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Apparel Sourcing Glossary
In brief. This glossary defines 130 terms US apparel brands meet in sourcing, importing, decorating and planning, grouped into ten categories and cross-linked to the guides that cover them in depth. Each definition carries the number, standard or authority behind it — MPF at 0.3464%, AQL under ANSI/ASQ Z1.4, GRS at 50% for consumer labelling, sublimation at 65% polyester.
Key facts
- The Merchandise Processing Fee is 0.3464% of entered value, with an FY2026 minimum of $33.58 and maximum of $651.50 per entry.
- The Harbor Maintenance Fee is 0.125% of cargo value under 19 CFR 24.24, applies to ocean imports only, and has no cap.
- Apparel AQL convention under ANSI/ASQ Z1.4 is critical 0, major 2.5, minor 4.0 at General Inspection Level II.
- Standard apparel colour acceptance is Delta E 1.0 to 2.0, and Delta E values from different formulas are not comparable.
- Safety stock uses one-tailed Z values: 1.28 at 90%, 1.645 at 95%, 2.326 at 99% service level.
- The Global Recycled Standard may be used business-to-business at 20% recycled content but requires at least 50% recycled content for consumer-facing labelling.
Apparel sourcing borrows vocabulary from half a dozen unrelated trades — customs law, textile engineering, retail merchandising, ocean freight, screen printing and enterprise software — and each of them reuses the others' words for different things. This page is the canonical definition source for the Yarnstick knowledge base: every article links its first use of a specialist term back here, so one term means one thing across all 92 pages. Read it as a clothing production glossary and a customs reference at the same time, because on an apparel purchase order they are the same document.
How to use this glossary
Read a definition as something you could paste into a purchase order. Where a term has a governing number, standard or authority, it is in the definition itself rather than implied — 0.3464% for MPF, ANSI/ASQ Z1.4 for AQL, 19 CFR 102.21 for textile origin, one-tailed Z values for safety stock, 16 CFR 260.6 for certification claims. These are apparel trade terms defined against the statute, standard or formula that governs them, not paraphrased.
It is one page rather than several, so you get garment manufacturing terms explained beside the customs rules that price them. Where a term has an article that covers it properly, the entry links to it: colour terms into colour approval with Pantone, lab dips and Delta E, duty terms into landed cost for apparel imports, forced-labor terms into UFLPA compliance for apparel brands, decoration terms into apparel decoration methods compared.
Terms that are only ever used as a contrasting pair are defined as a pair — rib and interlock, demurrage and detention, MAPE and WMAPE, plastisol and water-based ink — because defining them apart is how people end up using them interchangeably.
Why precise terminology is a commercial issue in apparel sourcing
Vague terms in this field do not cause confusion. They cause invoices.
"Pantone 19-4052" without a system. The number exists in both TCX, which is dyed cotton, and TPG, which is ink on coated paper. They are not the same colour. A dyehouse matching to TPG when you meant TCX produces a bulk lot that reads correctly on a lightbox print-out and wrong on the garment. The fix costs a re-dip cycle at $15 to $50 a colour and five to ten business days if caught at lab dip, or a full re-dye of a 500 to 1,000 m piece-dye lot if it is caught after bulk. Write "PANTONE 19-4052 TCX," always.
"FOB" without saying which FOB. FOB is simultaneously a pricing model — the factory's all-in price with materials included — and an Incoterm under which risk transfers when goods are on board at the origin port. A brand that agrees an "FOB price" and assumes FOB risk terms has not agreed anything about who owns the cargo at the container yard, who insures it, or who files export clearance. Since apparel is almost entirely containerised, ICC actually recommends FCA rather than FOB, and the on-board bill of lading mechanism added in Incoterms 2020 exists precisely to fix this gap. Name the price basis and the Incoterm separately in the purchase order.
"2.5 AQL" without a level or a defect table. AQL 2.5 is meaningless without the inspection level, the sampling plan and the classification of what counts as major. At General Inspection Level II a 5,000-piece lot is inspected at 200 pieces, accepted at 10 major defects and rejected at 11 — up to 5.0% of the sample defective and still passing. Change the inspection level to S-2 for measurement checks and the sample size collapses. If your purchase order does not also say what a major defect is — measurement outside tolerance, shade variation between panels, open seam — the factory's definition applies, and rework after a failed inspection typically runs 4% to 9% of order value.
Four more terms that cost money when they are used loosely
The four newest categories here — blanks, decoration, certification and software — carry the same problem as the customs vocabulary, and it shows up in the same place: an invoice.
"Custom" without saying which custom. Decorating a blank and manufacturing a garment to your specification are two industries that share one word and differ by two orders of magnitude on minimum. A decorator will print 24 pieces; an export factory needs 300 to 1,000 per colour because a dye vessel has a minimum load of 300 to 500 kg. Ask a supplier for "custom hoodies" and the quote you get back depends entirely on which business they are in. The arithmetic that separates them is in custom and decorated apparel, and the blank side of it in the sourcing economics behind blank apparel.
A print method chosen without checking the substrate. Sublimation does not work on cotton — SanMar's decorator guidance sets the floor at 65% polyester, below which the dye has nothing to bond to and the image washes out. DTG is the reverse: it works best on cotton and poorly on high-polyester athletic fabric. DTF splits the difference because the adhesive does the bonding rather than the fibre. Specifying a method before specifying the fabric is how a whole run gets rejected after delivery.
A certificate offered as a compliance defence. No private certification or membership scheme is accepted by CBP as satisfying the UFLPA evidentiary standard. STANDARD 100 tests chemistry, GOTS certifies organic content and processing, GRS certifies recycled content at 20% for business-to-business use and 50% for consumer labelling, and WRAP or SA8000 audit labour conditions as supporting evidence only. What CBP wants is transaction-level documentation from bale to garment. The distinction is worked through in apparel certifications and what each one proves.
A software category named by what it is called rather than what it owns. PLM, ERP, merchandise planning, demand planning and sourcing platforms are all sold as "supply chain software", and each is the system of record for a different thing. Buying two that both hold a cost sheet, without deciding which one the margin report reads, is how a 20 gsm fabric change becomes $3,100 of unbudgeted duty and fabric on a 10,000-unit order. Category by category, that is apparel supply chain management software.
How the terms are organised
The list below is grouped into ten categories, and each entry cross-links to the article that covers it in depth. Apparel import terminology sits in the first three; textile sourcing terms sit in the next three; the last four cover the channels brands actually buy through.
