Guides

Garment and apparel merchandising guides

Plain-English guides to the topics merchandisers search for most: costing, tech packs, incoterms, purchase orders, the critical path, colour approval, inspection and sourcing. Each one links to the ATMA lessons that teach it.

• The garment costing sheetWhat a garment costing sheet is, the cost components it adds up, and the ATMA lessons on costing fabric, trims, making charge and print.
• The tech packWhat a garment tech pack is, what goes in it (bill of materials, construction, measurements) and the ATMA lessons on building one that can be costed.
• FOB, CMT and incotermsFOB, CMT (cut, make and trim), full package and incoterms in plain words: who supplies the fabric, who pays for what, and where risk passes.
• What does a garment merchandiser do?What a garment merchandiser does: following an order from the first request to shipment, and the chain of companies and stages behind one T-shirt.
• The critical path of a garment orderThe critical path of a garment order: milestones between order confirmation and shipment, working backward from the ship date, and spotting a slip early.
• Lab dips and colour approvalWhat a lab dip is, how a colour is approved before bulk dyeing, how to read an approval report, and why a colour can look different under different light.
• AQL and final inspectionWhat AQL means, why a factory inspects a sample instead of every piece, how to read an AQL sampling table and what happens when an inspection fails.
• The purchase orderWhat a garment purchase order must state before production starts, how to read one for gaps, and how an amendment changes the other terms.
• Supplier sourcing and qualificationWhere a merchandiser finds new suppliers, how a supplier is qualified before a first trial order, and the red flags that should stop a qualification.
• How to become a garment merchandiser: what to learn, in orderA learning path for garment merchandising, in order: the business, costing, tech packs, purchase orders, the critical path, sourcing and quality.