A sample takes 7 to 15 days after sample requirements and usable specifications are confirmed. Bulk production takes 35 to 45 days after specifications, sample approval, material assumptions, packaging and production slot are confirmed. Those are Keytop’s windows.
They are also the two numbers buyers most often plan wrong, because both clocks start later than people assume.
The clock does not start when you send the email
The sample window runs from the point where your requirements and specifications are usable, not from the day you first make contact. “Usable” has a specific meaning here, and it is worth being blunt about it.
A brief that says “a white leather sneaker, similar to this photo, size 36 to 45” is not usable. Nobody can cut a pattern from it. Somebody has to come back and ask what the outsole is, what the lining is, where the logo goes, what the sizing reference is, and what colorway the photo is supposed to represent. Every round of that costs days that get counted against your timeline but were spent waiting on you.
A brief that is usable names the construction, the upper and lining material direction, the outsole type, the size run and the market it is graded for, the branding positions, and the packaging expectation. It does not have to be a full Tech Pack. It has to be complete enough that the sample room can start without asking.
The same is true of the bulk window. Thirty-five to forty-five days runs from the point where the specification, the sample approval, the material assumptions, the packaging, and the production slot are all confirmed. Not from the day you approve the sample. If the packaging is still undecided when you sign off the sample, the clock has not started.
What a realistic first-order timeline looks like
For a first program with no existing mold, plan the sequence rather than the total:
Brief review and quotation. Obtain the supplier’s dated quotation response and identify any unresolved inputs before scheduling sampling.
Sampling: 7 to 15 days. One round. Assume you may want a second round, because many buyers do once they have the shoe in hand. A revised round needs its own usable-input date and agreed scope; obtain the dated schedule for any changed material, tooling or approval work rather than automatically adding the first-sample window.
Sample approval. Yours. This is the step buyers underestimate; it takes as long as it takes you to check fit against your own size chart and get an internal decision.
Bulk: 35 to 45 days after everything above is confirmed and a production slot is held.
Shipping. Not part of the factory window at all. Sea freight to Europe or North America adds several weeks on top, and the transit time belongs to your forwarder, not your factory.
Adding it up honestly, the time from an approved brief to goods on the water depends most on the two steps the buyer controls: the completeness of the brief, and the speed of sample approval.
What makes it longer
A new mold. Tooling has its own lead time and its own cost line, and it happens before sampling can finish. If your design needs an outsole that does not exist yet, ask for the mold timeline separately rather than assuming it is inside the sample window.
Material that is not in normal circulation. Ask which selected upper material is actually available for the proposed order. If the selected material requires a separate mill order, confirm its availability and dated supply schedule before planning the sample or production window.
Changing the specification after sample approval. This resets more than people expect. “Same as sample, but the tongue label moves” is a new approval and, depending on what moved, new tooling or new material.
Seasonal congestion. Request the factory’s actual holiday calendar and dated loading plan for the proposed window. Plan the launch backwards through material readiness, sample review, production and transport rather than assuming a universal shutdown length or seasonal booking rule.
Keytop’s windows, stated plainly
| Stage | Window | Clock starts when |
|---|---|---|
| Sample development | 7 to 15 days | Sample requirements and usable specifications are confirmed |
| Bulk production | 35 to 45 days | Specification, sample approval, material assumptions, packaging and production slot are confirmed |
Both are KEYTOP’s stated timing rules, not marketing estimates. Neither includes international freight, and neither includes the time a buyer spends deciding.
What to send if you want an accurate schedule
Give the factory a target date and work backwards together, rather than asking “how fast can you do it” in the abstract. To get a schedule you can actually plan against, send:
- The product family and construction, with a reference if you have one
- Quantity, colorways, and the size run for your destination market
- Whether an existing mold can be used or a new one is needed
- Branding and packaging requirements, including anything your retailer mandates
- Your launch date, and whether you intend to reorder
The fifth item changes the answer more than buyers expect. For a repeat program, ask whether the supplier will retain the identified mold and approved specification, for how long, and how each future production slot will be confirmed in writing.
If you have a launch date, work backwards from it rather than asking how fast production can go. Send the brief with the target date attached and the schedule comes back against your calendar, not ours. Send a footwear brief, or browse the footwear families to compare product directions.