This page is for a buyer-side merchandiser who already knows an order's own overall timeline but has never listed, in one place, every separate approval that timeline actually depends on. At work, a buyer who only checks whether "approvals are done" in general, rather than checking each specific approval by name, can miss the one still open until a supplier admits cutting has not started. This lesson mainly teaches the information flow: it shows how to build a single list of every approval an order needs, each with its own due date and its own current status, instead of treating approvals as one vague stage on a timeline chart.
Northline Apparel places Order A, 15,000 pieces of a basic cotton T-shirt, with Delta Garments on a Make to Order basis. The order's own 16-week timeline allocates weeks 1 and 2 to approvals, then 5 weeks to fabric, before cutting and sewing can begin. Sara, the buyer, has been told "approvals are on track" for the past week. She has not yet asked Delta Garments to name every approval that phrase actually covers, or which of them, specifically, has already cleared.
You need: no previous lesson from this track, though a working knowledge of a sample approval outcome (approved, approved with comments, or rejected) is useful background for reading this lesson's tracker.
By the end of this lesson you can:
Not covered here: calculating a supplier's own on-time-in-full rate from shipment records, covered in lesson T27-C04-L02, and building a scorecard that predicts next season's risk, covered in lesson T27-C04-L03.
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Approvals | The stage where samples are made and signed off by the buyer before bulk production starts. |
| Approval matrix | A single list of every approval a specific order needs, across every approval type, each with its own due date, owner and current status. |
| Sample approval outcome | The named result a buyer issues once a sample review is complete: approved, approved with comments, or rejected. |
| Approved with comments | An outcome meaning the sample is close enough to proceed, but only once specific, stated changes named on the comment sheet are actually made. |
| Colour approval report | The document stating whether a submitted lab dip or strike-off matches the colour standard, and what must happen next. |
| Turnaround time | The time a buyer takes to review a sample and send back its comments or approval. |
| Approvals window | The number of days or weeks an order's own timeline sets aside for every required approval to clear before the next stage can start. |
The general rule is that a buyer never treats "approvals" as one single stage to check off. An order can depend on several separate approvals at once: a colour approval on the fabric's lab dip, a fit approval on the pre-production sample, and a trim approval on labels and packaging. Each one has its own submission date, its own reviewer, and its own outcome. An order is genuinely free to proceed only once every one of these has actually cleared, and a status update that says "approvals are fine" without naming each one hides exactly the information a buyer needs to catch a delay early.
| What can differ | The shapes you will meet | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Export Make to Order with a fixed shipment date | Order A's own approvals, colour, fit and trim, must all clear inside weeks 1 and 2 so fabric ordering can start on schedule toward the order's own day-13 port cut-off. | A fixed sailing date behind the timeline means a single late approval has no slack left to absorb later in the schedule. |
| Domestic Make to Stock reorder on a familiar style | Cedar & Co.'s own reorders on an already-approved style often need only a shortened approval matrix, since colour and fit were already signed off on an earlier order. | Skipping a genuinely new approval on a "familiar" style, when a fabric lot or trim supplier has actually changed, removes a check that still matters. |
| Hybrid line running two approval matrices at once | A factory running both an export order and a domestic reorder in one shift needs two separate approval matrices tracked side by side, not one combined list. | Merging two orders' own approvals into a single tracker hides which specific order still has an approval open. |
| Order sourced through an agent | Meridian Sourcing, acting for a European buyer, often relays approval submissions and outcomes between the buyer and the factory, adding one more step to each approval's own turnaround time. | An approval routed through an agent needs its own turnaround time tracked separately from a direct buyer-to-factory approval, since the extra step can add real days. |
Order A's approvals window runs from week 1 to week 2. Mona, the merchandiser at Delta Garments, has told Sara that "approvals are on track" for three days running. Sara asks Mona to list Order A's own approval matrix by name: the lab dip colour approval, the pre-production fit sample approval, and the Trimco label placement approval.
With 5 days left in the approvals window and a trim approval that has not even been submitted, Delta Garments has 2 days of genuine slack once the trim approval finally goes in, assuming its own usual 3-day turnaround holds and nothing is returned "approved with comments" requiring a resubmission. A status update that says "approvals on track" gives Sara none of this arithmetic.
