The purchasing of uniforms for your musical organization will be one your largest single expenditures. The purchasing process can also be confusing. As a band director, you must become as knowledgeable as possible when designing uniforms and selecting your vendor. We’re here to help prepare you for the task ahead.
The following guide has answers to the most frequently asked questions about purchasing marching band uniforms. After you’ve read it, you may have more questions. Please call and discuss them with us! Our job is to provide you with all the support you need.
One of the biggest disappointments you can experience is hearing the news that the uniforms you ordered won’t be finished by the performance date. You can avoid this by carefully planning ahead. Proper planning not only ensures a timely delivery, but also impresses your administration. Consider the following sequence of events and the amount of time you should allot for each.
During this meeting, you and your representative will sit down and discuss your needs, desires and preferences. This meeting usually takes approximately two hours and should be scheduled when interruptions will be minimal.
Your uniform designer will then produce a digital sketch that portrays the style choices and color combinations you established during the initial meeting. Depending on the time of year, this could take from one to three weeks.
After you receive the sketch, show it to your administration, boosters or whoever will be involved in the funding or decision making. Nothing is written in stone yet. In the event the sketch is not approved, we will start again with the knowledge we gained from everyone’s feedback. This step may take up to two weeks of your time.
It is time to order a uniform sample based on the sketch. We will create a prototype for you at no cost or obligation. It is imperative that you see an actual uniform before you order. The time it takes to receive a sample uniform depends on the time of year, but you should allow three to four weeks.
Once you receive your sample, enlist a student to model it in real performance environments. How does your band uniform look on the 50-yard line from Row 20? What about on the stage and under the spotlight? Allow yourself two to three weeks to complete this important task.
If you are required to solicit bids for your uniform project, you must prepare specifications so vendors can accurately bid on your contract. These specifications should provide vendors with detailed instructions about when, where and how to submit their bids. Most importantly, specify how you want your uniform made. This step will take one to two weeks to complete. Learn more about the bidding process.
Your school’s business office can direct you on the bidding procedures used by your district. This step can take anywhere from two to four weeks to complete.
Each vendor is required to submit a sample to your school for evaluation. This is the most critical step in the entire process. At this point, you must determine which vendor will provide your school with the quality of uniform you desire. Plan on doing your evaluation approximately one week before opening bids. After completing your evaluation, you should prepare a written evaluation in which you recommend a vendor to your boosters, administration, school board or whoever is involved in the decision making process. Learn more about how to evaluate a uniform.
After the evaluation is complete and your report submitted, the bids are opened and the companies pricing is exposed. Based on your evaluation and the pricing submitted, you are now in a position to award the contract.
After you have awarded your contract, the uniform company will send a representative to measure your students and complete the order. At this time, you will also provide approval of the sample uniform and finalize the payment method. Once this step is complete, production on your uniform can begin.
Your organization’s financial situation will often dictate when you can purchase new uniforms, but there are advantageous times to buy. If you need a full set of suits, your best time to buy is in the offseason.
In the band uniform business, the offseason runs from mid-November through the end of February. If you place your order so that manufacturing will take place during our offseason, you will reap the rewards.
Price increases is another thing to consider. Since we increase our prices when our suppliers increase theirs, our price increases usually take place around the first of the year. With that in mind, you should plan to order around the end of November.
The least advantageous time to order is in the middle of the busy season — the first of April to the end of September. Most schools order their uniforms during this time.
Production time is affected by many factors, especially the time of year you order. Each order requires materials from over 40 different suppliers. We must allow time for delivery and then schedule your production time. Depending on the garment design, production time can vary a great deal.
The production clock doesn’t start ticking until the uniform company has received three things: approval for the uniform sample, student measurements, and the purchase order and/or deposit.
When you’ve received your bid award and submitted all paperwork, payment methods, and the uniform sample to our office, we’ll provide a delivery time frame of up to 210 days for more garments. Some uniform orders may require 240 days due to their complexity, while others may take much less time.
To ensure delivery for that first ball game, you should complete everything no later than the end of March of the preceding spring.
Several factors go into band uniform pricing, and you can control some of the biggest ones. We usually require the following information to give you a realistic estimate.
There are three basic types of fabrics used.
100% wool
A blend of wool and polyester (aka Dac-wool)
100% polyester
Each material has strong and weak points. As far as costs go, 100% wool is by far the most expensive, and 100% polyester is the least expensive. However, cost per yard is not necessarily the rule when determining fabric pricing. Performance schedule, budget and climate should factor into your choice of material. Many times we hear the mistaken notion that trouser wool is too hot and polyester is cooler. In fact, wool breathes better than polyester, and you can purchase different weights of each material. You should decide on a fabric only after extensive consultation with your uniform representative.
