If you buy garments from India, you already know the hard part is not placing the order. It is knowing where the order really is, six weeks later, from eight thousand kilometres away. This guide sets out the stages worth tracking, the data to ask for at each one, and how to spot a late order early enough to do something about it.
The stages worth tracking
Every factory names its stages slightly differently, but almost every woven or knit order moves through the same sequence. Agree these with your supplier at the start, with a planned date for each.
- Fabric booking and in-house. Fabric ordered, then received at the factory and tested. Most delays start here.
- Lab dips and trims approval. Colour standards, buttons, zips, labels and packaging approved by you.
- Sampling. Proto, fit, pre-production (PP) and top-of-production (TOP) samples, each with your comments.
- Cutting. Bulk cutting starts once the PP sample and fabric are approved.
- Stitching. Usually the longest stage. Ask for quantities completed, not just “in progress”.
- Washing and finishing. Garment wash, pressing, thread trimming, where relevant.
- Inline and final inspection. Inline checks during stitching, then a final AQL inspection on packed goods.
- Packing. Cartons, labels and packing list as per your instructions.
- Ex-factory and shipment. Goods leave the factory, then are booked on a vessel or flight.
What to ask your supplier to report
A status update is only useful if it can be compared with the plan. For each stage, ask for four things:
- Planned date and actual date, so slippage is a number, not a feeling.
- Quantity done, for example “2,400 of 4,800 pcs stitched”.
- A photo from the floor, date-stamped, especially for fabric, cutting and packing.
- Any issue and its new date, written down the day it happens.
Warning signs that an order will be late
- Fabric is not in-house by the planned date. Almost every downstream date moves with it.
- PP sample comments are still open when cutting is due to start.
- Stitching quantities stop moving between two updates.
- Updates arrive only when you ask for them.
- The answer to “when?” is “almost ready” rather than a date.
Each of these is a reason to call the same day, not at the ex-factory date.
Spreadsheet, WhatsApp or a tracker?
| Method | Works when | Breaks when |
|---|---|---|
| WhatsApp and email | One or two suppliers, a few POs | Updates scatter across threads and nobody has the full picture |
| Shared spreadsheet | One person owns it and updates it daily | It is only as current as the last person who remembered to edit it |
| Production tracker | Several suppliers, styles and seasons | The factory screen is too complex, so staff stop using it |
Whatever you choose, the deciding factor is the same: how easy it is for the person on the factory floor to send an update. If it takes more than a minute, it will not happen consistently.
Working across time zones
An Indian working day overlaps with the UK and European afternoon and the US East Coast morning. Use that window for calls, and let written updates cover the rest. A shared tracker helps most here, because your team in New York or London sees the morning’s updates when they start work, without waiting for a reply.
A quick checklist
- Stages and planned dates agreed in the PO
- Reporting rhythm agreed (for example, twice a week)
- Planned vs actual date, quantity and photo for every update
- Same-day notice for any delay over three days
- Inline and final inspection booked in advance
- One place where your whole team sees the status
ATI Sutra
See every PO on one screen
We build production trackers that factories update from a phone, so you see each stage live in your time zone.