Scenario · Colour & dyeing
A perfect first shipment and a second lot that looks wrong under store lighting.
Teaching scenario — not a published customer program. Composite situations for education; no customer is identified and no order is claimed.
The scenario
- 01
Situation
A uniform polo program ships clean on the first dye lot. Six months later the reorder arrives: same style number, same ‘navy’ on the purchase order, different shade under the retailer’s fluorescent lights. The first lot is still hanging in stores.
- 02
Where it broke
The colour standard was a name, not a retained lab dip. Heat transfers on the first lot were qualified on a cotton substitute. The second dye lot was within a verbal ‘close enough’ but never measured against a physical standard under an agreed light source.
- 03
The correction
Approve a lab dip under a named illuminant. Retain the sealed standard with the purchase order. Qualify decoration on the bulk fibre. Write a lot-to-lot tolerance before the second booking, not after goods-in.
- 04
Takeaway
Polyester-rich polos need disperse-dye discipline and a physical colour agreement. A colour name is not a standard.
Not a case study
For a documented manufacturing program with verified facts, see case studies. Scenarios exist to teach; case studies exist to evidence.
Use the linked guides and tools, then send one style for commercial FOB costing.