Most sampling schedules do not slip at the factory. They slip in the fortnight between the parcel landing on someone’s desk and that person writing down, in one place, what is wrong with it. If you are scoping a chair programme and deciding whether to budget one sample round or three, the answer depends less on our bench time than on your tech pack and your review discipline.
We have made foldable outdoor furniture since 1995, for 300+ brands. What follows is what we would tell a product manager on a first call.
Four samples, four different jobs
Nearly every sampling dispute begins with two people using the word “sample” to mean different objects. Separating the four is the cheapest insurance on a sourcing project.
| Sample type | What it proves | What it does not prove | Where it belongs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proto / concept sample | The concept works: proportions, folding action, seat height, look and feel. | Nothing about mass production; parts may be hand-made one-offs. | Earliest stage, before tooling is locked. |
| Pre-production (PP) sample | The design can be built with production tooling, production materials and the real finish process. | Batch consistency across a run, or long-term field durability. | After tooling is settled, before the order is released. |
| Golden sample | The agreed reference standard, signed, tagged and sealed by both sides. | It is a standard, not a test report; certification is separate. | Sealed at PP approval; governs every later lot. |
| Shipment / retained sample | What the production run looked like on that date. | It cannot replace or redefine the golden sample. | Pulled from the run, retained by both parties. |
The distinction that matters commercially is proto versus PP. A proto may be partly hand-built: fabric cut by hand, a frame bent on a manual jig, a finish sprayed off-line. It answers “is this the right product?”, not “can this be made consistently at volume?” Approving a proto as a PP sample is the most common route to a lot that does not match what you signed.
How long a round really takes
A sample round at our factory takes typically 7–15 days, from the specification being frozen to the sample being boxed. Where it lands in that range depends on whether we are cutting new fabric, waiting on a coating batch, or buying a component we do not stock.
Two blocks sit outside that window, and both are underestimated:
- International transit. A folded chair is bulky, so express shipping is neither quick nor trivial, and a sample crossing customs in peak season behaves differently from one in March.
- Your own review. This is the step that eats calendars. A sample that arrives Tuesday and gets consolidated feedback the following Monday costs four working days; the same sample circulating for opinions for three weeks costs an entire round.
Plan each round as factory time plus transit plus review, and be honest about that third number.
What decides one round versus three
How complete the tech pack is
A first sample built from a complete, dimensioned tech pack is often close enough that round two is a confirmation. One built from a photograph and a paragraph is a conversation starter. Anything we assume, we assume the way a factory would.
Whether the design reuses existing tooling and frame geometry
Programmes built on a proven platform move fastest. When a brief keeps an existing frame geometry and changes fabric, colour or branding, we already know how the frame folds, how it packs and where it takes load. Our 30th Anniversary Director Chair and the smaller 30th Anniversary Mini Director Chair show the pattern: shared engineering thinking, different size class. Derivative work of that kind frequently needs one round plus a confirmation; a ground-up frame with new joints is a two or three round project. Our camping chair range is the usual place to anchor a brief.
Whether colour references were agreed up front
Colour is the quietest schedule killer. If your team has not agreed the standard internally before the first sample is cut, you will spend a round discovering that. Send a physical chip or a colour system code, and state the substrate each applies to: the same code reads differently on a powder-coated aluminium tube, on polyester fabric, and on a printed wood-grain surface like the one on our Retro Wood-Grain Folding Chair.
What to send us for a good first sample
The more of this arrives with the enquiry, the fewer rounds you pay for:
- Dimensioned drawings, including open and folded dimensions and seat height.
- Materials by number, not adjective: fabric denier and coating, alloy and wall thickness for tubing, finish type.
- Colour references, with the substrate each applies to.
- Target product weight and target packed carton size.
- Target load capacity and the test standard you want it judged against.
- The intended retail channel, so cartons are planned around that channel’s size limits from the start.
- Branding: artwork, placement and method.
