A custom button runs six steps: brief, drawing, tooling, first samples, colour approval, bulk. Plan 30 to 45 days from approved artwork to goods ready, with the tooling and the colour approval as the two points where schedules actually slip.
The timeline at a glance
| Step | Working days | What you must supply | Where it slips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Brief and reference | 1–2 | Tech pack, size in ligne, reference button or photo, target price | No reference sample; "like this but different" |
| 2. Drawing / 3D confirmation | 2–3 | Logo file in vector, exact placement, rim profile | Low-resolution logo; engraving depth not decided |
| 3. Tooling | 2–5 die, 7–10 mould | Signed drawing, tooling ownership decision | Revision after the first cut, which restarts the clock |
| 4. First samples | 5–7 | Approved tooling, colour direction | Sample made by hand instead of from the production tool |
| 5. Colour approval (lab dip) | 5–8 | Pantone TCX or physical standard, light source | Approval by photo; metamerism shows up in bulk |
| 6. Bulk production | 15–25 | Signed sample, PO, packing spec | Plating or material shortage; Chinese New Year window |
Which parts need a mould, and which need a die
This is the single most misunderstood point in button development, and it changes both the cost and the calendar. Natural materials are cut and turned; they are never moulded. Metal is cast or stamped in a mould. Resin depends on how the button is made.
| Material | How the shape is made | A new size or shape means | Tooling lead time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shell, horn, wood, bamboo, corozo, leather | Punched and turned on a lathe | New cutting die / punching die | Days, not weeks |
| Sheet resin (most shirt buttons) | Cut from cast sheet | New cutting die | Days, not weeks |
| Injection-moulded resin, urea | Formed in a steel mould | New mould | 7–10 working days |
| Metal — zinc alloy, brass, steel | Die-cast or stamped | New die-casting or stamping mould | Longer than an injection mould; quoted per part |
| Frog closures, hand-knotted | Hand-tied against a master sample | New master sample, no tooling | Sample time only |
Two practical consequences. First, a natural button in a size we already hold is a sample order, not a tooling project — asking for a "mould quotation" on a shell button tells a supplier you have not bought shell before. Second, a metal part is the opposite case: every new profile is a new mould, and the mould is the long pole in the schedule, so the drawing has to be right before anything is cut.
Step 1 to 2: the brief decides half the outcome
Most delays start in the brief, not the factory. "A 20 mm horn button with our logo" leaves the rim height, engraving depth, hole spacing and back profile open, and each of those has two or three reasonable answers. The tooling is cut once; the argument happens after.
Send a physical reference or a photo with a scale, plus the size in ligne, the logo in vector format, and where the logo sits relative to the rim. Two days of preparation saves ten days of revision. If the size is still being argued internally, the ligne to mm chart converts it and shows what each size is normally used for.
Step 3: the tooling, and why revisions are expensive
A mould is cut from steel or copper depending on the process. Once cut, changing the logo size or the rim profile means re-cutting, not adjusting. That is why the drawing sign-off matters more than any other approval in the project.
Ask for a 3D render at actual size, printed on paper, laid on the garment. It sounds crude. It catches scale errors better than a screen preview.
On a natural material the same discipline applies to the cutting die and the turning jig, but the cost of being wrong is smaller: a die is cheaper than a mould and can be re-cut in days.
Step 4: samples from the production tool, not the model shop
A sample made by hand from a prototype tool will not match the production part. Colour, gloss and rim sharpness all shift when the real mould runs. Insist that the approval sample comes off the production tool, even if it takes three extra days.
Step 5: approve colour in person, or specify the light
Colour approval is the second big schedule risk. A lab dip approved from a phone photo is approved under a light source nobody wrote down. Bulk then matches under the factory's lamps and mismatches under the buyer's. Specify D65 for approval and state the tolerance in Delta E.
Step 6: bulk, and the calendar traps
Bulk runs 15 to 25 working days for moulded buttons and longer for plated metal with a special finish. Two calendar traps: the weeks around Chinese New Year, when factories close for two to four weeks, and the pre-season peak from July to September, when capacity tightens across the whole trim industry.
If your in-store date is fixed, work backwards from it and add two weeks. The cost of air freight on a late trim shipment is always higher than the cost of ordering earlier.
What a realistic schedule looks like
| Situation | Artwork approved to goods ready |
|---|---|
| New mould, moulded button | 30–45 days |
| Existing mould, new colour | 20–30 days |
| Natural material, new size, new cutting die | Shortest of the three — die plus sample time |
| Metal, new profile with new mould and special plating | Quoted per part; the plating line is a separate queue |
Artwork approved on day one, goods ready in 35 to 45 days for a new mould, 20 to 30 days for an existing mould with a new colour. Anyone promising ten days for a new custom button is either using a stock mould or planning to ship you something that is not what you approved.
Tooling cost and who owns it
Tooling is quoted as its own line, not buried in the piece price, so you can see what you are buying. Three ownership models are common in the trade:
- Amortised — the tooling cost is spread across the first order or across an agreed volume.
- Charged once, owned by the buyer — the tool belongs to you and stays with the supplier for your production; ask for that in writing.
- Owned by the supplier — no tooling charge, but the tool may be used for other customers, and the price reflects it.
Whichever model applies, put it in the quotation and not in a conversation. On repeat orders, ask what happens to the tooling line — that question alone catches most of the misunderstandings.
FAQ
Send the sketch or the reference button with the size in ligne and the quantity, and we will confirm which tooling applies, what it costs, and the date the first sample can be in your hands.
Senfa Mfg Email: [email protected]
Last updated: 2026-11-06