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Cut-to-pack is the stretch of garment manufacturing that starts when fabric is cut and ends when finished goods are packed and ready to ship. Managing it well means managing the hand-offs between stages, because that is where time is lost.
The seven stages
- Fabric and trims. Fabric is received, inspected and matched to the order. Trims, labels and packaging are in house or have a firm arrival date.
- Sampling and approvals. Proto, size-set, pre-production and seal samples are approved, so every team works to the same confirmed specification.
- Cutting. Marker planning, spreading, cutting and bundling. Utilisation and handling are decided here.
- Sewing. Lines are loaded against capacity and manpower, and balanced so no operation starves or floods the next.
- Finishing. Trimming, pressing, inspection, rework and measurement.
- Packing. Folding, tagging, assortment and cartons exactly as the buyer's packing instruction says.
- Dispatch. Documents, booking and transport confirmed before the final carton closes.
Where late shipments start
Rarely on the sewing line. They usually start earlier: fabric released before shade or GSM approval, trims arriving late, an approval changed mid-run, or a plan that assumed more capacity than the floor had. By the time the line is behind, the cause is days old.
What good control looks like
- Material and approval status reviewed every day, not only when something is late.
- WIP visible at each step, with limits that stop over-feeding the line.
- Defects fixed at the operation that made them, not at the end of the line.
- Risks raised at the daily cross-functional meeting instead of on shipping day.
Measures worth tracking
Target versus actual output, line efficiency, rework, wastage, cut-to-ship ratio and on-time delivery.
To self-check an order before release, use the free cut-to-pack readiness checklist. For an outside review of your own flow, see consultancy.