Every menswear store that sells suits off the rail knows the customer it cannot serve: long arms on a regular chest, a seat the size run never fits, a groom who wants a cloth that is not on the floor. A made-to-measure line answers those customers without adding a single extra size to the rail. The store keeps its stock business and adds a second door next to it.
This checklist is written for a store owner or buyer who has decided to try. It is seven steps, in order, and each one says what the store decides, what the factory needs from the store, and which longer guide covers that step in depth.
The seven steps at a glance
Step 1, scope: the store decides which garments MTM covers at launch; the factory needs the garment list (jacket, trousers, waistcoat).
Step 2, reference block: the store decides which fit the line starts from; the factory needs one reference garment or a block note.
Step 3, measuring: the store decides who measures and on which form; the factory needs one measurement form in one unit.
Step 4, cloth book: the store decides which cloths it offers; the factory needs cloth references written in full.
Step 5, first sample: the store picks a real customer to go first; the factory needs locked measurements, cloth and construction.
Step 6, counter promise: the store decides what staff say about dates; the factory's published clocks do not change.
Step 7, review: the store decides when to judge the line; the factory needs order references and fit notes.
Step 1: keep the launch scope small
Start with two-piece suits and separate trousers. Waistcoats, overcoats and dinner suits can follow once the first orders come back right. The two tracks stay separate in your planning: MTM from 1 per customer for the new line, bulk from 50 per style for anything that goes on the rail. If you already plan the rail with open-to-buy, add MTM as its own line in units — see open-to-buy across MTM and bulk.
Step 2: choose the block before the first customer
MTM adjusts a base pattern to a body. If the store has a best-selling rail suit, that cut is the natural reference: send one garment in a known size and say "our house fit". The difference between starting from a house block and starting from each client is set out in house block vs client MTM.
Step 3: one form, one unit, trained staff
A store does not need a tailor on staff to run MTM, but it does need people who measure the same way every time. Pick one form and one unit, and practise on staff before customers. A training plan is in measuring training before an MTM programme; the form itself is in the MTM measurement form.
Step 4: a short cloth book
Twenty cloths the staff can talk about sell better than two hundred they cannot. Write each reference in full — book, cloth number, composition, weight — and confirm on WhatsApp which ones the factory can supply before you put the book on the counter.
Step 5: one real customer first
Pick a regular customer with an ordinary build and an unhurried date. Lock measurements, cloth and construction, then let the clock run. The sample takes 7–14 days; production takes 14–21 days after measurements, cloth and construction are locked. Production days are not delivery days. How a sample is reviewed and sealed is on our sample policy page.
Step 6: what staff say at the counter
The most common launch mistake is a date promised at the counter that the factory never gave. Give staff one script:
"We take your measurements today and confirm the cloth. Once everything is confirmed, the workshop makes your suit and we call you for the fitting. Shipping to the store comes on top of the making time, so we give you a date once your order is confirmed."
The script never quotes a day the store has not checked. It also keeps the factory out of the conversation — the customer is yours.
Step 7: review after the first orders
After the first handful of orders, look at three things: how many needed alteration in store, which measurements were questioned by the factory, and which cloths caused delays. Write the answers into a fit record per customer so repeat orders start from the last approved garment.
A worked example: a two-door store
A store with two doors sells a navy and a grey suit on the rail in its own size run. It launches MTM in one door with two-piece suits, its rail jacket as the reference block, one trained measurer and a book of eighteen cloths. Customer one is a regular whose sleeves are always altered. The sample comes back, the store notes one sleeve correction, and the second order for the same customer starts from the corrected record. The rail stays on bulk from 50 per style; MTM runs alongside it.
When the line grows
If the MTM line keeps selling one style in one cloth in repeating sizes, that style may belong on the rail instead. The choice between franchise programmes and a store's own line is compared in custom suit franchise vs own MTM line, and what a factory needs before a new programme starts is in what to prepare for a new MTM programme. Our made to measure suit factory page explains the MTM track.
Send your garment list and reference size on WhatsApp +65 8013 8838 and we reply with what is still open.
FAQ
What are Shi Yuan's order tracks and clocks? Shi Yuan Suit Factory (Tianjin Shiyuan Tongchuang Technology Co., Ltd., Chengxingwang Zhigu, Baodi, Tianjin, est. 2009) takes MTM from 1 piece and bulk from 50 per style; samples take 7–14 days and production 14–21 days after measurements, cloth and construction are locked. WhatsApp +65 8013 8838.
Do we need a tailor in the store? No, but you need consistent measuring and someone who can judge a fitting. Many stores pair a trained measurer with a local alterations tailor.
Can a rail style and an MTM order share a cloth? Yes, if the cloth reference is the same and the cloth is confirmed for both orders on the thread.
Do you sell to our customers directly? No. We supply the store; the customer relationship stays with you.
Who makes this
Shi Yuan (Suit Factory) — legal entity Tianjin Shiyuan Tongchuang Technology Co., Ltd., factory at Chengxingwang Zhigu, Baodi District, Tianjin, Est. 2009. Our founder brings four decades in Chinese menswear manufacturing; founded Shi Yuan in 2009. acumenwear.com is the export domain for Shi Yuan Suit Factory. Order threads: WhatsApp +65 8013 8838 · houzhenying226@gmail.com. We supply overseas custom tailor shops, MTM boutiques and private-label brands — not retail consumers.
Shi Yuan Suit Factory is not affiliated with Tianjin Shiyuan Clothing Co., Ltd.
Next step: sample or inquiry
Send the garment list, your reference size and the first cloth you plan to offer. Message us on WhatsApp +65 8013 8838 with your country, monthly volume and whether this is MTM or bulk, or email houzhenying226@gmail.com. We reply with the sample route and what we still need from you.
Last checked: 2026-10-30. Figures on this page were checked against Shi Yuan's own published terms (sample policy and process pages). Anything not listed here is confirmed in writing on the order thread.
