Your First Factory Visit: What Every Designer Should Know Before Walking Through Those Doors
The questions to ask, the details to observe, and the relationship-building that starts before you even arrive.
There's a moment every independent designer faces, usually somewhere between your third email that went unanswered and your second sample that arrived nothing like what you envisioned, when you realize: I need to see this place for myself.
A factory visit isn't a luxury. It's a necessity. Whether you're mid-production and trying to diagnose communication breakdowns, or just starting out and vetting a potential manufacturing partner, stepping onto that production floor changes everything. You'll learn more in three hours walking through a facility than you will in three months of emails.
But here's what no one tells you: the visit itself requires preparation. You don't just show up. You arrive with intention, with questions, with eyes trained on the details that matter.
I've spent years in fashion production, from the floors of major houses to small-batch facilities in Bali, from NYC cut-and-sew operations to Miami luxury home goods manufacturing facilities. This is what I've learned about making a factory visit count.
Before You Go: Preparation Is Everything
The work begins before you board the plane, jump on the subway or get in the car. A productive factory visit starts with clarity about what you need to understand.
If you're already in production, you likely have pain points: samples arriving late, miscommunication about fabric specifications, confusion about who to contact for what. Write these down. Be specific. "Communication is hard" isn't actionable. "I sent my tech pack revisions to three different email addresses and don't know who actually received them" is something you can solve.
If you're just starting out and evaluating a potential partner, your questions will be different. You're assessing capability, capacity, and cultural fit.
Can they handle your minimum order quantities? Do they have experience with your category? What does their quality control process look like?
Either way, prepare a written list. Not a mental list, an actual document you'll reference during and after the visit. Your brain will be processing a tremendous amount of sensory information on the factory floor. You need something concrete to anchor you.
What to Observe on the Production Floor
When you walk through those doors, your job is to notice. Not just the obvious things, the machines, the workers, the finished goods, but the subtleties that reveal how this operation actually runs.
Watch the workflow. Is the fabric being received on the same floor it will be cut on? How does a garment move from station to station? Where do bottlenecks occur? Is there a logical progression, or does everything seem chaotic? The physical organization of a factory floor tells you about the mental organization of its management.
Look at the people. Are they focused? Do they seem comfortable? How do they interact with each other? The treatment of workers isn't just an ethical consideration, it directly affects the quality of your product. Happy, well-treated workers produce better work. It's that simple.
Examine the work environment. Is it clean? Well-lit? Properly ventilated? These conditions matter for sustainability and ethics, but they're also indicators of how much the factory values precision and care.
Pay attention to what's being produced for other clients, to the extent you can without being intrusive. What kinds of brands are they working with? This tells you about their capabilities and their position in the market.
The Questions That Actually Matter
Beyond your prepared list of specific concerns, there are questions every designer should ask, regardless of where they are in the process.
Who is my single point of contact? This is perhaps the most important question you can ask. Unclear communication channels are the source of most production problems. You need one name, one email, one phone number. If they can't give you that, it's a red flag.
What's your current capacity and timeline? Factories have seasons. They have other clients. Understanding where you fit in their production calendar is essential for setting realistic expectations. Most factories in Asia are finishing holiday orders by early January and then close for Chinese New Year through mid-February. In Italy the factories are required to close in August and again in December to clean their machinery. Plan accordingly.
What information do you need from me to produce accurately? A good factory will tell you exactly what they require: detailed tech packs, specific measurements, fabric specifications, trim details. Factories that don't ask for comprehensive information upfront often produce disappointing results.
What happens when something goes wrong? Problems will arise. What's their process for handling them? How do they communicate issues? Who makes decisions about quality control failures? You want to know their crisis protocol before you're in a crisis.
Building the Relationship
Here's something designers often underestimate: factories prioritize clients with whom they have good relationships. This isn't favoritism, it's practical. When a factory trusts you, when they know you'll provide clear specifications and pay on time and communicate respectfully, they'll move mountains for you.
Your factory visit is the beginning of that relationship. Be present. Be curious. Be gracious. Ask about their history, their specialties, their proudest projects. Treat the floor workers with the same respect you show management.
I've worked with Italian factories and suppliers where patience is essential, they move at their own pace, but the quality is exceptional. I've partnered with facilities in Bali where the craftsmanship is extraordinary but communication styles differ from Western expectations. In every case, the factories that have gone above and beyond for me are the ones where I invested in the relationship first.
After the Visit: What Happens Next
The visit itself is only the beginning. Within 24 hours, send a follow-up email thanking them for their time and summarizing what you discussed. This creates a written record and demonstrates professionalism.
Review your notes. What did you learn? What concerns remain? What next steps do you need to take?
If this is a new partnership, don't commit immediately. Give yourself time to process. Talk to other designers who've worked with them if possible. Trust your instincts, if something felt off, pay attention to that, it may mean there is something under the surface that you did not see.
If you're already in production with this factory, use what you learned to improve your systems. Maybe you need to consolidate your communications. Maybe you need more detailed tech packs. Maybe you simply need to build in more time for their production schedule.
Taking the Next Step
A factory visit can transform your production process, but only if you're equipped to make the most of it. That's exactly why I created the Factory Visit Preparation Checklist inside Studio Systems by Oceo Luxe.
It's a Notion template that walks you through everything: pre-visit preparation, questions to ask based on where you are in the production process, observation prompts for the floor, and a post-visit action plan. The kind of tool I wish I'd had when I was navigating factory relationships on my own.