Selecting the right apparel supplier for your brand is one of the most important steps in ensuring a successful and healthy supply chain. When choosing your supplier, it’s important to ensure that they meet your exact requirements and aren’t just your vendors, but will be your partners in production.

What Do Successful Apparel Supplier Relationships Look Like?

The garment industry is known for being heavily dependent on its supply chain, and if something goes wrong somewhere down the production line, it can negatively impact your entire manufacturing process and reputation in the long run.

By implementing a carefully drawn up selection criteria, it is possible to identify potential suppliers who can provide personalization and customization to meet your customer’s demands.  

Successful relationships with your suppliers transform an average buyer-supplier relationship into one that’s strategic and works towards achieving business goals and growth initiatives. It can mean the difference between enjoying a booming production line and having to deal with constant production delays as a result of garment quality issues.

Here are 4 tips for selecting the right apparel supplier:

1. Set your selection criteria

Before embarking on a journey of finding your perfect supplier, draw up a list of your selection criteria that prospective apparel suppliers need to fulfill to be able to meet your brand’s needs. This list of criteria will ensure that you don’t miss anything when evaluating potential suppliers.

Pay particular attention to:

Maximum and minimum order quantities

Lead times from when the order is received to delivered

Methods of delivery

Storage and handling facilities

Quality assurance processes

Examples of previous products/customers

Payment terms and conditions

Certifications & standards held (SEDEX,ISO)

2. Investigate The Supplier’s Reliability

Supplier reliability has a significant effect on your production process. If your suppliers don’t adhere to strict and consistent delivery times, you won’t be able to depend on them when a large order needs to be completed in a short period of time.

You should be assessing:

Their location – is the climate or are political issues likely to have an effect on their ability to supply your goods?

Their proximity to logistics hubs – some time for delivery is almost certain, but the more remote your supplier is, the harder it is for them to deliver goods quickly to a port or airport.

Transparency of information – Do they have a website where you can see plans, images, specifications? If not, how can you be sure what they are capable of?

Communication ability – You probably won’t get an acceptable level of customer support from suppliers who can’t understand you well. It’s up to you to assure that you both understand each other’s needs and capabilities before starting a project.

3. Investigate The Supplier’s CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)

In the past, some brands have made headlines for having worked with suppliers who follow poor (or no) CSR practices, such as practicing unethical labor practices like paying under minimum wages, overly-long working hours, exploitation, discrimination, and using child labor. Guangzhou The Fifth Apparel Co.,ltd has Sedex membership and do Audit each year to ensure we could give great support for our customers.

Typically an importer would conduct a CSR audit on the supplier in question, which can help assure that they are a good fit for your brands’ requirements and not a ticking time-bomb.

4. Investigate Your Supplier’s Team

Lastly, it’s important to examine your supplier’s team and determine whether they are well-trained, dedicated and possess the skills and competence required to meet your production demands. A good indication of your supplier’s employees’ level of skill is to check the individual employee’s certificates of qualifications. If they are being employed without having any form of training, it’s a red flag.

Supplier audits will pick up on the overall quality of your supplier, of which staff capability makes up a part, but without running one or personally being on the ground to see the staff, management, and how guidance and training is given (if at all), you’re reliant on supplier certifications and references.

Do you have any questions regarding selecting the right apparel supplier to meet your brand’s needs? What methods do you use when selecting suppliers?

Please leave a comment and we’d love to hear from you!