Every sourcing guide hands you a list of what to ask a garment factory. The list is the easy part; the evaluation is in the answers, and in how precisely they come back. We sit on the factory side of those conversations, and this guide is the version we would want a US brand to carry into any factory meeting, ours included: the questions that matter, the answers a real production partner gives, and the answers that should end the conversation.
The short answer: ask every garment factory the same five things, per style minimums, sampling lead time per round, purchase-order-to-ex-factory weeks, what the quote includes, and who is allowed to inspect, and judge them on how specific and how checkable the responses are. “It depends” is a real answer to some of these; a number with no definition behind it is not.
What should you ask a garment factory first?
Two questions, both of them clock questions, because the clock is what kills seasons:
- What is the sampling lead time per round? The answer you want is a number with a definition: at World KNK it is 1 to 2 weeks per round, and the realistic plan is two rounds before bulk. Watch for factories that cannot separate sampling rounds from total development time; the blur is where programs slip.
- How many weeks from purchase order to ex-factory? The honest woven answer ranges from 4 to 6 weeks on a 500-piece pilot lane to 6 to 12 weeks at 1,000 pieces per style, depending on the program. Ask the follow-up that matters: how full is the production calendar for the season I am buying for? A lead time without a calendar behind it is a brochure number.
Record each answer with the date and the name of who gave it, then compare factories on the same sheet. If the numbers move later without the calendar moving, that is your evaluation working.
What minimums should a straight answer include?
A straight minimum answer has three parts. Ask for all three:
- Per style, not per order. A style is one garment design; two colorways of the same shirt are one style, and their pieces count together. At World KNK bulk starts at 1,000 pieces per style, up to 2 colors or motifs, split across your size run. A factory that quotes “our minimum is 500” without saying per what is quoting a mood.
- Separate minimums per activity. Sampling is not bulk: proto and fit samples at 1 piece, sales samples at 1 piece per style, bulk at its own floor, custom fabric development at 1,500 pieces per style per color where offered, and repeat orders on their own terms (ours run at 35 working days with no new minimum).
- The mill question, answered before you ask it. Where does the minimum come from, the garment factory or the fabric mill? Stock-fabric production carries the factory’s floor. Custom fabric development carries the mill’s, which is why it starts higher and adds 4 to 8 weeks. A factory that cannot split these two is buying fabric blind on your money.
How do you check quality before committing?
Ask how the factory handles the fear importers carry: fabric that tests as a blend when the order said otherwise. The evaluation is not whether the factory says “we have great quality”; it is whether the checks are named, staged, and open to you:
- Fabric testing before cutting, inside the FOB program, so substitution is caught at receipt, not at delivery.
- Staged inspection with the stages named: on this floor, eight checked stages run from fabric inspection to packed export cartons, ending in a final inspection to AQL 2.5, a common apparel level.
- Third-party access. Your own inspector from SGS, Intertek or QIMA welcome at any stage, including mid-run. Hesitation on this question answers it.
- The sample path. What a proto costs, what a sales sample costs, and whether the sample fee comes off the bulk invoice when the order follows.
What does the quote need to include?
Ask for the quote’s boundary in writing, because the FOB acronym hides more deals than it closes. A complete FOB quote names what the factory carries: fabric sourcing and testing, cutting, sewing, finishing, quality checks, and export packing. It also names what you carry: the sea freight booking, the customs duty, the labeling program, and clearing the container at the border. Then ask the landed-cost question directly: which HTS line does this garment sit on, and what does the duty do to my retail price? A factory worth the order helps you price the container, not just the carton.
Which answers should end the conversation?
Not wrong answers; unanswerable ones. Four patterns should worry you more than any single number:
- No per-style definition. “Our MOQ is low” with no style, color, or size-run split behind it.
- A lead time with no calendar. Six weeks, but no answer on how full the season you are actually buying is.
- Inspector refusal or stalling. “We do our own QC” with no third-party access means nothing you can independently check against what shipped.
- The permanent “after we review.” A factory that cannot engage your tech pack in the meeting, or explain what it needs to quote, has told you how the next six months will go.
One more, and it cuts both ways: a factory that answers every question with a yes but no number has sold you nothing. Specificity, even when the number is higher than you hoped, is the thing you are actually evaluating.
What should you do with the answers?
Score every factory on the same five numbers: per-style minimum, sampling weeks per round, production weeks, what the quote includes, and inspection access. The comparison collapses quickly once the answers sit side by side. Then close the gap between answer and commitment: the pilot lane at Kizen Lab, in the same city and backed by the same floor, lets a 500-piece-per-style run test the relationship before a full program tests it at 1,000. And ask when the production slot is reserved: at order placement, or only when production starts. On our floor the model is agreed in writing before production starts, and the slot follows the purchase order.
Garment factory questions: the quick answers
What are the most important questions to ask a garment factory?
Per-style minimums, sampling lead time per round, purchase-order-to-ex-factory weeks, exactly what the quote includes, and whether your own third-party inspector can join the run. Judge the precision of the answers as much as the numbers.
How do I check a garment factory before visiting?
Ask for the checks in writing: named inspection stages, a published AQL for final inspection, and third-party inspector access. Remote vetting works when the factory’s answers are specific enough to verify later.
What MOQ answers are normal?
US small-batch shops commonly run around 10 to 100 pieces per style, pilot lanes sit near 500, and our own woven bulk floor starts at 1,000. The number matters less than the definition: per style, per color, and split how across the size run.
How many sample rounds should I plan for?
Plan for two rounds before bulk, at 1 to 2 weeks per round. Programs that try to skip the second round usually pay for it in the container.
Who arranges the fabric testing?
The factory tests fabric at receipt inside the FOB program, and your third-party inspector is welcome to witness it. The lead limits and fiber claims on your labels are the reason the testing happens before cutting, not after, and the sample fee comes off the bulk invoice when the order follows.
Bring the questions; we will bring the numbers. Start the quote here, or book the capacity conversation if your season is already tight.