Counting Mistakes, Saving Thousands
- ruggs9
- Aug 31
- 1 min read
By Dallas Fowler, Digital EFX
Why Tracking Waste Is No Waste of Time
Not too long ago, I wrote about the unsung heroes in our shop. This time, I want to share a story about how keeping track of our mistakes turned out to be one of our best decisions. It’s a lesson in how a little awareness can save a whole lot of money.
Realizing the Waste
So here's how it started: while filling in for Mikey, I noticed some simple mix-ups—using the wrong laminate finish, trimming something that should’ve stayed in one piece, or tiny design slips. Each one seemed small, but by the end of the month, we realized we’d racked up about $2,200 in print mistakes and around $5,000 in labor costs. When we did the math, that added up to over $11,000 a month in potential lost revenue. Multiply that by a year, and you're looking at over $100,000 slipping through the cracks. That’s when we knew we had to do something.
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