{"id":592,"date":"2017-06-08T09:49:41","date_gmt":"2017-06-08T13:49:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.fieldtexcases.com\/?p=592"},"modified":"2025-04-13T11:11:54","modified_gmt":"2025-04-13T15:11:54","slug":"sewing-contractor-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fieldtexcases.com\/blog\/sewing-contractor-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Easy Ways to Maintain a Good Relationship with Your Sewing Contractor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether you are a startup or a multi-million dollar company, there are countless benefits to working with a sewing contractor – saving money you’d spend on the production machinery and allocating it to other areas of your business, building a solid and long-lasting\u00a0B2B relationship with a reliable partner, and gaining insight into the manufacturing process from someone with mass-production experience (just to name a few). As your business grows, your outsourced production line\u00a0will grow in tandem with\u00a0you, becoming\u00a0an integral part of your business model.<\/p>\n

This being said, maintaining a good relationship is a key aspect of outsourcing your production to a sewing contractor. Here are 5\u00a0key ways you can ensure you stay on good terms:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Think of\u00a0your contractor as a business partner.<\/strong>\u00a0Technically, yes, your contract manufacturer is working for\u00a0you to help bring your product to market. However, it’s beneficial to consider your contractor a business partner. Be open-minded to their\u00a0insights, as they can provide guidance into production\u00a0from a perspective that can only be gained through manufacturing experience. Their goal is to make your product as effectual and affordable as possible for you, and advice they give should not be overlooked. Your manufacturer\u00a0wants your product to succeed just as much as you do.<\/li>\n
  2. Be thorough with your information.\u00a0<\/strong>It’s possible that you already have a prototype of your product made prior to seeking a contract manufacturer. Although it is already made, most manufacturers\u00a0(us included<\/a>) will have a sampling process, during which we will reverse-engineer your prototype in order to see how it’s constructed, as well as determine material and labor costs. Providing your manufacturer with extensive and detail-oriented information about your product upfront<\/a> can help avoid re-sampling, and allows\u00a0them to give qualified advice on product\u00a0effectiveness prior to the first paid sample being produced. Tip\u00a0– If you don’t have a prototype, selecting a contractor\u00a0with a prototype and design department has it’s own added benefits (more about that here<\/a>), and allows the contractor\u00a0to produce a design ready to\u00a0manufacture from the get-go.<\/li>\n
  3. Communication, communication, communication.\u00a0<\/strong>Consistent communication is important in ANY relationship, including (if not especially) a business-to-business relationship. If there is a product change or error, making sure your contractor is the first to know is always important and can help avoid and prevent further error. Tip – Ensuring that there is an ease of communication<\/a>\u00a0and good customer service\u00a0prior to signing a contract with a manufacturer is an important step in the manufacturer selection\u00a0process, and following through with that communication is important through the entire prototype-to-production process.<\/li>\n
  4. Be understanding of\u00a0lead times.\u00a0<\/strong>In most (if not all) cases, you are not going to be a contract manufacturers only project. Ordering\u00a0high-quantities\u00a0and expecting a quick turnaround every time will lead to stress on both ends, and is going to put strain on the B2B relationship. Anticipating your customers needs and ordering several weeks in advance will give your manufacturer\u00a0time to provide you with quality products.\u00a0Tip – Planning ahead and ordering some extra product on each order\u00a0accumulates\u00a0a safety stock, so even in the event of a longer lead time, you can continue filling orders even if there is a longer production lead time.<\/li>\n
  5. Make timely payments.\u00a0<\/strong>Discussing payment terms will likely be a part of the sampling process when cost is evaluated.\u00a0<\/strong>While this may seem like an obvious one, sticking to these terms\u00a0can influence the trajectory of your relationship with your manufacturer.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Working with a contract manufacturer can help to grow your business, and by taking logical\u00a0steps to nurture the\u00a0business relationship, can lead to a long-standing business partnership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Whether you are a startup or a multi-million dollar company, there are countless benefits to working with a sewing contractor – saving money you’d spend on the production machinery and allocating it to other areas…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":596,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,102],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-contract-sewing","category-manufacturing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fieldtexcases.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fieldtexcases.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fieldtexcases.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fieldtexcases.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fieldtexcases.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.fieldtexcases.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2094,"href":"https:\/\/www.fieldtexcases.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592\/revisions\/2094"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fieldtexcases.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fieldtexcases.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fieldtexcases.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fieldtexcases.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}