A custom woven fabric order from an Indian mill typically takes 45 to 75 days from the date all approvals are signed off to the date the goods are ready for shipment. Yarn-dyed fabrics take longer, often 60 to 90 days, because yarn must be dyed before weaving starts. Add sampling and approval time at the front and transit time at the back, and the realistic window from first enquiry to goods on your floor is usually four to six months.
The quoted lead time nearly always starts at approval, not at order placement. A purchase order sitting with an unapproved lab dip is not in production, and that distinction causes most of the arguments about late delivery.
Where the time goes
- Lab dips and desk looms: usually one to three weeks, with each rejection adding a round.
- Yarn procurement: a few days for stock counts, several weeks for unusual counts or fibres.
- Yarn dyeing, for yarn-dyed styles only: typically two to three weeks.
- Weaving: a few days of running once a loom is allocated, but the queue for the loom can be weeks.
- Dyeing and finishing: typically two to three weeks, including greige inspection, preparation, dyeing, finishing and curing.
- Inspection, rolling, packing and documents: about a week.
- Inland transport to Mundra, Pipavav or Hazira and port handling: a few days to a week.
What makes orders late
The common causes are slow approvals on the buyer's side, a mill taking on more than its loom capacity, power cuts and water restrictions in the dyeing stage, and festival shutdowns around Diwali when many workers travel home for a week or more. Monsoon humidity slows drying and curing in some units. Small orders also wait, because a mill will run a large customer's fabric first unless someone is watching.
Keeping an order on time
Agree the production schedule in writing with dates for each stage, and ask for a weekly progress report with photographs of the fabric at that stage. Approve lab dips and samples quickly, and send one consolidated set of comments rather than several. Ask the mill for its loom plan and check that your order has been allocated a loom, not just accepted.
Place repeat orders with greige already in hand where possible, since dyeing finished fabric from stock greige can cut weeks off the schedule. Book the vessel early in peak season and before the Diwali period, when space from the Gujarat ports tightens.
How we keep your order moving
We visit the mill at each stage, confirm the order is actually on the loom or in the dyehouse, and send a weekly update with photos so you know where the fabric is. We keep one approved supplier and one backup for each fabric so a capacity problem does not become a missed season. A free 20-minute sourcing review is a good way to work out a realistic calendar for your next programme.