QualityTrace brings a practical quality method into your plant: expert sessions to get it right, a practical toolkit, and the software to run it every day. Bought once. Run on your own systems.
Caught where it's made, a defect costs a rework. Caught at final inspection, it carries the cost of every operation since. Caught by your customer, it costs a sort, an 8D and some of their confidence in your plant. The further a defect travels, the more you pay for it.
Your records say where a defect was found. Rarely where it was made. Without that, the cost of poor quality stays a total that nobody can break down, and the same defects keep coming back.
An established Lean quality method. For every defect, record two things: the station that made it and the station that found it. Across all your defects, the pattern shows where to act: which defects to stop at the source, and where detection needs to move closer to it.
| Where it was found ↓ detected | S1Blanking | S2Weld |
S3Press | S4Laser trim | S5Assembly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S1 Blanking | 3 |
||||
| S2 Weld | 1 | ||||
| S3 Press | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| S4 Laser trim | 1 | 2 | |||
| S5 Assembly | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
| Final inspection | 6 |
2 | 1 | ||
| Customer | 2 |
1 |
| You already have | It tells you |
|---|---|
| A Pareto chart | Which defects happen most |
| An 8D | Root cause, one defect at a time |
| The Auto Quality Matrix | Where all your defects start, and how far they get before they're caught |
It points your investigation. It doesn't find root cause for you, and it's only as good as the records behind it. It pays off when defects are recorded consistently and a team reviews the pattern regularly and acts on it. QualityTrace is built to make both of those easier.
A matrix on paper or in a spreadsheet needs a reliable routine to keep it useful. Defects arrive from too many places, the origin gets left blank, and the matrix is out of date before the review starts. We saw this firsthand. So we turned the method into a capability: software that's quick to use at the line, and the know-how to make it part of the daily routine.
| On paper or in Excel | With QualityTrace | |
|---|---|---|
| How defects arrive | On paper or in ExcelFive or six routes, each in its own format | With QualityTraceOne place, one format |
| Where it was made | On paper or in ExcelOften left blank | With QualityTrace▲ Made atAsked on every record |
| The matrix | On paper or in ExcelBuilt by hand, if at all | With QualityTraceUpdates with every defect |
| Your quality review | On paper or in ExcelReports what was found | With QualityTraceDecides what to fix next |
| Keeping it going | On paper or in ExcelDepends on someone's spare time | With QualityTracePart of the daily routine |
Daniel first brought the matrix into an automotive supplier plant on paper, with cards for recording each defect. It didn't hold. Defects were arriving by five or six routes, from customers, line inspectors and supplier inspection, each in a different format, and nobody had time to bring them together. So the team built a single digital form that every defect had to go through, then a shared database, then the plant's own application. QualityTrace is built from that application, packaged for other manufacturing plants to adopt.
It captures where each defect was made and where it was found, on every line in your plant, so the pattern is there when your team needs to act. From the line to a decision, in four steps.
An operator or team leader logs the defect where it's found, on one screen, from your plant's own defect list. Every defect goes in the same way, whatever the source.
An inspector adds the station where it was made. Straight away if it's obvious, or once it's been investigated.
The matrix updates with every record. Recurring defects, escapes and busy stations stand out, alongside the quantities affected.
Track each investigation from new to closed. Filter the list by status to see what still needs attention.
Your team already records defects. Add one question to every record (where was it made?) and your quality review changes.
Put the matrix in front of your engineers and team leaders. See where defects start and where they're caught, then agree what to investigate at the source and where detection needs attention.
When you're ready, add cost inputs from your finance team to turn on the cost view. Weigh competing priorities by estimated cost, alongside the pattern and the quantities affected.
The review ends on a decision: which problem you'll investigate next, where you'll look, and who needs to be involved.
QualityTrace sits beside your quality management system. Your 8D process, control plans, PPAP and customer reporting stay as they are. It adds one thing they probably don't do: it records where each defect was made as well as where it was found, and shows the pattern. In the working session, we assess which recording steps QualityTrace could replace and where duplicate entry would remain.
