How does Fashion Designer can Avoid Production Errors through Technical Packs in 2021?

In the following article, I’ll go over some of the technical pack-related concerns that manufacturers frequently complain about when working with stylists at the start of the manufacturing process. Avoiding these obstacles will increase your chances of developing long-term connections with factories.

1. Technical pack – Communicate as closely as possible every technical detail of a design so you know how much it costs to make your clothing.

PROBLEM: Fashion designers often fail to provide manufacturers with all of the technical details of a design, resulting in unexpected shutdown costs in manufacturing.

OUR SERVICES: In our G Studio we usually receive emails with vague sketches, often without further details, asking about sampling or garment manufacturing costs based solely on this data. After many meetings, messages and phone calls, we finally find all the technical requirements to be able to provide the designers with a more accurate sample or a more accurate production estimate.

Solution: All of this can be avoided if designers take the time to plan and launch technical packs (or specification sheets) before contacting factories.

Tech pack is hands down the most effective way to communicate fashion design with your samples and your factory. Work is in progress and the technical packs are regularly reviewed and updated. Skilled designers are always asking factories for ways to make production faster and cheaper, and reviewing tech packs with new information. Things like applying a different finish or more appropriate zippers and buttons can have a significant impact on the durability and cost of your clothing. So keep asking your factory manager whether there is a way to simplify production processes for employees and thus reduce costs for you.

2. Fix changes in production as soon as possible to avoid delays in delivery.

PROBLEM: While many designers have a general opinion about the manufacturing process itself, they often underestimate the potential impact of a simple design change on the manufacturing schedule.

MY MAIN SERVICES: In our G Studio firm, companies frequently reproduced their best-selling models season after season, “slightly” changed the models, or included new fabrics and surfaces into the new collection. They anticipated the firm to not replicate last season’s manufacturing methods and to provide final items in the same period as last year. Another example is designers who bring innovative materials that the industry has not seen before for use in garment manufacture. In doing so, it is forgotten that pattern designers must spend more time cutting new materials, that processing has forced the sewing machine settings, and that the workflow has been adjusted to accommodate new advances.

Again, we would discover all of these changes beforehand.

Again, the way we would discover all of these changes would be before sampling or production began, and then we would have to renegotiate the terms of that particular production.

Often times, information about such sudden changes was emailed and could be lost while cutting and sewing floors, resulting in errors or even canceling orders.

Solution: What’s the most suitable solution I’ve seen for this? A brand production manager I worked with introduced a triple (!) Reminder system for us and other manufacturers.

With any design / material change they would:

Send a new technical pack to the factory highlighting any changes to the RED BOLD LETTERS.

Send the physical copy of the email or attachment (technical pack or datasheets) with the same date stamp and RED BOLD LETTERS highlighting the changes.

Call us to confirm we have received the latest information and record the call for future reference.

All of this happened because they had wasted so many orders for so many years since this brand was in operation that they didn’t want to take any more chances!

Can technology aid into simplifying these processes?

Nowadays, in addition to email, an increasing number of firms engage with manufacturers via messaging applications such as WhatsApp. I’m hoping that the individual who gets such signals in the office will notice and properly transmit any changes to the drawings to the production floor. However, all that is enhanced is the speed with which these communications are received.

Is there a better solution? I feel that developing tech packs with the support of G Studio experts, followed by using its Track Changes tool to graphically convey updates, allows designers to address both of the above-mentioned challenges quite simply:

Conclusion

Across the business, many experienced and young designers continue to rely on emails and in-person meetings to provide factories with their initial ideas for their desired product. More technically proficient brands create their technical packs in Excel, but must email fresh copies to manufacturers whenever modifications occur.

Isn’t it time for fashion designers to start adopting the most successful method of introducing and notifying factories about new design components and changes?

Clearer communication would undoubtedly benefit manufacturers, while brands will prevent production delays and blunders. It benefits everyone involved.

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