Activewear tech pack template. What factories actually need.
A tech pack is the single document a factory uses to quote, sample, and manufacture your garment. This page walks a first-time overseas sourcer through the seven required fields, the format rules, and the common mistakes that slow quotes by weeks. Build it against this structure and you will get a real quote inside 72 business hours. Send it to kelvin@ohzehn.com once it is ready.
What a tech pack is (and what it is not)
A tech pack is a self-contained specification document that lets a factory produce your garment without a phone call. That is the working definition. It contains everything the mill needs to run yardage math, book a dye lot, cut a first sample, and quote a bulk price. It is not a mood board, it is not a pitch deck, and it is not a Google Doc of bullet points. Founders who conflate a tech pack with a design brief send the design brief and then wonder why the factory takes two weeks to come back with a question instead of a quote. For the primer on the term itself, see the glossary entry at what is a tech pack.
Factories use the tech pack for four separate jobs. The costing team uses it to run yardage per unit and estimate freight. The dye and knit teams use it to book capacity for the correct fiber and gauge. The cut-and-sew supervisor uses it to break out the panel count and the seam finishes. And the QC lead uses it to build the measurement chart the inspector will grade the bulk against. If any of those four jobs cannot be done from the document you sent, the factory has to come back with a question, and the quote clock resets.
A well-built tech pack pays back on every subsequent PO. The same pack, refreshed with color and size changes, is what makes reorders faster and cheaper than the first run. Investing hours upfront is the highest-leverage move a first-time overseas founder can make.
The seven required fields
These are the seven fields Ohzehn Textiles needs to run yardage math and hold a 72-hour quote SLA. Every serious factory needs the same seven, whether they say so or not. If your current pack is missing any of them, the factory is either guessing (bad) or writing back with a scoping question (slow).
Fabric target GSM and composition preference
GSM is grams per square meter, the standard weight measurement for knit fabrics. A target GSM tells the mill which knitting machines and gauges to run. Combine it with a composition preference (say 78 percent recycled nylon, 22 percent elastane, or an open request for a plastic-free alternative) and the mill can price against a real yarn spec. Common founder mistake: naming a brand-name fabric like "the Alo one" without a GSM. Every mill knits their own version of every fabric. Deep primer at GSM in fabric.
Color list
Named colors with Pantone TPX (textile paper) or TCX (textile cotton) references. Hex codes are a secondary reference. Every color in your list becomes a dye-lot booking on the mill floor. The number of colors drives the MOQ math more than any other single input, because each color requires a minimum dye-lot volume to be commercially viable. Common founder mistake: naming twelve colors on the first program when three would have hit the same brand story at a workable MOQ.
Print or dye complexity
Name the print or dye process. Solid piece dye, garment dye, sublimation panel print, all-over print, tie-dye, panel color. Each has a different MOQ floor, a different lead-time floor, and a different waste percentage. Sublimation on polyester is cheap and fast. Reactive print on cotton is slower and adds a curing step. Panel-color construction adds cut waste. Founder mistake: sending an inspiration image of a printed garment with no note on which process you want and expecting the factory to pick.
Construction spec
Named stitch types, seam finishes, and construction details. Flatlock at the inseam. Coverstitch at the hem. Overlock inside the waistband. Bar tack at the crotch gusset. Every stitch type maps to a specific machine on the cut-and-sew floor and a specific labor minute. Do not describe construction in mood-board language ("clean seams"). Describe it in stitch names. Primer at cut-and-sew manufacturing.
Size run and tolerances
The size run is the list of sizes in the program (XS through XL, or XXS through 3XL, or a numeric run). Tolerances are the allowable variance in centimeters at key measurement points. Bust plus-or-minus 1 cm. Waist plus-or-minus 1 cm. Inseam plus-or-minus 1.5 cm. Sleeve plus-or-minus 1 cm. Without tolerances the factory does not know whether to reject a garment that is 0.5 cm off spec. With tolerances the QC pass rate on bulk is materially higher.
Target unit count
Total units across the program, split by SKU if you have it. Ranges are fine at the quote stage. "2,500 to 4,000 units, split across three colors" is a workable input. "TBD" is not. If you are still modeling inventory, name the lower bound. The mill can quote three MOQ tiers off a range but needs at least one number.
Target ship date and target FOB or delivery port
Ship date drives dye-lot booking. Baseline production window is roughly 60 days, plus sea freight of 20 to 35 days depending on port. If you need units on a March shelf, the factory needs to know in November. Delivery port drives freight and duty math. Name the port (LAX, LGB, NYC, SAV for US delivery). "US" alone is not enough because the freight math changes materially between coasts. If you do not yet know your freight forwarder, name FOB Fuzhou and we quote against a documented freight band.
Fields that speed up quoting (nice to have)
Not required for a first quote but each one shortens the sample cycle or improves quote accuracy.
- Bill of Materials (BOM) if you have one. Every trim, thread, elastic, drawcord, zipper, label, hangtag, and mailer, itemized. Speeds sample quoting by days because the mill does not have to make trim assumptions.