90-minute working session · Learn the method and explore the fit for your plant
Installing the capability changes two things: how the work feels for the people doing it, and what poor quality costs your plant.
| Who | What gets easier | |
|---|---|---|
| Operators and team leaders | Log a defect on one screen, from a list they already know. One way in, whatever the source. | |
| Inspectors | Add where it was made to the same record. No chasing emails, no retyping. | |
| Quality engineers | Get assigned the defects that matter, with the story of what happened already attached. | |
| Quality managers | Walk into the review with the matrix already built. Show your plant manager why you're prioritizing what you are. |
| Who | What they do | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Operators and team leaders | Log each defect where it's found, from your plant's list | TimeDepends on the record and your process |
| Inspectors | Add where each defect was made | TimeDepends on the investigation |
| Quality engineers | Investigate the defects assigned to them and record what they find | TimeWork they already do, now in one place |
| Quality manager | Runs the review from the matrix and assigns investigations | TimeYour existing review |
| IT | Installs and runs it on your systems, from our guide | TimeScoped with your IT team |
Once every defect has a place where it was made and a place where it was found, three things change.
Every defect is in one place, so the recurring ones stand out by type, station and quantity. Your team stops chasing the easiest defect and starts on the ones that matter most.
Point engineering time at the station creating the defect. Every defect you prevent is scrap and rework you no longer pay for.
See where defects slip through, and move detection closer to the source. Each station earlier means less work lost, and fewer defects reach your customer.
Enter your costs and choose a reduction to explore. This is a scenario, not a forecast of QualityTrace results. Nothing you enter leaves your browser.
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Payback is at the full US$30,000 price. At the founding price it's {{ oPayFound }}.
Your chosen reduction is relative: a 1% reduction turns 10,000 defective units into 9,900, not a one-point drop in the defect rate. We assume the average cost per defective unit stays constant. This illustration is not evidence of an expected result. Benefits depend on the improvements your team makes. Simple payback excludes hosting, implementation time and extra support costs.
QualityTrace was designed, built and implemented hands-on inside an operating automotive supplier plant. Two years of daily use shaped it around the realities of production: the people, routines and pressures involved in managing quality.
It was designed to fit into everyday operations with minimal change to how teams work. The plant continues to use it today.
QualityTrace comes from the product studio of Future Operations, a boutique operational transformation consultancy with experience working with manufacturers around the world.
The studio turns that hands-on consulting experience into practical tools that help teams put improvements into daily practice.
90-minute working session · Learn the method and explore the fit for your plant
You're not buying a login. You're buying a kit to install the practice: expert sessions to get it right, practical tools to set it up, and software you run on your own systems, with source code included.
Hands-on experience putting operational improvement into practice in manufacturing. Daniel brought the Auto Quality Matrix to the plant where QualityTrace was built.
Daniel takes your team through the method and how to read the matrix. Then he sets up how it runs in your plant: your defect list, who records where a defect was made and when, and how your quality review runs from the matrix.
You leave with: a plan for your defect list, recording roles and review routine.
Daniel reviews your matrix with your team: what the patterns show, which records are missing an origin, which defect types need splitting, and where to look first.
You leave with: a shared reading of your matrix and priorities to investigate.
What to fix, and in what order, stays your decision. If you want more help from there, Future Operations can support you further.
We agree session timing and format with your team.
Step-by-step kits to configure the software, set up capture, and onboard operators, inspectors and engineers. Plus a practice guide to running your quality review from the matrix.
QualityTrace, installed on your own systems, with the source code. Your team sets up lines, stations and defect types, and changes them as the plant changes.
| # | Part | What it does for you |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Session 1 with Daniel | Set up the method and your routine before go-live |
| 02 | Session 2 with Daniel | Make sense of your own data, with your team |
| 03 | QualityTrace practice guide | Run your quality review from the matrix |
| 04 | Capture and onboarding kits | Agree who records what, and train the people involved |
| 05 | Configuration toolkit | Set up and maintain lines, stations and defect types |
| 06 | IT suitability check and installation kit | IT confirms the fit before you commit, then installs |
| 07 | Defect capture and investigation workflow | Every defect in one record, from capture to closed |
| 08 | Auto Quality Matrix and quality dashboards | Origin, detection, recurring defects and quantities in one view |
| 09 | Software and source code | Run it on your systems, and commission changes if you need them |
| 10 | Optional cost view | Rank defects in dollars, using your own cost inputs |
A web application with a database, on a server your IT team runs, delivered as source code. Your people use it in a browser on a desk PC or tablet on the plant network. It doesn't connect to your ERP, your MES or any machine. We assess hosting requirements with your IT team before you commit.