FLX Fabric
FLX Fabric offers the flexibility marching band members need to execute intricate choreography with ease. Designed with wicking fiber technology, FLX Fabric helps regulate body temperature by drawing heat away and promoting quick moisture evaporation. FLX Fabric also provides durability while delivering a sharp, tailored look during every performance.
Uniform manufacturers are set up to produce large quantities. Each order contains fixed costs such as manufacturing, order processing and purchasing. If these costs can be factored into 100 units instead of 10, the cost per unit is greatly affected.
Uniform manufacturers have discounts at various quantity levels. At Fruhauf, these quantities are 1-29, 30-49 and 50+. If you are within three or four units of reaching the next pricing schedule, you can often order additional suits at no additional expense when discounts are applied.
Discounts expire and prices increase from year to year. Band directors who ordered 100 uniforms last season may be surprised at the cost of ordering five more. That’s why we recommend ordering additional uniforms.
The industry recommends purchasing 20%-25% more uniforms than the number of students you plan to outfit. For example, if have 60 students, you should purchase 75 uniforms. Additional uniforms provide stock sizes for a growing organization. An additional 15 uniforms will accommodate new students as well as current students whose sizes change from year to year. It is less expensive to buy additional uniforms now than it will be after price increases and the loss of your quantity discount.
The cost of braids and embroidery is largely due to labor rather than materials. Every band uniform we manufacture is an exclusive, one-of-a-kind look that requires intensive hands-on work, which translates into added costs.
When trying to determine the right amount of ornamentation, consider if the detail will be effective when you view the uniform in actual use. Many ideas that look great from two feet away are lost when you are twenty yards away from the uniform. We provide customers with computer-generated color sketches and prototype uniforms to help them gauge the impact of the trim work.
The terms of your account depends on who will be responsible for payment. If your school district issues a purchase order for the total amount of the order, no money is due for 30 days after delivery of the order. However, if your booster club is responsible, all uniform companies will require a deposit at the time the order is placed, and the balance will be due upon delivery of the uniforms.
If your district wants to place the uniform order in the spring with billing to take place in the fall of a new fiscal year, you should specify that when you go to bid. Uniform companies understand this situation and will usually work with the district.
The deposit required from a booster club is 50%. For example, if your total order is $20,000 and the boosters are responsible for the full amount, they must submit a check for $10,000 to finalize the order and start actual materials acquisition and construction. If the booster club is responsible for $10,000 of the $20,000 bill, they would have to submit a check for $5,000 at the time of order placement to secure their portion, with the remaining $10,000 secured with a school purchase order.
However, if your booster club is responsible, a deposit of 50% will be required, along with a bank guarantee or a PO for the remaining balance. Once we receive these items, we will start your order.
During the bidding process, you let uniform manufacturers know what you want, and they let you know how much it will cost. Prior to this time, you will have received ball-park pricing for your budgeting sessions. But before you can receive an exact quote, you have to present uniform companies with specifications.
Your Fruhauf representative will be happy to prepare bid specifications for you. These specifications outline in precise detail what you want your uniform to look like and how you want it constructed. Although different companies can make similar-looking band uniforms, their methods and standards of quality will be different. Your bid request must stipulate exactly what you expect so that pricing can be figured as accurately as possible.
Your bid packet consists of essentially two different parts: construction specifications and styling specifications.
It depends on the quality you expect. If a manufacturer that employs questionable construction methods prepares your bid specifications, then you have no protection against use of those methods during actual construction of the garments. If your bid specs offer no protection and your school requires you to take the lowest bid meeting specifications, then you have made yourself very vulnerable.
By using bid specifications that call for the highest standards and holding all manufacturers to those standards, you will receive a uniform built to the specifications you demand. Proper bid specifications protect you from low-quality uniforms with low-ball pricing.
Remember, if the sample submitted does not meet the construction specifications you sent out, the bid should be rejected. On the other hand, you have the right to accept any deviation from the construction specifications if it exceeds your request. This decision is totally up to your organization.
Evaluation is the key to receiving the quality of product you desire. By performing a thorough evaluation, you can determine which uniform provides the best value. The best band uniform value cannot be determined by the lowest price, but rather by the lowest price offered by the company that meets the standards of construction you have outlined in your specifications.
