Marcus Lemonis is a business turnaround expert who hosts “The Profit” on CNBC. This show highlights businesses that are struggling, and Lemonis tries to help them on the path to profitability. He digs in to identify what is right, what is wrong and recommends improvements. 

In this episode, he visits a New Orleans-based sewing manufacturer called Queork, which makes a wide variety of items made from cork. The business is truly unique but they are struggling with profitability.

Upon inspection of Queork’s facilities, Lemonis realizes the facility is horribly organized, as there is effectively no manufacturing process in place. The lack of process and procedure is costing them a lot in profitability and inhibits their ability to scale.

To find out what they could do better, Lemonis takes them to Unionwear in Newark, NJ to show them how it’s done. There, they meet Unionwear CEO Mitch Cahn who walks them through how efficient processes can dramatically increase their profitability and item quality. Cahn explains that, by implementing manufacturing processes, Unionwear reduced excess labor costs from three hours to about 15 minutes, just looking for thread. By implementing similar changes across their organization, Unionwear has been able to dramatically increase output quality and profitability, even though they are a union shop located in Newark, NJ.

Upon re-evaluation of Queork, Lemonis learns that they moved their facility to a much better-organized space, allowing them to increase production and profitability. Thanks in large part to Unionwear’s example, everyone now knows US-based manufacturers such as Queork can succeed in a challenging domestic manufacturing environment.