How to Choose a CMT Workshop in Turkey: 10 Criteria

How to find a CMT workshop in Turkey

Before you start searching, put these five items in writing. They make it easier to find workshops and to compare quotes later:

1. Scope: Sewing only, or cutting as well? Who supplies the fabric and trims? For the models, see contract garment manufacturing.
2. Product and fabric: Knit or woven; the type of fabric and how it behaves.
3. Quantity and breakdown: Total quantity, number of styles, size and color split.
4. Delivery date: The delivery date and the date the fabric reaches the workshop, written separately.
5. Quality expectations: Measurement tolerance, inspection method (AQL) and defect classes.

You can build the long list from the channels below. The table is Tekstil Rehberi's recommendation; no sourced data shows which channel gives better results. The rule is the same for all of them: a channel shows you a workshop, and only the criteria verify it.

Tekstil Rehberi recommends cutting the long list to five or six candidates using documents and written answers, then asking at least three of them for quotes after a call and a visit. Use criteria 1, 2 and 3 below (identity, premises, working conditions) for that first cut.

10 criteria for choosing a CMT workshop

These ten criteria are a framework compiled by Tekstil Rehberi. Under each heading we mark which information rests on legislation or a source and which is our recommendation. Contractor selection has also been studied in academic work with multi-criteria decision methods; for example, Arıkan (2008, a Turkish master's thesis) models a textile company's subcontractor selection with the Analytic Hierarchy Process.

1. Legal and tax identity

Find out whether you are dealing with a sole proprietorship or a company; registration and liability differ accordingly.

• Tax certificate (vergi levhası). It is normally obtained electronically from the online tax office, and the confirmation code on it has the effect of an approval stamp. The tax authority's communiqué also says that taxpayers can look up a single taxpayer's certificate details online (Tax Procedure Law Communiqué No. 408). If you cannot do that yourself, ask the workshop to show the certificate and compare the name, address and activity code with the license and the invoices.
• Registry record. For a company, ask for the trade registry and MERSİS numbers. You can check the company title and registry notices on TOBB's Turkish Trade Registry Gazette site (notice search requires a free registration). For a sole proprietor, ask about the tradesmen's chamber or chamber of commerce registration.
• Invoicing. Agree up front which type of invoice the workshop will issue (e-invoice, e-archive or paper); the Revenue Administration's e-Document site has an e-Invoice Registered Users page. As of the date of this article, the Turkish VAT General Implementation Communiqué (section I/C-2.1.3.2.7) treats contract textile and clothing work under partial withholding, applied by the buyer groups the Communiqué lists. Ask a Turkish accountant whether it affects your purchase and how the order will be invoiced.
• Red flag: an offer that is "cheaper without an invoice". Ask your accountant how it would affect your expense and tax records.

2. Premises and license

A business cannot open or operate in Turkey without a business opening and operating license, and premises opened without one are closed down by the competent authorities (Regulation on Business Opening and Operating Licences, Art. 6). If a business moves to another address, relicensing is the rule (Art. 8). Ask for a copy of the license, and at the visit check that the address, company title and line of business match the place where your product will be made.

The industry registry is a separate matter. Under Law No. 6948, premises that manufacture continuously and in series are industrial enterprises and register in the industry registry before they start production; handicrafts, home crafts and small repair shops are outside its scope (Arts. 1-2). The Law does not say in one sentence what size of sewing workshop falls within scope, so ask the workshop for the certificate or for an explanation of why it is outside the scope. A missing certificate is not a red flag on its own.

3. Working conditions: social security, safety and social compliance

• Social security (SGK). An employer must notify its insured employees before their insurance starts (Law No. 5510, Art. 8) and file a workplace declaration (Art. 11). Ask the workshop for its current headcount and compare it with the number of people you see on the floor. SGK offers an e-Devlet service called Workplace Registration / No-Debt Certificate Query; the workshop can get this certificate from its own account and show it to you.
• Occupational health and safety. Workplaces with employees must carry out a risk assessment (Law No. 6331, Art. 10) and have an emergency plan (Art. 11); licensed premises are also expected to have taken safety measures (Regulation, Art. 5/a). Ask for the documents, and at the visit look at exits, fire extinguishers and the electrical installation.
• Social compliance. Sedex describes SMETA as a "continuous improvement methodology rather than a certification", and amfori states that amfori BSCI is not a certification. If your own customer requires one of these audits, check the report's scope, its date and the audited address; the address must be the one that will make your order. These audits come from buyer requirements, not from legislation, and not every workshop has one.

