MOQ planning across a five-size range

Minimum order quantity is usually quoted as a single number, and that number hides a structure. Understanding the structure is the difference between a programme that launches and one that dies at the sampling stage, because MOQ is rarely one constraint. It is the highest of four separate constraints, and they do not all move together.

The four constraints behind a single MOQ figure

1. Raw material minimums

Non-woven, film and pulp are bought by the tonne or by the roll. A factory that has to open a fresh roll of a specified 18 gsm top sheet for your order carries the remainder as stock until someone else buys it. The smaller the order, the more of that remainder is priced into your unit cost, which is why a 20,000-piece order can cost 40 per cent more per unit than a 200,000-piece order of the identical product.

2. Machine run minimum

A production line has a set-up time measured in hours: threading film, loading pulp, setting the die, running the first-off checks. Below a certain run length the set-up cost dominates and the price per unit becomes meaningless. This is the constraint that people usually mean when they quote an MOQ.

3. Print cylinder minimum

If the packaging needs new cylinders, and the cylinder cost is amortised across the order, the MOQ is effectively set by how much cylinder cost per unit you are willing to absorb. A cylinder set costing several thousand dollars spread over 30,000 units is a completely different proposition from the same set spread over 300,000.

4. Purchasing department minimum

The softest constraint and the one worth negotiating. A factory’s stated MOQ is often set for the purchasing team’s convenience, not by any physical limit. A buyer with a credible plan for repeat orders can usually move it.

Why a size range multiplies the problem

A five-size range is not one MOQ, it is five. Each size needs its own die, its own core setting and its own film web width. If each size carries a 30,000-piece minimum, a five-size launch is a 150,000-piece commitment before anything is sold.

The three structures that buyers actually use to launch a range at a survivable volume:

Structure	How it works	Trade-off
Hero size first	Launch one or two sizes at full volume, add sizes once the hero size reorders	Slower shelf presence; incomplete range for a while
Shared width	Choose sizes that share a web width, so one setting covers two lengths	Restricts the size set to what the line can share
Mixed first order	One total MOQ split across sizes, rather than a per-size MOQ	Requires the factory to accept a small run on some sizes

The mixed first order is the most useful and the least often asked for. It converts five minimums into one, and it is a normal request for a buyer who arrives with a size set, a target price and a realistic first-season forecast.

Where the cost actually steps down

Unit cost does not fall in a straight line with volume. It steps, and the steps are visible once you ask for four quotes instead of one.

• Below the run minimum: set-up cost dominates, unit price is high and unstable.
• At the run minimum: a real step down, often 20 to 30 per cent, because set-up is now spread.
• At the material break: where the order consumes whole rolls or a whole pallet of film. Another step, smaller.
• At the cylinder break-even: only relevant when new cylinders are involved, but the largest single step in the whole curve.
• At container fill: when the order fills a full container, freight per unit drops sharply. This is frequently the biggest saving available and it has nothing to do with the factory at all.

Ask for quotes at four volumes and you will see the steps. Ask for one quote and you will negotiate against a number that has no structure visible in it.

How to plan a five-size range without overcommitting

• Decide the hero size first, based on which size your market actually buys most of. In most markets that is the standard day size, not the overnight size.
• Fix the pack count before the size set. Pack count drives film and carton tooling more than length does.
• Ask for a mixed first order with one total minimum, and state the reorder plan that justifies it.
• Separate the packaging cost from the product cost in the quotation, so you can see whether the range is expensive or the artwork is.
• Check container fill at the planned volume, not at the MOQ. A range that is efficient at 500,000 pieces can be badly inefficient at 150,000 because the cartons do not nest.

The number to actually negotiate

Do not negotiate the MOQ. Negotiate the first order’s split and the price at the second order’s volume. A factory will usually hold its MOQ and move on the split, because the split costs it a little set-up time while the MOQ protects its material purchasing. Asking for the second-order price up front also tells you whether the first price was real.