- Target retail price. Lets the factory size the MOQ, color, and construction combinations that hit your target margin.
- Previous factory relationships. If you are switching factories, name the previous one and share the last shipped tech pack. Speeds knowledge transfer and avoids re-sampling.
- Tariff or HTS classification if known. If your customs broker has already given you an HTS code, share it. Otherwise the factory calls it and you confirm. Primer at HTS classification and HS code for apparel.
- Sustainability and certification requirements. Any GOTS, OEKO-TEX, GRS, bluesign, or brand-specific requirement. Each maps to a different mill capability and dye-house partner. Ohzehn Textiles publishes its lab and audit posture at Target-certified apparel manufacturer.
Format that actually works
The wrong format slows a quote by days. The right format is boring on purpose.
What speeds a quote
- Single PDF, one file, sent as an attachment (not a link).
- One page per SKU, or a single flowing document with a table of contents at the front.
- Vector technical drawings (Illustrator export). Sharp at any zoom.
- Measurements in centimeters or inches, consistently. Not a mix.
- Pantone TPX or TCX color codes with hex as a secondary reference.
- Fonts embedded in the PDF so the layout does not break on the factory's machine.
- File name that names the brand and the SKU family (BrandName_LeggingsCore_TechPack_v3.pdf).
What slows a quote
- Image-only tech packs where measurements are hand-drawn on a photo.
- Spec sheets in raw Photoshop or Illustrator files that the factory cannot open.
- Missing color codes ("navy" is not a color, Pantone 19-3921 TCX is).
- Mixed units (centimeters at some points, inches at others).
- Shared Google Drive links with restricted access. The factory clicks, sees an access request wall, moves on to the next inbound.
- A zip file with 40 loose images and no consolidated document.
- Hand-drawn technical drawings on lined paper.
The template itself
Build a first tech pack against the seven-field structure above, in whichever tool you already know. Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Google Slides exported to PDF, and Notion pages exported to PDF all work. The tool does not matter. The seven fields do. If you want a more prescriptive starting point, Melanie DiSalvo, the sourcing agent behind alookbehindtheseams.com, publishes a widely-shared industry-standard template. Start there, replace the placeholder content with the seven fields above, export to PDF.
For founders who are still shaping their construction spec, the Reddit discussions on tech pack scope are useful field research. See tech pack checklist for apparel for a distillation of the recurring gaps founders miss.
What to do after the tech pack is ready
Send it. Do not polish forever. Real feedback comes from a real factory looking at a real pack.
The Ohzehn Textiles intake path is the 72-hour quote for activewear factory. Kelvin Liu, co-founder and cross-border ops lead, owns the intake inbox. Bilingual Mandarin and English, replies inside one business day, kicks off the yardage math on business day one. Business day three you get a Google Doc with three MOQ options, sample cost, lead-time calendar, and landed-cost estimate to your delivery port.
If you are still shopping factories and want the case for going direct versus a directory, read Alibaba alternative for activewear manufacturer. It walks through the five checks that separate a real mill from a middleman before you send a tech pack to anyone.
Frequently asked questions
Do you provide a downloadable tech pack template?
We recommend building your first tech pack against the seven-field structure on this page, then packaging it in whatever tool you already use (Google Slides, Figma, Adobe Illustrator, or a Notion doc exported to PDF). Melanie DiSalvo, the sourcing agent behind alookbehindtheseams.com, publishes a widely-shared industry-standard template that is a strong starting point if you want something more prescriptive. The important thing is not the template file. The important thing is that the seven required fields are present in a single PDF.
Can I send a Google Slides deck instead of a PDF?
Yes at the draft stage. Consolidate to a single PDF for the actual quote submission. Factories receive tech packs across multiple email threads and a single-file PDF is materially faster to route to the right person on the floor. A shared Google Slides link is fine as an appendix if you also send the PDF.
What if I only have inspiration images?
You are not ready for a production quote yet. That is fine. Two paths from there: work with a sourcing agent or a full-package factory to convert the inspiration into a real spec at the sample stage, or benchmark against an existing garment you like and send the benchmark plus your desired changes. Production quotes get materially more accurate once real specs are locked, so investing in the tech pack pays back on every subsequent PO.
Should I include a target retail price on the tech pack?
Yes. It helps the factory size the MOQ, color, and construction combinations that hit your target margin. Founders sometimes worry that naming a target retail price will lead to a quote conveniently priced against that ceiling. Reputable factories quote against true cost, and knowing the target retail lets them flag which construction choices push the unit cost outside a workable margin band before you waste time on samples.
What format do factories prefer for tech pack files?
PDF, single file, one page per SKU or one flowing document with a table of contents. Vector technical drawings are preferred over raster (Illustrator export beats Photoshop export). Measurements in centimeters or inches consistently, not a mix. Color codes in Pantone TPX or TCX with hex as a secondary reference. Fonts embedded in the PDF so the factory does not open a broken layout. Anything image-only or hand-drawn measurements slows the quote by days.
Tech pack ready to send?
Kelvin owns the intake. Bilingual Mandarin and English. Full quote inside 72 business hours from a complete pack.