Why outsourced doesn't mean uncontrolled
For buyers familiar with European mills where everything happens under one roof, subcontracted finishing can look like a risk. It isn't — provided the subcontracting is structured correctly. Here's how we structure it:
- Long-term partnerships. The facilities we work with are decade-plus partners. We don't bid finishing out season by season. Long relationships are how you get consistent shade, consistent hand, consistent reliability.
- Scope certification. Every facility that handles our material is included in the Control Union scope certificate that covers our GOTS / OCS / GRS claims. They are audited annually as an extension of our own audit. Their certification is part of ours, not separate from it.
- Chain of custody. Every lot leaves our plant with a job challan and returns with a matching return document. Lot numbers stay consistent from yarn receipt all the way through to finished fabric dispatch. GOTS chain-of-custody is preserved.
- In-house QC, both sides. Greige fabric is inspected before it leaves us. Finished fabric is re-inspected when it returns. Defects attributable to weaving are at our cost; defects attributable to finishing are at the finisher's cost. The split is enforced through our own inspection records.
Yarn dyeing
Greige yarn that needs to be coloured for yarn-dyed constructions (stripes, checks, dyed solids) is sent out to certified yarn dyeing facilities under our scope. Typical turnaround is around two weeks depending on the shade and quantity. The yarn returns with a job challan, is re-inspected for shade against the approved swatch, and stocked alongside our greige yarn inventory until it's allocated to a production programme.
Shades are matched against either an approved colour standard from the customer or our own library of standard shades. For new colours, lab dips and bulk approvals run through our sampling team before any production yarn is committed.
Fabric finishing
Greige fabric coming off our looms is finished through certified subcontracted facilities under our scope. Finishing covers a wide range of processes depending on the construction and end use:
- Desize, scour, bleach — preparation steps that strip out warp size and natural waxes
- Dyeing — piece-dyeing for solids that aren't yarn-dyed
- Mercerising — for cotton and cotton-blend fabrics, improves lustre and dye uptake
- Calendering — pressure and heat finishing for hand and surface character
- Softening — chemical or mechanical for the final hand
- Stentering — width and dimensional stability
- Specialty finishes — stain repellent, antimicrobial, fire retardant, etc., available on request and on the right substrate
Quality process
- Greige inspection before fabric leaves our plant. Defects are flagged and piece-wise records kept.
- Job challan accompanies every lot sent to a finisher, including the lot number, roll count, weight, and finishing specification.
- Finisher processes the fabric per our specification.
- Return challan matches the outbound job challan when finished fabric comes back.
- Final inspection on our in-house inspection line catches any defects introduced during finishing.
- Dispatch to the customer with full lot traceability.
For buyers needing extra scrutiny
If your compliance team needs to visit or audit any of the certified facilities in our scope chain directly, we will arrange it under NDA. Nothing in our supply chain is off-limits to a legitimate buyer audit — we just don't broadcast our supplier list publicly because those relationships are part of our competitive position.