Sampling is perhaps the most important aspect of the manufacturing business. Whenever an inquiry comes from the buyer, he asks for a sample in pursuance to get an understanding of what the final product may look like if an order is given to the manufacturer. Another aspect of developing samples is to develop a piece of evidence for an audience that may want to consider each of their samples in the future.
Till now, there are so many different types of samples renowned in the manufacturing business. We will discuss one of the 12 different types of samples that may be inducing any aspiring merchandiser to know about.
Proto sample is also known as the first sample which is manufactured by the factory from the best available fabric and accessories in order to give an idea to the buyer what may the final product look like, interesting part at manufacturing proto sample is that the factory is ought to develop 2 proto samples. They send over both samples to the buyer, the buyer checks both the samples and sends back one sample to the factory while the buyer keeps the other sample to himself. During this whole process, the buyer also gives an order confirmation to the factory.
It is to be noted, that the factory can develop three proto samples, one for the buyer, one for themselves, and one for the third-party buyer if the buyer has involved a third party buying house.
When an order gets confirmed, a spec measurement sheet is provided or developed. The garment gets produced according to the spec sheet measurement and design sketch. 2-3 middle-size samples are made to check the measurement's accuracy. Another way of checking the measurement of the garment is by checking the garment fit on the dress dummy. The fit samples resubmission rate is higher as compared to other samples' approval, this is normally because measurements sometimes can be wrong, and since it is prior to the buyer's approval, this process does get hectic sometimes.
The purpose of the size-set sample is to develop samples of different sizes prior to the buyer's requirement or traditionally if there is no prior requirement of the buyer, then jump sizes are made (S, L, XXL). One aspect of the size-set sample is to check the garment's fit on different sizes, another aspect is to cross-check the pattern grading of the article or fabric. If the technical team found out that some sizes are not giving the correct fit, then they check upon the pattern grading and correct the grading style in pursuance to get accurate garment fit.
As its name suggests, the salesman sample is developed for retail stores, wherein the garment is displayed to the audience or customers to attract them. This sample is required by buyers who have their own brand boutique, otherwise, in bulk garment distribution, there is no such requirement of salesman sample.
A photoshoot sample is simply a digital capture of the garment, this is done mainly from an e-commerce perspective or the company has to put the catalog on their website.
- Pre-Production Sample (PP Sample)
The purpose of developing a pre-production sample is to make sure the production line is working to its best or not. If there is any disruption in the sample, the manager identifies those disruptions and makes sure that the process runs smoothly for bulk production without any fuss.
A sealed sample is basically an approved sample for bulk production. The PP sample can be called a sealed sample if the buyer approves it. The approved sample gets tagged by a suitable color which indicates to the supplier or manufacturer that this type of sample or this quality type of sample is ready to go for bulk production. Otherwise, till buyers' approval, the manufacturer does not go for bulk production.
When the manufacturer receives a sealed sample from the buyer they went ahead with bulk production, this is when at the start of bulk production few garments are collected from the first production run for quality checking. The quality checking can be done by the factory QC (Quality Checker), the buyer's QC checker or a third-party QC checker if involved. Once the Top production sample gets approved, that is when everything gets settled in for a while.
A counter sample is simply a copy of the original sample for the factory's internal reference. The factory can make 2-3 counter samples of each sample type which are prior to buyers' approval. The reason behind counter samples is to make sure the factory itself has the sample copy and at the same time, if the buyer involves a third-party inspector, they will easily provide the same type of sample without a fuss.
Shipment sample is made when the consignment is ready to be shipped, the factory again makes 2-3 counter samples, one for themselves as a reference to the quality, product design, and product specification, one is for the buyer who keeps the sample as future reference if any complaint is raised by the buyer or supplier. Another sample is for the third-party inspector is they are involved.
GPT abbreviated as (Garment Performance Test), this is a lab test of a garment wherein different lab tests are done on the garment to check the quality parameter of the garment. The GPT test includes Seam Strength, Seam slippage, Button pulling strength, Print quality, Chemical tests of metals, and dyed or printed colors are done. It is to be noted, that the buyer doesn't demand a GPT sample, rather they demand the GPT sample test reports so that they can assure themselves about the quality aspect of the product.
Till getting final approval for bulk production from the buyer, all the samples made in pursuance to get order confirmation or bulk production go-ahead are termed as development samples. Generally, the proto, fit, size-set samples are considered to be development samples because these are prepared in pursuit to get final approval from buyers for bulk production.
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