The Prevention Audit | Alexander Gallardo

The Cost of a Mistake

3.2 hours

On my floor in Pella, we track every near-miss. The average mistake that makes it to the final product costs us 3.2 hours of rework, plus material waste. That's not just time lost—it's a competitor gaining ground.

Traditional approach: Fix it after it breaks. My approach: Catch it before it starts.

The Prevention System

I've built a 14-week rhythm that includes:

Daily near-miss reporting (no blame, just learning)
Weekly root-cause reviews with the whole team
Monthly "prevention audit" to measure what we've caught before it became a problem

This isn't just about avoiding mistakes. It's about building a culture where every slip becomes a lesson, and every lesson makes us faster, smarter, and more competitive.

The Numbers

6.8%

Over the last 14-week cycle, my prevention system has cut waste by 6.8%. That's not a guess—that's measured against our baseline from before we started tracking near-misses.

Industry average: 2-3% waste reduction. My floor: 6.8% because we treat prevention as a competitive advantage.

Bring It to the Colony

In a dome on Mars, every mistake costs more. Every second of rework is a second of oxygen, water, and power wasted. That's why I'm bringing this system to the colony.

I've built a page for lean six sigma colony yield, and now I'm adding the prevention layer. Because in the end, the best recovery is the one you never have to make.