Can you match a sample from another supplier?

Short answer: Usually yes, and we tell you within a few days where we cannot. Matching starts with measurement, not with a formula: thickness, absorbency, peel and liner release are read off your sample, and the result is a specification you can compare line by line. Sampling then runs seven days from an agreed spec.

The reason to be precise about this: "match this" usually means "this, but better" — a patch that holds longer, sits flatter, or peels without pulling. If nobody writes down which property is being fixed, the sample that comes back is a match to the wrong thing.

What we measure on your sample

What a match does not include

Their formulation. If the matrix is a proprietary blend we cannot see inside it. We match measured behaviour within the tolerances on the specification — not chemical identity. Say so early if an identical matrix is a regulatory requirement rather than a preference.

Their die. A tool belongs to whoever paid for it. If the outline in your sample is their property, copying it invites a claim; a die that is close but not identical is charged once and becomes yours.

Their print. Licensed character artwork is the clearest case — it travels or it does not, and no factory can reproduce it on request.

How to send a sample so the answer is useful

Send ten to twenty patches in the original sealed pouch, with the pack if you have one — the pouch, not just the patch, decides the shelf life you can claim.

Add one sentence per property you want kept, and one per property you want changed. "Match this, but 30% thinner and no edge lift after six hours" is a specification. "Make it like this" is a lottery ticket.

Tell us the destination market too. A patch matched for the US cosmetic route and one matched for an EU device route may need different documentation, and that changes the timeline more than the formulation does.

The timeline, honestly

Seven days to a sample from the agreed specification, seven days for your approval, and from the purchase order roughly half a month into mass production. Each revision round restarts the seven-day sample clock, which is why the written spec matters more than the number of rounds.