The factory for the world

Most businesses that buy apparel in volume face the same two problems: they cannot find a factory that will take their order at a workable quantity, and they cannot see what anything should actually cost until they have spent weeks negotiating. factori.com was built to remove both. Product categories, specifications and indicative pricing are published openly on the site before you speak to anyone, and the minimum order quantity starts at 100 pieces per style per colour rather than the 1,000–5,000 pieces a single factory typically demands.

There are three ways businesses buy from us:

• Contract manufacturing — we manufacture to your design, fabric, colour and branding specification, under your own brand label.
• Ready-stock bulk supply — standard products in available specifications, dispatched in 7–10 days when you need volume quickly.
• Corporate gifting and merchandise — branded apparel and hard goods for employee kits, events, onboarding and campaigns.

As of July 2026, factori.com works with 600+ partner factories, has delivered to 132 countries and has shipped over 4.3 million products. Orders are consolidated, inspected and dispatched from our own 1.5-acre fulfilment centre on Bannerghatta–Jigani Road, Bengaluru. Every order is managed by a single point of contact, so you are not coordinating between a sourcing agent, a factory and a freight forwarder yourself.

Apparel: t-shirts (round neck, polo, V-neck), hoodies, sweatshirts, shirts, jackets, trousers, jeans and jeggings, innerwear, sleepwear and loungewear, raincoats, women's ethnic wear, western tops, dresses, shrugs, sarees, and men's shirt & dhoti sets.

Uniforms: school and college uniforms, corporate and industrial uniforms, security and housekeeping uniforms, healthcare and hospital uniforms, and hotel and hospitality uniforms — including matched sets, seasonal variants and multi-site size-graded rollouts.

Bags and accessories: laptop bags, school and college bags, tote bags, handbags and wallets, and caps.

Home and hospitality textiles: towels, bedding and linen.

Corporate gifting and merchandise: water bottles, cups and mugs, pens, diaries, clocks, mobile accessories and curated gifting kits.

If a product you need is not listed, it is still worth asking. Our partner network covers a wide range of manufacturing capabilities, and products outside the published catalogue are regularly produced against a specification or a reference sample. Send the specification or a photograph of a comparable product and we will confirm feasibility, quantity and price.

The 100-piece floor exists for a physical reason rather than a commercial one. Fabric is dyed in lots and cut using a marker laid across many layers at once; below roughly 100 pieces the setup cost per garment — dyeing, marker making, screen preparation, embroidery digitising — rises faster than the manufacturing saving, and the price stops being attractive to you. Most single factories set their floor at 1,000 pieces or higher for exactly the same reason. We can work at 100 because we aggregate demand across many buyers and book unutilised capacity rather than buying a dedicated production line.

Three practical points that change what the MOQ means in practice:

Multiple colours multiply the minimum. Three colours of the same t-shirt is a 300-piece order, not 100, because each colour is a separate dye lot.

Multiple styles are counted separately. 100 polos and 100 hoodies is a valid 200-piece order across two styles.

Ready stock has no 100-piece constraint in the same way. Standard items already in stock can be supplied in smaller quantities and shipped in 7–10 days.

Per-piece price falls as quantity rises, and the steps are meaningful — the difference between 100, 1,000 and 10,000 pieces is significant enough that it is worth asking for pricing at more than one quantity before you commit. Quotes are issued at multiple volume tiers on request.

Each of the three matters differently depending on what you order:

Consolidated raw-material procurement. Fabric, trims, thread and packaging are bought at aggregate volume across every order on the platform. A buyer ordering 500 t-shirts gets fabric at a rate normally available only to someone buying tens of thousands.

Unutilised factory capacity. Apparel factories run below full capacity for large parts of the year. Filling that idle time is profitable for the factory at a CMT rate, because the fixed costs are already covered. You pay for labour and conversion, not for the factory's overhead recovery and full commercial margin.

