How to Find the Right Outsourcing Partner for Decoration

This article was originally published on Apparelist. 

Let’s face it: Contracting decoration work to another company can be extremely frustrating. More than anything, the complete loss of control drives people nuts. When you have that order on your own production schedule, it feels safer and more like you control your destiny.

But when you contract that order to another company, it can feel like all bets are off. Will it really get shipped on time? With great quality, care, and craftsmanship?

It should be easier.

Here’s the good news: It can be. You simply have to ensure a few things happen. In this article, we’ll cover what you need to know to have a great experience with your contract decorator. I should know, as I spent much of my career working in and ultimately running large contract apparel decorating companies.

Outline the Expectations

The first thing you must cover with any outsourcing partner is your expectations for the relationship between you and your partner. This goes beyond what is on the purchase order and details on any particular job in the queue.

The first stop on the expectation list is all about communication. You want crystal-clear comprehension regarding how to work together. Ideally, this is in writing, so there isn’t any misunderstanding. Here are a few examples of what I mean:

• Any questions regarding the instructions or details for an order must be communicated instantly.
• Inventory in receiving must be counted and checked the same day it is delivered. There is no waiting.
• Any challenges with art files, decoration methods, or instructions must be discussed immediately.
• All of the information, art, and instructions for an order must be 100% complete for the order to be scheduled. For example, an order cannot be put in the system and scheduled for production if it is missing the shipping address. “You’ll send it later” is how problems start.
• What is the agreed-upon error rate? Typically, this is 2% per decoration location for contract garment decorators. This means for a 100-piece order that is printed front and back, the shop can have four total shirts with problems. Usually, for orders over 1,000 units, this drops to 1% per decoration location.
• There is a difference between “defects” and “errors.” A shirt with a hole in it is a defect. A shirt that is printed on the wrong side is an error. Defects should not count toward the errors, but there needs to be a plan in place to resolve the challenge. What needs to happen either way?
• If any order is to be shipped 100% complete, this needs to be stated beforehand if there is an agreed-upon error percentage. Furthermore, what should happen to the order? If there are five shirts with errors out of 100, should the order be held until the five replacement shirts can be decorated, or is it ok to ship 95 shirts now and the balance of five shirts in a few days? Spell this out. Also, who pays for what?
• Outline when payment is going to happen and stick to it. To be clear, I’m a big proponent of paying up front for shops, but everyone should stick to the agreement if there is a payment timetable. For the record, nothing gets your jobs produced faster than paying early.
• If you have any extras, such as boxes, labels, hangtags, polybags, stickers, or other miscellaneous items that must be used for an order, be sure these are readily available and in stock. Nothing is worse for a contract decorator than having a backlog of orders that can’t ship because they are waiting on hangtags or packaging.

It is crucial that the working parts of the relationship are ironed out before work starts, mainly because there will be challenges later. It is much easier to know the answers already when the test is finally handed out.

Pricing

This is a big one. From the sales end, they will want the pricing to be lower so the profit can be higher.

However, people who are good at what they do charge more. If you have appendicitis, would you shop around for the cheapest surgeon or someone who was trying to stay busy?

Contracting work out may seem like it is easy, but in reality, it can get complicated quickly. The professionals who are good at producing this type of work must also be profitable. Sometimes, yes, you do get what you pay for.

Listen to what they are telling you about how a job should be produced. If this means a special ink, an extra screen, or something not in the original quote the sales team sent to the client … be forewarned. If you skimp and it doesn’t turn out as expected, don’t say they didn’t tell you.

Take a Tour

If you are going to trust an outsource partner with your production orders, a good practice is to take a tour of the production facility. Why? Because someone can promise many things on the phone, but it is harder to hide in person.

If you go on a tour, here are a few things to watch for when walking around:

• Cleanliness: Shops that keep clean tend to have better processes, which leads to lower defects and problems. One area that is a tell-all sign usually is the employee production bathroom. If the employees can’t find the trashcan or leave the bathroom a mess, that is often a sign of apathy and lack of pride in the shop.
• Organization: Let’s face it: The decoration part of the order usually is the easiest. The logistics of keeping a production schedule on the numbers is all about organization, processes, and employee training. As you are walking around, is there evidence of that? Does the staff know what to do next without asking anyone?
• Hustle: Watch the crew work. If you look closely enough, you can tell if the team simply looks busy or actually is busy. Do they look happy in their work?
• Process with an accurate production schedule: The shop should be able to walk you through how your orders will be entered, received, staged, produced, packaged, and shipped. Have someone show you how they think about jobs in advance.
• Talk to the employees: Ask them about their job or how long they have been working there.

If the shop is too far away to be able to do an in-person tour, see if you can get one with a video call instead. Look for evidence of competency.

Send a Small Test Order

This is the tried-and-true method. Before an outsource partner makes it onto your key vendor list, give them a few non-critical orders to produce. Call it a taste test.

With this order, evaluate the shop to see if they are worthy of sending a second order. It is all about performance. If you don’t already have a vendor or supplier scorecard, this may be a good time to install that idea. A supplier scorecard is a process-based system to evaluate your supply chain.

For this first test order, rate the shop on a scale of zero to 10 in these areas. Zero is the worst, and ten is the best.

1. Communication - Rate the business on how well communication was established. Was the information verified? If there were any challenges, how effective was the communication to resolve the matter?
2. Customer Service - Rate the business on how well the company performed with its customer service. Did they value your order and want to establish a solid relationship?
3. Quality - Rate the business on the quality and craftsmanship of the work performed. Specified Pantone colors, thread colors, or any specific instructions on the order should have been followed. Double check.
4. Professionalism - Rate the company on the professionalism shown.
5. Trust - Would you feel comfortable sending more work?

The last one is the most important. After all, contract shops don’t sell the decoration. What they sell is trust. Nobody will send large, complicated, or key account orders to any contract decorator without a high degree of trust.

Ask for Feedback

Relationships are a two-way street. What holds up many contract jobs that are sent to a decorator are usually questions on the information for the order.

A good practice with your outsource team is to ask them questions about how you can send in the orders better. Is your language outdated or missing? The instructions may be difficult to understand or often miss key details.

For example, I had one company that regularly sent in purchase orders with a ship date of 00/00/0000. They said, “This is just how our system works, and there is nothing we can do about it.” This meant that none of the orders sent in could be accurately scheduled without more involvement and several emails back and forth.

So, while it is easy to place all the burden of excellence on your outsource partner, your company owns at least half of the relationship. Make sure you do all you can to be a good partner. This means asking for and receiving feedback on how your company can improve.

Flexibility

The right outsourcing partner is flexible. You are looking for a problem solver. We’d like to think that every order will be a black ink left chest order on white shirts, but that simply isn’t the case.

Weird things happen.

A blizzard strikes at the wrong time. The FedEx plane crashes with the shirts for the event. All 5,000 bandanas have a crease and must be ironed before printing.

Will your outsourcing partner be there for you? I’ve rented trucks and had the order delivered because normal shipping wasn’t fast enough. It was quicker to drive it. All I had to do was bribe an employee with a pair of Nike Air Jordans. Problem solved!

The right outsourcing partners go beyond the decoration. Anyone can handle the decoration part. That sometimes is table stakes. Going beyond the call of duty makes a solid relationship.

A lot like the people in your life, too.