If you’re associated with any organization, you’ll know the importance of wearing a uniform. Uniforms play a vital role in the professional world, creating a sense of identity and unity within the team or workplace. In addition to giving a professional look and creating a sense of equality, uniforms also help promote brand awareness and maintain hygiene in the workplace. This is especially important in industries like healthcare and food industries. People working in hazardous environments are at high risk of getting affected if these uniforms are not provided.
Choose the right uniform for your business
When it comes to getting an outfit for your employees, deciding between stock and custom uniforms is crucial. Each option has some merits and demerits. Brand managers have to make wise choices, considering the factors that are essential in deciding and choosing one.
Before we dive into the factors to consider, let’s find out what stock and custom uniforms are, highlighting some of their merits and demerits.
Stock uniform
You have the option to name it as stock or ready-made uniform. These cords are already designed following a series of standard criteria, including allocating specific color schemes to all companies falling in the same industry, the same fabric type, and free-size that could fit every employee, whether healthy or thin. These uniforms are not customized. Therefore, any online uniform store or wholesaler has it in their stock. When you ask the wholesaler to book your order for a certain number of employees, they add your brand logo through a patch (either iron-on or sew-on). The uniform set has already been designed, and bundles have been packed for each domain. For instance, a person serving in corporate full-time needs to wear a single-color shirt, pants, and a jacket.
Pros and cons of stock uniform
Some of the merits of using stock uniforms are:
- Cost-effectiveness: They are more cost-effective than customized ones. They are produced in massive amounts, resulting in low production cost and being a budget-friendly option for businesses with limited resources initially when starting a new setup.
- Quick delivery: These uniforms are already in stock. The businesses dealing with these vendors don’t need to wait for their orders. They are available for you just a contact away. Place your order today and get your suits in the minimum time you can think of.
- Variety and availability: These uniforms have a wide variety of colors. You don’t need to wait for the processes in designing a customized uniform, from color selection to finalizing a design. Choose a suit that fits well with your brand image and place your bulk order.
- Easy to re-order: Stock uniforms have made re-ordering as easy as if you are placing your new order. If you’re expanding your team or want some replacements, you can ask the dealer to send you the order. It takes quite some time to get your order at your doorstep.
- No design hassle: It is advantageous for those businesses that have recently entered the market domain. With a minimum budget, investing your amount in designing a hassle is difficult. These stock uniforms have minimized the time spent on planning and customizing attire. Now order processing has become simple and easy.
Some of the demerits of using stock uniforms are:
- Limited uniqueness: The stock uniforms will not promote your brand in the same way, as it might be promoted through customized ones. They are designed to cater to a huge audience with minimum colors that might not align with your brand’s color palette.
- Size limitation: These uniforms are pre-designed in free sizes. It has always been witnessed that some employees have to be in their closet sizes. If your employee is given a uniform that might be loose, he has to keep on using it until the company gives him a new one that fits him.
- Limited fabric choice: Each industry has set a certain sort of fabric for their employees. For a person working in areas where it is cold, companies look for attire with fabric that could help stay warm. In these situations, stock uniforms are considered a bigger drawback. Companies need to be flexible and choose the nearest fabric for their employees.
Custom Uniform
On the other hand, a custom uniform is a garment specially designed according to the company’s demands and needs. These uniforms are designed through a uniform supplier who has expertise in manufacturing garments, and designing them, using various supply chains from the worldwide like companies working in designing uniform apparel in UAE or other.
Pros and cons of custom uniform
Some of the advantages of using custom uniforms are:
- Brand identity and image: Custom-made uniforms are designed by companies to show that these employees are working in a specific domain. This helps them more easily promote their brand and product. If the designed uniforms are of high quality, a positive image of the company can be portrayed in the market.
- Quality control: These uniforms are high in quality. Companies select the fabric and color of their choice, preferring that they’re used for a long time without facing wear and tear conditions.
- Enhances employee morale: Employees feel pride when they are honoured with their customized uniform. This gives them a sense of belongingness when uniforms uniquely designed are added to their closet, leading to working with their heart and soul to form a unified team.
- Vast fabric choices: Companies designing custom uniforms have many fabric choices. They can select the fabric according to the atmosphere of the workplace. Moreover, they can even dye their employee’s attire customized that match their brand’s palette. In short, they have an option to design their uniform from scratch.
Some of the cons of custom-made uniforms are:
- More lead time: Stock uniforms are available whenever you need them. Custom uniforms require a certain time frame to prepare your order. You need to choose your desired fabric and color and then approve them. Later, the manufacturer will prepare your order. This might take a long time, like weeks or months. This is not suitable for businesses with urgent uniform orders.
- Minimum re-ordering quantities: Re-ordering these uniforms is not as straightforward as stock uniforms. If you run out of sizes, you must wait to place orders until your stock reaches a certain quantity. Companies designing these uniforms don’t work on producing, suppose ten pieces to update your stock.
- Not cost-effective: Ordering custom uniforms requires more budget compared with stock uniforms. You need to complete the steps from start to end on your own. It is not an ideal choice for those companies who have recently started with their brand. Even for old brands, placing orders in bulk quality can be a bit cheaper than ordering minimum qualities.
Factors to consider when choosing
When you have read through the difference between both uniforms and witnessed their pros and cons, let’s move ahead.
Now, when you are choosing a uniform for your corporation, there are many factors you need to consider that align with your needs. The next session will shed some light on these factors. Consider them before finalizing your choice.
Budget
Companies need to look at their budget when they’re designing uniforms. As mentioned before, stock uniforms are more cost-effective, but a drawback is that you cannot promote your brand to the extent that could be done through custom-made uniforms. Depending on your needs and demands, the cost of these uniforms might vary- the more you add details to your uniform, the more you have to pay.
Function and style
The other factor to consider before you choose one is to look for the requirements of your employees. Take into account their concerns like style, fit, and function. It is important that your employee feels comfortable as he has to wear it the whole time.
Also monitor, if your employee feels pride in wearing custom or stock uniform. Remember! The employee working with you visually represents your company.
Timings
The last important factor to take into account is the timing of production and the completion of your orders. Stock uniforms are easy to re-stock due to their availability at wholesalers. However, custom uniforms require a minimum of weeks or months to prepare and deliver your order. Your employee will have to service at the workplace without a uniform. This will lack the factor of unity until the order is received.
Time to decide
It depends upon your choice to either select stock or custom uniforms. You need to carefully consider your business’s needs, budget, and product branding. Stock uniforms are affordable, quickly delivered, and easy to re-order, but custom uniforms provide the opportunity to brand your brand differently, and the specific needs of fabric and color are easy to fulfil.
Ultimately, the final choice is yours. This blog will help you choose and consider the factors that are important to consider.