The review discipline that saves rounds
These are the client-side habits that separate a two-round programme from a five-round one:
- Consolidate all feedback into one written round. Comments dripped out over a week are the most expensive thing a brand can do to its own timeline: we act on the first message, then unpick it when the third arrives.
- Mark up photographs. An arrow on an image removes an email thread about which joint you meant.
- Label every comment must-fix or nice-to-have. Without that split we treat everything as mandatory, which can force tooling changes you never intended.
- Keep the sample. Do not ship it back. You need it in the room when the next one lands, or you are comparing against a memory.
Sealing the golden sample
Once approved, the PP sample becomes the reference standard, so seal it properly. The tag should record the model number, approval date, the colour and material specification it represents, both parties’ signatures, and any agreed deviations from the drawing. Photograph the tagged unit before sealing.
Both sides keep a sealed copy. Ours stays in the QC room and is what inspectors compare against during function inspection before packing, alongside open-close checks in QC on the folding mechanism. Yours stays with your quality team. A disputed lot is then settled against two independently held copies of one signed reference, not against recollections.
Tooling and moulds
New tooling, whether an injection mould for a joint or new bending and welding fixtures for a frame, adds lead time before a round can begin, and no amount of hurrying recovers it. A dimension that costs nothing to change on a drawing costs real time once steel has been cut.
Settle every tooling decision before the second sample round. Round one is the moment to ask which parts can reuse existing moulds, which need new ones, and whether a small geometry compromise keeps the design on proven tooling. Deferring that until after a PP sample forces a return to the previous stage.
Three failure modes worth naming
Approving a sample production cannot reproduce
A hand-cut, hand-finished proto can be beautiful in a way the line will not repeat. Before signing, ask which parts were made by production process and which by hand. Any answer other than “all production process” means you are holding a proto, whatever the email calls it.
Approving colour under the wrong lighting
Colour judged under warm office lighting and colour judged in daylight are different judgements, and outdoor furniture is used outdoors. Assess under agreed conditions at both ends, and check fabric against frame finish.
Approving a sample that has never been packed
A chair can be dimensionally perfect open and still fail to fold into the carton your logistics plan assumed, or fold in a way that stresses the fabric at one corner. Fold the sample, put it in the intended carton, and confirm packed dimensions before approval, not after the first container is booked.
Getting a round back
Sampling goes wrong because the two sides are holding different objects and reviewing on different clocks. Naming each sample for what it is, freezing colour early, consolidating feedback and settling tooling before round two typically removes a full round from the schedule.
If you have a drawing, a tech pack or a rough specification you would like a factory opinion on before committing to a first sample, send it to our engineering team and we will tell you what is straightforward, what needs new tooling, and how many rounds it will realistically take.
Frequently asked questions
How long does an ODM sample take?
A sample round at our factory takes typically 7-15 days, measured from the moment the specification is frozen to the moment the sample is boxed. On top of that, allow for international transit on a bulky folded item, plus your own internal review window. The review window is usually the longest of the three and the one most often underestimated when a launch date is being set.
What is a golden sample and why do we need one?
The golden sample is the approved pre-production unit that both sides sign, tag and seal as the reference standard. Each party keeps a copy. Ours stays in the QC room and is what inspectors compare goods against; yours stays with your quality team. If a production lot is later disputed, the argument is settled by comparing the goods against two independently held copies of the same signed reference.
How many sample rounds should we budget for a new chair?
It depends on three things: how complete the incoming tech pack is, whether the design reuses existing tooling and frame geometry, and whether colour references were agreed internally before sampling started. A derivative built on a proven platform with a full tech pack often needs one round plus a confirmation. A ground-up frame with new joints and new tooling is realistically a two to three round project.
Should we send the sample back to the factory after review?
No, keep it. You need the previous sample physically in the room when the next one arrives, otherwise you are comparing a new object against a memory. Instead of returning it, send one consolidated written feedback round with marked-up photographs, and label each comment as must-fix or nice-to-have so we know which changes are mandatory and which are optional.