A tech pack is the document that tells a factory exactly what to make, how to make it and how to check it. It holds technical sketches, a measurement specification with tolerances, fabric and trim details, construction and stitch types, label and packing instructions, grading rules, colourways and a bill of materials. A good tech pack lets a sampling room produce a first sample without a single clarifying question, and it becomes the reference every later sample and inspection is measured against.
Buyers who skip the tech pack and send a photograph or a reference garment usually pay for it later in extra sampling rounds, mismatched trims and arguments at final inspection about what was agreed. The time spent writing it is recovered many times over.
What a complete tech pack contains
- Technical sketches: flat drawings of front and back, with close-ups of pockets, plackets, collars and any detail that is easy to misread.
- Measurement specification: every point of measure for the base size, with a plus or minus tolerance for each, and a diagram showing how each point is measured.
- Fabric details: fibre content, construction, weight, finish and the required test results, plus the approved supplier or quality reference if you have one.
- Trims and components: thread, buttons, zips, interlining, elastic, drawcords and eyelets, each with size, colour, finish and quantity per garment.
- Construction and stitching: seam types, stitches per inch, needle sizes, topstitching width, bar tack positions and any special operations such as washing or printing.
- Labels and packing: main label, care and content label, size label, hangtags, folding method, polybag, carton size and marking.
- Grading rules and size range: how each measurement changes from size to size, and the size ratio for the order.
- Colourways and bill of materials: each colour combination with its fabric and trim colours, and a consolidated list of everything that goes into one garment.
Practical points for buyers
Keep one version at a time. Give each revision a number and date, and make sure the factory, the lab and your own team are working from the same one. A sample made to an old spec is a wasted round.
Write tolerances that match the fabric. Knits and washed denim move more than crisp woven shirting, so a tolerance that is reasonable for one will cause endless rejections on the other. Ask the factory to comment on tolerances before you fix them.
Name the standards you will use. If final inspection will follow an AQL sampling table, or if the fabric must meet OEKO-TEX or a specific fastness level, say so in the tech pack so that the price and the sampling reflect it.
How we help
We review your tech pack with the factory before sampling, walk through the sampling room during our visit, and seal the approved PP sample against the final spec. Where testing is required we send a sealed sample to an NABL-accredited lab, then inspect inline and at final and supervise loading. You get a weekly update, one approved supplier plus one backup, and a free 20-minute sourcing review to begin.