LinkedIn·Tuesday, 4 August 2026·22d ago

In the past two weeks I did two factory visits, and heard the same sentence twice. "We know we're losing output. We just can't prove…

Kasper De Smaele

Co-founder & CEO | Kasqade

In the past two weeks I did two factory visits, and heard the same sentence twice. "We know we're losing output. We just can't prove where." One of them tracks a single number: output per hour. It's a good number, but it's also the only one they currently have. A line was sold as doing 200/hour, but runs 155/hour on average. So when it drops, the conversation goes: maybe it's the machines, maybe it's the material, maybe it's the shift. Nobody is wrong, and nobody can be right. Missing data costs you improvement projects, and even worse: your negotiating position with suppliers, with your own team, with the business case for the next machine. Downtime nobody logs doesn't exist on paper, but it exists in your margin. Measure the floor, and discussions turn into an objective review.