4. Product experience and references

Find out which products and fabrics the workshop is strong in. Knit and woven garments need different machines and skills, and elastane or slippery fabrics can behave differently in sewing. "We can make anything" is not evidence. Ask for a recent sample or a produced piece of a similar product, and look at stitching, measurements and pressing. Call two reference customers yourself and, if you can, get an opinion that does not come from the workshop or your own network.

A workshop that reads your tech pack and asks about the operation sequence, fabric and measurements gives a better signal than one that says "fine" without a single question (Tekstil Rehberi's assessment).

5. Machinery and technical equipment

Give the workshop the operation list for your product and ask whether it has a machine for each operation: straight stitch, overlock, coverstitch, buttonhole and button attaching, pressing and, if needed, a cutting table. Ask for the machine list (type, number, age), the maintenance routine and the backup machine in case of breakdown, and confirm the list by eye at the visit. An operation without a machine is probably going to be sent out; weigh that together with criterion 9.

6. Capacity and lead time

Ask how many operators and machines there are, what the daily output is, which jobs fill the same period, when the next free slot is, and what standard minute value (SMV) and efficiency the workshop assumes for your style. Use the capacity check in the contract manufacturing guide to test whether the answers are consistent, and have the delivery date and the fabric arrival date written separately. SOMO (2015) lists short lead times, capacity overflow and late-arriving inputs among the reasons for hidden subcontracting, and reminds buyers that factories often work for many customers at once.

Capacity report, if there is one. A capacity report is an official document that determines, by set criteria, how much an enterprise can produce in a year given its machinery and labor (Istanbul Chamber of Industry). For workshops in the tradesmen and craftsmen category, the report is issued by the chamber of tradesmen and craftsmen where they are registered; it covers machinery and installations, annual production capacity and the staff on the SGK payroll, and it is valid for three years from the Confederation's approval (TESK Capacity Report Regulation, Arts. 4, 5 and 12). Reports from chambers of industry have different validity periods and conditions, so check the validity date. A report whose address or machinery has since changed does not show the current situation (the Istanbul Chamber of Industry lists these among the cases that need a new report). Annual capacity does not give the real daily output for your style; in Tekstil Rehberi's assessment it is only a hint of scale.

7. Quality control and defect handling

Ask how the workshop catches defects: who does in-line checks and at which stage, is there a final inspection, are a measurement chart and tape in use, and are defective pieces recorded? Have it write down who pays for rework and how quickly it is done.

The workshop's own checks do not replace your acceptance inspection on delivery; plan the two as complementary layers (Tekstil Rehberi's recommendation). For the sampling method, see AQL inspection for garments; if you prefer to have inspection done by a third party, browse quality control firms. Write defect classes, acceptance and rejection criteria and rework times into the contract.

8. Sampling and communication

• Samples: The quote should state the sample's lead time, its price and whether it is deducted from the order. Ask which operator and line sewed the sample; a different team may sew the bulk (Tekstil Rehberi's recommendation).
• Approval: Record the approved sample in writing as the reference for production. SOMO (2015) lists changes to design, quantity and schedule made after sample approval, without adjusting price and time, among the buyer-side causes of pressure on a manufacturer.
• Communication: Name a single contact, and keep decisions and changes in writing. Share your own schedule with the workshop and ask for interim dates such as fabric arrival, cutting and sewing (Tekstil Rehberi's recommendation).

9. Subcontracting transparency

Subcontracting is not forbidden: cutting, printing, embroidery, washing, and buttonholes and buttons can be done in separate workshops. The problem starts when it happens without your knowledge. Under the contract-for-work provisions of the Turkish Code of Obligations, a contractor may have the work done by someone else if its personal qualities do not matter (Art. 471/3); whether that provision applies to your relationship is for your legal adviser to decide. Writing the permission and notification rules into the contract prevents arguments.

According to SOMO (2015), subcontracted workshops are not part of the buyer's official supply chain, so social compliance audits do not reach them. For that reason, Tekstil Rehberi recommends that you ask to be told in advance which operations are done outside, write into the contract that the same working standards apply in any subcontracted workshop, and if necessary extend your own checks to those workshops. Ask the workshop:

1. Which operations are done outside?
2. By whom, and at what address?
3. Will no work be placed without your approval?
4. Will your fabric and style go to that workshop, and how is confidentiality kept?

We recommend eliminating a workshop that refuses to answer these questions.

