What Clothing Factories Need to Quote Your Order (Complete Brief) | NovaSupplier
What Clothing Factories Need to Quote Your Order (The Complete Production Brief)
Matias Santos, Founder·
Most brands spend weeks on factory outreach before realising the problem was never finding factories. It was not having a complete brief ready before they reached out.
A factory triages your enquiry in about thirty seconds. If the information they need to price your product is not already there, your message gets deprioritised behind every enquiry that can be answered without asking three clarifying questions first.
This article covers exactly what belongs in a complete production brief, why each component is there, and how NovaSupplier uses the same structure to match your project to the right Portuguese manufacturers without the outreach process.
The thirty-second decision
A Portuguese factory with forty to eighty machinists on the floor receives somewhere between twenty and fifty cold enquiries a month. More during peak sourcing season before AW and SS collections. The commercial contact, often the founder's child who now manages export, or a dedicated account manager working across several clients, reads each one and makes the same fast decision: can this be priced from what they sent?
If yes: it gets a reply, usually within a day or two.
If no: it gets deprioritised. Not deleted, not dismissed. Deprioritised behind every enquiry that can be answered without going back twice to ask for basic information. Most of those deprioritised messages never get followed up.
This is not gatekeeping. It is the same logic you use when you decide which emails to answer on a busy morning. A message that gives you everything you need to respond gets a response. One that requires three follow-up questions before you can even start gets moved down.
A complete production brief is the thing that makes the difference. Understanding what belongs in it is useful whether you are approaching factories directly or submitting through a platform. The brief is the same either way. What changes is who handles the delivery.
What a factory needs to price your product
Pricing a garment means pricing fabric, cutting, sewing time per operation, trims, finishing, packaging, and overhead against a specific quantity. Every line item needs an input. If you do not provide it, the factory has to ask for it, assume it, or skip your enquiry.
There are eight things that belong in every complete production brief.
1. Service type: FPP or CMT. The most consequential declaration in the document, and the most commonly left out. Full Package Production means the factory sources and purchases all fabric and trims. CMT means you supply them. The price difference between the two on the same garment at 200 units in Portugal typically sits between 35 and 60 percent. If you do not declare which you are asking for, the factory cannot price it. More on this below.
2. Product and construction. Not "a hoodie." A 420GSM garment-dyed French terry hoodie with a structured hood, kangaroo pocket, flatlock seams at shoulders, ribbed cuffs and hem. The more precisely you describe the construction, the more precisely the factory can calculate sewing time, which is the largest variable in their cost per unit.
3. Fabric specification. For FPP: content, weight in GSM, finish or treatment, and any certification requirement. For CMT: the same, plus where you are sourcing it from, so the factory can confirm their machines and processes are compatible with your material.
4. Quantities broken down by style, colourway, and size. Not a total. Not "around 500 units." If you are making two styles in three colours with a size run of XS to XL, your brief should show that explicitly. Factories set their MOQ and quote at the run level, not the order level. A "600-unit order" that is actually twenty-four colourway runs of 25 units each is not a 600-unit conversation.
5. Target price per unit. Most brands hide this, worried the factory will price up to their ceiling. In practice, a factory that knows you are targeting €26 per unit FPP at 200 units can tell you immediately whether that is achievable, what construction or volume changes would get you there, or whether you are better matched with a different factory. Without it, you spend weeks discovering through sample rounds what a single line in your brief would have answered.
6. Timeline. When you need proto samples and when you need ex-factory delivery. "As soon as possible" is not a timeline. "Proto sample approved by October, bulk ex-factory January" gives the factory something to check against their schedule and commit to, or flag as a problem.
7. Certifications required. OEKO-TEX Standard 100, GOTS certified fabric, SA8000. If your brand requires any certification, say so at the start. It changes which fabric suppliers are eligible, which changes cost and lead time. Finding this out after you have committed to a factory is a painful way to learn it.