A common mistake is a buyer accepting a supplier's general statement that "approvals are on track" as if it answered the question, when it may describe only the approval that has, in fact, already cleared, while staying silent about the one still open. The phrase feels reassuring precisely because it sounds complete, which is exactly why a buyer stops asking the one further question that would reveal the gap. What this costs is real: if Delta Garments' trim approval slips past its own 3-day turnaround, fabric ordering starts late against a 16-week timeline that already has a fixed day-13 port cut-off behind it, turning one quiet, unnamed approval into a missed sailing date.
An order can depend on several separate approvals at once, not one single approvals stage, and a buyer should always know each one by name, its own due date, and its own current outcome. Asking whether "approvals are on track" invites a vague answer; asking which specific approvals have cleared, which are pending, and which have not even been submitted invites the answer a buyer actually needs. Counting the days already used against an approvals window's own fixed total, rather than trusting a general feeling that things are fine, is what turns a status update into something a buyer can actually act on before a delay becomes real.
Order A's fabric ordering must start by day 14 of the approvals window to keep the 16-week timeline on schedule toward its own fixed day-13 port cut-off. It is day 9. Mona has told Sara "approvals are on track" for three consecutive daily updates, without naming which of the three required approvals, colour, fit, or trim, each one covers.
Should Sara accept this update without asking Mona to name each of the three approvals by status? Decide before opening the answer.
No, not without naming each approval. "On track" describes a feeling about the order, not a status for any one of the three required approvals.
First, asking Mona to name each approval reveals that the colour approval cleared on day 6 and the fit approval cleared, with comments, on day 8, but the trim approval has not been submitted at all.
Second, with only 5 days left in the 14-day approvals window, and the trim approval's own usual 3-day turnaround still to run once submitted, there is genuine but narrow slack, not the comfortable margin "on track" implied.
Sara should ask Mona to submit the trim approval today and confirm its outcome within 3 days, rather than accepting a general reassurance that leaves the one open approval unnamed until it becomes the reason fabric ordering starts late.
If the trim approval slips even 2 days past its own usual turnaround, because it was submitted late or returned "approved with comments" requiring a resubmission, fabric ordering starts after day 14, pushing the whole 16-week timeline past its own fixed day-13 port cut-off and putting the day-16 sailing date itself at risk. Catching an unnamed open approval on day 9, rather than day 13, is the entire difference between 2 days of genuine slack and none at all.
Open the course workbook's "Approval matrix" sheet. Enter each approval type the order needs, its submission date, reviewer and outcome; the sheet calculates days used and days remaining in the approvals window with a live formula, and flags any approval not yet marked "approved."
[Download the Approvals and OTIF scorecard worksheet](../../templates/T27-C04-approvals-and-otif-scorecard-worksheet.xlsx)
1. Order A's approvals window is 14 days. By day 10, the colour and fit approvals are marked approved, but the trim approval has not been submitted. How many days remain for the trim approval to clear?
2. A supplier reports that an order's 'approvals are on track' without naming which approvals have cleared. What is the most likely risk?
| EN | AR | FR | TR | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Approvals | الموافقات | Approbations | Onaylar | The stage where samples are made and signed off by the buyer before bulk production starts. |
| Approval matrix | مصفوفة الموافقات | Matrice d'approbation | Onay matrisi | A single list of every approval a specific order needs, across every approval type, each with its own due date, owner and current status. |
| Sample approval outcome | نتيجة اعتماد العينة | Résultat d'approbation de l'échantillon | Numune onay sonucu | The named result a buyer issues once a sample review is complete: approved, approved with comments, or rejected. |
| Approved with comments | معتمد مع ملاحظات | Approuvé avec commentaires | Yorumlarla onaylandı | An outcome meaning the sample is close enough to proceed, but only once specific, stated changes named on the comment sheet are actually made. |
| Colour approval report | تقرير اعتماد اللون | Rapport d'approbation de couleur | Renk onay raporu | The document stating whether a submitted lab dip or strike-off matches the colour standard, and what must happen next. |
| Turnaround time | وقت الرد | Délai de retour | Geri dönüş süresi | The time a buyer takes to review a sample and send back its comments or approval. |
| Approvals window | نافذة الموافقات | Fenêtre d'approbation | Onay penceresi | The number of days or weeks an order's own timeline sets aside for every required approval to clear before the next stage can start. |
You now know how to track every approval an order depends on before production starts. The next lesson shows how to calculate a supplier's own real on-time-in-full rate once goods are actually shipping. Back to the course map