The ten glossary categories, with what each one governs:
| Category | Covers | Where it is used in depth |
|---|---|---|
| Landed Cost & Duty | Valuation, tariff regimes, CBP fees, refund procedure | Landed cost pillar |
| Trade & Logistics | Incoterms, UCC delivery terms, container and air freight, filings | Incoterms for apparel brands |
| Compliance & Customs | UFLPA, forced labor, IOR and consignee roles, bonds, labeling law | UFLPA compliance pillar |
| Sourcing & Production | Buying models, MOQ, tech packs, sampling, knitting, inspection | Sourcing pillar |
| Fabric & Quality | Knit structures, yarn, dyeing, colour management, test methods | AQL inspection for brand owners |
| Planning & Replenishment | Forecast accuracy, retail math, size curves, safety stock | Demand forecasting pillar |
| Blanks & Wholesale | Blank specs, distribution, case packs, garment dye, labelling | Blanks and wholesale pillar |
| Certifications | Chemical, organic, recycled, social and cotton-origin schemes | Certifications pillar |
| Decoration & Custom | Print and embroidery methods, inks, artwork preparation | Custom and decorated apparel |
| Software & Systems | PLM, ERP, PIM, planning, sourcing platforms, S&OP | Sourcing software pillar |
Fashion supply chain terms move between those categories more than the table suggests — a dye lot is a fabric term, a minimum-order term and a planning term at once — so follow the see also links rather than reading one category in isolation. Product-level vocabulary is applied in apparel manufacturers by product category, and the whole sequence for a first-time founder is in how to start a clothing brand, including the country trade-offs set out when comparing India, Vietnam, Bangladesh and China.
Duty rates, fee bands, vendor prices and decorator rates quoted in these definitions are current as of 16 August 2026 and are illustrative of method. Verify any rate against the current HTSUS before relying on it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between FOB as an Incoterm and FOB as a price?
FOB the Incoterm is a sea-mode delivery rule where risk transfers when goods are on board at the origin port. FOB the pricing model is the factory's all-in unit price with the factory buying fabric and trims. A quote can be an FOB price shipped on FCA terms, so always state both explicitly.
What does Pantone TCX mean and why does it matter versus TPG?
TCX is Pantone's Textile Cotton eXtended system, dyed cotton swatches used as the production colour standard because it matches the substrate. TPG carries the same numbers printed on coated paper and is for design only. Specifying just the number, such as 19-4052, leaves the dyehouse to choose, and the two do not match.
What does AQL 2.5 actually mean for a garment order?
It is the major-defect acceptance limit under ANSI/ASQ Z1.4, not a quality target. For a lot of 3,201 to 10,000 pieces at General Inspection Level II the inspector draws 200 pieces and accepts at 10 major defects, rejecting at 11. That is up to 5.0% of the sample defective and still passing.
What is the difference between a detention, an exclusion and a seizure?
A detention is a temporary hold pending an admissibility decision, with the importer bearing storage costs. An exclusion is a denial of entry, so goods must be exported or destroyed — the normal UFLPA outcome. A seizure transfers title to the government and starts forfeiture, typically under a Finding, with penalty exposure under 19 U.S.C. §1592.
Is GSM the same as oz/yd² for fabric weight?
They measure the same property in different units. One oz/yd² equals about 33.9 g/m², so a 6.0 oz tee is roughly 203 gsm and a 4.3 oz tee about 146 gsm. Both must be measured on finished, relaxed, conditioned fabric — greige and finished weights differ by 5% to 15%.
What Z value should I use for safety stock at 95% service level?
1.645, the one-tailed value. Several widely circulated tables list 1.96 for 95%, which is the two-tailed figure and overstates the buffer. Use 1.28 at 90%, 1.645 at 95%, 1.96 at 97.5% and 2.326 at 99%. Getting this wrong inflates working capital across every SKU.
Does the importer of record change if I buy DDP?
Yes, and usually not in your favour. Under Delivered Duty Paid the foreign seller handles import clearance and duty, which makes them the importer of record — typically without a US customs bond, ACE access, or the ability to defend a classification. You also lose first-sale valuation and duty drawback claims.
What is the difference between a blank and a custom-manufactured garment?
A blank is a finished garment made with no decoration, bought from a distributor and printed or relabelled. A custom garment is made to your specification: your fabric, weight, fit block, colour and trims. Minimums differ by two orders of magnitude — one piece against 300 to 1,000 pieces per colour.
What is the difference between DTG and DTF printing?
DTG inkjets pigment directly onto a pretreated garment and works best on cotton. DTF prints the same inks onto a release film with adhesive powder, which is then heat-pressed, so it also works on polyester and nylon. Neither has a setup fee, and neither gets much cheaper with volume.
Does an OEKO-TEX or GOTS certificate satisfy CBP's forced-labour requirements?
No. CBP accepts no private certification or membership scheme as satisfying the UFLPA evidentiary standard. STANDARD 100 tests chemistry, GOTS certifies organic content and processing, and WRAP or SA8000 audit labour conditions as supporting evidence only. CBP wants transaction-level records tracing cotton from bale to garment.
This article is informational and is not legal advice. Tariff classifications, duty rates and admissibility determinations are fact-specific — verify against the current HTSUS and consult a licensed customs broker or trade counsel before relying on any figure here.
Sources
- Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States — U.S. International Trade Commission
- 19 CFR 24.24 — Harbor maintenance fee — Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
- 19 CFR 102.21 — Textile and apparel products rules of origin — Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
- Customs User Fees to Be Adjusted for Inflation in Fiscal Year 2026 (CBP Dec. 25-10) — Federal Register / U.S. Customs and Border Protection
- CBP Forced Labor Enforcement Operational Guidance for Importers (Publication 5560-0526) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection
- Threading Your Way Through the Labeling Requirements Under the Textile and Wool Acts — U.S. Federal Trade Commission
- 16 CFR Part 260 — Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims — Electronic Code of Federal Regulations / Federal Trade Commission
- OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 — OEKO-TEX Association
- GOTS Labelling and Label Grades — Global Standard gGmbH
- Recycled Claim Standard and Global Recycled Standard — Textile Exchange
- Incoterms 2020 Rules — International Chamber of Commerce
- AATCC Test Methods — American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists
Landed Cost & DutyTrade & LogisticsCompliance & CustomsSourcing & ProductionFabric & QualityPlanning & ReplenishmentBlanks & WholesaleCertificationsDecoration & CustomSoftware & Systems
Landed Cost & Duty
- Ad valorem and compound duty rates
- An ad valorem duty is a percentage of entered value, such as 16.5% on HTS 6109.10.00 cotton knit tees. A compound rate adds a specific per-unit charge, such as 29.1 cents per kg plus 25.9% on HTS 6205.30.20, so duty cannot be expressed as one percentage.
