Talk to almost any garment factory owner and they'll tell you the same thing: responding to RFQs takes too long. A single quote can consume 2–3 hours of the production manager's time — hunting for supplier prices, building a costing spreadsheet, formatting a professional email, double-checking the numbers.
Multiply that by 10–20 enquiries per week and you're spending 30–60 hours a month just on quoting. That's not sustainable. Worse, slow quotes lose orders. Buyers send the same RFQ to 5–8 factories. The first two or three who respond professionally get shortlisted. The rest rarely hear back.
This guide breaks down the garment factory quoting process into a workflow that consistently delivers accurate, professional quotes in under 15 minutes.
Why does quoting take so long in most factories?
Before fixing the problem, understand what causes it. Most factories are slow because of these five bottlenecks:
- RFQs arrive in chaotic formats. Some come by email with PDF specs. Some come via WhatsApp with voice notes. Some arrive as a spreadsheet, some as a Word document. Every RFQ requires manual interpretation before you can even start costing.
- Material pricing is fragmented. Fabric costs live in one spreadsheet, trim costs in another, your supplier's prices are in an old email thread. Getting current numbers takes time.
- No standard costing model. Each person who quotes uses their own mental model or ad-hoc spreadsheet. Results are inconsistent, and new team members can't do it at all without supervision.
- Formatting takes too long. After the numbers are right, someone has to write a professional email (or build a PDF quote) and send it. This step alone can take 30–45 minutes.
- Quote history is disorganised. When a similar RFQ comes in, you can't quickly find a past quote to use as a reference. You start from scratch every time.
"We were quoting 12–15 enquiries per week. It was consuming our entire management team. We couldn't grow because we were drowning in admin." — Bulgarian knitwear factory owner
The 15-minute quoting workflow
Here's the process that reduces quoting time from hours to minutes, regardless of whether you use software or a well-structured manual system.
Standardise how RFQs reach you (2 min)
Create one intake channel: a structured online form (or a fixed email template you send buyers). Ask for garment type, fabric/material, quantity, target delivery date, and design files. If buyers fill in a structured form, you skip the interpretation step entirely. At ThreadOps, the RFQ form captures all of this automatically.
Use a costing template, not a blank spreadsheet (4 min)
Build a single master costing template for each garment category you make (T-shirts, hoodies, woven shirts, etc.). Each template should have pre-filled standard costs for fabric per metre, CM rates, trims, and packing — updated monthly. When a new RFQ arrives, open the relevant template and plug in the quantity and any custom material specs. The calculation happens automatically.
Apply quantity-based pricing rules (1 min)
Define clear pricing breakpoints (e.g., 100–499 units, 500–999 units, 1000+ units). Don't recalculate from scratch for every order size. Your costing template should auto-adjust the CM rate and material assumptions based on the quantity bracket.
Generate the quote document automatically (3 min)
Don't write a new email every time. Have a professional quote template (HTML email or PDF) that pulls from your costing spreadsheet: factory name, buyer name, garment details, unit cost, MOQ, lead time, validity period. Fill in the variables, generate, send. If you use quoting software, this step takes under 60 seconds.
Send and log (2 min)
Send the quote and record it in your CRM or quoting log: buyer name, date, garment, quantity, unit price, status. In 3 months when a similar enquiry arrives, you can pull up the old quote in 30 seconds instead of starting from scratch.
Where the time actually goes: before and after
| Step | Old process | Optimised process |
|---|---|---|
| Interpret incoming RFQ | 20–30 min | 2 min (structured intake) |
| Find material + trim costs | 30–45 min | 2 min (template with current prices) |
| Build costing calculation | 30–40 min | 3 min (template auto-calc) |
| Write quote email/document | 30–45 min | 3 min (template + variables) |
| Review + send | 15–20 min | 3 min |
| Total | 125–180 min | 13–15 min |
What to include in a professional garment quote
A quote that wins business isn't just accurate — it's professional and complete. Buyers evaluate your quote as a proxy for how your factory runs. A sloppy quote suggests a sloppy factory.
A strong garment factory quote should include:
- Your factory name and contact details — don't assume they remember who you are.
- Quote reference number and date — for their procurement system.
- Garment description — type, composition, construction notes, confirming you read their specs.
- Unit price per quantity bracket — e.g., €8.40/unit for 500 pcs, €7.60/unit for 1,000 pcs.
- Price basis — FOB Sofia, EXW factory, or CMT. Be explicit.
- MOQ — minimum order quantity, clearly stated.
- Lead time — from confirmed order + sample approval to shipment-ready.
- Validity — how long the price is valid (usually 30–60 days).
- Payment terms — 30% deposit, 70% on shipment, or your standard terms.
- Exclusions / assumptions — what's not included (e.g., buyer-supplied fabric, branded trims).
Pro tip: Always include a validity period on your quotes. Fabric and energy costs fluctuate. A quote without an expiry date creates awkward conversations 6 months later when a buyer tries to hold you to it.
When manual systems break down
A well-structured manual workflow gets you a long way. But it hits limits when:
- Your RFQ volume exceeds 15–20 per week
- You have multiple team members quoting with no consistency
- Fabric prices change frequently and templates go stale
- Buyers want quotes in multiple currencies or languages
- You need to track quote follow-ups and conversion rates
This is where quoting software built specifically for garment factories earns its value. ThreadOps automates the entire quoting pipeline: structured RFQ intake, AI-assisted costing, professional quote generation, and a full audit trail — so your quotes are consistent whether it's Monday morning or Friday afternoon.
See how AI quoting works →
ThreadOps generates accurate, professional garment factory quotes in under 5 minutes. Try it free with up to 5 RFQs per month.
Try ThreadOps freeThe bottom line
Slow quoting is a commercial problem, not just an operations problem. Every hour you spend on manual quoting is an hour that delays your response to a buyer who may be giving the order to whoever replies first.
The fix isn't working faster — it's working with better systems. Standardise your intake, build costing templates, automate document generation, and log everything. Get that right and 15-minute quotes aren't just possible — they become your competitive edge.