What Is a Tech Pack?

A tech pack is the engineering blueprint an apparel brand sends to a manufacturer. It contains every specification the factory needs to produce a garment correctly the first time: measurements, materials, construction, trims, labels, and packaging.

Without a tech pack, a quote is a guess. With one, a factory can return a real unit-economics quote, real lead times, and a real proto sample timeline. We require a tech pack to issue a 72-hour quote.

What goes inside a tech pack

A complete tech pack includes ten sections:

1. Cover sheet. Brand name, style name, season, target retail price, target landed cost, and a flat sketch.
2. Bill of Materials (BOM). Every fabric, trim, thread, label, hangtag, and elastic. Each line has supplier, fabric weight (GSM), composition, color, and yield estimate.
3. Construction page. Stitch types, seam allowances, hemming method, binding, topstitch density. Construction is what separates a $40 retail tee from a $120 retail tee.
4. Points of Measure (POM). A measurement chart with tolerance per point. Sizes XS through XXL, every dimension a sample-room patternmaker needs.
5. Grading rules. How measurements change between sizes. Standard practice or brand-specific.
6. Color callouts. Pantone TPX or TPG references, or a physical lab dip to match. Lab dip charges run $30 to $80 per color.
7. Trims and notions. Zipper supplier and gauge, button supplier and ligne, drawcord type, elastic width, snap brand. Brand-spec trims like YKK or Riri raise cost; generic trims drop cost.
8. Labels and tags. Main label, care label, country-of-origin, size label, hangtag, polybag. Each has a placement spec and an artwork file.
9. Packaging. Polybag size, hangtag string, carton size, units per carton, master carton labeling. This matters for freight cost.
10. Quality standards. AQL level (typical 2.5 for apparel), acceptable defect rates, fabric inspection method, and the brand's specific quality red lines.

Tech pack vs sketch

A sketch is a drawing. A tech pack is a manufacturing document. Sketches show intent. Tech packs reproduce a garment 50,000 times within a fraction-of-an-inch tolerance.

A brand sending a sketch alone gets a "ballpark, depends" quote. A brand sending a tech pack gets a 72-hour binding quote.

What if a brand does not have a tech pack yet

Two options. Hire a freelance tech-pack designer ($200 to $800 per style on Upwork, Fiverr, or specialist firms like Techpacker, Backbone PLM users, or Sourcing at Magic regulars). Or send a reference garment plus a brief, and a partner factory can write the tech pack for you. Reference-based tech-pack creation typically runs $300 to $500 per style.

How tech packs reach a factory

PDF is standard. Adobe Illustrator AI files, Backbone PLM exports, Techpacker exports, or Google Drive folders also work. The receiving side parses these into the factory's internal production system. Avoid sending tech packs as JPEG images or as Microsoft Word documents. Both lose specification detail.

Related terms

• What is MOQ in apparel manufacturing explains the minimum order quantity factories will accept.
• What is a proto sample covers the first physical garment the factory ships after tech-pack approval.
• FOB vs CIF vs DDP shipping for apparel walks through the Incoterm choice that shows up at the end of every tech pack.