From Sampling to Shipment, How is A Pair of Shoes Exported?

For overseas buyers, finding a professional, reliable, and clear-process shoes manufacturing partner is often more important than the price itself. A pair of shoes from design ideas to saleable goods involves multiple links such as sampling, manufacture, quality control, packaging, and shipment. Each step is related to whether the delivery time is controllable, whether the product quality meets the standards, and whether the customer is at ease.

As a professional shoes manufacturing factory with more than 20 years of export experience, Naikeway is well aware of the importance of process standardization to customer cooperation experience.

This article will take you to an in-depth understanding of the complete process of a pair of customized shoes from sampling to export shipment, so that you can see our cooperation model at a glance and make you more confident in Made in China.

The First Stage: demand communication and sampling stage

The first step of cooperation starts with clear communication. Whether the customer has prepared a complete design drawing or not, we can cooperate flexibly and jointly promote product development.

For customers who already have a design, our team will quickly evaluate the drawings or reference samples, combine the material feasibility and process feasibility, make professional suggestions and confirm the development plan. For customers whose designs are not yet clear, we will proactively provide a series of potential hot-selling styles or past customization cases based on their market positioning and target price to help customers quickly focus on product direction.

Once the design is approved, we will determine the time period and schedule for sampling with the customer. Generally speaking, the sample production cycle is around 2-3 weeks, but this could fluctuate slightly depending on the complexity of the shoe type.

After receiving the samples, customers can give feedback at any time, and the factory will propose solutions accordingly. Understanding MOQ is also an important step. Our company's MOQ is relatively flexible, and we can accept low MOQ for some products.

For first time cooperating customers, we usually charge a certain sample fee to cover initial developing and sampling costs. But we are very informed of the actual needs of Customers - once the customer begins the formal mass production stage, we will refund the sample fee.

The Second stage: sample confirmation and order confirmation

Once we confirm our samples, we have reached the official signing of the order. We typically confirm the details of our arrangement and sign a proforma invoice (PI) which includes specifications for the product, quantities and unit price, delivery timeline, packaging requirements, etc. Additionally, for convenience and buyer safety, we also support cooperation under Trade Assurance in order to lower the potential risks with their transaction.

Regarding deposit payment, we will define the deposit ratio and method according to various factors such as, customer type, the amount of order, and the history of cooperation.

Once the order is confirmed, we are then able to quickly get the production schedule underway. Usually the lead time is within 5-7 weeks, but we will adjust lead time according to the specific circumstances such as order quantity, complexity, etc. Our goal is and will always be to ensure that every order is delivered on time as much as possible while maintaining high quality.

The Third Stage: Manufacture Execution

First, we arrange for the procurement of material according to the specifications on the order. All raw materials must be filtration by supply chain, and be inspected by a separate quality assurance team, so we know that the material quality is to the order specifications such as the wear resistance of fabric, color match, sole material elasticity and durability, etc. The material must pass inspection thoroughly before entering the next production process.

Subsequently, production officially started, mainly including:

Cutting and material preparation: Efficiently cutting the upper according to standardized templates.

Upper production and technical support: The upper is completed according to the design requirements through sewing, hot pressing, screen printing, KPU molding or other processes.

Final assembly: The shoes are assembly by cold cement, lasting or pull-over, etc.

During the manufacture process, we have set up multiple quality control points:

Incoming material inspection (IQC)

In-process production inspection (IPQC)

Final inspection of finished products (FQC)

The professional QC (quality control) team conducts pair-by-pair inspections at the finished product stage to ensure that the appearance, size, and functional tests of the shoes all meet the standards. In addition, we can also assist in arranging third-party inspections (such as SGS, Intertek, etc.) according to customer requirements to provide more authoritative quality inspection guarantees.

In the packaging stage, we support customized packaging services, and can design shoe boxes, tags, color stickers, outer boxes, etc. according to customer requirements.

After packaging, the finished products will be put into warehouse, and the warehouse management department will manage them uniformly, ready to arrange loading and shipment according to customer instructions at any time.

The Fourth Stage: Loading and Export Shipment

We will communicate with the customer to confirm the delivery method (such as FOB, CIF or EXW, etc.) in quote stage before, and choose our long-term freight forwarder to be responsible for transportation or cooperate with the freight forwarding company designated by the customer.

Before shipment, we will provide complete and standardized export documents, including but not limited to:

Commercial Invoice

Packing List

Certificate of Origin (if necessary)

Customs declaration information and other documents specified by the customer.

After shipment, we will also promptly send or email the bill of lading (B/L) or other transportation documents to customers to facilitate customers to arrange subsequent customs clearance and delivery matters, ensuring a seamless order from production to delivery.

Conclusion: Every step is professional, just to deliver a pair of good shoes

Please rest assured that at Naikeway, we will always adhere to professional development capability, standardized production process and strict quality assurance and willing to provide timely and flexible delivery service, to assure on-time and quality delivery of every pair of shoes any customers received. We are more than willing to have an in-depth communicate with you, no matter if you are looking for a reliable shoe manufacturing partner or would like to learn more about detailed customized development and production process, and explore more cooperation opportunities together.

📞Don’t hesitate to contact us!

Email: [email protected]