Those of us who remember being taught English grammar at school will recall the humble prefix. The dictionary defines it as "a letter or group of letters added to the beginning of a word — usually a verb — that changes its meaning." Over years of CI work, I have come to hate one prefix in particular: Re.
Every time I hear it used in a business context, the hairs on the back of my neck bristle. Because every time "Re" appears in front of a piece of work, it means something went wrong the first time — and you are paying for it.
Re = Waste. Every Single Time.
Think of how often "Re" appears in your business today. Rework. Recheck. Redo. Retest. Reschedule. Revisit. Reprint. Repair. Each one represents time, materials, capacity, and ultimately profit walking out the door.
One operator once tried to convince me that 30% rework was the industry norm in their line of business. My response was simple: if you had 0% rework, think of the incremental profits — or the ability to target new business on the strength of lower costs. But it was ingrained. The "Re" had become invisible, accepted, normal. That's the most dangerous thing about it.
When "Re" Costs €1 Million a Year
A machinery builder had a habit of releasing parts to production before final specifications had been agreed. The logic was to keep work moving through a particular department. The result: an average of 10% of parts required reworking — or scrapping — once the final specs were confirmed.
The senior management team felt this was an acceptable level. Until someone pointed out it was costing them over €1 million annually. And that figure didn't even account for the lead time losses their customers were absorbing at the other end.
The "Snag List" — A Lovely Flowery Word for Failure
The construction industry realised early on that customers don't like hearing the word rework. So they softened it. They called it a Snag List. A beautifully inoffensive term for "we did it wrong the first time."
I convinced one plumbing contractor to try something different. Stop work 15 minutes before the end of each shift. Use that time to fix every snag from the day. The crew had to stay until all snags were fully resolved — on their own time if necessary.
In the first week, it took an average of 40 minutes beyond shift end. By week three, they were leaving 10 minutes early.
The Customer Test — Would They Pay for This?
I constantly ask people to stop at any point during their working day and ask themselves one question: "If my customer could see me right now, would they pay for what I'm doing?"
If the answer is no — then why are you doing it? Because every activity your customer wouldn't pay for is waste. And if that activity starts with "Re", it's doubly so: you're doing it again, which means you're paying twice for something you should have got right once.
Not all uses of "Re" are bad. Re-use, Re-cycle, and — best of all — your customer's Re-order are all entirely welcome. Every other use should be banned.
Ban the Re.
Print it. Post it. Make it the visual management poster on your shop floor, your office wall, your production board. Let it ask the question every day that your team needs to hear.