Style The grid and the order

Colourways count

Sizes count

Order Quantity garments

Trims Sorted by what makes them change

Same on Every Garment lines

Main label, care label, polybag, carton. One variant each, whatever the grid does.

Change with Colour Only lines

Sewing thread, zipper tape, buttons. One variant per colourway.

Change with Size Only lines

Zipper length, elastic length, size label. One variant per size.

Change with Both lines

A woven label carrying size and colourway together. One variant per cell of the grid — these are the expensive ones.

Distinct Trim Variants to Buy

— variants

Every separate thing a purchase order must name

The Grid, the Bill and the Exposure

Distinct SKUs: — skus
Trim Lines on the Style: — lines
Rows Held as Flat Per-SKU Bills: — rows
Rows Held as a Rule-Based BOM: — rows
Rows Avoided: — %
Edits to Change One Trim Supplier: — edits
Order Halted by One Missing Size Variant: — garments
Order Halted by One Missing Grid-Cell Variant: — garments

The variant count is the number that matters at purchase and the number nobody predicts, because it is not the trim lines and it is not the SKUs — it is the trim lines resolved against only the dimensions each one actually depends on. A line that changes with both dimensions costs a variant per cell of the grid on its own, which is why a single woven size-and-colour label can carry more part numbers than every other trim on the garment combined. The two exposure figures are the argument for kitting discipline: a size-dependent trim short by one variant does not delay a sixth of the order, it stops that size dead while everything else keeps running and piles up as work in progress against a shipment that cannot close. Grid-cell variants stop less, but there are far more of them and each is bought in the smallest quantity, so they are where shortages actually happen. The row comparison is the maintenance argument rather than the production one: flat per-SKU bills are not wrong, they are simply a copy of the same information once per SKU, and every copy is a place for the zipper supplier change to be missed.

Trim Matrix Explosion & Single-Variant Kitting Exposure — free, with the formula and a worked example, at Textile School.