Guide · Procurement
Winter jacket programs go wrong in predictable places: the fabric weight is guessed, the size run is copied from a different garment, branding is briefed after sampling, and the delivery date is discovered to be a production date plus freight. This checklist is the sequence our experienced buyers work through — each step closes a decision the next step depends on. Print it, walk it in order, and your inquiry to any manufacturer (including us) will quote cleanly the first time.
1 · Define the job the jacket does
Before fabric, before price: where is the jacket worn, for how many hours, in what weather, doing what work? Indoor and vehicle-based teams need warmth without weatherproofing. Outdoor crews need wind blocked at minimum. Cold-store staff need insulation that works under an outer layer. Write the answer as one sentence — "drivers, outdoors 20 minutes at a time, dry cold" — because every later decision reads from it. Our fleece vs softshell comparison is built to convert that sentence into a garment type.
2 · Choose the garment type
- Fleece jacket — warmth layer for indoor/mixed duty and layering systems.
- Fleece vest — core warmth where sleeves interfere with the work (clinical, picking, bench work).
- Softshell jacket — the single-garment answer for mixed indoor/outdoor and public-facing teams.
- Padded jacket — deep-winter insulation for outdoor and cold-store issue.
- Sweatshirt — the mild-weather and indoor uniform layer that rounds out a winter kit.
3 · Fix the fabric spec
For fleece, that means a weight in GSM — 280 GSM is the core staff weight, 160 the layering weight, 320–330 the heavy finished quality; the reasoning is in the GSM guide. For softshell, it means the layer build: two-layer bonded at 280–400 GSM, or three-layer with membrane at 300–350 GSM plus a breathability tier matched to activity (500–1,000 / 3,000–5,000 / 7,000–10,000 g/m²/24h — see the layer guide). For padded styles, construction (hand-stuffed vs quilted) and shell/lining fabrics — see the filling guide. A spec you cannot write down is a spec you cannot verify on delivery.
4 · Set colors and the size run
Lock the color set — and check it against the rest of the uniform the jacket will be worn over. Then set the size run from your actual workforce data or your market's chart, not from last year's different garment: blocks differ (men, women, unisex), and our house products illustrate the range — the scrub fleece jacket runs S–L, the women's vest S–XL, with any program grading confirmed by quotation. Order a size ratio you can defend; the cheapest jacket is the one that fits the person it was bought for.
5 · Brief branding before sampling
Logo method (embroidery is the fleece standard; print for area graphics on softshell faces), positions, and — for resale and private label — woven labels, hangtags and packaging. Branding briefed before sampling appears on the sample you approve; branding briefed after becomes a negotiation. If the program is your own label, the private label walkthrough covers the full sequence.
6 · Confirm quantities against real minimums
Manufactured programs have style-specific thresholds. Recorded examples include listed Polar Fleece Jacket, Polar Fleece Vest, Three Layer Softshell Jacket and CVC Crewneck Sweatshirt SKUs at 5,000 pieces, and the listed Multi-pocket Vest With Padding (Micro Fiber) SKU at 3,000 pieces. For every other style — and for whether colors and sizes can be combined within a minimum — the MOQ is confirmed per style at quotation. The house fleece jacket and women's fleece vest carry their own product terms (50 sets standard and 200 sets custom) on their product pages. If your quantity is below the confirmed threshold, compare a distributor's blanks or a house style rather than assuming a small production run is available.
7 · Work the calendar backwards
Sampling 7 days; trial orders 14; small orders 21; bulk production 35 days (China) or 90–120 days (Myanmar) — all production time, excluding freight. A Myanmar bulk program for an October issue date starts its conversation in spring. Add your inspection and freight windows honestly, and remember quotations hold for 30 days: a price confirmed in month one is not a price promised in month four.
8 · Agree inspection before production
Our outgoing standard is AQL 2.5 / 4.0 on every order, with SGS or ITS third-party inspection accepted. Decide who inspects, at what stage (pre-shipment is standard), and what happens on a fail — before the goods exist. Weigh a fabric square from the bulk against your specified GSM while you are at it; it takes two minutes and closes the most common dispute in this category before it opens.
9 · Budget the whole program, not the unit
The unit price is the loudest number in a jacket program and rarely the largest cost. Build the budget as the wearers experience it: garments per person (plus the spare pool every issue desk needs), sampling and courier, branding execution, freight on a volumetric product — padded and fleece jackets ship air as much as cloth — inspection, and the replacement allowance for leavers, losses and size exchanges. Two structural choices move this budget more than any negotiation: the production base (China's 35-day cycle versus Myanmar's 90–120 days prices differently and plans differently), and the layering decision at step 2 (one softshell per person, or a fleece for everyone plus softshells for the outdoor roles). Model both structures before you fall in love with either.
10 · Plan the issue, not just the order
The last step is the one procurement checklists usually omit, and it is where programs are judged by the people who wear them. Decide how sizes are allocated (self-select from a size set, measured issue, or ordered against names), what happens at size exchange in week one, where spares live, and who owns the re-order trigger when stock runs down. A manufactured program makes all of this easier — the spec, block and labels are on file, so replenishment is an instruction rather than a project — but only if someone writes the trigger down. The best-run programs we supply treat the first order as the start of a file, not the end of a purchase: approved sample retained, spec sheet archived, size performance from the first issue recorded for the second.
Common failure patterns this checklist prevents
- The January complaint: fleece specced by price at 160 GSM for an outdoor team — prevented at steps 1 and 3.
- The membrane nobody needed: three-layer softshells issued to an indoor workforce — prevented at steps 1 and 2.
- The beautiful sample, the different bulk: fabric weight never written into the order — prevented at steps 3 and 8.
- The size revolt: ratios copied from a different garment in a different fabric — prevented at step 4.
- The missed season: production time quoted, freight forgotten, issue date gone — prevented at step 7.
The one-page version
| # | Decision | Output |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Job & environment | One-sentence duty description |
| 2 | Garment type | Fleece / vest / softshell / padded / sweatshirt |
| 3 | Fabric spec | GSM, layer build, breathability tier |
| 4 | Colors & sizes | Color set + size run with ratios |
| 5 | Branding | Method, positions, labels, packaging |
| 6 | Quantity | Per style, vs program minimums |
| 7 | Calendar | Issue date minus production + freight |
| 8 | Inspection | AQL level, inspector, fabric weight check |
Work through the steps and the inquiry writes itself — the form below takes the outputs directly. If you are still between garment types at step 2, start from the softshell range and the wholesale fleece program side by side; those two pages carry the reference specs for the most common staff programs we produce.