Frequently asked questions
Houston is a continuous improvement platform for manufacturing, developed by STAGE 2 BV (Ghent, Belgium). Built by the team behind Solvace (L’Oréal, Danone, AbbVie, 100+ sites), it connects problem capture, root cause analysis, corrective actions and KPI verification in one closed-loop system. Below are the questions we hear most often from teams evaluating Houston.
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1 Understanding Houston
Start here if you are new to Houston or comparing it to a quality management system or another continuous improvement tool.
Houston is a continuous improvement platform for manufacturing, developed by STAGE 2 BV (Ghent, Belgium). It connects problem capture, root cause analysis (5-Why, 8D), corrective actions and KPI verification in a single closed-loop system, so quality, EHS and production teams can turn recurring issues into verified results.
Houston was built by the team behind Solvace, deployed at L’Oréal, Danone, AbbVie and over 100 manufacturing sites worldwide.
No. Houston is a continuous improvement platform, not a traditional Quality Management System. A QMS documents your quality system (policies, SOPs, document control, audits) to satisfy standards like ISO 9001. Houston focuses on the improvement loop: capturing non-conformities, running structured root cause analysis, driving corrective actions and verifying KPI impact and non-recurrence.
Many Houston customers run Houston alongside their QMS, using Houston as the execution and verification layer for CAPA.
Fabriq is a manufacturing operations platform focused on daily management and shop-floor routines (huddles, action tracking, visual performance). Houston is a continuous improvement platform focused on closed-loop impact verification: every corrective action is tied to the KPI it should influence, and the loop only closes when recurrence stops and the KPI confirms the improvement.
Fabriq answers “are we running the routine today?” Houston answers “did our improvement actions actually work?”
2 Features & technical
Questions about mobile access, ERP integrations and how Houston fits into your existing stack.
Yes. Houston runs in any modern web browser on smartphones, tablets and desktops, with no app install required. Shop-floor teams typically capture incidents, complete 5-Why sessions and update corrective actions directly from a mobile device or tablet at the line.
Yes. Houston connects to other systems through its API, and can also be orchestrated through Make.com, Power Automate or n8n for no-code workflows.
Houston is complementary to ERPs. An ERP manages transactional flows (inventory, orders, manufacturing execution), Houston manages the improvement loop (non-conformities, root cause analysis, CAPA, KPI verification) on top of that data.
Yes, if your goal is to reduce recurring defects, yield losses or safety incidents. Houston and an ERP solve different problems and most manufacturers run both. An ERP manages transactional flows (inventory, orders, manufacturing execution, accounting) and tracks what happened. Houston is a continuous improvement platform: it runs on top of that data to capture non-conformities, drive 5-Why and 8D root cause analysis, manage corrective actions and verify KPI impact.
An ERP tells you what happened on the line; Houston tells you why it keeps happening and whether your corrective actions actually worked. Teams typically start Houston in parallel with their ERP rollout rather than waiting 12 months for the go live.
3 Quality & compliance
How Houston supports ISO 9001 and how the main problem-solving methodologies map onto the platform.
Houston supports ISO 9001 clause 10.2 (Nonconformity and corrective action) by structuring the full CAPA cycle: non-conformity capture, containment, 5-Why and 8D root cause analysis, corrective action assignment, verification of effectiveness and documentation of lessons learned. Every step is timestamped and retained in an audit trail that can be exported for certification audits.
Houston also implements the PDCA cycle end to end: Plan (capture and RCA), Do (corrective action), Check (KPI impact), Act (recurrence prevention).
CAPA (Corrective and Preventive Action) is a general quality-management process, required by ISO 9001 clause 10.2, for identifying the root cause of a non-conformity, fixing it and preventing recurrence. 8D (Eight Disciplines) is a specific team-based problem-solving methodology developed at Ford, structured in eight sequential steps from problem definition (D1) to team recognition (D8).
In practice, 8D is one of the most rigorous ways to execute a CAPA for a complex or recurring defect. Houston supports both: pre-built CAPA and 8D templates guide teams through each step.
4 Deployment
Rollout time, IT requirements and whether Houston fits a small manufacturer as well as a 100-site group.
Houston is operational within hours, not weeks. The free plan (Houston Foundations) is set up in minutes with pre-configured apps for non-conformities, 5-Why, audits, SMED and A3. Paid deployments typically go live in days because Houston runs entirely in the browser, requires no on-premise infrastructure and no IT support to install.
Yes. Houston was designed to scale down as well as up: the same platform runs on a single production line at an SME and across 100+ sites at an enterprise customer. The free Houston Foundations plan (5 users, 50 records per month, pre-configured apps) lets a small manufacturer replace spreadsheets for quality tracking without any procurement process, and paid tiers start at €99 per month when the team outgrows the free limits.
5 Pricing
No credit card, no time limit on the free plan. Paid tiers start at €99 per month.
Yes. Houston Foundations is a permanent free tier: no credit card required, no time limit, no hidden costs. It includes up to 5 users, 50 records per month, unlimited apps from the Houston library (non-conformities, 5-Why, audits, SMED, A3 and more) and 5 AI credits per month. It is intended to run a real pilot on one production line indefinitely, not a trial.
Three paid tiers are available when the free limits are no longer enough. Starter (€99 per month) raises the team to 10 users and 500 records per month. Growth (€299 per month) adds unlimited AI, 30 users and 1,500 records per month for teams scaling across departments or lines. Enterprise (from €500 per month, priced by headcount) unlocks unlimited users and records, SSO, custom ERP and MES integrations (SAP, Odoo, Apriso, Mobility Work) and a dedicated customer success manager.
Still have a question?
Houston, developed by STAGE 2 BV (Belgium), is a continuous improvement platform built for manufacturing environments. It connects structured problem capture, root cause analysis (5-Why, 8D) and corrective actions to measurable KPI verification, creating a closed-loop system where every improvement action is tied to the metric it should influence.
90-day Sprint
We install a closed-loop improvement system on your biggest loss or quality problem. At day 90, you have a measured result and a running system, not a report.