- De minimis (Section 321)
- The $800 duty-free entry threshold under 19 U.S.C. §1321. CBP indefinitely suspended it for all modes other than the international postal network effective 24 June 2026, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act terminates it permanently on 1 July 2027. Every apparel shipment now needs formal or informal entry.
- Duty drawback
- A refund of duties, taxes and fees paid on imported merchandise that is later exported or destroyed. The claim belongs to the importer, so a brand that lets a foreign seller act as importer of record under DDP terms gives away its drawback position along with its first-sale options.
- Entered value
- The value CBP assesses duty on — normally the price actually paid for the goods, not landed cost. Under FOB or FCA terms freight and insurance sit outside it. Brands that declare a full CIF invoice pay duty on freight they do not owe duty on.
- First sale
- A valuation method allowing duty to be assessed on the price in an earlier sale in a multi-tier transaction, per Nissho Iwai American Corp. v. United States. The importer must show a bona fide sale, goods clearly destined for export to the US, and for related parties an arm's-length price covering all costs plus profit.
- Harbor Maintenance Fee (HMF)
- A fee of 0.125% of cargo value under 19 CFR 24.24, with no minimum and no maximum. It applies to ocean imports only — air, truck and rail imports pay none. Because it is uncapped, HMF exceeds MPF on high-value ocean shipments.
- Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS)
- The USITC tariff schedule at hts.usitc.gov that sets the ten-digit code and duty rate for every import. Apparel sits in Chapter 61 (knitted or crocheted) and Chapter 62 (not knitted). Chapter 99 carries the Section 301 and other additional-duty subheadings.
- IEEPA tariffs (IEEPA)
- Tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and struck down by the Supreme Court on 20 February 2026 in Learning Resources, Inc. v. Trump and Trump v. V.O.S. Selections, Inc., which held IEEPA does not authorize tariffs. A Section 122 bridge tariff followed and expired 24 July 2026.
- Landed cost
- The total cost of goods delivered into your warehouse: entered value plus freight, insurance, duty, Section 301 tariffs, MPF, HMF, brokerage, ISF, bond, drayage and inspection. On a Bangladesh cotton tee in August 2026 it ran roughly 141% to 153% of FOB depending on freight.
- Liquidation, post-summary correction and protest (PSC)
- Liquidation is CBP's final computation of duty on an entry. Before it, an importer fixes errors with a post-summary correction; after it, by protest under 19 U.S.C. §1514. A protest of an exclusion that CBP does not decide within 30 days is deemed denied, ripening a suit in the Court of International Trade.
- Merchandise Processing Fee (MPF)
- An ad valorem CBP user fee of 0.3464% of entered value, unchanged since 2011. For FY2026 the minimum is $33.58 and the maximum $651.50 per entry; FY2027 rises to $34.58 and $670.86. The cap is reached at roughly $188,000 of entered value.
- Most favored nation rate (MFN)
- The Column 1 General rate in the HTSUS applying to WTO members without a preference. US apparel MFN averages about 14.5% across Chapter 61 knits and about 12% across Chapter 62 wovens, with individual lines running from near zero to 32%.
- Section 232
- Tariffs imposed on national-security grounds under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, covering steel, aluminum, copper, autos and timber. Apparel is not a Section 232 article, but goods already subject to Section 232 are excluded from the 2026 Section 301 forced-labor tariffs.Read more · See also: Section 301 forced-labor tariff
- Section 301 China Lists 1 to 4A
- The separate 2018-19 China tariffs, upheld when the Supreme Court denied certiorari in HMTX Industries LLC v. United States on 15 June 2026. Four lists cover roughly $370 billion of Chinese goods at 7.5% to 100%; most apparel sits on List 4A. Verify each line against HTSUS Chapter 99.
- Section 301 forced-labor tariff
- USTR tariffs effective 12:01 a.m. ET on 24 July 2026 across roughly 60 economies, with rates set by whether an economy prohibits and enforces against forced-labor imports. India and Bangladesh pay 10% plus MFN; China and Vietnam pay 12.5% plus MFN. Apparel is covered; Section 232 articles are excluded.
- Tariff-rate quota (TRQ)
- A quota that admits a set volume at a lower duty and taxes volume above it at the full rate. Under the 2026 Section 301 action, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia and Malaysia received apparel TRQs sized by their use of US inputs, for an initial three years, implemented no earlier than 1 September 2026. India received none.Read more · See also: Section 301 forced-labor tariff
Trade & Logistics
- Bill of lading (B/L)
- The carrier's document of contract and receipt, and when negotiable a document of title. An on-board bill evidences that cargo was actually loaded, which is why Incoterms 2020 gave FCA sellers a mechanism to obtain one through the buyer's instruction to the carrier.
- CBM and chargeable weight (CBM)
- A CBM is one cubic metre of volume; ocean LCL is priced per CBM, commonly $45 to $90 in 2026 subject to a minimum. Air freight bills the greater of actual kilos or volumetric weight at a 6,000 cubic-cm per kg divisor, where 1 CBM equals 166.67 kg. Apparel cartons usually volume out.
- CFR, CIF and CIP
- Cost and Freight adds main ocean freight to FOB. Cost, Insurance and Freight adds only minimum ICC Clauses (C) cover, which in many cases excludes theft and pilferage. Carriage and Insurance Paid To requires all-risk ICC Clauses (A) — the headline insurance change in Incoterms 2020.
- DAP and DDP
- Delivered At Place puts on-carriage to a named destination on the seller, with risk transferring before unloading. Delivered Duty Paid adds import clearance and duty, making a foreign seller the importer of record — usually with no US bond, no ACE access, no first-sale option and no drawback claim.
- Demurrage, detention and drayage
- Demurrage accrues on a loaded container sitting inside the terminal past free time, typically 3 to 7 days. Detention, or per diem, accrues on a container held outside the terminal past 4 to 7 free days. Drayage is the truck move from terminal to warehouse, $300 to $600 for 0 to 25 miles in 2026.
- EXW
- Ex Works. The seller only makes goods available at its own premises; risk transfers there and the buyer must handle export clearance. That is often impossible for a US brand with no legal presence in India, Bangladesh or Vietnam, which is why ICC points buyers to FCA instead.
- FCA
- Free Carrier. The seller covers export packing, export clearance and delivery to a named carrier, and risk transfers at handover. ICC recommends FCA over FOB for containerised cargo, and Incoterms 2020 added a mechanism for the buyer to instruct the carrier to issue an on-board bill of lading.
