Standard work that holds up on the floor.
We measure what's actually happening on your line, document what should happen, and stay until the change runs. Process capability, capital sequencing, and KPI systems for U.S. manufacturers — built by practitioners, on the floor.
Five things, done thoroughly.
We don't carry a thirty-deliverable menu. The work below is what we're known for, and it's what we'll do — start to finish — on your floor.
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§01
Process Capability Discovery
We measure what's actually happening on your line — Cpk, Ppk, dwell time, scrap rate, changeover variance — using on-site SPC studies and time-stamped observation. You walk away with a quantified picture of where capability is being lost, not a benchmarking deck.
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§02
Capital Investment Recommendations
Before you spec a new line, we run a saved-capacity analysis on what you already own. Most plants are running 60–70% effective on existing assets. We tell you what spend is real, what's deferrable, and what should be sequenced — with payback math you can take to the CFO.
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§03
Standard Work & Leader Standard Work
Standard work that operators actually use, not binders that gather dust. We write it on the floor with the people doing the job — sequenced steps, takt-aligned timing, clear quality criteria, and visual aids that work at the station. Plus leader standard work that ties supervisor behavior to the system.
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§04
Performance Management & KPI Systems
KPIs that the team can read, act on, and improve. We design metric trees from plant-level targets down to operator-controllable inputs, build the cadence (tier 1–3), and stand up the visual reporting — usually paper or low-cost digital before any expensive system.
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§05
Process Investigation
Start to finish: scope, observe, measure, root-cause, recommend, validate. Focus is safe efficiency gains and cost reduction — both fixed cost and raw material yield. We don't leave with a slide deck; we leave with a set of changes that have been run, measured, and signed off.
How an engagement runs.
Most engagements take eight to sixteen weeks, on-site for the parts that matter. The cadence below is rigid on sequence, flexible on duration — we don't move forward until the prior step is closed.
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01
Scope
WEEK 0–1Site visit. Problem framing with plant leadership and at least two operators. Baseline data pull — usually the last 90 days of throughput, scrap, downtime, and quality holds. We leave with a one-page scope memo and a signed letter of engagement.
- SCOPE MEMO
- BASELINE DATA SET
- STAKEHOLDER MAP
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02
Observe
WEEK 1–4On-floor study. Time-stamped observation, SPC subgroups on critical-to-quality characteristics, changeover video, operator interviews. We are visible on the floor in clean PPE — no clipboards-from-a-distance.
- OBSERVATION LOGS
- SPC SUBGROUPS (N≥25)
- CHANGEOVER VIDEO
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03
Analyze
WEEK 4–7Root cause and variance decomposition. We separate within-subgroup from between-subgroup variation, isolate special-cause events, and size each opportunity in dollars — labor, material, and capital deferred — with the math shown.
- VARIANCE DECOMPOSITION
- OPPORTUNITY SIZING
- DRAFT FINDINGS
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04
Recommend
WEEK 7–10Prioritized changes with payback math, sequenced for plant capacity. We present to the operating team first, then to leadership — never the other way around. Recommendations are go / no-go, never "consider."
- RECOMMENDATION DECK
- PAYBACK MODEL
- SEQUENCING PLAN
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05
Validate
WEEK 10–16Run-the-change. Before/after measurement on the same instruments and the same shifts. We don't sign off until the change has held for thirty days and the standard work reflects it. Final audit and savings memo, with a copy for the CFO.
- 30-DAY HOLD AUDIT
- SAVINGS MEMO (CFO)
- UPDATED STANDARD WORK
Representative results.
Figures below are illustrative and aggregated across recent engagements. We'll talk specifics — including the ones that didn't work the first time — under NDA.
Six-month engagement. Capability discovery → standard work → tier-board cadence on a single bottleneck cell.
Ten-week investigation. Die-set standard work and re-validated raw-coil receiving spec. Held thirty days post-handoff.
Recommended deferral of greenfield expansion. Existing assets were running at 62% effective. Sequenced reclamation plan instead.
Standard work + leader standard work rollout across three cells. Safety-built-into-the-step, not a poster on the wall.
- Statistical Process Control — x̄–R, p, np, c, u charts as appropriate; Cpk/Ppk for normally-distributed CTQs, distribution-free where it isn't.
- Lean standard work — Toyota Production System lineage. Job element sheets, work combination tables, takt-aligned sequencing.
- TWI Job Instruction — Training Within Industry method for transfer of standardized work to operators.
- 8D problem-solving — Containment first. Root cause before recommendation. Validated change before close.
Wabash, Indiana.
We're a small practice based in north-central Indiana — the manufacturing belt that built the modern American factory. Most weeks one of us is on the road; we travel anywhere a serious problem needs solving.
Our work is shaped by people who have spent decades on shop floors, not in conference rooms. The aesthetic of this practice — rigorous, document-driven, slow before fast — is not a brand, it's how the work has to be done if it's going to hold.
Start with a scoping call.
Most engagements begin with a 90-minute scoping call and an optional one-day site visit. We'll tell you whether we're the right fit. If we're not, we'll tell you who is.