Minimum order & lead time
MOQ & Lead Time
We do not publish one universal MOQ and one universal lead time, because on lace neither of them is ours to fix in advance: both are decided by the pattern you choose, the material it is made from, the process it runs on and whether it is held in stock. This page explains how those decisions are reached. Your own MOQ and lead time are confirmed with your quotation, against your order.
Minimum order quantity
What decides an MOQ
We do not apply one house minimum to everything we make. Four things decide the minimum for a given pattern, and they are what we look at before we answer you.
The pattern
A pattern we already hold is a different proposition from one that has to be built from a reference. The pattern you name, or the reference you send, is the first thing an MOQ depends on.
The material
The fibre and the material the lace is made from change what a run has to be, and what has to be brought in for it. Composition is read with the pattern, never on its own.
The process
How the pattern is made is part of the minimum as well: a construction that only runs in a set-up run and one that can take an addition to something already running are not the same order.
Stock status
Whether a pattern is held in stock, held in a limited quantity, or made to order decides how little can be taken now, and whether anything has to be produced at all.
Two routes, two different answers
Regular and stocked styles
Patterns we carry as regular or stocked lines can support a faster or a smaller order, because the work behind them has already been done and the material is already accounted for.
Development styles
A pattern that has to be developed from your reference needs evaluation first - against what we hold, and for how it would be made - before anything honest can be said about its minimum.
Lead time
What decides lead time
Lead time is confirmed by the pattern and the quantity together. That means it cannot honestly be answered while a pattern is still only a reference: it belongs to the quotation stage of the order, not to the browsing stage.
- Send Requirement
- Search / Develop
- Preliminary Review
- Physical Sample
- Quote MOQ & lead time confirmed here
- PO
- Production
- QC
- Pre-shipment Confirmation
- Delivery
Development and sampling
A development order and a production order are two different lengths of work: the pattern has to be evaluated, made and approved as a sample before production can be scheduled at all. What can be said about a sample is not the same as what can be said about a bulk delivery.
Approvals, not the calendar
Colour, specification and sample approval are yours to give, so a lead time is only as firm as the confirmations behind it: the later those approvals arrive, the later a production date can be fixed. Lead time is counted from a confirmed order, never from the first enquiry.
Quotation
What a quotation depends on
A quotation depends on the quantity and the specification. We do not run a public price list, because a price belongs to a pattern, a specification and a quantity: it is quoted for your order rather than listed for everyone.
Quantity
How much you need, and whether this is a first development quantity or a production program. The same pattern quoted for a development and for a repeat production order is two different answers.
Specification
What the lace itself has to be: the pattern, the composition, the construction, the width, the stretch and the finish. Anything you leave open is a question we have to ask before we can quote.
Before you write
What to send us
The clearer the pattern and the quantity are from the start, the sooner the MOQ and the lead time can be answered. Send these in one message and it saves a round of questions.
- The pattern - a pattern number if you have one, or a reference image, swatch or sketch if you do not. We can match a reference against what we hold.
- The material or composition you have in mind, and what the lace is going into.
- The process or construction you are expecting, if you already know it.
- The quantity you are planning, and whether this is a development quantity or a production one.
- The specification you need: width, stretch and finish, so far as you have fixed them.
- When you need it - the window you are working to, so the timing can be discussed rather than assumed.
None of this is a form to fill in and nothing has to be complete. Tell us what you know, mark the rest as open, and we will come back with the questions that actually change the answer.
Next step
Start from the pattern and the quantity
Send the pattern or reference and the quantity you have in mind. From there we can review the pattern, say what the order would take, and confirm the MOQ and the lead time for your order along with the quotation.
Email gdp@lace-dog.com
Phone / WhatsApp 86-13185381515 WhatsApp