- FCL and LCL
- Full container load versus consolidated less-than-container load. FCL becomes cheaper than LCL above roughly 14 to 15 CBM. A 40ft high cube holds about 68 to 76 CBM, or roughly 20,000 to 25,000 folded and polybagged tees, putting ocean freight near $0.15 to $0.30 a unit.
- FOB
- Free On Board, a sea and inland-waterway rule. The seller pays inland pre-carriage and loading, and risk transfers once goods are on board at the origin port. Written for bulk cargo, it fits containers badly: the seller loses physical control at the container yard days before loading.
- FOB destination and FOB shipping point
- The US domestic sale usage of FOB, governed by the Uniform Commercial Code rather than by Incoterms. FOB shipping point passes title and risk to the buyer on delivery to the carrier at origin, under UCC sections 2-319, 2-401 and 2-509. FOB destination leaves both with the seller until tender at the delivery address.
- Importer Security Filing (ISF (10+2))
- Ten importer data elements plus two carrier elements, due 24 hours before lading at the foreign port. Late, inaccurate or missing filings draw liquidated damages of $5,000 per violation plus holds and higher exam rates. The importer of record remains liable even when a broker files it.
- Incoterms 2020
- The International Chamber of Commerce's eleven delivery rules: EXW, FCA, CPT, CIP, DAP, DPU and DDP for any mode, plus FAS, FOB, CFR and CIF for sea and inland waterway only. They allocate cost, risk transfer and clearance responsibility — not title, and not payment terms.
- Transit time
- Port-to-port sailing days. As of August 2026, Ho Chi Minh City to Los Angeles runs 18 to 22 days, Shanghai to Los Angeles 15 to 20, India to the US West Coast 25 to 35, and Chittagong to New York 25 to 32. FCL door-to-door adds 7 to 15 days; LCL adds far more.
Compliance & Customs
- Applicability review and clear and convincing evidence
- Two distinct paths. An applicability review argues goods fall outside UFLPA scope — no XUAR nexus, no listed entity — and is the achievable route. An exception concedes the nexus and requires clear and convincing evidence of no forced labor, plus a public report to Congress within 30 days of any grant.
- Bale ID
- The unique number a gin assigns to each cotton bale, tied to gin tickets and warehouse receipts. It anchors a traceability file because it is the first point at which field cotton becomes a discrete, quantity-reconcilable unit that can be matched forward into spinning lots and yarn output.
- CAATSA Section 321A
- A separate rebuttable presumption that goods produced wholly or in part by North Korean nationals or citizens, anywhere in the world, are made with forced labor. Rebuttal also requires clear and convincing evidence. CBP consolidated it with UFLPA and §1307 in its June 2026 operational guidance.
- Care Labeling Rule
- 16 CFR Part 423 requires a permanent care label legible for the useful life of the garment, plus a reasonable basis — reliable evidence for the finished garment, not just the shell fabric. Instructions must address wash method, bleach, drying, ironing and warnings. ASTM D5489 symbols may be used in place of words.
- Consignee and ultimate consignee
- The consignee is the party a carrier is instructed to deliver cargo to, named on the bill of lading and the arrival notice. The ultimate consignee is the US party to whom merchandise is finally delivered, often your DC. Neither role carries entry liability — that sits with the importer of record.
- Continuous bond and single transaction bond (STB)
- A continuous bond covers a year of entries and must equal 10% of duties, taxes and fees paid in the prior 12 months, rounded up to the nearest $10,000 with a $50,000 floor; premiums run $400 to $600 a year at $50,000. A single transaction bond covers one entry at entered value plus all duties and fees.
- Cotton traceability file
- The evidentiary chain CBP expects from farm to finished garment: grower and gin records with bale IDs, merchant contracts and payment proof, spinning lot records, fabric roll IDs, dyeing records and cut-and-sew documents, unredacted and translated. CBP's June 2026 guidance warns a gap for even one supplier can undermine the submission.
- Country of origin (19 CFR 102.21)
- Textiles and apparel do not use the general substantial-transformation test. 19 CFR 102.21 applies a hierarchy: wholly obtained, tariff shift, knit-to-shape, wholly assembled, then most important assembly. In practice the cut-and-sew country is the origin — which is why tariff origin does not launder forced-labor provenance.
- CPSIA
- The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, governing apparel for children aged 12 and under. Limits are 100 ppm total lead in accessible parts, 90 ppm lead in surface coatings and 0.1% for each of eight restricted phthalates. Third-party testing by a CPSC-accepted lab and a Children's Product Certificate are mandatory.Read more · See also: Care Labeling Rule
- CTPAT
- The Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism. Its Trade Compliance track is reported to give members front-of-line review of admissibility packages, hold-in-place authority, preliminary notifications and 48-hour advance notice of new enforcement actions. Executive Order 14411 would make CTPAT validation mandatory for foreign importers.
- Exporter of record
- The party legally responsible for the export declaration in the country of shipment: licences, filings and export compliance under that country's rules. On a normal apparel purchase the factory is exporter of record in India or Vietnam while your company is importer of record in the United States.
- Importer of record (IOR)
- The party legally responsible for an entry: duty payment, classification, valuation, origin marking and admissibility including forced labor. Using a customs broker does not transfer that liability, and neither the freight forwarder nor the foreign supplier substitutes for it.
- Isotopic testing
- Laboratory analysis of stable isotope ratios to establish where a fibre was grown. CBP's November 2024 guidance calls it a critical tool for high-risk commodities like cotton and expects documented chain of custody, a robust reference library and ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation. It proves geography, not the absence of forced labor.
- Reasonable care
- The standard in 19 U.S.C. §1484(a) requiring the importer of record to use reasonable care to enter, classify and value merchandise and to supply the information CBP needs to assess duty, collect statistics and determine admissibility. Failing it is the negligence predicate for penalties under §1592.
- Rebuttable presumption
- The UFLPA default that goods with an XUAR or listed-entity nexus were made with forced labor and are barred from entry. CBP does not have to prove forced labor; the importer must displace the presumption, through an applicability review or the far rarer statutory exception.
- RN number (RN)
- A Registered Identification Number issued free by the FTC at rn.ftc.gov, formatted as RN plus five or more digits and usually granted in three to five business days. It substitutes for printing your full legal business name on the label. It is not transferable — using a factory's RN is a common and serious error.
- Section 1592 penalties and prior disclosure
- Penalties for false statements or omissions on entry under 19 U.S.C. §1592. With revenue loss the maximum is domestic value for fraud, the lesser of domestic value or four times the duty loss for gross negligence, and two times for negligence. A prior disclosure filed before CBP opens a formal investigation substantially mitigates.
