The Speed to Market Myth: Why “Fast” is Often the Enemy of “Quality”

In my 20 years, I’ve watched brands burn out because they tried to race the giants. They see a trend on Monday and want it in their warehouse by Friday. 

While agility is a superpower, unrealistic speed is the #1 cause of manufacturing disasters.

If you skip the necessary steps to save three days, you might end up losing three months fixing the mistakes.

The “Speed Tax”: What You Lose When You Rush

When a factory is forced to bypass the standard timeline, three things usually happen:

  1. Skipped Lab Tests: As we discussed in Article #15-The Science of the Label: Why We Let the Labs Do the Talking: Validating Your Care Labels, skipping 3rd party testing means you are guessing about shrinkage and color bleeding.

  2. Fabric Instability: If you don’t allow the fabric to “relax” (Article #11-The 1% Rule: Why We Reject the First 3 Meters of Every Fabric Roll) because you’re in a rush to cut, the final garments will almost certainly twist or shrink after the first wash.

  3. Burnout Errors: Sewing teams working 18-hour shifts to meet an impossible deadline will make more mistakes. Stitches will be crooked, and quality control will be rushed.

The CdGarment Solution: “Smart Speed”

We don’t believe in “Fast Fashion”; we believe in Efficient Manufacturing. We help our clients get to market quickly without cutting corners by:

  • Pre-Sourced Fabrics: We keep a library of high-quality “core” fabrics ready to go, saving weeks of sourcing time.

  • Parallel Processing: We start the tech pack and trim sourcing while the fabric is in transit, rather than doing everything one by one.

  • Digital Communication: Using clear, instant feedback loops to approve samples, eliminating the “dead time” of waiting for emails.

  • For woven/knit cut & sewn:We use an automated hanging system and agile workflows for easy management

Speed to Market vs. Smart quality speed
Speed to Market vs. Smart quality speed

Simple Insight

Being the first to market with a bad product is worse than being second to market with a perfect one. 

At CdGarment, we don’t just move fast; we move accurately. We help you build a reputation for reliability, not just speed.