Stopping Repeat Problems
Stop the same problems coming back on the next job
Stopping Repeat Problems is hands-on work to remove the causes of the problems that keep returning. Euan works alongside your team: the worst of it is contained first, then a handful of changes aimed at whole families of failure, with your own people owning them. Progress is reported as you agree, and nothing is treated as closed until the numbers say the change held. The scope, priorities, how much of Euan's time is involved and when you review it are agreed before starting, and the work is charged on a day rate.
Best when: The same complaints, return visits, remakes and supplier errors keep recurring despite the team's efforts.
What you get
- The worst of it contained early, before the longer-term fix is built.
- A handful of changes, each aimed at a whole family of problems rather than a single incident, cheapest control first and no extra admin.
- A short, regular update showing what has changed, what is in progress and what the numbers say.
- An agreed point to stand back and review whether it is working, set when the scope is agreed.
- Someone in-house coached to lead it, so it keeps running after we leave.
Sounds like your business?
- The same problem keeps appearing across batches, months or customers.
- Your team is working hard and the problems come back anyway.
- Too much of it reaches your desk, and you are the one deciding what happens next.
- You get different explanations for the same problem from different parts of the business.
- Corrective actions get written up and the problem returns.
- The quality system documents what should happen, and the floor does something else.
What it needs from you
- A named person inside the business to own the work day to day. It does not have to be their whole job, but it cannot be nobody.
- Authority to change a process, not only to recommend changes.
- The patience to let the before-and-after data accumulate rather than declaring victory early.
- Access to the records of what went wrong, even if they are messy or in several places.
How it works
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Trace
Cost the repeat problems and trace each one to where it is made and where it should have been caught.
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Fix and hold
Change the process, not the person: the paperwork, layout, supplier hand-off or system step that lets the problem happen or lets it through. Measure before and after, report as agreed, and close nothing until the data says it worked.
What each stage involves
- Trace
- The work starts by costing the problems and finding two points for each: where it is made, and where it should have been caught but was not. This is the same work as the diagnostic, done as part of the engagement rather than before it. It sets the baseline everything else is measured against, so the "after" number is comparable with the "before" rather than a different calculation.
- Fix and hold
Problems are contained first (an extra check, a hold on despatch, sorting what is already in progress) so the work does not begin by shipping more bad output while the cause is investigated. Then the process change goes in, with your quality or operations lead rather than around them. The change might be paperwork, a layout adjustment, a specification written down properly, a different supplier hand-off, or a system step. Where a fix would cost more than the problem it prevents, we say so and leave it. Euan is on site for the parts that need him there, and that is agreed with you rather than fixed in advance.
Regular reporting is the discipline that stops this becoming another improvement project that faded. Each update: what changed, what is in progress, what the data says. Nothing is closed as resolved until the measured rate confirms it stayed down. If a change does not work, the report says so. You and Euan agree at the outset when you will stand back and decide whether to carry on.
What this service is not
- Not a temporary inspection uplift. Adding checks treats the symptom and adds permanent cost.
- Not a blame exercise. If the answer turns out to be a person, we will say so, but the answer is usually the process.
- Not a certification project, although it often makes one easier afterwards.
- Not a fixed programme with a set length. The scope and the review point are agreed with you before anything starts.
Who runs this
Euan Pallister
25 years in operational businesses, from production management to fire protection and ironmongery
Proof it works
See the measured results behind this work: doubled assembly output, quote turnaround cut from two to three hours to about 15 minutes, and more.
The approach in practice
An example from the track record
Before
An assembly department had become the bottleneck, putting pressure on the wider business. Adding resources looked like the obvious answer, but it was not the constraint.
What changed
Euan diagnosed the department at the level of the actual work rather than the official process. He identified the real constraint, changed the process around it, and took responsibility for making the improvement hold.
Result
Output doubled within six months, with no additional investment.
From Doubling output without additional investment on the track record, anonymised, and achieved before these services were formalised.
Guides on this
- How to reduce rework in a project business → Seven low-cost fixes that remove whole families of rework.
- Margin fade on fixed-price jobs → How to measure it job by job, and the five causes behind most of it.
- Two blocks done, the third wasn’t: a £240,000 fine → Why a fix has to reach every site, not most of them.
Bring the problem that keeps coming back.
Two free hours with Euan on one problem. You leave with practical next steps. No obligation.