Software instead of intermediaries. Order allocation, material issue, production milestones and quality reporting run on our own factory-management system. There is no sourcing agent taking a percentage for making phone calls.

On transparency: factori.com publishes product details and indicative pricing openly on the website before you enquire — something no other B2B apparel platform in India does. You can size a budget before you talk to a salesperson.

What a formal quote contains: the per-piece manufactured price at your quantity, fabric and GSM specification, branding cost itemised by method and placement, labels and packaging, applicable taxes, freight and (for exports) duties where relevant, the lead time, and the payment terms. There are no charges introduced later that were not on the quote. If a specification change moves the price — a heavier GSM, an extra print colour, a different packaging format — you are told before it is applied, not after.

Why a network beats a single factory. One factory has one capability set. A unit that excels at knitted t-shirts is usually not the right place for structured corporate uniforms, laptop bags or embroidered jackets, and a buyer tied to a single supplier either accepts a compromised product or starts a new sourcing exercise for every new category. A network lets us allocate each order to a factory that is genuinely good at that product, absorb volume spikes that would overwhelm one unit, and keep your delivery date safe if any single facility hits a problem.

How factories are evaluated. Partner factories go through a structured six-point assessment before they receive any order — covering manufacturing capability for the relevant product, available capacity, statutory and labour compliance, quality systems, commercial terms, and consistency of past output. Performance is tracked order by order after onboarding, and allocation follows the record.

The payment discipline that protects you. Partner factories are paid only after the finished goods clear our quality check. That single rule aligns the factory's interest with yours: there is no incentive to push marginal goods through, because marginal goods do not get paid for.

Can you visit? Yes — our Experience Centre and the 1.5-acre fulfilment centre on Bannerghatta–Jigani Road, Bengaluru are open to buyers by appointment, where you can see fabric quality, branding methods, finished samples and the inspection process first hand. We do not arrange visits to individual partner factories, because our agreements with those factories include confidentiality commitments we are not willing to breach. Visibility into your specific order is provided instead through the approved pre-production sample, production milestone updates and quality inspection reports.

What is branded to you: woven or printed neck labels (or a printed neck label where a tagless finish is wanted), care and content labels to your wording and statutory market requirements, size labels, hang tags and swing tickets, polybag stickers and barcode labels, and printed or plain outer packaging including retail-ready and e-commerce-ready formats.

What we need from you to start: artwork in vector format (AI, EPS or PDF) for anything printed or embroidered, Pantone references for colour matching, your label wording and dimensions, a size chart or measurement spec, and your packing and labelling requirement. If you are selling into a specific market, tell us at enquiry stage — care-label content and fibre-composition wording are regulated differently across markets and are far cheaper to get right before production than after.

If you do not have a tech pack, that is not a blocker. Many first-time buyers arrive with a reference garment they like, a rough sketch or a competitor's product. We convert that into a working specification — fabric type and GSM, construction, measurements, trims and branding — produce a pre-production sample against it, and only start bulk once you have approved the physical sample in your hand. From the second order onwards the approved spec is on record, so repeat runs are consistent.

You own your designs. Artwork, patterns and specifications you supply remain yours, and are used only for your orders.

Screen printing is the workhorse for volume. A separate screen is made for each colour in the design, so it suits bold, flat, limited-colour artwork — logos, slogans, event branding — on cotton and cotton-blend garments. Setup cost is fixed per colour, which means the per-piece cost drops sharply with quantity: it is almost always the cheapest option above a few hundred pieces, and rarely the cheapest below a hundred.

Sublimation printing bonds dye into polyester fibre, so the print has no surface feel at all and cannot crack or peel. It handles full-colour, photographic and edge-to-edge all-over designs that screen printing cannot. The constraint is fabric: sublimation works on polyester and high-polyester blends, and will not hold on cotton. It is the standard choice for sports jerseys, athleisure and all-over patterned garments.