The complete kit: two sessions with Daniel, the toolkit, and the software with its source code. Manual defect entry. No AI or automatic system integrations in this version.
The complete package, plus setup support for your IT team and help with onboarding and product use, in return for a feedback conversation every two weeks about how it's working. Support scope and feedback are agreed before purchase.
Future Operations can support you at any time, with consulting on the method and technology support for the software.
| One plant, multiple lines | Founding offer | |
|---|---|---|
| The complete kit | One plant, multiple linesIncluded | Founding offerIncluded |
| Setup supportHelp for your IT team, and questions on onboarding and product use | Available for a fee | Founding offerFree |
| Ongoing consulting and technology supportAvailable any time | Available for a fee | Available for a fee |
90-minute working session · Learn the method and explore the fit for your plant
You provide the IT environment and your team's time.
We work through your plant’s purchasing requirements in the working session.
Timings depend on your plant and your IT team, and we'll plan them with you.
Software like this is usually rented per person, per month, for as long as you use it. We offer a one-time purchase. You buy the package once, run it on your own systems and keep the source code. No renewal, no per-seat count. Hosting, your IT time and any extra support or development still cost something, and we'll be clear about those up front.
A working session on a video call. It's worth your time whether or not you go further. You'll learn the Auto Quality Matrix from someone who has installed it, and see what it could show in your operation.
No preparation needed. If useful, we can agree a small example in advance. No commitment to buy.
Daniel Simoes · Senior Partner and Managing Director, Future Operations
Hands-on experience putting operational improvement into practice in manufacturing. Daniel brought the Auto Quality Matrix to the plant where QualityTrace was built, ran it with the team for two years, and leads both sessions in the package.
90 minutes · Video call · Obligation free
Prefer to use your own email service? Copy Daniel’s address:
daniel@future-operations.com {{ copyStatus }} Print / save this pageYour quality manager and the person who can sponsor the decision: your plant, operations or general manager. Please attend together. A team leader or inspector who knows the line can join too.
Your team configures lines, stations and defect types, agrees who records what, trains the people involved and arranges installation with IT. The kits and Daniel's first session guide each step. We'll scope the effort for your plant before you commit.
Yes, and we recommend it. Get the routine working on one line, then extend it to the rest of the plant with the same kit. The price covers the whole plant.
Log it anyway, and add the origin once it's been investigated. Completing that field is what makes the matrix useful, and Daniel's second session works through records that are still missing it.
The matrix pays off when a team looks at it regularly and acts on it. If that routine isn't in place yet, the practice guide and Daniel's first session help you set up one that fits your week.
QualityTrace is a separate application with manual defect entry. In the working session, we assess whether it can replace an existing recording step or would create duplicate entry. Automatic integrations aren't included. If your current system already records where defects were made and found, and shows the pattern, you may not need QualityTrace.
No. This version uses recorded defect data and calculations to build the matrix and optional cost views. AI-assisted root-cause analysis and suggested countermeasures are not included.
No. You choose a hypothetical reduction to explore what it would be worth using your own figures. We have not established a typical savings percentage for QualityTrace.
No. Capture, the matrix and the core views work without it. You can add your own cost inputs later to rank defects in dollars.
If it looks like a fit, the next step is a letter of intent at the agreed price, subject to a check by your IT team. We send IT a short suitability checklist before you finalize anything. If it isn't a fit, you keep what you learned.
The first three companies receive the complete package for US$10,000, including setup support, in return for a feedback conversation every two weeks. The package covers one plant, with multiple lines. We agree the support scope and feedback arrangements before purchase; additional plants are discussed separately.
You don't need to assess it yourself. After a letter of intent, we send your IT team a short suitability check covering hosting, security, access and backups. You'll need an IT owner to confirm the fit and arrange installation. We agree the deployment requirements before purchase.
Yes. You can configure lines, stations, defect types, roles and users in the settings. The package also includes the source code. Broader changes require development by your team or a developer you commission, subject to the agreed licence. We confirm the licence terms before purchase.
You do. The product runs in your IT environment. We agree any access needed for setup or support with you.
The toolkit and two sessions with Daniel are included. Founding customers also receive setup support for their IT team, onboarding and product use, with the scope agreed before purchase. Additional consulting and technical support are available at a fee. We agree support duration and the terms for bug fixes, security updates and future versions before purchase.