CMT (cut, make, trim) manufacturing in Bangladesh

For a CMT order you supply the materials and we manage the making. Send the tech pack with measurements and construction details, the approved sample or a sealed reference garment, and a bill of materials listing every fabric and trim with quantities. Ask for fabric consumption per size, calculated from the marker, before you ship, so you know how much to send, including a small allowance for cutting loss and shrinkage testing. Materials should arrive with a packing list and supplier test reports where you have them. When they reach the factory, the fabric is tested against the approved swatch before cutting; ask for trims to be checked against your list too, so shortages or defects surface before cutting begins. Imported materials for export production normally enter under a bonded arrangement, so the paperwork must match the export order; agree the documents before you ship anything.

Fabric quality stays with you and your mill, but the aim is to catch problems before they reach your garments. Bulk fabric is tested against the approved swatch before cutting, and you can ask for every roll to be inspected on arrival on the 4-point system, which scores visible defects such as holes, slubs and shading, with shrinkage and colour tested against your standard. If fabric fails, cutting stops and you get the defect notes and test results, with options: replacing rolls, cutting around defects where the style allows, or adjusting the pattern for shrinkage. Questionable fabric is not cut without your written approval. Who corrects workmanship defects once fabric is cut and sewn should be written into the order. Agreeing these responsibilities in writing before the order starts avoids disputes later, and it is one of the main reasons some CMT orders run smoothly while others struggle.

The CMT price looks lower because it covers only labour, factory overheads and our management, but the total cost is not always lower. With CMT you pay separately for fabric and trims, for freight and import handling to bring them into Bangladesh, and for the working capital tied up in materials weeks before production. You also carry the risk of shortages, late deliveries and defects in what you supply. CMT usually makes sense when you already buy fabric at a strong price, use a specialist mill, or run the same fabric across several factories and countries. Full package often works out better for first orders, smaller quantities and brands without a sourcing team, because one supplier is accountable for materials and making. The fairest comparison is landed cost per finished piece, and we are happy to quote both ways.

CMT stands for cut, make and trim: you supply the fabric and trims, and the factory cuts, sews, finishes and packs the garments for a price per piece that covers the making, not the materials. The alternative is full package production, where the supplier also buys the fabric and trims. On a CMT order through us, the factory making it, our own for knitwear or an audited partner factory for other products, receives your materials, tests the bulk fabric against the approved swatch before cutting, plans the marker, then cuts, sews, finishes, presses and packs to your instructions, with inline and final inspection. The CMT price covers that labour, the factory overheads, our management of the order and the export handover at the port under FOB. It excludes the fabric and trims themselves and their freight and duty into Bangladesh, which stay with you. Their timing is your risk too: late fabric moves the ship date. It suits brands with their own fabric programmes or nominated mills.

Yes. Fabric imported into Bangladesh for export production is normally brought in under a bonded arrangement so that duty is not paid on inputs that leave the country again as garments; the factory’s bonded licence and your paperwork have to match, and the commercial invoice, packing list and a fabric composition declaration are needed to clear it. We coordinate the receiving with the factory and a clearing agent, and tell you what the documents must say before you ship. Plan for transit time and clearance in your production calendar, and send test reports with the fabric, because a roll that fails shrinkage or colour fastness after cutting is a loss nobody can reverse. If a local mill can make your fabric to the same specification, we will say so, because it removes the import step entirely.

No, supplying your own fabric does not lower the minimum order on a CMT order, because that minimum comes from the sewing line, not the dye house. The pre-production sample and setting up a line for your style cost the same at any quantity, so CMT orders through CMB Sourcing Ltd. start at 500 pieces per style and colour, which is also the minimum for t-shirts and hoodies, and some categories start higher: 2,000 for denim jeans, jackets, woven shirts, workwear and uniforms, 5,000 pieces for underwear and 5,000 pairs for socks. For other categories the exact minimum is confirmed on your quote. Your mill’s minimum is a separate figure, set per fabric and per colour at the dye house, and it is yours to meet. If it gives you more cloth than the order needs, agree in writing what happens to the remainder. Count the garment minimum per colour too: three colours of one style are three minimums.

A CMT price is calculated from sewing time, not from fabric: the standard minutes needed to make one garment, multiplied by the factory’s cost per working minute and divided by its line efficiency. That is the formula for the cost of making in Fair Wear’s costing guidance, and it is why the operation list matters more than the cloth. In a 2023 study of cost sheets from four Bangladeshi factories, the cost of making was US$6.00 a dozen for a basic t-shirt with 12 sewing operations, US$9.00 for a polo with 16, US$21.00 for a woven shirt with more than 40, and US$26.00 for woven trousers. Those are 2023 factory figures from inside a full package price, not our CMT quote, which also covers receiving and checking your materials, inspection, order management and export documents. We publish no CMT price: it is quoted per piece against your sample and operation list.

Leftover fabric and trims from a CMT order remain yours, because under CMT the factory is paid for the making and works with fabric the buyer sourced and owns. What can be done with them is limited by customs. Fabric imported into Bangladesh for export garments normally enters free of duty under the factory’s bonded warehouse licence. The quantities are controlled by a Utilisation Declaration and audited every year, and Bangladesh Customs states that duty and taxes become payable on goods that are not exported. So a factory cannot simply sell your surplus locally. Agree the answer in writing before you ship: whether the remainder is held for your next order, how long it is stored and at whose cost, and what the factory’s bond allows otherwise. Ask for a reconciliation after shipment showing fabric received, cut, rejected and remaining. Surplus branded labels and packaging are returned to you or destroyed on request.

No, a pattern is not required for a CMT order, although many CMT buyers supply one. What you must supply is the fabric, the trims, a complete tech pack and an approved sample to work against. If you have a graded pattern, send it with the tech pack, and the factory plans the cutting marker from it for your fabric and size ratio. If you do not, the factory’s sample room makes the pattern and grades it across your sizes, quoted per style as development, and the pattern stays yours. Either way the marker comes first, because it gives the fabric consumption per piece, and you should have that figure confirmed in writing before you buy cloth. A pre-production sample is then made in your own bulk fabric and approved before the run starts. Say in your first message which you have: a pattern, a sample, or only a tech pack.