Delay in sampling effects in production shipment. Secondly,
when sampling processes get delayed productivity of sampling department gets
reduced. Merchants need to be involved in sampling for longer time for the same
style. There may be hundreds of reasons for delay in sampling but still
sampling time can be reduced by following tips mentioned below.
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1. Be proactive-
finish your backlogs, create capacity for fresh sampling, research for sourcing
of sampling material. Even you can make directory for all available material in
the sampling store for fabrics, trims, threads, laces, beads etc that can be
used for initial sampling. If you know your buyer better you can be prepared
for new season prior to getting sampling request.
2. Make Time and
Action calendar - Do planning for your sampling styles in details. Clearly note
when to start a task and when to finish it. Mention name of the responsible
person for the task. Follow task
according to the plan. Chase the person until the task gets finished. If
something is getting delayed create alarm and seek help from others. Work with
the goal to meet timeline for each task. No delay and no procrastination in
task completion even you have enough time to submit your sample.
3. Work with
checklist - List down a complete sequence of jobs to be needed for sampling.
Start finishing task one by one. It will more effective if you prepare two
check lists, one for daily To Do list and second one for style wise check list.
Start work with daily to do List and update style wise checklist. Following
this method with you can keep track of all your styles.
4. Critical path
management - Identify jobs those are not dependent with each other and start
parallel processing (sourcing, pre-assembling). This will reduce your sampling
time and you can work on multiple samples at a time.
5. Inventory check –
Prior to handing over work to sampling tailors, check everything is ready as
per required quality and quantity. This will help you to reduce forward and
backward communication. Secondly, sampling tailors will complete your samples
at one go.
6. Quality at First
place- Approve quality and specification by yourself before proceeding for next
step. It will eliminate rework level. If you use alternative quality for time
constraint, inform it to your buyer prior to using it in sample.
7. Be prepared with
alternative – whenever developing samples like lap dips, print strike off,
embroidery work or bead work make multiple options. By alternative, in case
buyer rejects your first sample you can quickly send alternative one. By this
way you can reduce lot of time required for re-development.
8. Don’t believe in
Guesswork - Don’t do any task if you have confusion. Communicate with your
seniors or contact immediately to buyer for clarification.
9. Update your
knowledge – technical knowledge about fabrics, current trends, and new
development on your product line will give you additional advantage in quick
start sampling.
