Most mid-market plants plan against the capacity they installed, not the capacity they actually deliver. The gap gets covered with overtime and air freight, so it never shows up in the data. Until a big customer notices.

The SOP describes exactly what happens when everything goes to plan. It says nothing about what happens when the customer's PO doesn't match, the vendor ships late, or the system's down. That silence is where the real process actually lives — undocumented, in someone's head.

A long, comfortable relationship with a single critical vendor feels like stability. It's often a concentrated risk hiding behind good service.

Every business has a few 'that's just how we do it here' workarounds. Individually they look harmless. Add them up and they're a quiet, permanent tax on the operation.

Many good mid-market businesses stop growing not because the market dried up, but because every decision still routes through one person.