A single enquiry sheet often puts disposable period pants and protective underwear for adults on adjacent lines. The two products share a pull-on silhouette. They do not share a specification, a test plan or a retail aisle. This page explains why we open two separate project files when both appear in one enquiry, and what a buyer can write to keep them apart from the first email.
This page does not state that we supply bladder-leak briefs. It describes a category boundary that buyers ask about, and the questions we ask before deciding whether an enquiry belongs to the product line we publish. Where a question falls outside that line, we say so in the project file rather than answering it with a borrowed specification.
Menstrual brief: a single-use pull-on brief described by the buyer for a menstrual range; the project file records coverage zones, a size set and a pack count.
Bladder-leak brief: a pull-on brief described by the buyer for a care range; it is quoted against the buyer's own test plan and is not merged into the menstrual record.
| Field | Menstrual brief | Bladder-leak brief | Record code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Use wording | written by the buyer for a menstrual range | written by the buyer for a care range | B-01 |
| Absorbency basis | target declared by the brand for its market | target declared by the brand for its market | B-02 |
| Leakage check | front, rear and side zones logged apart | direction set by the buyer's own test plan | B-03 |
| Retail placement | menstrual care shelf | protective care shelf | B-04 |
| Buyer contact | menstrual range merchandising | care range sourcing | B-05 |
Two briefs, one silhouette
Both products are described to us as pull-on briefs. Both arrive with a size set, a pack count and a request for samples. That shared outline is why buyers group them on one line, and why a supplier who answers the sheet without separating them can produce a quotation that fits neither product. The outline is where the similarity ends.
We treat the silhouette as a description of how the garment is put on, not as a specification. B-01 records the use wording the buyer supplies for each line. If a single line carries both use wordings, it is split into two rows before any other field is filled. This is a filing decision, and it is the cheapest one in the whole process.
What the absorbency target is measured against
No target figure is published on this page. The liquid volume and the test criterion are set by the brand for its own market, and they differ between a menstrual range and a care range for reasons that belong to the brand's own product plan. B-02 holds the buyer's declared value and the document it came from; it does not hold a factory number.
When a buyer asks us to fill B-02, we return the field as open and ask which of the two ranges the value applies to. A figure copied from a different range is worse than a blank field, because it looks complete and will be carried into sampling. We would rather record an open field with a named owner than a number nobody can trace.
Test plans and directional leakage
For a menstrual brief the check is written as zones. Front, rear and side coverage are logged apart as B-03, because an overnight brief and a daytime brief differ in where the construction is placed. The zone record is a placement log; it is not a pass or fail verdict and it carries no performance wording.
For a bladder-leak brief the direction of the check and the criterion are set by the buyer's own plan, which we do not rewrite. Two plans can therefore sit in one enquiry without either being wrong, but they cannot sit in one specification row. Where a buyer has no plan yet, we record that as open in B-03 and ask which contact will supply it.
Retail placement and buyer type
B-04 records where the finished pack is shelved. A mass-market store places a menstrual brief on a menstrual care shelf and a protective brief on a care shelf. The two placements come with different pack counts, different artwork conventions and often a different merchandising contact. B-05 records which contact signs off each one.
This is why a mixed enquiry so often produces two different answers to the same question about pack format. The question is not ambiguous; it is being asked about two products. Naming the contact in B-05 at the start lets each answer go to the person who can actually approve it, instead of being averaged into one reply.
Why one spec sheet cannot cover both
A specification sheet is a set of declared values and their owners. If one row has to serve two use wordings, two absorbency bases and two check directions, the sheet no longer declares anything. It becomes a list of alternatives, and the sample team has to guess which alternative was intended for the cut in front of them.
Keeping two files does not double the work. The shared fields, such as the size wording and the carton format, are copied once and then held independently. What stays separate are B-01 to B-03. That separation also makes a later repeat order possible: each file can be reopened on its own terms without rebuilding it from an email thread about the other product.
How to phrase the question in an RFQ
Three short sentences remove most of the ambiguity. First: state the use wording for each line separately. Second: state who owns the absorbency target and the test criterion for that line. Third: state whether the two lines may be quoted in one document or must be returned as two files. None of the three requires a figure or a performance adjective.
A buyer who writes those sentences gets a clearer reply even when the answer to the third is no. A buyer who writes only a product name gets a clarifying question instead, and the project waits. We would rather send that question on day one than discover at sample review that two ranges were being quoted against one set of fields.
What we do when both arrive on one sheet
Four steps run in order. Step 1 splits the sheet into two rows by use wording. Step 2 assigns B-01 to B-05 to each row and marks open fields. Step 3 asks the buyer to confirm the two contacts in B-05. Step 4 issues either one document with two clearly separated sections, or two documents, as requested. No sample work is booked before Step 3.
In our project files this four-step split has replaced a longer exchange of clarifying emails. The point is not the paperwork. It is that an open field with a named owner can be closed by one reply, while an assumed value has to be unwound across artwork, sampling and the order sheet.
- Split the enquiry into two rows by the use wording in B-01.
- Assign B-01 to B-05 to each row and mark every open value.
- Ask the buyer to confirm the two contacts named in B-05.
- Issue one separated document or two documents, as the buyer requested.
Step numbers are process identifiers. They are not quantities, durations or lead times.
A short glossary a buyer can paste into an enquiry
Five neutral phrases are enough to keep a mixed enquiry readable. Use wording names the range the product is planned for. Absorbency basis names who declares the target and the criterion. Check direction names which part of a garment the buyer's own test plan looks at. Retail placement names the shelf. Project file names the set of fields a supplier will answer against. None of the five is a product name, and none of them requires a figure.
A buyer can paste those five labels into an email as a short block with one line of answer under each. Two blocks, one per brief, make the separation visible without any explanatory paragraph. We then attach B-01 to B-05 to each block and mark the fields that are still open. The reply can be short because the structure is already in the question.
What we ask buyers to leave out is a borrowed specification from an unrelated product. A sheet written for a different range carries declared values that look authoritative but belong to another brand's plan. Replacing that sheet with five blank labels is slower at the start and considerably faster by the time samples are reviewed. Our project files keep the blank version, not the borrowed one.
The glossary is a filing aid. It is not a list of product names and is not used as a category name.
This page describes a wording and filing boundary. It does not state that we manufacture or supply bladder-leak briefs, and it does not quote a specification for that product line.