- UFLPA Entity List
- The list of companies, maintained by the DHS-chaired Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force, whose goods are presumed made with forced labor. It expanded by 43 companies to 187 entities effective 3 August 2026 under Federal Register document 2026-15628; 19 of the additions sit outside Xinjiang.
- Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA)
- Public Law 117-78, signed 23 December 2021, with its rebuttable presumption effective 21 June 2022. It operates through Section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. §1307) and names cotton as one of the original high-priority enforcement sectors; apparel is among the twelve now listed.
- Withhold Release Order and Finding (WRO)
- A WRO detains goods under 19 U.S.C. §1307 where CBP has information reasonably but not conclusively indicating forced labor, with roughly three months to export, destroy or prove admissibility. A Finding escalates: goods are seized and forfeited. Two June 2026 WROs targeted Jordanian garment producers.
- Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR)
- The region of China whose goods, wholly or partly mined, produced or manufactured there, fall under the UFLPA rebuttable presumption. Screening cannot stop at geography: 19 of the 43 entities added to the Entity List in 2026 are located outside the XUAR.
Sourcing & Production
- AQL and ANSI/ASQ Z1.4 (AQL)
- Acceptable quality limit, sampled under ANSI/ASQ Z1.4, equivalent to ISO 2859-1. Apparel convention is critical 0, major 2.5, minor 4.0 at General Inspection Level II, single sampling, normal severity. On a 3,201 to 10,000 piece lot the inspector draws 200 pieces (code letter L) and accepts at 10 major defects, rejecting at 11 — up to 5.0% of the sample.
- Bill of materials (BOM)
- Every component in a garment: shell, lining, interlining, rib, thread with ticket number and colour, zippers, buttons, snaps, drawcords, elastic, main, care, size and content labels, hangtags, polybag and carton. Each line carries supplier, supplier reference, colour reference, placement, consumption and unit.
- Buying house and sourcing agent
- An intermediary that places and manages production across factories on a brand's behalf, commonly charging 5% to 12% of order value. The commission is the visible cost; the hidden ones are undisclosed factory margin, no landed-cost visibility, and no transfer of importer-of-record liability.
- CMT and full package production (CMT)
- Cut, make, trim is a commercial model describing who buys the materials, not a development model. Under CMT you own and supply fabric and trims and the factory charges labour only, typically 15% to 25% of FOB in Asia. Its opposite pole is FOB or full package: the factory sources materials, carries the working capital and quotes a finished garment price. CMT is not a synonym for cut and sew.
- Cost per minute and line efficiency (CPM)
- Cost per minute is total daily factory cost divided by productive minutes — operators times shift minutes times efficiency — and includes wages, overhead, rent, power and machine depreciation. CM cost equals SMV times CPM divided by line efficiency. Quote at a realistic 60% to 75% efficiency, never 100%.
- Flat knitting and circular knitting
- Circular machines knit tubular yardage continuously — jersey for tees, piqué for polos, rib for trims, loopback terry for fleece — and are the base of the knit basics industry. Flat-bed machines knit panels to shape instead of yardage. They are different plants, different programming skills and different minimums.
- FOB price
- A pricing model, distinct from the Incoterm of the same name. An FOB or full-package quote is the factory's all-in unit price with the factory buying fabric and trims, delivered on board at the origin port. Confusing it with FOB the Incoterm is the most common risk-transfer error in apparel sourcing.
- Fully-fashioned and knit-to-shape knitwear
- Panels knitted to their finished outline on a flat-bed machine and joined loop by loop on a linking machine, wasting almost no yarn where cut-and-sew knitwear loses up to 20% as cut-loss. Knit-to-shape also moves origin: under 19 CFR 102.21(c)(3), if major parts are at least 50% of exterior surface area, origin is the knitting country.
- Fusing and interlining
- Bonding a resin-coated interlining into collars, collar stands, cuffs and front plackets on a fusing press under set temperature, pressure and dwell time. Bond strength of the fused composite is tested under ASTM D2724. It is the main failure point in woven shirt manufacturing, and no knit plant owns the equipment.
- Grading and tolerance
- Grading is the rule set that steps a base-size pattern across the size range. Tolerance is the permitted deviation per point of measure — commonly plus or minus 0.5 inch on casual tees and 0.25 inch on critical points of fitted dress shirts. Judge the sample mean, not only individual pieces.
- Knit gauge
- The number of needles per inch across a knitting machine's bed: 3 to 5 gauge is chunky knitwear, 7 the default sweater, 12 fine merino, 14 near-woven. A 12-gauge garment takes roughly 40 to 50% longer to knit than the same style at 7 gauge. HTSUS treats 9 or fewer stitches per 2 cm horizontally as a sweater.
- Lab dip
- A small swatch dyed to a submitted colour standard and approved before bulk dyeing. Typically $15 to $50 per colour over five to ten business days, with two to three rounds standard and four to five for saturated reds, neons and deep navies. Approve only in a light booth against a current TCX standard.
- Minimum order quantity (MOQ)
- The smallest order a factory will accept, set upstream by fabric and dye economics rather than sewing capacity. Dye-lot minimums of 300 to 500 kg per custom colour and mill fabric minimums of 500 to 1,000 m — 1,500 to 3,000 m for custom colours — are the real constraint. MOQ applies per colourway, not per style.
- Points of measure and high point shoulder (POM / HPS)
- Points of measure are the specified dimensions a garment is checked against — usually 15 to 25 per style, such as chest width one inch below the armhole. HPS, the high point shoulder, is the highest point of the shoulder seam at the neck and is the datum for body and sleeve length.
- PP, sealed and TOP samples (PP / TOP)
- The pre-production sample is the first piece off the line in bulk fabric and bulk trims and is the contractual gate — no bulk cutting before PP approval. The sealed sample is the signed physical standard. The TOP, or top of production, sample is pulled from the actual bulk run and judged against the sealed sample.
- Proto sample and fit sample
- The proto is the first aesthetic proof of a design, often made in substitute fabric and usually in three copies. The fit sample is measured against the points-of-measure spec in a fit session and normally takes one to three rounds. Neither is in bulk fabric, so neither approves colour or hand.
- Standard allowed minutes (SAM / SMV)
- The measured work content of one garment, also called standard minute value. Benchmarks: basic T-shirt 8.5, short-sleeve polo 10.4, hoodie 21.0, formal full-sleeve shirt 22.3, five-pocket jeans 11.7 and formal trouser 28.0 minutes. It is the basis of any CMT quotation.
