Day 1: Why is it so hard to get a straight answer from a factory?

Welcome to Day 1 of our new experiment: Greene Textile vs. The Algorithm.

If you missed the intro, here is the deal: We asked AI for the most common questions people have about starting a clothing brand. Now, we are asking my dad (Ira), who has been manufacturing fabric in Los Angeles since 2001, to answer them honestly.

No corporate jargon. Just the truth from the factory floor.

The Question

The first question the AI suggested is one of the biggest frustrations for new designers:

"Why is it so hard to get straight answers from mills or factories regarding timelines?"

It feels like you are always chasing people down, right? You ask "When will it be ready?" and you get silence—or a vague answer. Here is why.

The Answer

Ira: "Look, I understand its a rush order, but so are all of the orders we receive for the past 5 years it’s been three days since they placed the order. I already gave you a delivery date! Relax!

Unless you're buying off from my stock, making fabric isn't magic. I can’t just wave a wand and make rolls appear out of thin air. Believe me, I’ve tried. I even looked for a wand on eBay. No luck.

Here’s the behind the scenes; this industry knitting, dyeing, inspecting and delivery take time. Depending on how far in the process your order is will determine my answer. I have to wait for the knitter, the dye house, or the guys at the laundry to pick up the phone and tell me what’s happening before I can tell you what’s happening.

If I’m not answering you immediately, it’s because I’m trying not to lie to you. I’m not gonna promise you a date I can’t deliver just to make you feel better for five minutes."

Eager customers comically anticipate their fabric order, while time crawls by with a humorous twist.

Translating Ira

What Ira means is that manufacturing isn't a straight line; it's a relay race. And if one person drops the baton, everyone slows down.

When you place an order for custom fabric, we aren't just pulling a roll off a shelf. It has to go through a physical chain of events:

1. The Knitter: The raw yarn has to be knitted into fabric (greige goods).

2. The Dye House: That raw fabric travels to a separate facility to be dyed your specific color.(Yes even PFD, Scour and White)

3. The Laundry: Depending on the finish, it might move again to be washed or treated.

If the dye house machine breaks down at 9:00 AM, the schedule I gave you at 8:55 AM is already wrong.

So, when a factory "ghosts" you for a few hours, it’s usually not because they are ignoring you. It’s because they are calling the dye house to get an accurate update so they don't lie to you. As Ira says, we’d rather make you wait for an answer than promise a date we can't hit.

Tune in Monday for Question #2!

Have a burning question you want Ira to answer? DM us on Instagram @Greenetextileinc