Profits Are Made and Lost on the Factory Floor

Most cut-and-sew manufacturers don’t know their true labor cost per order — and many don’t want to. Orders enter the factory and disappear into what Greg calls a “black hole,” only reappearing when they ship. In between, productivity, quality, and profit are largely based on estimates and averages.

In this episode, Greg Hatchcox shares what he’s seen over 35+ years in sewn products manufacturing: outdated standards, paper-based tracking, engineering gaps, and the resistance to adopting real-time factory systems. He explains why productivity and quality data must move from end-of-week reporting to real-time visibility — and why profits are made or lost on the factory floor.