Your production calendar is broken
How to fix it before it costs you millions...
There’s an unspoken rule in fashion production: deadlines are fluid… until they’re not. Retail brands operate on meticulously planned production calendars, yet time and again, delays creep in. When one milestone slips, the entire chain reacts, compressing timelines, escalating costs, and creating chaos. The problem isn’t just late deliveries, it’s the lack of clear ownership and real-time visibility at each step. So, let’s break it down: what needs to happen, who’s responsible, who should be paying attention, and where things go wrong.
Concept and Design: Where It All Begins (and Often Stalls)
Designers don’t like being rushed. The creative process is iterative, ideas evolve, and new inspirations emerge at the last minute. That’s fine… until it isn’t. The longer this phase stretches, the more pressure it puts on everyone downstream.
At this stage, design teams are leading the charge, but production and merchandising should have visibility. The earlier they’re looped in, the better they can anticipate challenges, whether it’s material constraints, feasibility concerns, or cost implications.
Delays here usually stem from indecision. Leadership wants more options. Designers push for last-minute tweaks. The final sign-off keeps slipping. When that happens, it doesn’t just shift everything down the calendar, it squeezes every subsequent step, forcing production to cut corners just to stay on track.
Finalising Specs & Materials: The First Bottleneck
Once designs are locked, product developers get to work translating sketches into reality. Tech packs need to be precise. Materials need to be sourced. Suppliers need to be lined up. The problem? This is where gaps in accountability start to show.
At some brands, this falls under the domain of product development, while at others, sourcing takes the lead. Either way, production needs full visibility. If specs aren’t locked and materials aren’t secured on time, factories can’t commit to production schedules. And if production schedules slip, well, you know where this is going.
The biggest issue here is lack of urgency. Everyone assumes they have more time than they actually do. Teams work in silos, and no one is tracking readiness across all articles. By the time the gaps become obvious, it's already too late.
Internal Buying & Forecasting: The Guesswork Stage
Buying teams operate in a world of uncertainty. They’re making commitments on order volumes before seeing wholesale demand, often using historical data and gut instinct. It’s a delicate balancing act: order too much, and you’re sitting on dead stock; order too little, and you’re missing sales.
Wholesale and DTC teams both have a stake here, but they’re rarely in sync. Wholesale wants to lock in their numbers early, while DTC has more flexibility. If this phase drags on, it delays purchase orders, and once again, the squeeze moves down the chain.
Purchase Orders: The Make-or-Break Moment
This should be the easy part: get the orders in, get them confirmed, move on. But when forecasting hasn’t been locked, when specs aren’t finalised, when teams are still debating quantities, purchase orders get pushed back. And when POs are late, suppliers deprioritise your production.
This is where production teams need absolute control. They set the deadlines, they ensure all teams align, and they hold the line when buyers try to sneak in last-minute changes. The difference between a well-run production process and an absolute mess often comes down to how disciplined brands are at this stage.
Manufacturing: The Point of No Return
Factories aren’t sitting around waiting. If you don’t hit your production window, you’re pushed back, or worse, you’re paying a premium for rushed manufacturing. This is where brands start making bad decisions: cutting QC steps, accepting subpar materials, agreeing to staggered deliveries. Anything to make up for lost time.
Production should have full oversight here, but so should merchandising and logistics. If a delay is happening, everyone needs to know immediately, not weeks later when the goods should have already shipped.
Quality Control: The Last Gatekeeper
No one wants to be the person who says, “We have a problem.” But when production is rushed, defects happen. And when defects happen, someone has to decide whether to ship or scrap.
QC teams are the final line of defence, but they’re often put in impossible situations. If the launch date is immovable and the product isn’t right, brands have two choices: delay or compromise. Both cost money. Both hurt reputations.
Logistics & Distribution: Where Everything Comes Crashing Down
Even if everything else has gone to plan, logistics can still derail the launch. Warehouse space isn’t infinite. Retailers have strict intake schedules. Freight delays throw everything off. If the production calendar isn’t built with buffer time, the margin for error is razor-thin.
At this point, logistics teams take the lead, but buying and merchandising need visibility. If a shipment is delayed, it impacts marketing, pricing strategies, and sales targets. When brands operate in silos, these delays create last-minute chaos.
The Hard Truth: Delays Are Inevitable, But Controlling Them Isn’t
Every milestone in production is a potential risk. The key isn’t eliminating delays, it’s managing them before they spiral. The best brands do three things well:
They track progress at the article level, not just by collection. If 200 styles are due, they know exactly which ones are at risk.
They enforce non-negotiable deadlines. No PO extensions. No last-minute changes. No tolerance for “we just need a little more time.”
They give full visibility across teams. If production is slipping, buying should know. If wholesale orders aren’t confirmed, logistics should be looped in. No surprises.
A well-managed production calendar isn’t just about hitting deadlines, it’s about protecting margin, keeping retailers happy, and avoiding the fire drills that come when things go wrong. The brands that do this well aren’t just lucky. They’re disciplined. Everyone else? They’re just hoping for the best.
This is part I in a series about production calendar management, sign up to be notified about the next article.