Tech-Pack Checklist for Garment Manufacturing: What the Factory Needs, Once

A tech pack is the instruction manual for making a garment: what it looks like, what it is made of, how it is measured and how it is put together. Each missing detail becomes a question from the factory, an extra sample round or — worse — a guess that turns into a production defect. Brands working with Indian manufacturers and job-work units save weeks by sending complete tech packs once.

The sections

1. Style information

Style number, season, brand or buyer, category, fit, target customer, sample size, size range, revision number and date. Every page should carry the style number and revision so old versions do not get used.

2. Artwork

Front, back and detail flat sketches with callouts; print and embroidery artwork with placement measurements and size; colourways with Pantone or lab-dip references.

3. Bill of materials (BOM)

Main fabric with composition, GSM or count, width and supplier; lining and interlining; every trim (buttons, zips, labels, threads, elastic) with size, colour and quantity per garment; packaging — polybags, hangtags, cartons.

4. Measurements

Points of measure with how-to-measure notes, base-size values, grade rules for each size step and tolerances. This is where most disputes start; the workbook's measurement sheet grades every size automatically from the base size and the grade rule.

5. Construction

Seam types and stitches per inch, finishing (wash, press, fold), and label positions — brand, size, care and fibre-content labels.

6. Compliance and testing

Care label text consistent with the fabric; tests required (shrinkage, colour fastness, pilling, seam strength) and the laboratory; buyer-specific restricted-substance requirements for export orders.

7. Approvals

Proto and fit sample comments with dates, pre-production (PP) sample approval, and final sign-off by design and production.

Using the workbook

1. Checklist: mark each item Done, Pending or Not applicable, with owner and date. Completion by section calculates at the bottom — send the tech pack only when every section is complete or explicitly not applicable.
2. Measurements: enter each point of measure, the base-size value, the grade per size step and the tolerance. All sizes calculate. Change the base size column if your sample size is not M.

Grade rules

A grade rule is how much a measurement changes from one size to the next — for example, chest +2.5 cm per size. Not every point grades evenly; some brands use different grades between smaller and larger sizes. If your grade is uneven, overwrite the calculated cells for those sizes and note why.

Version control

Tech packs change through sampling. Keep each revision, record what changed and why, and make sure the factory is cutting from the approved version. In Bebaak Loom, the tech pack lives on the style with its revisions, and StyleScope's tech-pack check flags missing sections before you send it; see the Loom tech-pack guide.

Common gaps

• Thread colour and type not specified.
• Tolerances missing, so every measurement becomes a negotiation at inspection.
• Care label text not matched to the fabric's test results.
• Packaging instructions missing for export orders (fold size, polybag warnings, carton marks).
• No PP-sample approval recorded before bulk cutting.

Worked example: grading the chest (illustrative)

A shirt's chest measurement at size M is 52 cm (half chest, 1 cm below armhole) with a grade of 2.5 cm per size and a tolerance of ±1 cm. The sheet calculates XS 47, S 49.5, M 52, L 54.5, XL 57 and XXL 59.5. At inspection, an L measuring 55.2 cm is within tolerance; one measuring 56 cm is not, and the inspector records it as a measurement defect. Without the tolerance written in the tech pack, the same piece becomes a negotiation.

Working with job-work units

When production is split between your own lines and job-work units, every unit must receive the same revision of the tech pack and the approved sample. Send a sealed sample with the tech pack, record which revision each unit received, and inspect the first pieces off each line against the measurement sheet before bulk production continues.

Common mistakes

• Sending the factory an older revision.
• Missing tolerances.
• Trims specified without sizes or colours.
• Care labels not matching test results.