DTF (direct-to-film) printing transfers a full-colour printed film onto the garment. It reproduces photographic detail and unlimited colours with no per-colour setup, which makes it economical for small runs, sampling, and designs with gradients or many colours. It works across cotton, polyester and blends.

Embroidery stitches the design directly into the fabric. It reads as the most premium and the most durable option, and is the default for corporate polos, caps, jackets and formal uniforms. Pricing is driven by stitch count rather than colour count, so a small dense logo can cost more than a large simple one. Fine text below roughly 4–5mm and photographic detail do not reproduce well — those belong in print.

Engraving applies to hard goods — bottles, pens, mugs, clocks and metal merchandise — giving a permanent mark that will not wear off with use or washing.

Multiple methods can be combined on one product: an embroidered chest logo with a screen-printed back panel is a common corporate specification. Branding is priced per placement, so tell us every position you want at enquiry stage. Note that complex or multi-position branding extends the production lead time to 25–30 days.

What drives the difference. Fabric availability is almost always the deciding factor. A standard colour held in stock skips the dyeing cycle entirely; a custom Pantone match adds a dye lot, a shade approval and a drying and finishing cycle. Branding is the second factor — a single-colour chest print adds little, while a six-colour front, an all-over sublimated panel or a high-stitch-count embroidery adds days of screen preparation, digitising and machine time. Quantity matters least of the three at typical order sizes, because production is allocated across the network rather than queued at one unit.

When the clock actually starts. The lead time runs from the point at which three things are settled: the purchase order is issued, the pre-production sample is approved, and the final artwork is signed off. This is worth planning around, because it is the most common cause of a missed date. An order placed on the 1st with artwork approved on the 12th delivers as if it were placed on the 12th. If you have a hard deadline — an event, a store opening, a school session, a conference — tell us the in-hand date at enquiry stage rather than the order date, and we will work backwards and tell you honestly whether it is achievable before you commit.

Tracking. Production is reported against milestones — material in, cutting, stitching, branding, finishing, quality check, packing, dispatch — so you can see where the order stands at any point rather than waiting for a delivery date to arrive or slip.

1. Share your requirement. Tell us the product, quantity, colours, size ratio, fabric and GSM if you know it, branding method and placement, packaging requirement, delivery destination and your in-hand date. If you have a tech pack or a reference sample, send it. If you do not, a photograph and a rough description are enough to start. Enquire through the website, call +91 874 707 1444, or contact your assigned sales lead.

2. Receive the quotation. You get an itemised quote: per-piece price at your quantity, fabric specification, branding cost by method and placement, labels and packaging, taxes, freight where applicable, lead time and payment terms. Ask for pricing at more than one volume tier if you are still sizing the order — the per-piece difference between 100, 1,000 and 10,000 pieces is material.

3. Approve the sample. A pre-production sample is made to your exact specification — your fabric, colour, labels and branding. This is the reference standard the entire bulk order is later judged against, so review it properly: fabric hand-feel, shade, fit and measurements, print or embroidery placement and quality, label accuracy. Sample charges are credited back against your bulk order.

4. Issue the purchase order. You issue a PO against the quote, or we raise a proforma invoice you can process. Commercial terms, specification, quantity, price and delivery date are locked at this point. This is the document that makes the delivery commitment contractual.

5. Track production. The order moves through material issue, cutting, stitching, branding, finishing, quality check and packing, with milestone updates at each stage. Your point of contact flags any risk to the date as it emerges rather than at the end.

6. Quality check and delivery. Finished goods are consolidated at our Bengaluru fulfilment centre and inspected against the approved sample before anything ships. Goods are then dispatched with full documentation — GST invoice for domestic orders, and complete export paperwork for international shipments.

For a first order, the fastest route is a phone call: most requirements can be scoped, specified and quoted in a single conversation.

There are two kinds of sample, and they answer different questions:

A reference or stock sample is an existing product in a comparable fabric and construction. It is the fastest way to judge fabric hand-feel, weight, fit and build quality before you invest in a full specification. It will not carry your colour, labels or branding.

