In the carpentry firm, the plumbing business and the masonry company, the craft almost always succeeds. It is the handovers, the planning and the dependence on key people that cost. We build the systems and routines that hold — even when things get busy.
An electrical job starts fine. But by week four it is clear that something is loose: the plumbing crew didn’t know the shell wasn’t ready. The carpenter is waiting for a decision that never arrived in writing. The customer calls with questions no one can answer with certainty.
It isn’t sloppiness. It is the absence of a handover system. Everyone knew what they had to do — no one knew what had to be ready before they arrived.
That is precisely the problem we solve: simple structures that keep the job on track from day one to the customer’s signature.
Jobs drag on and end up over budget
No clear milestone structure and unclear division of responsibility at job transitions.
Handovers sit loose
What has to be ready, who checks — and when — is not defined.
Operations depend on one person
The boss knows everything. If he is ill, the job stops.
The same mistakes keep returning
The problem gets fixed, but the cause is never analysed.
Operations run stably — no matter who is at work that day.
Structured daily routines that solve problems the same day they arise.
CAPA routines that hit the cause — not the symptom.
Our M-B-E-A model is the four phases that transform a skilled trades business into an organisation that doesn’t depend on individuals’ memory and habits.
We draw your job flow from the first customer visit to delivery — and find precisely where time and money disappear: waiting, rework, uncertain handovers.
Board meetings, task overviews and simple handover checklists that keep everyone in place — without requiring a new app or a long course.
Standard workflows for the tasks that go wrong again and again: starting a new job, internal handover, customer delivery. Documented, but not bureaucratic.
We train the boss and the foremen in the daily routines, so operations don’t fall apart the next time a key person goes on holiday or changes job.
We go through a current job from start to finish — and mark every place where time and information disappear. Typically 1-2 days.
We draw up simple checklists and role assignments for the critical job transitions. Tested live on a new job.
A ten-minute daily review: what is the status, what is the obstacle, who solves it by tomorrow. The routine is set up in week 2.
The boss and any foremen are trained to use and maintain the systems. We follow up after 4 and 8 weeks.
Start with a diagnosis or calculate the potential — before you decide.
Yes — and often with faster visible effect than in manufacturing. Trades businesses have many repeated processes (job start-up, handover, delivery) that are well suited to standardisation. It is not about more paperwork, but about the right things happening right the first time.
We always start with a no-obligation conversation where we go through your job flow and give an honest assessment. We then adapt the engagement to your size and situation — a shorter anchoring programme can deliver concrete results within 8-12 weeks.
No. Smaller companies typically achieve faster results, because changes can be implemented directly without a long decision chain. Dependence on key people and missing handover routines are especially critical in small teams — exactly what we solve.
Nothing lasts. That is why we always start by securing ownership at the management level. We work with the boss and the foremen — not despite them. Our experience is that the biggest barrier is putting the problem into words, not solving it.
We work best with trades and construction businesses where operations have grown but the structure hasn’t kept up — from the smaller crew to the established contractor. Here is when we are the right match, and when we are not.
By saying it up front, we save you the time — and ourselves an engagement that wouldn’t have lasted anyway.
We start with a no-obligation conversation where we go through your job flow and give an honest assessment of what is holding you back — and what it will take.