8. Attachments. A tech pack if you have one. Flat sketches with construction callouts if you do not yet. Reference images if they communicate what you are making more clearly than words. The factory should be able to see the garment without asking.
Why sourcing without a platform is harder than it looks
This is the type of enquiry most factories receive several times a week:
Subject: Factory Inquiry
Hi,
I am starting a clothing brand and am looking for a factory to produce some pieces. We focus on high quality and sustainability.
Could you let me know your prices and minimum order quantities?
Best, Alex
This message is not rude. The person who sent it is genuine. They will be confused when no one replies.
What the factory reads: no product, no quantity, no timeline, no target price, no indication of whether this person has a tech pack, a sketch, or a Pinterest board. There is nothing to price. The commercial contact would have to write back asking five or six questions before they could begin, and they have a dozen other enquiries this morning that already include those answers.
This is not the exception. It is the standard for brands trying to source without a structured intake. Not because they are unprepared, but because nobody told them what the brief actually needs to contain.
What a complete brief looks like in practice
For comparison, this is what a brand sourcing manually has to figure out and write from scratch for every factory they contact:
Style 1: Heavyweight garment-dyed hoodie
Construction: 420GSM cotton/poly French terry, garment dyed, kangaroo pocket, ribbed cuffs and hem, structured hood with metal drawcord tips
Colourways: 3 (pigment black, washed grey, rust)
Quantities: 150 units per colourway x 3 = 450 units
Size run: XS–XL, standard split
Style 2: Matching sweatpant
Construction: Same fabric as hoodie, elasticated waistband with drawcord, ribbed ankle cuffs, two inseam pockets
Colourways: 2 (pigment black, washed grey)
Quantities: 120 units per colourway x 2 = 240 units
Size run: XS–XL, standard split
Total: 690 units
Production type: FPP. Target price: €28–34 per unit on the hoodie, €22–26 on the sweatpant, including all trims and woven labels. OEKO-TEX Standard 100 preferred.
Timeline: Proto samples by end of September, bulk ex-factory January 2026.
Flat sketches and initial measurements attached. Full tech packs available once a factory is confirmed.
When a brief is this complete, factories can answer it in one session. No clarifying questions. No back-and-forth before the conversation starts.
The problem is not writing this once. It is writing a personalised version for every factory on your shortlist, tracking which factory responded to which version, managing the follow-up cadence, comparing quotes that may have priced different assumptions, and doing all of this across four or five email threads simultaneously while also running a brand. That coordination is the part most brands underestimate, and it is the part a platform replaces.
FPP or CMT: the declaration that changes every number
This is the most important thing to specify in your production brief, and the most commonly omitted.
Full Package Production (FPP) means the factory sources and purchases all fabric, trims, labels, and hardware. You describe the garment. They source the materials and produce it. You receive finished goods ready to ship. The factory absorbs the material procurement complexity, and their price reflects it.
CMT (Cut, Make, Trim) means you supply the fabric and all trims. The factory provides only the labour. You carry the sourcing burden, which means you need fabric supplier relationships, knowledge of lead times, and the ability to land materials at the factory on schedule.
At 200 units in Portugal, the price difference between CMT and FPP on the same garment typically sits between 35 and 60 percent. On a mid-weight hoodie, that is often the difference between €14 CMT and €34 FPP. Both numbers are correct. They are pricing different things.
Neither model is better. FPP makes sense if you are in your first few seasons, you do not have existing fabric supplier relationships, or you want the factory to manage material risk and lead times. CMT makes sense if you already source your own fabric, you are using proprietary or certified materials you want to control, or you are reordering a style where the fabric sourcing is already solved.
What does not work is submitting a brief without specifying which model you want. A factory that quotes FPP when you expected CMT pricing will look expensive. A factory that assumes CMT when you need FPP will quote a price that cannot produce anything until you tell them where to source the fabric.
Decide before you brief. State it first.
