Bulk Production

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In the fashion industry, what is the meaning when someone says “bulk production”? Bulk is the actual production — the final, full-quantity run of an order, as opposed to the samples that precede it. This page defines bulk production and explains why checking that bulk matches the approved sample matters, down to the chargebacks a factory faces when it does not.

Bulk Production Term by Apparel Search - Terms of Interest to the Fashion Industry

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In the fashion industry, what is the meaning when someone says "bulk production"?
 
Possibly, you have heard someone ask you, "is that sample from bulk production?".  Or possibly you have been working with a factory and they have informed you that the delivery schedule is getting very tight and they urgently need your approval to move to bulk production.  If you were not sure what they meant, I will now try to give you the answer.  Bulk production is simply the "actual" production.  So, when we reference bulk production it means actual production or final production.  Bulk production is the final product being produced based on the actual order requirements.
 
When we refer to Bulk Fabric (or bulk yardage), that is regarding actual production fabric.  It is NOT sample yardage made on sample machinery.  The bulk fabric is the actual fabric production with all final yarns, final colors, and final finishing.  It is the final and actual production that is planned to be shipped.  It is not an experiment... It is the product that the mill is planning to ship to their customer.
 
Bulk production has the same meaning for every single component.  For example, if we are ordering blue yarn for our fabric we will need to see lab dips of the yarn before approving a final color.  The lab dips (sample yarns) are NOT bulk yarns.  Only after we give the final color approval, the factory will then produce bulk yarn.  That yarn will later be used to produce the bulk fabric.
 
The garment factories also submit samples to buyers before moving to final production (bulk production).  In the product development process, many factors are reviewed by the development team before an order can move to bulk production.  Usually buyers require pre-production samples so that they can view the clothing to make sure that everything looks to be correct.  They will check fit, label placement, fabric colors, ticketing, etc.  If all meets specifications, the buyers will give the factory approval to move to bulk production.  After production begins, the factory will typically be required to provide the buyer "bulk samples".  These are samples that are pulled directly from the shipment.  These bulk samples should be an exact representation of the items that the factory intends to ship.

Essentially, when a factory moves to bulk production it is full systems go... They are moving to actual production.  Also referenced as final production.

By the way, make sure that your bulk production is correct.  If not, you will get a chargeback.

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Learn more about:

Bulk Yardage

Bulk Samples

Fashion Industry Buyers

You may also want to read about In-Process Quality Control.

Fashion Industry Network  Apparel Manufacturers

From Sample to Bulk

An order passes through several physical stages before bulk: a prototype, salesman samples for selling the line, a pre-production sample made in the actual factory, and size sets for fit approval. Each stage exists to catch a different class of mistake while it is still cheap. Bulk production is the stage where mistakes stop being cheap, because every unit carries them — a shade that drifted from the approved lab dip, a stitch density quietly reduced, a trim substituted. That is the practical meaning of the inspection terms linked from this page: in-process quality control watches the run while it can still be corrected, and the bulk sample is the unit pulled from the run to prove what the run actually is.

For the brand or retailer receiving the goods, the discipline is comparison. The approved pre-production sample, the purchase order specifications and the bulk sample form a three-way check, and discrepancies found at the warehouse are the ones that turn into the chargebacks this page mentions. Understanding the word “bulk” therefore matters to anyone on either side of an order: when a factory says production is in bulk, it is saying the order is being made in full, to the approved standard, for delivery.

Common Questions

What does bulk production mean?

The actual, final production of an order — the full quantity of garments or fabric manufactured for delivery, as opposed to salesman samples, pre-production samples or bulk samples made along the way.

Why must bulk production be checked?

Because bulk is what ships to the customer. If the bulk production is not correct against the approved standard, the buyer can issue a chargeback — a financial penalty deducted from payment — as this page warns.

What terms are related to bulk production?

Bulk yardage (the actual production fabric), bulk samples (the final production samples pulled from bulk), in-process quality control, piece goods inspection and pre-production submissions — all linked from this page and its neighbors.

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