Why Isn't Cutting Starting Even Though Fabric Has Arrived?
Most often because the marker is not approved, or because only part of the fabric has arrived. Fabric in the store is one of three things cutting needs. The other two are an approved pattern and an approved marker. If any one is still open, the table waits, however full the godown looks.
How can the store and the cutting master both be right?
The store says: “Fabric aa gaya.” The cutting master says: “Table pe kuch nahin aaya.” Both are true.
One is a fact about the godown. The other is a fact about the cutting room. They are two different questions. Most factories only ever ask the first one.
Is an order with two of the three things ready two-thirds ready?
No. Readiness does not come in parts. Take an order with the pattern signed off and the fabric landed, but the marker still pending. It is not 66% ready. It is not ready. It will cut nothing today, the same as an order with nothing ready at all.
This matters because factories often report readiness as a percentage. A percentage lets a blocked order sit in the middle of a list looking almost fine.
What usually holds a cutting table?
Four things. Check them in this order.
- The marker. Pattern approval and marker approval are two steps, and people treat them as one. The pattern goes to the buyer and comes back approved. The room relaxes. The marker is then made, checked for fabric use, and approved on its own. No buyer is chasing that second step, so it waits. It is a common reason for an idle table in a factory where the fabric is plainly in the building.
- Fabric that came, but not all of it. A receipt is not a requirement met. The order needs the marker average times the chart qty, plus your buffer. If 80% has landed, cutting can start on 80% and then stop. That is the most expensive moment to stop, because the table is already laid.
- The fabric nobody counts. The shell is tracked because it is the costly one. Lining and interlining are counted loosely. A missing lining holds an order as completely as a missing shell.
- Fabric promised twice. The same roll is promised to two orders. The first one cuts. The second one stops. A store record counts quantity. It does not count promises.
Does last season’s approval count for a repeat order?
No. A repeat order of last season’s style feels approved. Often it is not. The buyer may have moved a measurement. The fabric may behave differently at the same width. The marker may need to be made again. Carrying last season’s sign-off forward is an approval nobody gave. You find out at the table, not in the office.
So each PO answers two questions on its own: is the pattern approved, and is the marker approved? Do it even when the style code is the same. It feels like double work. It is the cheapest hour in the whole process.
How does StitchLogic show what is holding cutting?
It keeps pattern and marker approval for each PO, and never copies it from an older order. It tracks fabric by type, lining included. A colour reads “cannot cut” when its pattern is not approved, its marker is not approved, or fabric is recorded and none has arrived. If only part of the fabric has come, you see a warning that says how many pieces that fabric covers.
When someone logs cutting, the row tells them, before they save. Nothing is ever blocked. The floor still saves its entry. Insights lists the colours due in the next 30 days, or already late, that are held up, with the pieces waiting behind each one. It works once the readiness check is switched on for your cutting department.
Small open items stop shipments.
Factories do not miss shipments overnight. They miss them through small open items, each one somebody else’s job.
Try this tomorrow. Take tomorrow’s cutting plan. Ask three questions of every order on it, in writing. Is the pattern approved for this PO? Is the marker approved? Has all the fabric, lining included, arrived against this order, and not only into the building? An order that cannot answer all three is not tomorrow’s plan. It is this morning’s phone calls. Then read why cut dates slip in the first place, or see the readiness check on a live demo.
Common questions
Why is my cutting room idle when the fabric is in the store?
Because fabric is only one of three things cutting needs. The pattern and the marker must also be approved for this order. Check the marker first. It is the step most often left open.
What must be ready before cutting starts?
Three things for each order and colour: an approved pattern, an approved marker, and the fabric the order needs, lining and interlining included.
Why is the marker pending after the pattern is approved?
Pattern approval and marker approval are two separate steps. The marker is made after the pattern is signed off and approved on its own. No buyer is waiting on it, so it is easy to leave open.
Can we start cutting with only part of the fabric?
You can start, but you may have to stop once the table is laid. Check how many pieces the fabric covers before you start. StitchLogic shows that figure as a warning and still lets you save your entry.
Does a repeat order need pattern and marker approval again?
Yes. Approval belongs to one PO. Do not carry it over from an earlier order, even when the style and colour are the same.
What is a good cutting readiness checklist?
For every order on tomorrow’s cutting plan, answer three questions: is the pattern approved, is the marker approved, and has all the fabric arrived against this order. Any order that cannot answer all three is not ready to cut.