I can think of several expensive words in the modular industry. Rework comes to mind. So do delay, shortage, and the phrase every production manager loves to hear: “The customer just made one little change.” But one word deserves its own line on the income statement: assumed.
Sales assumed engineering knew. Engineering assumed purchasing ordered it. Purchasing assumed the customer hadn’t approved it. Everyone was busy; nobody confirmed anything. By Thursday morning, six people stood beside an unfinished module, trying to figure out how a window everyone knew about had never actually been ordered.
The window, of course, was unavailable. Apparently, the supplier hadn’t assumed anything.
Nobody Thought They Owned the Next Step
Imagine a customer approving a larger living room window. Sales mentions it in an email. Engineering revises the drawing. Purchasing sees a reference to the change but waits for confirmation that the additional cost has been accepted. Meanwhile, production receives the revised drawing and frames the wall accordingly.
Each department has a reasonable explanation. Sales communicated the request. Engineering updated the plan. Purchasing avoided buying an expensive item without approval. Production built what the drawing showed. Individually, those actions sound sensible. Together, they produced a beautifully framed opening for a window nobody ordered.
The failure happened between departments. No one had clear responsibility for ensuring the entire change was ready to enter production.
“I Sent It” Is Only Half a Conversation
An email in someone’s inbox proves that a message was sent. It doesn’t prove the recipient understood it, accepted responsibility, or completed the work. Yet factories sometimes treat “I sent it over” as the administrative equivalent of a signed delivery receipt.
Copying eight people can make matters worse. Everyone can see the issue, which makes it surprisingly easy to believe someone else is handling it. The email has an audience, but no one owns the task.
A useful handoff needs a named person, a specific action, and a deadline. “Please order the revised window and confirm the delivery date by Tuesday afternoon” leaves considerably less room for interpretation than “See attached.”
The Cost Travels Down the Line
The missing window is only the beginning. Someone calls suppliers. Someone checks whether another unit can move ahead. Workers shift to different tasks, materials get moved, and the production manager rebuilds a schedule that was perfectly respectable yesterday.
Then comes the meeting to discuss why the factory missed its target. Nobody includes “four departments spent two hours reconstructing an email conversation” in the original labor estimate, but the factory pays for it anyway.
Customers eventually feel these costs through delays, uncomfortable conversations, or promises that become harder to keep. A small failure to confirm can travel a remarkable distance.
Make Confirmation Part of the Job
The answer isn’t another daily meeting or a twelve-page form. Start by identifying the handoffs most likely to stop production: approved drawings, customer selections, material orders, change orders, and shipping readiness.
For each one, establish what “complete” means and who confirms it. A revised drawing is not a purchased window. A purchase order is not a confirmed delivery. Put those distinctions into the process before the module reaches the station.
Gary’s Observation
I don’t believe most factory problems begin with people trying to avoid work. Many begin with hardworking people moving quickly and trusting that the next step is covered. That trust needs a little documentation and a clear acknowledgment.
The next time someone says, “I assumed,” resist the temptation to simply assign blame. Ask what confirmation was missing and how the process can require it next time. “Confirmed” may take another minute today. “Assumed” can consume the rest of the week.
