OPERATIONS CONSULTING · PHOENIX AREA
Let’s find out why.
Your team is working hard. Yet details get missed, rework is needed, and customers get inconsistent results. You know something isn’t working, but you can’t quite identify what.
I find the root cause, give you clear recommendations, and help you build an action plan so the improvements stick.
Steve Stroblas Controlled Chaos Solutions
WHO I HELP
Getting what you sell to the customer takes several people or several departments handing work off to each other. When it works, nobody notices. When it doesn’t, you notice first.
Business owners hire me to guide their operations through change. I find the holes in the heart of the organization that prevent growth, create frustration, and cut into profit.
I bring clarity and direction at the operations level, so the business can move forward.
Good people in a bad process still get bad results. I jump in at one point in the work and follow it, forward and back, through everyone who touches it, until I can see the whole workflow and show you where it breaks.
WHO’S BEHIND THIS
I was a partner and founder of a B2B service repair company that grew from $800,000 to $6 million in four years. I co-designed and implemented its ERP, and our technicians were closing tickets on handhelds before smartphones. Processes we built continued to work years after I left.
Today I’m the general manager of a field service operation. I work with fiber splicing technicians, oversee data cabling projects and new client onboarding, lead the people doing the work, and create and document processes they can actually use.
I spent fourteen years at a multinational call center in IT, client services, project, and operations leadership roles. I was an ISO 9001/27001 process owner and quality manager, led a global time-clock rollout, and eliminated human error across 12 trust accounts. I also automated the daily operations reporting worldwide, which saved about three person-hours a day and removed a lot of frustration.
At a Blockbuster franchise, I helped grow the business from 7 to 21 stores and built the video-game category from concept to $2 million a year.
We packed store sets of 5,000–6,000 tapes shelf-ready, saving the customer about 120 person-hours before opening.
At NAPA, my first office job, I simplified vendor-invoice handling and was promoted to Inventory Control Manager.
REAL EXAMPLES
Examples from work I’ve done. The point is to understand the cause before adding more steps, people, or software.
Sales wanted same-day follow-up letters. Support was overwhelmed and often did not know a new order was waiting. The paper form worked; its location did not.
I moved the tray to where Support would naturally see it. The salesperson delivered the form on the same walk, and the daily tension dropped almost overnight.
Four field technicians each spent about two hours a week recounting truck stock and copying details the office already had from job tickets.
We adjusted the job ticket to capture what inventory control needed while the technician was with the customer. That removed about four hours a week of duplicate work across the team.
At NAPA, about $1 million a month in payables moved through P&L coding, approvals, and check writing. Vendor invoices could be handled as many as six times, making a 2%, 10-day early-pay discount hard to capture.
I redesigned the process with minor technology changes. Invoice handling fell to one touch, saving 10 person-hours and capturing about $20,000 a month in early-pay discounts.
A software development company was growing fast, with more work and more developers. Promised dates were slipping, errors that should have been caught earlier were reaching client acceptance testing, and leadership couldn’t see where each project stood.
The root cause wasn’t the projects. It could take up to three months, about three client projects, to learn whether a new developer was the right fit: technical skill, a real understanding of scope, asking questions right away, and helping others.
We added a layer of supervision with a few simple checkpoints, and a customer feedback loop. Supervisors reported to senior leadership through a short form that fed a project dashboard, so leadership could see which projects were at risk and Sales could get ahead of any customer conversations.
3 weeks instead of up to 3 months to know if a new developer fits. Customer feedback came back positive.
IN THEIR WORDS
“Without a doubt, your help has moved our company forward in ways that I could have not done on my own.”
“you taught me a lot that I know and use daily, that I appreciate more than you know”
“Steve, without your support, I could not have grown my company to the size that it is now, thanks”
Company names available in person.
HOW I WORK
I start with you: your goals, what makes the company good, and what’s frustrating. Then I talk with the people who do the work, the people who support them, and the managers, and when it helps, your key customers. By the end you have a clear picture of what’s really going on, not just where it hurts.
I draw on the 5 Whys, the eight wastes of Lean, and ISO 9001/27001 practices.
We start with your goals and frustrations, then talk with the people at each step of the work.
YOU GET an honest picture of how the work really happens.
We follow the work, forward and back, through everyone who touches it, to find where it breaks.
YOU GET the root cause, in plain English, with clear recommendations.
We agree on an action plan, put the change into use, and check that it holds up in daily operations.
YOU GET changes your people can actually use, that last, and that can adapt.
I don’t sell software or accounting services.
No giant report nobody reads. You get a clear root cause and an action plan.
You’re paying for honesty, not “yes.” I may not tell you what you want to hear.
LET’S TALK
Tell me what keeps getting delayed, repeated, or brought back to your desk. A short description is enough to start a conversation.
Step one is a conversation. Tell me what’s happening, and I’ll tell you honestly whether I can help.
Prefer to reach me directly? Email steve@controlledchaos.solutions or call 623-694-7346. Or find me on LinkedIn.