The complete production brief
This is the structure of a complete brief, with the information a factory needs to price your product. On NovaSupplier, this is exactly what the platform collects from you when you start a project. If you are approaching factories directly, this is what every message needs to contain.
PRODUCTION TYPE
[FPP — factory sources all fabric and trims]
[CMT — we supply fabric and trims]
(Choose one.)
---
PRODUCTS AND CONSTRUCTION
Style 1: [Product name]
Construction: [Fabric content, weight in GSM, key construction details —
pocket type, collar, hem finish, seam construction.]
Colourways: [Number and colour names or descriptions]
Quantities: [Units per colourway] x [number of colourways] = [total units]
Size run: [e.g. XS–XL, standard split / S–L only]
Style 2: [Repeat for each additional style]
TOTAL UNITS: [Sum of all styles and colourways]
---
FABRIC
(FPP: describe what you want.
CMT: describe what you are supplying and from where.)
[Content, weight in GSM, finish or treatment, any certification requirement]
---
TARGET PRICE
[€X–€X per unit, FPP/CMT, at the quantities above.]
---
SAMPLING
[One proto sample per style before bulk confirmation]
[We have existing reference garments available]
[Open to factory standard sampling process]
---
TIMELINE
Proto sample by: [Month Year]
Bulk ex-factory by: [Month Year]
---
CERTIFICATIONS REQUIRED
[OEKO-TEX Standard 100 / GOTS certified fabric / SA8000 / None required]
---
ATTACHMENTS
[Tech pack / Flat sketches and measurements / Reference images]
A few notes on specific fields.
On target price: include it. A factory that can hit your target says so. A factory that cannot tells you what volume or construction change would get you there. Both answers are useful before you commit to sampling. The factory will find out your budget anyway. Getting that clarity upfront saves weeks.
On quantities: the per-colourway run size is what matters, not the total. If your total is 600 units but that is split across twelve colourways of 50 units each, state it that way. A factory that needs 150 units per colourway minimum needs to know this before they invest time in a quote, not after.
On attachments: you do not need a full tech pack at this stage. Flat sketches with labelled callouts, an approximate measurement chart, and a fabric reference give a factory enough to confirm feasibility and quote a range. Full graded specs and construction packages come after you have confirmed the factory is the right fit.
What to have ready before you start
A brief is only as good as the information behind it. Before you approach any factory, check these off.
The brief minimum
A flat sketch with construction callouts for each style, or a reference garment with written spec
Fabric content and target GSM confirmed, or a specific question for the factory's recommendation
Key construction details specified: pocket type, collar or neckline, hem finish, any technical seams
Quantities broken down by style and colourway, with the per-colourway run size visible
A realistic delivery timeline, worked backwards from your launch date
A target price band per unit, stated per service type
Any certification requirements noted
At least one attachment: a sketch, reference image, or tech pack
What you do not need yet
A full fifteen-page tech pack is not required to start. Graded size charts, full construction specification sheets, and trim catalogues come after you have confirmed the factory is a fit. The bar at brief stage is lower than most first-time brands think.
If you do not have a tech pack
A clear flat sketch with labelled callouts, a reference measurement for the key dimensions, a fabric you are using as a reference, and a description of any non-standard construction details will cover most of what a factory needs to evaluate your project. A freelance technical designer can turn a garment reference and a brief conversation into a usable first tech pack for a few hundred euros. That document is the foundation every quote, every sample, and every quality dispute will be measured against.
Frequently asked questions
Every field in the brief above is exactly what NovaSupplier collects from you when you start a project on the platform. Production type, construction, fabric spec, quantities by colourway, target price, timeline, certifications. You fill it in once. The verified Portuguese manufacturers on the platform see it and quote on it. No cold emails. No no-replies. No inbox full of parallel conversations at different stages. You get quotes from factories that can actually produce what you are making, in one place, without spending weeks on outreach.
