What a Sample Approval Actually Approves

An approved sample is the physical definition of the product. Everything downstream, from the dye recipe to the packing list, refers back to it. Yet in many supply relationships the approval consists of a photograph in a chat thread and a message reading "looks good". That is not an approval; it is a hope with a timestamp.

A proper sampling approval sheet answers one question precisely: which attributes of this sample are approved, and which are still open? A sample that matches on colour but not on slider pull is not approved. It is approved on colour only, and the sheet must say so, because the factory will otherwise treat the whole unit as released.

Structure of the Sheet

The sheet works best as a single page with four blocks: identification, measured results, visual judgement, and signatures. Identification ties the sample to an article number and a revision. Measured results repeat the specification limits so the sheet can be read without the spec. Visual judgement records what instruments cannot. Signatures create the obligation.

Template

SAMPLING APPROVAL SHEET              Page 1 of 1
--------------------------------------------------------
Article no.   : ZN-5-AUTO-LOCK
Revision      : R001
Sample stage  : [ ] proto  [ ] size set  [x] pre-production
Sample qty    : 10 pcs, 3 retained, 7 returned
Submitted     : 2026-02-06   Received: 2026-02-10
Factory       : (name / code)

MEASURED ATTRIBUTES        SPEC        RESULT    VERDICT
Finished length            595-600 mm  598 mm    PASS
Tape width                 26 +/-0.5   26.1 mm   PASS
Closed-end tensile         600 N min   645 N     PASS
Slider pull-off            90 N min    88 N      FAIL
Colour vs standard         DE <= 1.0   0.7       PASS
pH                         4.0-7.5     6.2       PASS

VISUAL
Tape weave        [x] ok  [ ] minor  [ ] reject
Tooth alignment   [x] ok  [ ] minor  [ ] reject
Slider finish     [x] ok  [ ] minor  [ ] reject
Staining / oil    [x] ok  [ ] minor  [ ] reject
End stop fit      [x] ok  [ ] minor  [ ] reject

OUTCOME  [ ] approved  [x] approved with conditions
         [ ] rejected, resubmit

CONDITION: slider pull-off to reach 90 N min. Submit
3 pcs within 10 working days. All other attributes
released for bulk. Colour approved for dye lot 1 only.
--------------------------------------------------------
Buyer QA        ______  date ______
Buyer Merch     ______  date ______
Factory Rep     ______  date ______

The Three Signatures and What Each One Means

Quality assurance signs for conformity to the specification. Merchandising signs for commercial acceptability, which sometimes includes a deliberate deviation the QA team would not otherwise allow. The factory signs as acknowledgement that the sample is the production reference and that bulk will match it. When one signature is missing, the approval is incomplete, and a dispute six months later will turn on that gap rather than on the zipper.

A fourth signature is worth adding for programmes with a compliance dimension: the person who confirms that restricted substances and labelling have been checked. It is easy to overlook, and expensive to discover at customs.

Retention, Traceability and the Sample Nobody Kept

  • Retain at least three approved samples: one with the buyer, one with the factory, one in a sealed archive.
  • Label each with article number, revision, date, signatories and dye lot where relevant.
  • Store away from daylight and heat; a faded reference sample cannot arbitrate a colour dispute.
  • Keep the sealed archive sample untouched. Inspect the working copies, never the archive.
  • Record the retention period in the contract, typically the production period plus twelve months.

The sample that matters most is the one produced at the start of bulk, not the one produced in the development lab. A pre-production sample made on the actual line, with the actual dye lot and the actual operators, is a far better reference than a hand-built prototype, and it is the sample a dispute will eventually be measured against.

Common Failure Modes

Three failures account for most sampling disputes. The first is approval by email without a measured sheet, which leaves no record of what was accepted. The second is approving a sample that was made with a different tape supplier than bulk, which makes the approval technically true and practically useless. The third is approving a colour on a screen.

YCC's sampling workflow requires a physical sample to reach the buyer before any colour sign-off, precisely because screen calibration varies and a Delta E argument cannot be settled by a photograph. It adds a few days to development and removes a category of dispute that can cost a season.

Finally, treat the approval as a versioned document. Every resubmission gets a new sheet, not an annotation on the old one. When a factory submits a revised slider after a failed pull-off test, the sheet should show the new result and reference the earlier failure, so the history stays legible.

Approving a Deviation Without Approving a Defect

Sometimes a sample fails an attribute that does not matter for the end use. A slightly low slider pull-off on a decorative pocket zip may be commercially irrelevant, while the same result on a main closure is a field failure waiting to happen. The sheet needs a way to record that judgement without erasing the failure. Use a deviation line with six fields: attribute, measured value, specification, reason for acceptance, compensating control, and expiry. "Approved with deviation" is legitimate only when the reason is written down and the compensating control can be verified, for example an additional hundred percent pull test on bulk. Without those fields, a deviation is an undocumented concession, and it will be cited as precedent on the next submission. Record the six fields and the next reviewer inherits a decision rather than a puzzle, which is the whole point of approving samples in writing.

A Note on Use

This template is general commercial reference and not legal advice. Retention periods, signature authority and deviation procedures should be adapted to your organisation and reviewed by qualified counsel before being incorporated into a supply agreement.