How to track garment samples
Every sample is two things at once: a request moving through approvals, and a physical garment on a rack, in a bag or on a buyer's desk. Most teams track the first in a spreadsheet and the second in their heads. Track both, separately, and most of the chasing stops.
By Philip Radvan, founder. Updated . 6 minute read.
Two problems, not one
A sample request answers "where is this in the process?" Who asked for it, which factory is making it, whether it was approved, revised or rejected, and when it is due. That is a status problem.
The physical sample answers "where is this garment right now?" Which rack, which person, which buyer, and when it comes back. That is a custody problem. A request can be finished while the garment is lost, and a garment can be in hand while the request still says "in production".
Give every request a record
Whatever tool you use, each request needs the same fields, filled the same way by everyone.
- One ID per request, printed on every form and label that goes with it.
- The style, color and size it is for, and who asked (a buyer, a designer, sales).
- A phase from a fixed list, not free text: draft, submitted, revising, approved or rejected, in the factory, shipped, received, then passed or failed.
- One owner at a time, and a due date that belongs to that owner.
- A priority (normal, urgent, rush) so the factory and your team agree on what moves first.
Use phases a buyer would recognize
Phases only help if they mean the same thing to everyone. Group them by who is waiting: before the factory (draft to approved), at the factory (in factory, in production, shipped), and back with you (received, evaluating, passed or failed).
"Passed" and "failed" here mean your team's evaluation of the sample, fit, fabric, color, not a production quality inspection. Keep those two ideas apart in your records.
Label the garment, then scan it every time it moves
Put a barcode on every sample when it arrives: a hangtag or a sticker on the bag that carries the request ID. Then make one rule: nothing leaves the sample room without a scan out to a named person, and nothing comes back without a scan in.
A scan takes two seconds. It replaces the shared-drive spreadsheet that is always a day behind, and it tells you, for any garment, who had it last.
- Scan out to a person, not to a team.
- Check in in bulk after a market week: one pass with the scanner, not one row at a time.
- Alert on overdue samples daily, to the person who holds them.
Run buyer loans with an end date
Samples sent to a buyer are the ones that disappear. Treat each one as a loan: a start date, a return date, and a short list of outcomes the buyer can pick from. Keep it, return it, ask for more time, or ask for another color or size.
Send a statement of open loans to each buyer before a reminder ever needs to be firm. Buyers lose track too; a list with photos makes returning things easy.
When a spreadsheet stops working
A sample spreadsheet works for one person and one season. It breaks when two people edit it at once, when the overseas team needs to update a phase, or when someone asks where a garment is and the last edit was a week ago.
If your team spends more time asking about samples than looking at them, it is time for a shared record that the scanner, the factory team and the buyer all feed.
Where Samplyn fits
Samplyn keeps both halves on one record: the request and the garment.
- Sample requests from a style, a design or a moodboard, with twelve phases in three groups, owners, due dates and priorities.
- Custody by barcode scan: check out and in to people, bulk check-in, overdue alerts.
- Buyer loans with keep, return, more time or send another, statements and reminders.
- Buyers add styles to a sample cart in their portal and check out into a request.
More guides: Points of measure, a practical guide, The time and action calendar for garment production, Line sheets for department store buyers, Off-price vendor requirements, Routing guide compliance and chargebacks, The sample request process with wholesale buyers.