# How to Fix a Factory: Influencing the Direction of Your Company  w/ Rob Tracy

- Show: [The Manufacturing Executive](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive)
- Published: 2020-07-28
- Length: 23m
- Episode: 7
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2020-07-28-how-to-fix-a-factory-influencing-the-direction-of-your-company-w-rob-tracy
- Listen: https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-manufacturing-executive#episode-e387b23a-f5aa-4760-9fcc-5d9696af0060

## Summary

Rob Tracy, president of Rob Tracy Consulting and author of 'How to Fix a Factory', discusses how manufacturing leaders should navigate long-term capacity constraints and labor shortages. He outlines four key strategic decisions: managing customer tiering and lead times, trimming low-margin product lines, adjusting pricing to reflect supply scarcity, and re-evaluating capital investments as throughput generators rather than just cost reducers. Tracy also advocates for using structured operating systems like his Manufacturing Leadership System (MLS) or EOS to execute these new strategies effectively.

## Chapters

- [0:49](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2020-07-28-how-to-fix-a-factory-influencing-the-direction-of-your-company-w-rob-tracy#t=49) Introduction: Rob Tracy and the New Manufacturing Reality
- [3:48](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2020-07-28-how-to-fix-a-factory-influencing-the-direction-of-your-company-w-rob-tracy#t=228) The Shift from Abundant to Constrained Capacity
- [9:46](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2020-07-28-how-to-fix-a-factory-influencing-the-direction-of-your-company-w-rob-tracy#t=586) Strategic Decision 1: Lead Times and Customer Tiering
- [14:41](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2020-07-28-how-to-fix-a-factory-influencing-the-direction-of-your-company-w-rob-tracy#t=881) Strategic Decision 2: Trimming Product Lines and Complexity
- [16:09](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2020-07-28-how-to-fix-a-factory-influencing-the-direction-of-your-company-w-rob-tracy#t=969) Strategic Decisions 3 & 4: Pricing and Investment Economics
- [19:30](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2020-07-28-how-to-fix-a-factory-influencing-the-direction-of-your-company-w-rob-tracy#t=1170) Operating Systems: EOS, MLS, and Strategic Alignment

## Topics

- [Scaling production](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/scaling-production)
- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)
- [Sourcing & supply chain](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/sourcing-and-supply-chain)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- Rob Tracy Consulting (company)
- How to Fix a Factory (other)
- Gorilla 76 (company)
- EOS (other)
- Traction (other)
- Gino Wickman (other)
- Manufacturing Leadership System (other)
- MLS (other)
- Good to Great (other)
- Jim Collins (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [On-Demand Labor, Operations, and Finding a Co-Founder with Veryable CEO Mike Kinder](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2021-09-21-on-demand-labor-operations-and-finding-a-co-founder-with-veryable-ceo-mike-kinde) (Manufacturing Happy Hour)
- [S5E4 Mark Ross | Medical Device Engineering Leaders 5](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2024-01-26-s5e4-mark-ross-medical-device-engineering-leaders-5) (Being an Engineer)
- [236: The Power of Decisive Leadership in Modern Manufacturing with Paperless Parts' Co-Founder & CEO Jason T. Ray](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2025-05-13-236-the-power-of-decisive-leadership-in-modern-manufacturing-with-paperless-part) (Manufacturing Happy Hour)
- [Selling Your Company and Creating the ‘Netflix of Manufacturing’ with Darrin Mitchell](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2022-01-11-selling-your-company-and-creating-the-netflix-of-manufacturing-with-darrin-mitch) (Manufacturing Happy Hour)
- [You Don't Have a Capacity Problem — You Have a Visibility Problem, Ep #44](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/lights-out/2026-07-03-you-dont-have-a-capacity-problem-you-have-a-visibility-problem-ep-44) (Lights Out)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-manufacturing-executive/2020-07-28-how-to-fix-a-factory-influencing-the-direction-of-your-company-w-rob-tracy. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to The Manufacturing Executive.