For years, we ran our leather shoe factory the way most factories in Pakistan do. Production was tracked on paper. Inventory was counted by hand. Worker payments were calculated manually every Friday. And we had no idea what a pair of shoes actually cost us to make.
We knew we needed to change, but every software we looked at was either built for Western factories with completely different workflows, or it was so complicated that our team would never use it.
That changed when we started working with ScaleOps.
What our factory looked like before
We manufacture handcrafted leather shoes — boots, loafers, formal shoes, casual styles — with over 130 products in our catalog. Our factory processes raw materials through six production stages: Cutting, Stitching, Lasting, Finishing, Quality Control, and Completion.
Before the system, here is what our daily operations looked like:
- Production tracking was on paper. We had no way to know which products were at which stage without walking the factory floor and asking.
- Inventory was a guessing game. We counted stock manually once a week. By the time we finished, the numbers were already wrong because production and sales had continued.
- Worker payments took hours. Our workers are paid per dozen pairs — not hourly — so calculating what each cuttingman, upperman, or bottomman earned meant going through paper logs and doing the math by hand every Friday.
- Material costs were invisible. We knew what raw materials cost when we bought them, but we had no idea how much leather, sole, buckle, and thread went into each specific product. We could not calculate our true cost per pair.
- Sales were tracked in a register. No customer database, no purchase history, no way to know who our repeat buyers were.
What we use now
ScaleOps built us a custom factory management system that covers everything — from raw material tracking to point of sale. The entire system runs on our phones and laptops, with no special hardware needed.
Here is what changed:
Production is tracked through every stage. When we create a production run, we enter quantities per size. As shoes move through Cutting, Stitching, Lasting, Finishing, and QC, we advance them in the system. Materials are deducted automatically at the right stage — leather when cutting starts, buckles when stitching begins, soles when lasting happens. We always know our real material stock.
Every pair gets a barcode. When shoes pass quality control, they get a unique barcode. Our team scans them with their phones to transfer between factory, warehouse, and shop. We know exactly where every pair is at any time.
Worker payments are automatic. Our workers log in with a simple PIN — no email needed. The system calculates their earnings based on how many dozens they processed that week. Mid-week advances, settlements, long-term advance recovery — it is all tracked automatically. Friday settlements that used to take two hours now take minutes.
We know our true cost per pair. The system takes our Bill of Materials (140+ raw materials), adds labour costs from production records, adds monthly overheads like rent and electricity, and gives us the exact cost to make each product. We finally know which styles are profitable and which are not.
Point of Sale is built in. Our shop uses the same system. Scan a barcode, add to cart, checkout, print receipt. Customer purchase history, visit counts, and contact details are all tracked. We can now do targeted SMS campaigns to repeat customers.
What made the difference
We had tried looking at SAP, Odoo, and other ERP systems before. None of them worked for us because:
- They do not support per-dozen worker payments. Every system assumes hourly wages or fixed salaries.
- They do not understand our production stages. Our shoes go through six handmade stages, and different materials are consumed at different stages. Generic systems deduct everything at once.
- They require desktop computers and trained IT staff. Our factory workers use Android phones and speak Urdu.
The system ScaleOps built understands how Pakistani leather factories actually work. Our workers use it on their phones with Urdu language support. The interface has big buttons and simple scanning — you do not need computer skills to use it.
The results
- Real-time inventory across factory, warehouse, and shop — no more manual counting
- Accurate worker payments calculated automatically from production output
- True cost per pair for every product in our catalog
- Complete traceability for every pair of shoes from raw material to customer
- Customer database with purchase history for marketing
- 18 permission levels so each team member sees only what they need
The biggest change is not any single feature. It is that we make decisions based on data now instead of guesswork. When we know which products cost the most to make, which materials we consume the fastest, and which customers buy the most — we make better decisions.
For other factory owners
If you are running a leather goods factory, garment workshop, or any handmade production operation in Pakistan or India, and you are still tracking everything on paper or spreadsheets — it does not have to be this way.
The system we use was built by ScaleOps Consulting, and they have made it available for other manufacturers. You can see the full product page here or book a free demo to see if it fits your operation.
It also supports Urdu — you can view the product page in Urdu here.
This post was written by the DeVogue team. DeVogue manufactures handcrafted leather footwear in Okara, Pakistan. Visit our store at www.devoguestore.com.