What Should a Brand Confirm Before a Factory Subcontracts an Activewear Production Process?
Before a production process is subcontracted, confirm the operation, actual facility, approval requirements, and how quality, confidentiality, and traceability will be controlled. Record the agreed responsibilities before the work begins.
Confirm the scope and controls
- Which operation may be performed outside the main factory, and at which facility
- Whether prior buyer approval is required and how any facility change will be approved
- The current approved Tech Pack, artwork, material references, and process sample
- Responsibility for checking materials before dispatch and work after return
- Lot identification, quantities sent and received, and production records
- Permitted access to designs and requirements for confidentiality and further subcontracting
- Any facility-specific audit, certification, testing, or buyer requirements
- How defects, rework, replacement, added costs, and schedule changes will be handled
Match evidence to the actual work
For printing, embroidery, heat transfer, dyeing, or special finishing, keep the process sample and production instructions linked to the same approved reference. A new supplier or process change may require renewed sample approval or relevant testing.
Where certification or an audit is required, verify the named facility, validity, and applicable scope under the relevant program. Do not assume that documentation for the main factory automatically covers a separate subcontractor.
The order terms should state how the contracted manufacturer will oversee subcontracted work and resolve nonconforming results. Sending work elsewhere should not be treated as permission to change the approved specification. Include these controls in the agreed quality requirements.
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