Fabric Width and Roll Planning for Importers
Importers should plan fabric width and roll yield as a cutting-math job, not as a second lesson in GSM meaning. Record usable width, nominal width, roll length, and the sofa factory marker rule before the first China order. Use Haida's custom warp-knit page, then send those fields through Request With WhatsApp.
How should an importer plan fabric width and roll yield?
Catalog width is a label. The cutting marker uses usable width. Those two numbers can differ by the unfinished edge, the pin line, or a trimmed selvedge. If the importer quotes the catalog number into a sofa factory marker, the remnant pile grows and the roll count is wrong. Write both numbers. If usable width is unknown, mark it unknown and ask the mill to state it on the sample hanger and the later quotation.
Fabric width and roll planning is logistics, not a weight explainer. GSM can appear as a locked field the cover factory already chose. Haida's custom warp-knit page already reviews width inside a custom brief, together with application, composition, GSM, surface, backing, finish, color, quantity, and sample proof. Send the yield fields to that page.
| Plan field | Why it changes yield | Safe first input |
|---|---|---|
| Usable width | The marker uses usable centimeters, not the catalog label | Ask the mill for usable width on the quoted quality |
| Nominal or catalog width | May include unused edge | Record both numbers side by side |
| Roll length | Changes splice count and remnant | Typical roll or a maximum splice rule |
| Pattern repeat | Match at the seam eats extra meters | Repeat centimeters if the quality has one |
| Seam and shrink allowance | Sofa factories add their own waste | Factory marker note |
| Mixed widths | Two lots cannot share one marker | One width per program |
Importers often see sofa programs discussed around 140 to 142 cm or 55 to 56 inch catalog widths. Ask for the usable width on the quality you are sampling. A custom program can lock a different width.
Which width facts belong on the mill RFQ?
Explore custom warp-knit fabric for fabric options and inquiry details. Use base fabric material guide when the packet also needs backing or base-construction language. Do not send the mill a GSM essay. Width, roll, splice, and marker waste are enough for this job.
Write the destination factory's cutting rule in one line. Some cover plants want a minimum usable width and will reject a roll that trims below it. Some plants can recut a slightly narrower roll and will bill the extra labor to the importer. The mill cannot guess which plant you use. If the factory has not sent a rule, say so. Unknown is better than a guessed centimeter that later fails incoming QC.
What should Request With WhatsApp include for a cutting plan?
Paste application, usable width target or unknown, catalog width if you have one, roll-length preference or splice rule, pattern-repeat note, and sample quantity. Attach the factory marker note if it exists. State whether you need a hanger to confirm usable width by tape, or a one-seat trial to confirm the marker on a real frame.
Expect a scoping reply, not an instant bulk price. If the buying committee needs a number before sampling, ask for that number on the same WhatsApp thread and treat the answer as category-specific until it is written on a quotation.
If the program also needs a private color or a new backing, say that those gates will follow the width lock. Do not hide a custom construction inside a width question. Split the packet if two people own two jobs.
When does width planning fail?
Planning fails when the importer uses one catalog width for two sofa plants. It also fails when a pattern repeat is ignored on a jacquard or a matched velvet. It fails when the team changes width after a spec lock because a later roll looked cheaper. Cheap remnant is not a saving if the marker no longer fits. Custom width is the wrong first move when the team only needs to feel a running quality. Ask for a hanger from a close width first, then decide whether a locked custom width is worth a development path.
Keep one owner for the yield packet. If the importer and the sofa factory send two different usable-width numbers, the mill will quote two stories. Name one contact, one width target, and one sample quantity. Share the same thread if both parties need copies.
Confirm usable width, roll-length or splice rule, and the factory marker note. Then send the packet through Request With WhatsApp.