A pre-production sample (PPS) is made to your exact tech pack — your fabric, your GSM, your Pantone colour, your labels and your branding in the correct positions. This is the one you formally approve, and the one bulk output is measured against.

Why samples are charged. A single sample carries the full setup cost of a production run compressed into one garment — a dye lot or fabric purchase, pattern and marker making, a screen or embroidery digitising file, and a machine setup — without any of the volume that normally absorbs it. Charging for it keeps sampling serious and available to buyers who intend to order, and the charge comes back to you the moment the bulk order is placed. In effect, if you order, the sample is free.

What to check when it arrives. Measure it against your size chart rather than trying it on. Check the shade in daylight, not under office lighting. Check print and embroidery placement with a tape, check the wash care wording, and if durability matters, wash it before you approve it. Approving a sample that is slightly wrong means approving the whole order slightly wrong — changes are inexpensive at sample stage and expensive after cutting has started.

Sample lead time and courier cost are confirmed with your quotation.

1. Before production — factory assessment. Partner factories pass a structured six-point evaluation covering capability for the specific product type, capacity, statutory and labour compliance, quality systems, commercials and consistency of past output. Orders are then allocated to a factory genuinely equipped for that product rather than to whoever is free.

2. At the start — the approved sample. Your signed-off pre-production sample is the standard. This matters more than any written specification, because it is physical and unambiguous: shade, hand-feel, fit, stitching and branding placement are compared against an object rather than argued about against a document.

3. During production — in-line checks. Checks run through cutting, stitching, branding and finishing rather than only at the end. Catching a shade variation or a placement error at the first bundle costs a few pieces; catching it at final inspection costs the run.

4. Before dispatch — final inspection. Goods are consolidated at our own 1.5-acre fulfilment centre in Bengaluru and inspected against the approved sample before anything leaves. Inspection covers measurements against the size chart, fabric GSM and shade consistency across the lot, stitching and seam quality, print and embroidery placement and durability, label accuracy and wording, and packing and carton marking. Anything that fails is corrected or replaced before dispatch, not discovered by you after delivery.

Certifications and buyer standards. If your order must meet a specific standard — a fibre certification, a compliance audit, a retailer's own code of conduct, or a tender specification — state it at enquiry stage. It determines which factory the order is allocated to, and it is straightforward to plan for upfront and difficult to retrofit once production has begun.

Why the first order is on advance. Contract manufacturing is not a stock sale. Once you approve a purchase order, fabric is dyed to your colour, screens are burned to your artwork, labels are woven with your brand name and factory capacity is blocked for your delivery window. All of that is committed specifically to your order and has no resale value to anyone else. The advance covers commitments made on your behalf, and it is the reason we can quote CMT-based pricing rather than the higher rates that carry financing risk in them.

How terms open up. Enterprise and MNC procurement teams generally cannot transact on advance because their own payables policy does not permit it — those cases are handled through a negotiated contract with defined credit terms, and are agreed before the order rather than raised as an exception mid-order. Repeat buyers with a clean order history move to flexible terms as a matter of course. For very large orders, staged payment against production milestones can be structured.

What you receive. A GST-compliant tax invoice for domestic orders, and complete commercial and export documentation for international shipments. Payment is made to factori.com against that invoice — you never pay a factory directly, and you never manage a factory's payment risk.

How your money is protected. The purchase order is a contract covering specification, quantity, price and delivery date. Your approved sample defines the quality standard. And partner factories are paid by us only after goods clear the final quality check — so the party being paid last is the party whose work is being inspected.

Accepted payment methods, currency options for export orders and any credit arrangement are confirmed on your quotation.

Freight. Both sea and air freight are available and are quoted with the order. Sea freight is the economical choice for volume where the timeline allows; air freight is used for urgent replenishment, samples, launch quantities and event deadlines. Because we consolidate at our own Bengaluru fulfilment centre, multiple styles and multiple production batches ship as one consignment with one set of documents rather than as several separate arrivals.