- Tech pack
- The specification a factory builds from: style header with version number, technical flats, bill of materials, colourways mapped to Pantone TCX, construction and stitch detail, points of measure with grading and tolerance, labelling and packaging, care wording, QC requirements and cost sheet. Around 40% of first-sample rejections trace to unclear measurement specs.
- White label, private label and cut and sew
- Three development models suppliers use interchangeably. White label is an existing finished product the factory already makes, sold under your brand with the label swapped: no specification change, lowest MOQ, no differentiation. Private label is the factory's existing block adapted to your specification — your fabric, colour, trims, labels and minor fit changes — at moderate MOQ and limited differentiation in fit. Cut and sew is developed from your own pattern and tech pack, with the highest development cost, highest MOQ and longest lead time. None of the three is CMT, which describes who buys the materials.
Fabric & Quality
- Colourfastness and crocking
- Colourfastness is resistance to colour change and staining, graded 1 to 5 on the AATCC grey scales for change and for staining. Typical brand minimums are laundering AATCC TM61 at 4.0, dry crocking AATCC TM8 at 4.0 and wet crocking at 3.0, relaxed to 2.5 for indigo denim and deep or pigment shades. Crocking is colour transfer by rubbing.
- Delta E and CMC(2:1) (ΔE)
- Delta E is the numerical colour difference between a sample and its standard. Standard apparel acceptance is 1.0 to 2.0, with hero colours usually held at 1.0 or below. Values are not comparable across formulas: CMC(2:1) was developed for textiles by the SDC Colour Measurement Committee and is what most dyehouses use.
- French terry and fleece
- French terry carries uncut float loops on the back and keeps its stretch; it is technically un-napped fleece and starts around 280 gsm. Fleece is the same construction with the inside loops brushed or napped for insulation, typically 280 to 340 gsm, with 320 gsm the standard hoodie weight.
- GSM (g/m²)
- Grams per square metre, measured on finished, relaxed, conditioned fabric. Standard tee jersey is 160 gsm, premium 180 to 200, streetwear 220 to 260; polo piqué 200 to 240; standard hoodie fleece 320. US vendors often quote oz/yd²: one oz/yd² is about 33.9 g/m², so a 6.0 oz tee is roughly 203 gsm.
- Metamerism and D65
- Metamerism is two samples matching under one light source and differing under another, caused by different spectral curves behind matching tristimulus values. Assess in a light booth under D65, 6500K average daylight, and cross-check under TL84, CWF and Illuminant A. Non-standard lighting is blamed for 30% to 40% of disputed lab-dip rejections.
- Pantone TCX and TPG (TCX / TPG)
- TCX is the Textile Cotton eXtended system — dyed cotton swatches, 2,800-plus colours — and is the production standard because it matches the substrate. TPG is the same numbering printed on coated paper, for design use only. TPX was discontinued in 2014. Always write code plus system, for example PANTONE 19-4052 TCX.
- Reactive dye and pigment dye
- Reactive dye forms a covalent bond with cellulose, giving excellent wash and rub fastness on cotton at higher cost, water use and cycle time. Pigment sits on the surface in a binder resin: cheaper, lower minimums, works on blends, and fades by design, so batch shade variation belongs in the tolerance.
- Rib and interlock
- Both are double knits. Rib uses offset needle gaiting, does not curl, and has roughly twice the width extensibility of single jersey, which is why it is used for necks, cuffs and waistbands. Interlock uses directly opposed needles: very stable, no curl, smooth on both faces, less stretch than rib.
- Ring-spun, open-end and combed cotton
- Open-end rotor spinning is three to five times faster and is the cost baseline; ring-spun costs 20% to 30% more and is stronger, finer and less hairy; compact spinning adds 40% to 60%. Combing removes 12% to 20% of fibre as short noil. Combed ring-spun is the standard premium tee specification.
- Single jersey and piqué
- Single jersey is the standard T-shirt fabric, knitted on one needle bed; it curls at cut edges and is prone to spirality. Piqué combines knit and tuck stitches for a micro-mesh surface — the polo fabric — with less curl and less stretch than jersey but better breathability.
- Spirality
- Residual yarn twist in circular-knitted single jersey that rotates the side seams after washing. Measured under ISO 16322 or AATCC TM179. Common acceptance is 5% displacement or less, and more than 4 degrees or 5% is typically a major failure. Balanced-twist, plated or compact yarn mitigates it.
- Yarn count (Ne)
- English cotton count, where a higher Ne means a finer yarn. 20s is coarse heavy jersey, 30s the standard tee count, 40s fine and lightweight, 50s to 60s fine shirting and luxury knits. Ne interacts with GSM: 180 gsm knitted from 30s is denser and smoother than 180 gsm from 20s.
- Yarn dye, piece dye and garment dye
- The stage at which colour is applied sets minimum and consistency. Yarn dye, needed for stripes, checks and heathers, has the highest minimums and best consistency. Piece dye is the bulk default at 500 to 1,000 m per colour. Garment dye runs 50 to 200 pieces per colour with more batch variation and about 3% extra shrinkage.
Planning & Replenishment
- Censored demand
- Demand you never observed because the item was out of stock, recorded as a zero. Train on raw sales and a model under-forecasts your best sellers. In the FreshRetailNet-50K study, raw censored sales produced a -7.37% weighted percentage error; recovering latent demand cut that to about 2.58% and improved WAPE from 31.75% to 29.02%.
- Demand forecasting
- Predicting unit demand by style, colour and size before a buy is committed. Apparel MAPE typically runs 35% to 60% because assortments turn over, life cycles are short and lead times exceed the selling season. Forecasts are normally built where signal exists — style or class — then disaggregated down the size curve.
- Forecast bias
- Mean forecast error: the sum of forecast minus actual, divided by the number of periods, expressed in units or as a percentage of demand. Unlike MAPE and WMAPE it is directional, so a forecast can post good WMAPE and ruinous bias. Persistent positive bias means systematic over-buying and markdowns.
- GMROI
- Gross margin return on inventory investment: gross margin dollars divided by average inventory at cost. A GMROI of 1.0 returns one dollar of margin per dollar of inventory; fashion apparel commonly targets 2.0 to 3.5. It multiplies margin percent by turn, so it fairly compares slow high-margin and fast low-margin categories.
- MAPE and WMAPE
- MAPE is the mean of absolute error divided by actual, and it breaks down at SKU-size level where many cells hold zero to three units and division by zero is undefined. WMAPE is the sum of absolute errors divided by the sum of actuals — volume-weighted and defined at zero actuals, and the correct default for apparel.
