Last updated: 4 October 2026
How to read a tech pack is a skill most buyers never learn, because the assumption runs the other way: the brand writes it and the factory reads it. From the floor, the truth is that the best buyers read their own tech pack the way a production manager will, hunting for the gaps before the floor finds them. A tech pack is a contract of expectations, and reading it critically is how you know whether the contract can hold. Here is what a factory checks first, in order, and what each check tells you about whether your document is ready for production.
What does a factory check first in a tech pack?
The first pass takes about two minutes and covers four questions. Is there a summary sheet that identifies the style, fabric and size range at a glance? Is there a measurement chart with points of measure, not just numbers floating beside a sketch? Is every material in the bill of materials specified with composition, weight and a source or equivalent? And is there a revision log, so the factory knows whether it is reading version four or version one? A document that clears those four gets a careful second read. A document that fails any of them gets a quotation built on assumptions, which our guide to how clothing manufacturer quotes work explains is where the price padding begins.
How are measurements actually checked?
The measurement chart gets the closest read, because it is where the garment either works or does not. The floor checks three things: that every point of measure is located in words as well as numbers, that tolerances are stated rather than implied, and that the graded sizes descend logically rather than arithmetically. Real grade rules are not even increments; a chest may grade 4 cm between sizes while a neckline grades 1, and a chart that grades everything evenly was built by a spreadsheet, not by a pattern maker. When we receive a tech pack, the pattern office confirms each point against the sketch before grading begins, and any point that cannot be located on the garment goes back to the buyer, which our article on tech pack mistakes that delay sampling describes as the cheapest correction in the trade.
What does the floor read in the bill of materials?
The BOM is read as a purchasing order in embryo. Every line needs a composition, a weight, and either a named supplier or a written standard the substitute must meet, because “matching fabric” is not a specification. Construction notes are read next, and the floor is checking whether seam types, stitch densities and finishing are specified or left to convention: conventions differ between factories, and the buyer who leaves them unwritten has delegated those choices. Colourways are checked last, mapped material by material across every option, because a three-colour garment is three separate purchasing exercises. Sourcing explainers and manufacturer guides agree on this hierarchy; One Aim Apparel’s sourcing material makes the adjacent point that specification depth is what separates comparable quotes from guesses. Programme buyers who need specification certainty at tender level, the way our custom shirt manufacturing for fashion brands work runs, start from a BOM that names everything.
What are the warning signs a factory sees in a tech pack?
Four things on a page tell the floor what kind of order this will be. Measurements without points of measure say the brand has never watched a garment being measured. A BOM with “same as sample” entries says the brand expects the factory to remember a sample the factory may never have seen. Missing tolerances say disputes will be settled by opinion. And no revision log says changes will arrive by memory and message. None of these is fatal; each is simply priced, because ambiguity has a cost and it lands in the quote. The buyer who reads their own pack once, the way this article suggests, removes all four before the factory ever sees it. If you would like that read done for you before you commit, our contact page is open, and specific answers come back faster than general ones.
How to read the sample against the pack
When the sample arrives, the tech pack becomes a measuring guide rather than a reading exercise, and the discipline is the same one the factory’s QC used on the line. Lay the sample flat, take each point of measure in the stated location, and record the result next to the specification and its tolerance. Check the BOM physically: composition and weight against the specification, trims against their placements on the sketch. Photograph anything that deviates, with the tech pack page in frame, because a deviation documented beside the specification is a correction a factory can act on, while a vague complaint is a debate. Buyers who run this read on every sample, which our guide to garment quality consistency recommends extending to reorders, turn the tech pack from a launch document into the permanent standard the whole relationship runs on.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if my tech pack is good enough for production?
Read it as a stranger: can someone who has never seen your design locate every measurement on the garment, buy every material from the BOM alone, and pack the finished goods without asking a question? If yes, it is production-ready; any no is a gap the floor will fill for you.
What is a point of measure?
A point of measure is the exact location on the garment where a measurement is taken, stated in words: chest width, 1 cm below the armhole, measured flat. Points of measure make numbers unambiguous, which is why every professional chart pairs each measurement with its location.
Why do tolerances matter in a tech pack?
Tolerances state how far a finished measurement may drift from the specification and still be acceptable. Without them, every variation is a dispute; with them, quality control becomes arithmetic, and both sides know where the line sits before production begins.
Should the factory read the tech pack back to me?
Yes, and ask for it: a factory that summarises its understanding of your pack, measurements, BOM and construction in writing before sampling, the way our sampling process runs, is confirming the contract rather than assuming it. That read-back catches more problems than any inspection.