Preparing for Manufacture

MADE Apparel Services Podcast

Host Heather Zager talks about manufacture in this final episode of her four-part series called Concept to Customer. This is the fourth of the most common areas of confusion or misunderstanding among new designers, areas that Heather wants to demystify. Having already covered design concepting, material sourcing, and size and fit, she now discusses manufacturing. She explores what manufacturing is, what types of manufacturers are available, and imparts advice and all the necessary details about getting a product to the manufacture stage.

Manufacturing is the process of putting the garments together into complete products. Mass manufacturing involves machines because machines are generally considered to be faster than humans. Heather breaks down all the things needed to have a successful mass manufacturing run, what a tech pack is, why a complete tech pack is so important, and the differences between a factory, a manufacturer, and an agency. Each of these steps can be a point of confusion which is why Heather explains them in detail here.

What is the difference between small-batch manufacture and large-scale production? Which is better in what circumstance? Heather answers these questions from experience and with a detailed explanation of how each works. She also gets into the five most common misconceptions about manufacturing that she encounters. Can manufacturers sew anything? Do you need to share confidential design information with them? Do you need to sew samples for each new design? These questions are why Heather and MADE Apparel Services are here, and why this episode is so important for designers to grow.

About Heather Zager | MADE Apparel Services Founder and Owner

Heather Zager found her calling when she signed up for a beginning pattern-making course and realized she had a passion for technical design. She subsequently enrolled in the Apparel Design and Development program at Seattle Central College and graduated two years later with her Associate of Applied Science Degree.

After graduation, she began working with Meta assisting in developing and designing augmented and virtual reality wearable tech gear. In 2020, MADE Apparel Services was born with the idea of helping makers, inventors and designers bring their own sewn product ideas to manufacture. Since then, she has worked with various businesses such as Santa’s Tailor, Feathered Friends, Wolfpack Gear and Classic Accessories, helping them achieve their goals in design, development, pattern making, sewn construction and manufacture.

Today, Heather continues to grow her knowledge and share her experiences with others to bring their visions to reality.

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Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Blog: Why You Need a Tech Pack for Clothing Manufacture
• MADE Apparel Services: How It Works

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Contact Heather Zager | MADE Apparel Services:

• Website: MADEApparelServices.com
• Facebook: MADEApparelServices
• Instagram: MADEApparelServices
• Linkedin: MADEApparelServices
  
  

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Transcript

Heather Zager: [00:00:00] Hello everyone, and welcome to today's podcast. My name is Heather Zager. I am the host of this podcast series and founder of Made Apparel Services.

Heather Zager: [00:00:12] Hi everyone. Heather here from Made Apparel Services. Welcome back to my channel. In this final episode of my four part series called Concept to Customer, I'm going to talk about types of manufacturers. But before I start, if you haven't listened to the other podcasts, that is okay as they aren't in any particular order. I only numbered them to distinguish them from my other podcasts that aren't in this series. Now, the topics I discuss in this series of Concept to Customer are on design concepting, material sourcing, and size and fit. Those are the other three. These, along with today's podcast, are the four most common areas of confusion or misunderstanding that I've found that new designers have when it comes to visualizing and understanding how the entire process of getting an idea to market works. To understand the types of manufacture for garments or sewn goods, we first need to understand what manufacture is. So the idea of mass manufacture is founded in the concept that machines can do better work faster than people. Technically, it is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products at a constant flow. Now, humans can certainly accomplish this when you think about the pyramids, for example. But you need a whole lot of people, and even then the work won't be as consistently perfect or reliable.

Heather Zager: [00:01:34] Now, the use of machines helps manage not only the cost of labor, but it removes variables such as differing abilities and skills, which is the consistency of the work, along with things like sick days and vacations, which is the reliability aspect, and even small things like lunch breaks and shift changes or employee meetings and the list goes on. However, mass production is money and energy intensive for the manufacturer. The machinery that is needed to set up a mass production line is expensive, and that machinery uses a lot of power, along with other day to day expenses like maintenance and repair. So in order to attain a profit margin that will keep the manufacturer in business, there must be some assurance that the cost of buying and running the equipment will be reimbursed. And this is where minimum order quantities factor in. There are many ways a manufacturer will evaluate the profitability of a project, but there is only one you need to understand and that is how ready you are. If you already have a sewn product business, that will be very attractive to them for a few reasons. First, you have cash flow. You're not just using a savings account that's limited to cover costs. It also tells them that you are already understanding what manufacture entails and the process behind it. You'll be a little bit easier for them to take forward through the process more quickly. You probably won't have as many questions if it's not your first time.

Heather Zager: [00:03:06] Additionally, you already know your target customer and how to market to them. You also have some skin in the game, so you're more likely to work harder to ensure your product is successful because your business and your brand reputation will depend on your success. And all of this is important for one reason, which is repeat business. For a new designer who isn't already selling product, you'll need another way to prove that you are ready and that you have the potential for repeat business. And that is whether or not you have a tech pack. This is true even for an existing business, but for a new designer it will be the sole determining factor. Let's talk about what a tech pack is and isn't. I get a lot of "tech packs" from people who think they are ready for manufacture, but their tech packs are only 1 or 2 pages and they're just a couple of illustrations, a few call outs and maybe even some measurements. This is a start, but it's not complete from a manufacture perspective. There's an exception to this, which I will explain in a minute, but the production process is like baking. You should have a list of ingredients, whe...