- Open-to-buy (OTB)
- What is left to spend after committed purchase orders: planned receipts minus on-order commitments, where planned receipts equal planned sales plus planned end-of-period inventory plus planned markdowns minus beginning inventory. With 15 to 23 week PO-to-DC lead times from India and Bangladesh, in-season OTB is usually near zero, so the control must run two to three seasons forward.
- Reorder point and replenishment (ROP)
- Reorder point equals average demand per period times lead time, plus safety stock; replenishment is the repeat order it triggers. With a 13-week (91-day) PO-to-DC India pipeline, reducing lead-time variability lowers the required reorder point more than improving the demand forecast does.
- Safety stock
- Buffer inventory held against demand and lead-time variability. King's formula is safety stock equals Z times the square root of lead time times demand variance plus average demand squared times lead-time variance. Use one-tailed Z values: 1.28 at 90%, 1.645 at 95%, 2.326 at 99%. In Asian sourcing the lead-time term usually dominates.
- Sell-through rate and weeks of supply (ST% / WOS)
- Sell-through percent is units sold divided by beginning-of-period units on hand, times 100, and is meaningless without a stated window such as four-week or season-to-date. Weeks of supply is on-hand units divided by average weekly unit sales. They are the backward and forward views of the same position.
- Size curve
- The ratio in which a style's units are split across sizes. The standard unisex bell curve S:M:L:XL:2XL of 1:2:3:2:1 gives 11, 22, 34, 22 and 11 percent; oversized and streetwear shift right to 1:1:2:3:2:1. Re-cut it each season from your own 30, 60 and 90-day sell-through by size.
- Stock keeping unit (SKU)
- One style in one colour in one size. 100 styles times 6 sizes times 3 colours is 1,800 forecast cells before channel splits, which is why cell-level demand is sparse and intermittent and classical time-series methods fail on it without hierarchical forecasting.
Blanks & Wholesale
- Blank apparel
- Finished garments made with no print, embroidery or brand graphic, sold through wholesale distributors to be decorated or relabelled. They come off the same knitting machines and sewing lines as branded product. A custom 180 gsm cotton tee from India cannot land below $5.91, so a cheaper blank cannot be beaten.
- Blanks distributor
- A national wholesaler carrying dozens of blank brands, holding regional inventory and shipping to decorators, often next day. Its price contains the blank brand's margin and its own, neither disclosed. Wearables and apparel were 26.6% of $26.78 billion in 2024 US promotional distributor sales, per PPAI's Sales Volume Report.
- Case pack and size run
- A case pack is the fixed-ratio carton packed at the factory: 72 pieces for a standard tee in S to 2XL, 36 for 3XL, 12 for 4XL to 5XL, and 24 for a hooded sweatshirt. The size run is how you split them, and 72 divides exactly by the nine parts of a 1:2:3:2:1 curve.
- Garment-dyed blank
- A blank dyed after sewing rather than at the fabric roll, which gives the soft hand and uneven colour the category is bought for. Minimum is 50 to 200 pieces per colour against 500 to 1,000 metres for piece dye, and it carries roughly 3% of extra shrinkage tolerance.
- Heather
- A melange colour made by blending dyed and undyed fibre at the yarn stage rather than dyeing finished fabric, so colour is fixed earlier and costed differently. Heather colourways are rarely the style's stated fibre content: BELLA+CANVAS lists Ash as 99% cotton and 1% polyester, and some safety colours are 60/40 blends.
- Ounces per square yard (oz/yd²)
- The US listing unit for fabric weight, against the mill's grams per square metre. One oz/yd² equals 33.9 g/m², so 4.2 oz is about 142 gsm, 5.3 oz about 180 gsm, 6.5 oz about 220 gsm, and the 9.4 oz standard hoodie fleece about 320 gsm.
- Pigment dye
- Pigment is not a dye. It has no chemical affinity for cellulose, so it sits on the fibre surface held by a binder resin instead of bonding covalently as a reactive dye does. That is why pigment-dyed goods fade gently by design and crock more when wet, with wet-crocking minimums relaxed to 2.5 to 3.0.
- Tearaway label
- A neck label attached so it can be torn out, letting a buyer sew in their own. Removing it does not transfer manufacture: you still carry the FTC obligations for fibre content, country of origin and the RN or registered identity of the responsible company, plus the Care Labeling Rule.
- Tubular and side-seamed construction
- A tubular body is cut from a knitted tube: fewer operations, lower cost, and nothing structural resisting the residual yarn twist that rotates side seams after washing. A side-seamed body is cut as panels and joined, adding about one minute of sewing, roughly $0.08 at $0.08 per minute.
Certifications
- amfori BSCI
- Not a certification, as amfori states directly. It is a graded social audit of 81 questions across 13 performance areas, scored A to E. An A or B grade buys two years to the next full audit; anything lower triggers a follow-up within 2 to 12 months. Membership is billed to the brand, not the factory.
- Better Cotton and the U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol
- Two fibre-origin programmes. Better Cotton was historically mass balance — volumes credited through the chain rather than physically segregated — and its Chain of Custody Standard v1.2 adds physical models. The Trust Protocol reported 2.34 million acres of verified field-level data for the 2026 crop, about 24% of 9.85 million US acres planted.
- bluesign
- A system certifying chemical formulations and the manufacturing sites that use them rather than the finished article, through a system partnership spanning more than 900 partners in over 50 countries. You meet it mainly in performance fabrics. It says nothing about fibre origin, organic status or labour conditions.
- FTC Green Guides
- The FTC's Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims at 16 CFR Part 260. Section 260.4 advises against unqualified general environmental benefit claims, and 260.6 states that a third-party certification does not eliminate a marketer's obligation to substantiate every claim the seal reasonably communicates.
- Global Recycled Standard (GRS)
- Textile Exchange's recycled-content standard, adding social, environmental and chemical requirements to the Recycled Claim Standard's content and custody rules. The threshold brands trip on: GRS may be used business-to-business at 20% recycled content, but consumer-facing labelling requires at least 50% recycled content in the product.
- GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard)
- The strictest organic textile scheme, certifying fibre content plus environmental and social criteria across processing and trading. 95% or more certified organic fibre earns the 'organic' label grade; 70 to 94% earns 'made with organic materials'. Version 7.0 has applied since 1 March 2024 and Version 8.0 becomes fully effective 1 March 2027.
- Higg Index and Cascale
- The Higg Facility Environmental Module and Facility Social & Labor Module, owned by Cascale and licensed exclusively to Worldly. They are self-assessments with optional third-party verification, not certifications. Treat an unverified Higg score as the supplier's own homework, and ask whether the assessment was verified before quoting it.
