Decide which styles need a physical sample.
A written rule for which styles need a physical sample, with the history behind each call and the cost of getting it wrong.
| Style | What’s new | Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Merino crew | A new colorway | Digital approval |
| Trail pant | Same block and fabric, new length | Digital approval |
| Canvas field jacket | New fabric, new fit | Physical sample |
| Waxed field jacket | New wax finish | Physical sample |
Illustrative. Each rule comes from your own fit history
The policy applied to four styles. A new fabric or fit keeps a physical sample.
Sound familiar?
- We sample everything because nobody can show a carryover is safe.
- The 3D vendor promises fewer samples and finance wants to see the year.
- A style skipped its sample and came back as returns.
Skip too few samples and you pay for rounds you didn’t need. Skip too many and the problem shows up in returns, after the production run.
What changes.
- The rule
- A physical sample for every questionA written policy by style type: carryover, new fabric, new fit
- Carryovers
- Sampled again to be safeDigital approval where block, fabric and factory have history
- New materials
- Hoping the simulation matchesA physical sample kept, with the reason written down
- Proof
- A vendor’s claimRounds, rework and fit returns counted by style
How it works. 4 steps, 4 stages.
- AI1
- Rules and automation2
- Your team1
- Approval
1Classify
Rules and automation
Classify each style
Carryover, new fabric, new construction or demanding fit, read from the tech pack.
- Techpacker
- FlexPLM
- Centric PLM
2Check history
AI
Summarize the fit history
Earlier rounds, fixes and returns for the same block, fabric and factory.
3Set policy
Your teamApproval
Set the sample policy
Your development lead decides which classes can use a digital approval and which keep a physical sample.
4Track
Rules and automation
Count what the policy does
Rounds, rework and fit returns per released style, before and after.
- Browzwear
- CLO
Rework and returns tune the policy
What you get. Real work, every week.
- Same block as an approved style
- Same fabric, calibrated in the simulation
- Same factory, same construction
- No repeat fit comments on this blockTwo repeats
One open test means a physical sample
The test a style passes before a digital approval can replace a physical sample.
- Carryover, digital approvalFit returns after release2 per 1,000Keep
- New fabric, physical sampleFit returns after release3 per 1,000Keep
- New fit, digital approvalTried on two styles9 per 1,000Stop
After the first season, the policy is checked against what happened downstream.
How you’ll know it’s working.
Physical samples per released style
The number a stricter or looser policy is meant to move.
Fit returns after release
Fewer samples only count if fit problems don’t show up later.
Rework after production starts
The cost that skipped samples can quietly create.
Baselines agreed before we build.
- Products developed a year
- 240
- Sample rounds avoided per product
- 0.5
- Sample cost avoided: 120 rounds at $240
- $28,800
- Setup
- $45,000
- Running cost for the year
- $24,000
- First-year cash
- −$40,200
A worked example for a brand developing 240 products a year, not Fernway’s. The 600 staff hours saved are $36,000 of capacity, not cash. From year two it’s +$4,800 a year, and year one breaks even at 1.2 rounds avoided per product.
Works with what you have.
3D sampling
- Browzwear
- CLO
PLM & specs
- FlexPLM
- Centric PLM
- Techpacker
- We configure first
- If you already own a 3D tool, we use it. The policy comes first: which styles it can stand in for a physical sample.
- We build when
- Your fit history sits in many places and needs counting by style before you change the rule.
What a first build includes.
Built in your accounts, around your team. Scope, fee and baseline agreed before we start.
- 1Design
- 2Build
- 3Run it, or hand it over
We build
- A sample policy by style type, written with your team
- A fit and rework history by block, fabric and factory
- A check that classifies each new style
- A running count of rounds, rework and fit returns
We start from
- Tech packs and sample history
- Fit returns by style
- Cost per sample round and staff time
From your team
- Owner
- Product director or head of development
- Involves
- Development
- Technical design
- Finance
- Factory partner
Questions teams ask.
Do you recommend 3D sampling?
Where your history supports it. 3D sampling has matured for carryover styles. A peer-reviewed study of compression garments found no clear match between virtual and physical pressure, which is why new materials keep a physical sample until your own tests say otherwise.
Can you promise fewer samples?
No. We show how many rounds each kind of style takes today, what each costs, and what a stricter or looser rule would do to rework and returns.
Who owns it once it’s running?
You do. It’s built in your accounts, documented, with training for the people who run it. Ownership usually sits with your product director or head of development. We can keep running it with you, or step back.
How do we start?
Usually with a development review: two to four weeks, a fixed fee credited to the build, and a plan that’s yours. If the job is already clear, we can scope the build directly.
Part of your development engine. One of 12 use cases, in 5 parts.
See the whole development engineSample where it earns its cost. Start with a development review.
We reply within one business day.