Fabric Roll Packing and Shade-Lot Brief
Write the shade-lot brief before upholstery rolls are packed. The brief ties each roll to a lot code, a sequence, and the face that was used when shade was compared. Packed rolls without that tie force the receiving team to rebuild the comparison from labels alone. A clear brief lets the next lot be cut against a known group of rolls instead of against a mixed pallet.
What should a shade-lot brief record before rolls are packed?
Record the quality, the color, the lot code, the roll numbers, the order they should be used in, and the side of the cloth that was compared. Add the light used for that comparison and the name of the person who signed the group. A lot code without a roll list is a label. A roll list without a lot code is a pile of cloth.
Shade comparison is a visual decision under a stated light. We do not publish a universal shade percentage for every construction. Your program can set one. The brief’s job is to keep the rolls that were accepted together, and to keep a new code from riding inside an old code’s packing list.
Width planning for the same rolls sits in the width and roll-planning article. Use that note when the question is yield. Use this note when the question is which rolls belong in one shade group and how they should be packed so the group survives the shipment.
If the cloth has a face and a backing, write which side faced the reviewer. Comparing the backing of roll 2 with the face of roll 1 will invent a shade step. The backing check itself is explained in the face and backing article. The packing brief only needs the side you actually used.
How should roll sequence and lot identity stay together?
Print the lot code on the packing list and on each roll label that belongs to it. Number the rolls in the order they should be opened. If roll 4 was the visual middle of the group, say so, and put the cutter’s preferred sequence in one column. Shipping sequence and cutting sequence can differ. Writing only one of them causes the receiving team to open the wrong end of the story.
| Line on the brief | Where it is repeated | Failure it prevents |
|---|---|---|
| Lot code | Packing list and every roll label in the group | A later roll inherits an old code |
| Roll numbers | List and labels | A missing roll is invisible |
| Cutting sequence | List, and a note on the first roll if helpful | The palest or fullest roll is used out of order |
| Compared side | List | Face and backing get mixed in the comment |
| Light and signer | List | A later comment uses a different lamp and a different name |
Keep rejected or held rolls off the accepted list. A held roll can travel in the same container and still carry a different status. The brief should say “held” in its own column so the warehouse does not issue it as part of the accepted set.
Standard upholstery quantity on this site is 1200 meters per color. Packing does not change that figure. It does decide whether the meters inside one color stay in a single shade group or leave the mill as several groups. State the group you are packing.
What does a hypothetical split shipment change?
Imagine a hypothetical color with lot S1 on rolls 1 to 6. The truck takes rolls 1 to 4 this week. Rolls 5 and 6 stay for a second truck, and a new production code S2 is packed beside them by mistake. The receiving team that opens the second truck sees two codes and no note that rolls 5 and 6 still belong to S1.
| Shipment | Hypothetical contents | What the brief must say | Decision in the example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Truck 1 | S1 rolls 1 to 4 | S1 continues on rolls 5 and 6 | Cut the first rooms from this sequence, and wait if the set needs all six |
| Truck 2, correct | S1 rolls 5 and 6 only | Same lot code, later sequence | Join them to the S1 file |
| Truck 2, mixed | S1 rolls 5 and 6 plus S2 rolls | S2 is a new code and stays out of the S1 list | Hold S2 until its own comparison is signed |
The fix in the example is a packing list that names the unfinished sequence. Roll 5 should not have to be discovered by opening every bag. S2 should not be rescued by assuming that cloth in the same container shares a lot.
Which packing notes help the receiving team?
Helpful notes are concrete: lot code, roll numbers, cutting sequence, compared side, light, held rolls, and the statement that a second code is present. A note that says “same as always” helps no one on the second shift. Repeat the code in text large enough to read on the outer pack, and keep the same code on the inner label.
Add a photo of the outer mark when the shipment is split. The cloth photograph in this article shows a sofa fabric face we publish. Your packing photo should show the mark and the roll numbers. Those photos answer different questions and should be filed in different slots of the shipment folder.
On a patterned cloth, name the motif area you compared, such as the ground between motifs. Comparing a motif on one roll with the ground on the next will look like a shade fault. The brief can prevent that by naming the area in one line.
What should you send before the next lot is cut?
Send the signed brief for the lot you want repeated, the roll list, and any held-roll notes. Say whether the next lot must join the previous sequence or may start a new code. If it must join, the receiving team needs the old brief in the same thread. If it may start again, say that a new code is acceptable and where the break between codes will sit in the sofa program.
Quantity stays on its own line. Standard upholstery fabric remains 1200 meters per color unless an item exception is confirmed. The shade brief does not replace that commercial line.
Send the brief through the quote page or Request With WhatsApp. Lead with the lot code and whether the next cutting must stay inside it.