Documentation we prepare. Commercial invoice, packing list with carton-level detail, certificate of origin, shipping bill and customs filing, and any additional certificate your destination market or your own compliance team requires — provided the requirement is stated at enquiry stage, since some certificates must be arranged during production rather than after it.

Import duties and taxes in the destination country are determined by that country's tariff schedule and by the commercial terms agreed. Tell us the delivery terms your business works on and the destination, and freight and applicable charges will be set out on the quotation so the landed cost is clear before you commit.

Domestic India delivery is handled on the same basis, with GST-compliant invoicing and delivery to one location or split across multiple sites — useful for uniform rollouts across branches, campuses, hospitals or hotel properties, where each location can receive its own size-graded, pre-labelled cartons.

If you are importing from India for the first time, say so. The documentation sequence, the timing of each step and what your customs broker will need are all straightforward once explained, and the first shipment is where buyers most often lose time.

Corporates and enterprises — employee uniforms and dress-code apparel, onboarding and welcome kits, branded t-shirts and polos for offsites and campaigns, and corporate gifting for festivals, milestones and client programmes.

Schools, colleges and universities — full uniform sets, sports and house kits, bags, and annual-session repeat supply with consistent shade and specification year on year.

Hospitals and healthcare — scrubs, lab coats, patient and attendant wear, and support-staff uniforms in specifications appropriate to clinical laundering.

Hotels and hospitality — department-differentiated uniforms across front office, housekeeping, food and beverage and kitchen, plus towels and linen.

Retail and fashion brands — private-label production of full collections and repeat lines under the brand's own labels and packaging.

E-commerce and D2C brands — launch quantities from 100 pieces per style per colour with retail-ready and marketplace-ready packaging and labelling.

Industrial and manufacturing companies — workwear and shop-floor uniforms in durable specifications, produced in size-graded multi-site quantities.

Security and facility-management firms — guarding and housekeeping uniforms in high volumes with consistent supply for a rotating workforce.

Promotional merchandise and event agencies — event apparel and branded merchandise produced to a fixed in-hand date.

Order sizes range from a 100-piece launch run for a new brand to multi-lakh-piece annual contracts for institutional buyers. The process, the quality control and the accountability are the same at both ends of that range.

Contract manufacturing gives you control over every variable: fabric type and GSM, exact Pantone colour, fit and measurements, construction, branding method and placement, labels, and packaging. It produces a product that is genuinely yours and repeatable — the approved specification is on record, so the second order matches the first. The trade-offs are time (15 days with stock colour, 20–30 days with sourced or dyed colour, 25–30 days with complex branding) and the 100-piece-per-colour minimum.

Ready stock gives you speed. Standard products dispatch in 7–10 days, in smaller quantities, with branding applied to available garments. It is the right answer for an event three weeks away, an urgent replenishment, or a first small trial before committing to a full production run. The trade-off is that you take the fabric, fit and colour range that exists rather than the one you specify.

Why either beats buying from a trader or wholesaler. A trader resells finished goods somebody else made, at a markup, with no control over how they were made. You cannot change the fabric, you cannot hold anyone accountable for a quality standard that was never agreed, and you are paying a margin for warehousing and reselling rather than for manufacturing. With factori.com you are buying manufacturing: the price is built from CMT plus consolidated raw-material cost, the specification is yours, the quality standard is a physical sample you approved, and there is a purchase order behind the delivery date.

Why it also beats going direct to a single factory. A single factory typically wants 1,000–5,000 pieces to open the door, is good at one product family, buys raw material only at its own volume, and leaves you to manage production follow-up, quality inspection and logistics yourself. factori.com gives you a 100-piece entry point, allocation to a factory suited to your specific product, aggregated raw-material pricing, and a single point of contact who owns the outcome.

If you are unsure which route fits, describe the requirement and the date you need goods in hand — we will tell you which is achievable before you commit to either.