To determine which company provides what you want, you must conduct an evaluation. You should conduct your evaluation of quality and construction prior to opening the bids. This evaluation should be completed, and a report should be prepared prior to the actual opening of the bids. If you attempt to complete this task after the bids have been opened, your evaluation could be swayed by pricing. The sole purpose of the evaluation is to determine quality and make a recommendation based on quality. Pricing will be added to your formula at the bid openings.
The first step in the evaluation is the development of an evaluation committee. This group should include people knowledgeable of sewing and garment construction. Anyone involved in the final decision should also be involved, if possible. You might want to include your home economics teacher, the booster club president, a school administrator and even a school board member. This group will meet prior to the bid opening (usually about a week earlier), conduct the evaluation and recommend a uniform manufacturer based on quality.
The basis for your evaluation is the construction specifications you sent each uniform company. With seam rippers in hand, you should open the garments submitted by the companies (on the seams, please) and determine exactly how they make their uniforms. You are not responsible for closing the seams you open. We submit these samples so you can evaluate them.
With our construction specifications in one hand and the sample uniform in the other, conduct your evaluation and determine the quality of each sample submitted. Even if a company did not provide an exact sample (one that meets your styling specifications), the sample submitted must represent their construction techniques and methods. By a thorough evaluation of the samples submitted, you can determine your manufacturer of choice.
After you have completed the actual evaluation, take the time to prepare a written report of your findings. Have each member of your evaluation committee sign the report to indicate their support of the findings. Board members and administrators appreciate having such appraisals committed to paper. Such a presentation will facilitate their discussion, and it also gives your evaluation more credence. We have different forms that reflect Fruhauf construction techniques. Please use them while conducting your evaluation and preparing your presentation.
At the actual bid opening, make your recommendation of manufacturer prior to the opening of the bids. Your recommendation is made on the basis of evaluation of quality, and becomes one element in the overall decision-making process.
Once you have completed the uniform evaluation, prepared a written summary of the findings and made your presentation to the governing body, the bids are opened. Now it’s time to make a decision. You must award the contract to the uniform company that meets the standards you have established at the most competitive price. This decision is totally in the hands of the school, and uniform companies must abide by the decision made by your school.
After you have selected your vendor, you should notify all the bidding vendors of your decision. Samples sent for evaluation need to be returned to the manufacturers as soon as possible. The winning vendor will send a representative to your school to measure your students and finalize the order.
At this time, you must approve the sample uniform and return it to your vendor. The sample will be the ultimate authority if questions arise about your order. Often it is the exact sample that was provided to you early in the process. If you have made styling changes since the sample was produced, the company can provide dummy parts (i.e., sleeves, coat fronts, etc.) that show the finished look. These parts should be attached to your sample showing your final design. If the changes were significant, the vendor may supply another sample for your approval. However, this takes up precious time and holds up production of your order; therefore, most schools work with the original sample and any dummy parts that are needed.
Your Fruhauf representative will also measure your students at this time. We recommend that you measure the current organization that will use the uniforms. For example, if your band students are currently in 9th through 12th grade, we recommend you measure those students. If you measure for next year’s students (8th through 11th grade), you may end up with uniforms that are too small.
After your students are measured, your Fruhauf representative will show you the sizes taken so far. Then you can decide on the sizes of the extra uniforms you are ordering. So if you do have a tall 8th grader you want to measure for next year, we will measure them at that time.
After you have determined sizes, the financial aspects of the order must be worked out. The order is complete only when accompanied by a purchase order or deposit check. To facilitate things, please have this phase of the process figured out before measuring day. Your delivery will be delayed if the order is not finalized on the day measurements are taken.
Once your Fruhauf representative has acquired the measurements, approved sample, and purchase order and/or deposit check, you can start cleaning out your closets in anticipation of your new uniforms!
As we mentioned in the very beginning, the purchase of uniforms will be one of the largest investments you make. It becomes the responsibility of each individual involved to provide their school and community the highest-quality product available.
When you are evaluating companies, you must consider service and support offered by the manufacturers. Once your uniforms are delivered, the representative’s job is only half done. For over 100 years, Fruhauf Uniforms has been providing quality products and dedicated support to schools throughout the U.S. We’re here to serve you too.
If you have any remaining questions about buying band uniforms, the answer is a quick email or phone call away.
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Fruhauf careers include uniform design, garment making, regional sales and machine operators. We provide on-the-job training in addition to excellent benefits. To apply, tell us about yourself and how you envision using your talents. Upload or email your resume to careers@fruhauf.com.
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Fruhauf Uniforms, Inc
800 East Gilbert
Wichita, Kansas 67211
Phone: 316.263.7500
Toll Free: 800.858.8050
Fax: 316.263.5550
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