement. If you tell your factory the chest needs to be 18”, what would be within tolerance when the production is received and the specs are measured back to the noted specs? I have a lot of clients say 0, which always makes me smile. I will reply “Nasa has tolerances when building space ships, you will have to come up with something reasonable for your t-shirt.” It is impossible to have a 0% tolerance on all measurements since these are created by humans, just like you and me, after all. The important thing to note is the longer the measurement, the larger the tolerance allowance is. Below is a little example of where to start:
Cutters Must should also be included. This is a list of the pattern pieces (each is numbered), how many to cut of each, and out of which fabric. Like the SELF will have a (1) front (2) back (3) sleeve, each will be cut one except the sleeve, that will need two! Then list the lining, and what pieces need to be cut from the lining and so forth. The Cutters Must should be supplied by your pattern maker. You’ll need it for the next step, which is digitizing and grading.
Tech Pack creation and management might seem a little overwhelming. At V.Mora not only do we have a great Production Manager that can make tech packs in-house, but also connections with domestic vendors and offshore vendors to make tech packs, cutters must, spec sheets, fit sheets and more.
Steps for the Product Development
Sourcing
Technical sketches
Pattern Making
Prototype making
Sample Making
Fittings
Digitizing and Grading
Marker Making
Manufacturing
For product development services, please email vmorainquiry@vmora.com