Apparel Sourcing: Understanding Tech Packs and MOQ
Updated
Learn why a clear tech pack is essential for negotiating Minimum Order Quantities (MOQ) and defining product requirements when sourcing custom textiles.
When U.S. brands start sourcing custom apparel and textiles from China, two terms immediately dominate the conversation: Tech Packs and MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity).
A tech pack records the product specification; MOQ is the minimum quantity quoted for a particular product or variant. Review them together, because materials, colors, construction and setup requirements can affect the quantity a supplier can propose.
What is a Tech Pack?
A Tech Pack (Technical Packet) is the blueprint for your textile product. It is a comprehensive document that contains every detail a factory needs to manufacture your garment or textile item.
A standard tech pack includes:
- Technical Sketches: Flat drawings of the front, back, and details.
- Bill of Materials (BOM): A list of all fabrics, threads, buttons, zippers, and labels required.
- Measurements and Grading: Exact dimensions for every size you plan to produce.
- Construction Details: Stitching types, seam finishes, and placement of labels.
- Colorways: Specific Pantone codes or color references.
Why the Tech Pack Dictates the MOQ
Many brands ask, "What is your standard MOQ?" before providing any product details. The reality is that for custom textiles, the MOQ is rarely a fixed number—it is determined by the details in your tech pack.
Here is why:
- Fabric Minimums (MOQ of the Mill): If your tech pack specifies a custom-dyed fabric or a unique blend, the factory must purchase that fabric from a mill. Ask whether fabric minimums apply to the proposed material and color, and how those minimums affect the garment quantity.
- Setup Costs: Custom hardware (like branded zippers) or complex printing (like all-over sublimation) requires significant setup time. Factories require higher MOQs to absorb these setup costs.
How to Lower Your MOQ Using Your Tech Pack
If you are a startup or testing a new product line, you likely want to keep your MOQ as low as possible. You can design your tech pack strategically to achieve this:
- Use Available Market Fabrics: Instead of custom-dying a fabric to a specific Pantone color, ask your sourcing partner to find an "available market fabric" (in-stock fabric) that closely matches your requirement. This may change the minimum commitment; availability and quantities still need confirmation.
- Standardize Hardware: Use standard buttons and zippers rather than custom-molded hardware.
- Consolidate Colors: Launch with one or two core colors rather than five different colorways. MOQs are often calculated per color, per style.
The Importance of a Clear Brief
A detailed tech pack helps identify assumptions before an order is approved. When a factory has to guess your requirements, they price in risk, which often results in higher costs and stricter MOQs. By presenting a professional, complete specification, you demonstrate that you are a serious buyer, which can give you more leverage during negotiations.
Sourcing projects are available now, with contracting and invoicing from France or China as identified in your quotation. Explore clothing and textile sourcing, or use the China sourcing RFQ checklist and free brief template to prepare a project discussion.
For the specification side of a garment project, clothing and textile sourcing covers fabric, construction, sizing and branding in detail.