What is garment job work? A guide for brands and boutiques
How garment job work (CMT) works in Ahmedabad: who supplies fabric, what the job-work charge covers, and how to compare stitching units fairly.
If you run a clothing brand, a wholesale business or a boutique, you have two ways to get garments made: buy finished stock from a manufacturer, or keep control of the design and fabric and pay a unit only to make the garments. The second model is called garment job work — also known as CMT (cut, make, trim) — and it is how most of Ahmedabad's kurti and co-ord trade works.
How job work works
- You own the design and fabric. You choose or buy the fabric and decide the style, sizes and colours.
- The job-work unit manufactures. Pattern making, cutting, bundling, stitching, finishing (buttons, thread cutting), pressing and packing.
- You pay a making charge. The rate is per piece or per set, and depends on design, fabric and finishing.
- Goods are delivered with a delivery note. It lists what was made so you can tally against the fabric you sent.
Why brands choose job work
- Control: your fabric, your prints, your quality of material.
- Lower working capital: you pay for making, not for a manufacturer's fabric margin.
- Flexibility: run small test lots, then repeat the styles that sell.
What to compare between units
Do not compare only the rate per piece. Ask what is included — pattern, cutting, trims fixing, pressing, packing — and how the unit tracks each lot. A slightly higher rate with matched sets, clean finishing and on-time delivery usually costs less than reworking a bad lot.
How Sarah Enterprise does it
At Sarah Enterprise in Gheekanta, Ahmedabad we take fabric with an order sheet (or a verbal brief that we write down and confirm), and handle every step through to packing with your poly bag, tag and poster, then deliver. Our capacity is about 4,000 sets a month (top + bottom), the minimum order is 50 pieces or sets, and we also make girls' garments from our own fabric for wholesalers. See our production process and products.