10. Commercial terms and financial soundness

• Scope of the quote: Cutting, pressing and packing, label attaching and sampling included or not; VAT included or excluded; how long the quote is valid; the workshop's SMV and efficiency assumptions. Have all of it in writing.
• Payment: Write the advance, terms and balance plan, and where possible tie payments to production stages and acceptance inspection. Late-delivery penalties should not cover delays outside the workshop's responsibility, such as late-arriving fabric (both are Tekstil Rehberi's recommendations).
• Financial soundness: If the workshop runs into payment difficulty, your fabric and delivery date are at risk. The SGK no-debt certificate (criterion 3) gives a hint about debt, though it is not the only indicator of financial health. Be cautious with a workshop that asks for a large advance.
• Contract: Put delivery date, quality, wastage, payment, confidentiality and subcontracting terms into a written contract, using the points in the contract manufacturing guide, and have a lawyer review it.

Documents to ask the workshop for

The last three documents are not held by every workshop; ask in writing why one is missing.

• Current tax certificate
• Trade registry record and MERSİS number (company); tradesmen's chamber or chamber of commerce registration (sole proprietor)
• Business opening and operating license
• SGK workplace registration and current headcount
• Risk assessment and emergency plan
• Machine list and two reference customers
• Industry registry certificate, or an explanation of why it is outside scope
• Capacity report (if any)
• Social compliance audit report (if your customer requires one)

What to look at during a visit

A visit tests whether the documents match the picture you see. The list is Tekstil Rehberi's recommendation; only the principle that headcount should be consistent with production rests on SOMO (2015).

1. Address and headcount: Is the address the same as on the license and tax certificate? Is the headcount consistent with the SGK record and the declared capacity? SOMO treats a mismatch as a red flag.
2. Lines and machines: Which line will other customers' jobs run on, and which one yours? Are the machines in working order, and are the ones your product needs really there?
3. Fabric and cutting area: Are fabrics labeled and stored separately and cleanly?
4. Quality control and pressing-and-packing: Is there a separate inspection point, measuring equipment and an area where defective pieces are set aside?
5. Working environment: Are lighting, exits, fire extinguishers and the electrical panel in order?
6. Second visit: A single visit does not always show how production normally runs. On the first order, go again while production is under way, or ask for a live video walk-through.

Score the candidates

Scoring ties the decision to criteria rather than to a first impression. First set aside the candidates that fail criteria 1, 2, 3 and 9. Score the rest from 1 to 5 on criteria 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10. Set each criterion's weight (1 to 3) before you see the quotes, so the scores cannot be adjusted to fit the result. On a short-lead-time job, capacity and lead time stand out; on a complex product, product experience does.

Total score = Σ (weight × score). The highest possible score is five times the sum of the weights. The example below is entirely hypothetical and does not describe any real workshop:

For A the result is 3×4 + 3×3 + 2×5 + 1×3 = 34; for B it is 3×5 + 3×4 + 2×2 + 1×4 = 35. The gap is one point, and scoring alone does not make the decision. B's product experience is low; if that matters for your product, you should have set its weight high from the start. When the gap is small, also look at red flags and the impression from the visit.

Reduce the risk on the first order

1. Ask for a paid sample and make the approved sample the reference for production.
2. Do not start bulk production without pre-production (PP) approval.
3. Place a small trial lot: only a fraction of your total need.
4. Hand over fabric against a count; ask for an account of fabric received, cut, wasted and left over.
5. Tie payment to stages; pay the balance after acceptance inspection.
6. Record the results: delivery date slippage, defect rate, communication. Decide on the large order with those records, and keep a second candidate alive so you do not depend on a single workshop.

These steps are Tekstil Rehberi's recommendation.

Red flags

• The license, the tax certificate and the actual address do not match.
• The workshop avoids showing documents or letting you walk through the production area.
• It offers a "cheaper without an invoice" price.
• The headcount is inconsistent with the production volume (SOMO, 2015).
• It gives an evasive answer to the subcontracting question.
• It says "we take any job" without looking at capacity, and the price is very low with no explanation of the scope.

Apart from the headcount item, these are Tekstil Rehberi's assessment. A single item does not prove that a workshop is bad, but none should go unanswered.

Next steps

After you have screened candidates with documents and a visit, get written quotes on the same scope, score them and prepare the contract. To build your long list, see CMT sewing workshops in our directory, and verify every company against the criteria above yourself. The selection criteria here are general information; get support from a lawyer and an accountant for contract clauses and tax consequences.