Bulk Cashmere Orders

Volume changes what matters. On twenty pieces you worry about whether the sample is right. On two thousand you worry about consistency, scheduling, dye lots and what happens if one line runs late. This page covers how a bulk order is structured and where the risks actually sit.

45–60Working days production

50 / 50Advance and pre-dispatch payment

5%Rejection tolerance

FOBKathmandu, or ex-works

How quantity is counted

Bulk is not one number. It is a grid, and the grid is what determines whether an order is efficient to make.

Level	Minimum	What drives it
Per style	20 pieces knitted; 50 woven	Machine or loom setup, pattern development, mending training
Per colour	10 pieces woven; 20 knitted	Dye bath volume — a small bath is disproportionately expensive and less consistent
Per size	5 pieces	Knitting programme change per size
Blankets	5 pieces total, 1–3 per colour	Loom width and yarn quantity per piece

A thousand pieces spread across forty styles in nine colours each is a harder order to produce well than a thousand pieces across six styles in four colours. If you can consolidate, you get better consistency and a cleaner schedule. If you cannot, say so early and we will build the schedule around it.

What changes as volume grows

Area	Small order	Bulk order
Dyeing	Single bath per colour	Multiple baths — lot allocation and shade banding become an issue to manage deliberately
Scheduling	One production window	Staged production; lines can be released in phases if you need early stock
Inspection	Piece by piece	Sampled inspection against the sealed sample, with defined check points during production
Packing	Simple	Carton plans, packing lists, size and colour ratios per carton, barcode and labelling requirements
Shipping	Courier	Air freight or sea freight; documentation, certificate of origin, commercial invoice, packing list
Risk	One sample approval	In-line checks so that a problem is found at piece fifty, not piece nine hundred

Consistency: the thing that actually goes wrong

Bulk failures are rarely dramatic. They are usually a shade drift between lots, a weight variance across a run, or a finishing difference that only shows when two pieces sit next to each other on a rail.

Shade

Where a colour needs more yarn than one dye bath holds, the colour will be dyed in more than one lot. The practical controls are: approve the lab dip physically, keep a retained swatch, ask for lots to be kept separate in packing so that a single retail delivery is from one lot, and set an acceptable tolerance in writing before production starts rather than arguing about it after.

Weight and dimension

Handwoven and hand-flat knitted goods carry natural variation. A featherlight stole specified at 72–95 g is a range, not a single figure, and that range is honest rather than evasive. Agree the tolerance at sample approval. A specification that says “90 g” with no tolerance is a specification that will be breached.

Finishing

Washing, pressing, fringe twisting and mending are hand operations. Consistency comes from the same people doing the same job through a run, which is one practical argument for consolidating a style into a single production window rather than splitting it across months.

Quality control through the run

Check point	What is verified
Yarn intake	Composition, count, ply and colour against the approved lab dip
First off the machine or loom	Dimensions, weight, density and construction against the sealed sample — before the run continues
In-line	Periodic checks during the run for drift in tension, weight or shade
After finishing	Handle, dimensional stability after wash, pilling behaviour, fringe and edge finish
Mending	Dropped stitches, holes, weaving faults corrected by hand
Final	Count, labelling, packing, carton contents against the packing list

Third-party inspection. If your own procedures require an independent inspection before shipment, arrange it and tell us at order confirmation so the schedule allows for it. We will not treat an inspector as an obstacle. Book it against the sealed sample and a written AQL standard, not against a subjective impression — an inspection without an agreed reference produces arguments, not information.

Repeat production

A repeat order should be the easy one. It usually is not, because the specification that produced the first run was never written down properly.

Keep the sealed sample. It is the reference. Store it away from light.
Keep the approved lab dip for every colour you intend to repeat.
Record the technical sheet — yarn count, ply, gauge or reed, dimensions before and after wash, weight, finishing sequence.
Reference the original order number when you reorder, so the same recipe and construction are pulled rather than rebuilt.
Expect a commercial match on colour, not an identical one. Plan merchandising accordingly.

Scheduling a bulk order backwards

Working back from	Allow
Goods on your shelf	—
Customs clearance and inland delivery	Varies by country; build in a buffer
Freight	Air is days; sea is weeks. Decide early — it changes the whole calendar
Production	45–60 working days from confirmed order and approved sample
Sample approval and corrections	Allow for at least one correction round
Development sample	30–45 days for a new style
Brief and feasibility	A few days

For a new style delivered by sea, five to six months is a comfortable calendar. Existing constructions in new colours compress that considerably, because development drops out.

Commercial terms

Item	Standard
Payment	50% advance on order confirmation, 50% before dispatch
Sampling	2× unit cost, payable 100% in advance
Development sample	30–45 days, 100% advance
Production	45–60 working days
Pricing basis	Ex-works or FOB Kathmandu; freight, duties and taxes to consignee
Rejection tolerance	Up to 5%