- OEKO-TEX MADE IN GREEN
- A traceable product label for an article that is STANDARD 100 certified and made in facilities certified to OEKO-TEX STeP, carrying a product ID a consumer can look up. OEKO-TEX issued 57,412 certificates and labels in its 2024/25 financial year, 36,543 of them STANDARD 100.
- OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100
- A product certificate testing every component of an article — fabric, thread, buttons, prints, zips — against limit values for over 1,000 harmful substances, across four product classes and strictest on baby articles. It runs one year and is issued by one of 17 OEKO-TEX institutes. It certifies chemistry only.
- Organic Content Standard and Content Claim Standard (OCS / CCS)
- Two Textile Exchange chain-of-custody standards. OCS verifies organic content and custody without GOTS's processing chemistry or social rules, which makes it the cheaper organic claim. CCS beneath it verifies that one or more stated raw material inputs are present in the final product. Both need scope and transaction certificates.
- SA8000
- A genuine certification against a decent-work management-system standard, created by Social Accountability International in 1997 and currently issued as SA8000:2026. Only certificates from audit firms validated by SAAS count. Like every social audit it is supporting evidence for a UFLPA submission, not a substitute for transaction records.
- WRAP (Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production)
- A facility-level social compliance certification audited by WRAP-accredited monitors. From 1 March 2026 it no longer issues Gold and Platinum levels or two-year certificates: passing an audit yields an annual certification of compliance. CBP treats it as supporting evidence only, never as proof of a forced-labour-free supply chain.
Decoration & Custom
- Appliqué
- Cutting a fabric shape, laying it on the garment and stitching only the edge, which covers a large area in a fraction of the stitches full embroidery would need. It is the standard route for large collegiate lettering, and the reason a 25,000-stitch back logo is usually the wrong specification.
- DTG and DTF printing (DTG / DTF)
- Direct-to-garment inkjets pigment onto a pretreated garment with no setup and no minimum: $15 a shirt at 1 to 30 light garments falling to $5 at 251 and above, and $20 to $6.50 on darks. Direct-to-film prints onto release film with adhesive powder, working on cotton, blends, polyester and nylon.
- Embroidery digitising and stitch count
- Digitising converts artwork into a stitch file with defined stitch types, densities and underlay, at $40 to $100 for a standard logo and $100 to $250 for a full back, paid once. Run cost is $0.50 to $1.50 per thousand stitches, so a 7,000-stitch left chest is cheap and a 25,000-stitch back is not.
- Heat transfer vinyl (HTV)
- Solid coloured film plotted, weeded and heat-pressed onto a garment, one layer per colour. Setup is cutting time only and the minimum is one piece, which suits names and numbers and defeats anything complex. A screen print transfer is a different thing: plastisol printed to release paper and pressed later.
- Plastisol and water-based ink
- Plastisol is PVC-based, sits on and in the fabric, cures around 320°F, prints on lights and darks, and is the default included in base pricing. Water-based ink absorbs into the fibres for a print you cannot feel, but has poor opacity on darks and adds roughly $0.50 to $1.00 per colour per piece.
- Screen printing
- Pushing premixed ink through one stencilled screen per colour. Setup runs $15 to $30 per colour per screen, then $0.65 to $3.50 a shirt per colour, so cost per piece collapses with quantity and screen printing wins above roughly 50 pieces. Exact Pantone matching is the advantage; colour count is the constraint.
- Spot colour and process colour
- Screen printing is a spot-colour process: each colour is a premixed ink pushed through its own screen, which is why a design's colour count and its price are the same conversation. Process colour separates artwork into CMYK halftone dots for photographic work and is the exception rather than the rule on garments.
- Sublimation
- Heating solid dye until it becomes a gas that enters polyester polymer and solidifies inside it, leaving no hand at all and nothing to crack or peel. The constraint is absolute: SanMar's decorator guidance sets the threshold at 65% polyester, below which the dye will not fix and the image washes out.
- Underbase and puff print
- An underbase is a white ink layer printed first so colours read on a dark garment: an extra screen, setup and press pass, which is why DTG darks list at $20 against $15 for lights at 1 to 30 pieces. Puff is plastisol with a foaming agent, adding $1.25 to $2.00 per location and destroying fine detail.
- Vector and raster artwork
- Vector art is mathematical paths in .ai, .eps or press-quality PDF; it scales without loss and outputs directly as separations, which screen print, vinyl cutting and digitising all require. Raster art is a fixed pixel grid and must be supplied at 300 DPI at final print size — a 12-inch print needs 3,600 pixels across.
Software & Systems
- ERP (Enterprise resource planning)
- The system of record for transactions: sales orders, purchase orders, inventory positions, receipts, invoices and the general ledger. It is weak on fit history, lab dips and sampling rounds. ApparelMagic, an apparel ERP with PLM included, publishes $337 a month for 3 users and $655 for 5, billed annually.
- Merchandise planning system
- The system of record for the financial plan: open-to-buy, assortment by door or channel, size curves and markdown. It does not forecast unit demand from scratch and it assumes supply exists. Gartner lists 41 products in Retail Assortment Management Applications for short life cycle products, which is this category in fashion.
- PIM (Product information management)
- The system of record for outbound selling content: consumer-facing copy, attributes, imagery and syndication to sales channels. Gartner Peer Insights lists 49 vendors in the category, defined as solutions that let teams create and maintain an approved shareable version of rich product content. It starts where manufacturing ends.
- PLM (Product lifecycle management)
- The system of record for style data: tech packs, bills of materials, colourways, graded specs, sample and fit history, the seasonal calendar and development costing. It does not raise a purchase order, hold inventory or forecast demand. Published fashion PLM list prices run $35 to €279 per user per month as of August 2026.
- S&OP (Sales and operations planning)
- The monthly executive cycle that reconciles the demand plan, the supply plan and the financial plan into one committed set of numbers. APICS defines it as integrating customer-focused marketing plans with management of the supply chain. In apparel it only works if the cycle lands before the fabric and dye-lot booking date.
- Sourcing platform and supplier portal
- A sourcing platform is the system of record for how a product gets made: supplier profiles, quotes and costing, purchase orders, milestone tracking, inspection results and compliance documents. The supplier portal is the surface your factory logs into, and the only test that matters is whether suppliers use it or still email for the PDF.
If a term here is blocking a decision — an HTS line, an AQL clause, a Delta E tolerance — price the style through Yarnstick and see the spec and the duty in the same quote.
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