3 Reasons You MUST Visit Your Factory in Person for Your First Production Run

Ever purchase something on Amazon, and when you got it you realized it was totally different from the picture? As great as the internet is, it still doesn't replace that in person touch, and the same goes for your manufacturing. No matter where you produce your clothing, you should be prepared (and excited) to conduct a factory visit during your first production run, here's 3 reasons why.

1 | Quality Control
Even with all the instruction and Skype calls in the world, we promise you, that first production run WILL have something wrong. This is your baby, and you want to be there for it's birth. Plan for your factory visit during the first production run so you can do an in-person quality control check with their team and train them on what your brand standards are for each product. Think of your factory as an extension of your team, you wouldn't hire someone full time and not train them for the job would you? Your factory is no different.

2 | Establish Personal Relationship
In case life hasn't already taught you this lesson, life is all about who you know. Your network gets you jobs, contacts for your business, and so much more. So why would you remain a faceless email for your factory, the single most important partner for your business? It's industry common knowledge that factories may push small brand orders aside to prioritize the big orders with bigger dollars, so it is imperative you become friends, in person. By creating this personal relationship you can remain on their mind during project management as well as potentially get better pricing and exceptions made for you as you continue to grow. 

3 | Brand Marketing Content
The cherry on top for your factory visit is the photo and video content you should be capturing while you are there. One trip can give you enough content for your website, email, and social media for an entire year if you do it right! This gives you BTS shots of your product being made (hey quality!), the people making your product (hey transparency!), and breaks up your feed so it's not all buy-buy-buy and instead tells a story (you're doing that right?). 

Getting your manufacturing process nailed is quite the journey and we would love to help you fine tune it. We have an entire community of sustainably-minded fashion industry professionals in Deadstock District who are actively asking questions, sharing resources, and ready to help you grow your business. Join today and kick off 2019 with a bang.