{"id":74,"date":"2015-07-27T10:37:12","date_gmt":"2015-07-27T09:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.utelier.com\/blog\/?post_type=toolkit&p=27"},"modified":"2019-07-16T11:27:29","modified_gmt":"2019-07-16T10:27:29","slug":"manufacturing-supplier-relationship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fashioninsiders.co\/toolkit\/top-tips\/manufacturing-supplier-relationship\/","title":{"rendered":"5 tips on how to work with a manufacturing supplier"},"content":{"rendered":"
Morrison established Furious Goose in 2014. His brand designs and produces luxury fashion accessories and fabric prints for interiors. The silk scarves, pocket squares and cushions are all printed and hand-finished in the UK.<\/p>\n
As a recently launched luxury accessories brand, we\u2019ve found that our greatest challenge is finding, choosing and managing our suppliers. We are aiming for the top-end of the market, so quality and attention to detail are just as important as our designs, and our suppliers are extremely important to us.<\/p>\n
Early on in our product development, we approved a proof where the reverse of a scarf was about 85 per cent ink density when compared to the front. This is reasonable for a digital print onto heavy satin. We said: \u201cGo go go!\u201d and waited with bated breath for our first batch of scarves to arrive.<\/p>\n
On opening the box we instantly noticed that the reverse was about five per cent less intense than the proof. Needless to say, it was disappointing and a nasty surprise for us.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what we learned from our experience:<\/p>\n
Uploading your artwork to an online service and receiving perfection one week later via special delivery seems too good to be true. Unfortunately, that\u2019s because it probably is.<\/p>\n
While it is possible to get \u2018okay\u2019 results, more often than not they\u2019re a bit disappointing, especially if you are looking for shop-ready, high-end products. These \u2018automatic\u2019 companies do have quality control, but it\u2019s impossible for them to really understand what you want your product to look or feel like. You might get a reasonable sample, but a commercially viable, luxury item? Maybe not.<\/p>\n
It is much, MUCH better to ask your manufacturing supplier if you can go for a site visit before sending your designs to them for production. Sitting down with your supplier and actually talking to them is well worth the effort, and will be beneficial in many ways:<\/p>\n
If a manufacturing supplier says no to a face-to-face meeting and doesn\u2019t allow you to look around their premises, you have to ask yourself why. There MIGHT be a good reason, but it is a bit of a red flag. A manufacturer who is truly proud of their work will relish taking you round the premises to show off how wonderful they are.<\/p>\n
A good manufacturing supplier will have a proofing procedure in place. It is important that you discuss this in detail and never assume anything.<\/p>\n
Often the cost of proofing will be built into the overall quote. Find out if this is a cost for one proof or if it covers a number of iterations and if so, how many. Ask about what happens if you are not happy with the proofs, what their revision processes are, and what the extra costs are.<\/p>\n
It is also important to establish and agree on acceptable tolerance levels (e.g. variations in colour, finish and size) for the final goods once the proof has been signed-off. In our situation, we were not at all prepared for any difference between the proof and the final product.<\/p>\n
If we had discussed tolerance before proceeding, the supplier would have explained that there was potential for the colour intensity to differ by up to five per cent either way. Had this variance proved too high for us it would have been our choice whether to go ahead and at least we would have been prepared in the end.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, the supplier\u2019s quality assurance people would have been aware that strike-through to the back of the scarf was one of our acceptance criteria, and perhaps would have worked harder to avoid this.<\/p>\n
You have to remember that what seems important to you as a designer is not automatically understood by a supplier, you must let them know, in writing, so everyone knows where they stand.<\/p>\n
Also, as a start-up, be aware that the supplier has seen thousands of orders in their time and a slight tolerance issue will not seem notable to them, even if it seems shocking to you. Admittedly this fact is not easy to swallow if it\u2019s your order that\u2019s affected!<\/p>\n
Once you have clearly established the rules of engagement with your supplier, both parties need to stick to them. Don\u2019t accept unreasonable excuses if you have a written agreement. Equally, don\u2019t suddenly say you\u2019re unhappy with the quality, such as crispness of a design, when you\u2019ve never mentioned it before.<\/p>\n
If you do feel that you have no option but to reject an order, think carefully as this can have serious, often fatal, implications for your relationship with a supplier.<\/p>\n
A good manufacturing supplier will endeavour to care as much about you, the small-scale, start-up designer, as they would McQueen or Westwood. However, the cold, hard business reality means there are limits to what you can expect them to do for you.<\/p>\n
This doesn\u2019t mean you should accept second-best just because you are small. If you\u2019re not happy, you must express this to the supplier.<\/p>\n
We found ourselves in this situation with the satin scarves, and as a newcomer to the industry it was incredibly hard to know how much to push back: Was it ridiculous to demand a reprint? How unusual is a five per cent difference? Is this commercially acceptable? Should we demand a discount?<\/strong><\/p>\n In the end, we had to weigh up whether to reject the order or accept it. It was a very tough decision to make. The supplier had produced one further proof with the same results. It seemed the scarves couldn\u2019t be printed with the same strike-through to the back as the proof. Was it true that nothing more could be done? We just couldn\u2019t tell.<\/p>\n We were in no doubt that if we rejected the order, it would mean the end of our relationship with this supplier. We toyed with the idea of asking for a discount instead, but it was questionable how much any benefit to us, would outweigh the souring of the relationship.<\/p>\n After lots of consideration, and several glasses of wine, we decided to accept the batch and move onward and upward. We concluded that even with the best will in the world, it was not financially viable for the supplier to interrupt their schedules to improve this very small print run of 25 silk scarves.<\/p>\n Happily, we discovered that we made the right decision<\/strong>. Our scarves are lovely and have been very well received with no mention of strike-through. We also got to continue with our supplier and have gone on to produce some fantastic pocket squares with them.<\/p>\n It turns out that we would have been in the wrong if we\u2019d stuck to our guns and rejected the batch, which brings us to our next point.<\/p>\nRelated reading: 11 Questions to Ask Factories before Working with them<\/a><\/h5>\n