Lean implementation consultants for manufacturers
We implement lean on the floor, starting with flow: map the value stream, pace the line from one point, release work at that pace, put buffer inventory where work waits, and coach your team until they run it.
Talk to us See the resultsLean implementation that starts with flow
Many lean programs start with tools at every step and stall when the schedule keeps pushing work onto the floor. We start where output is decided: how work flows through the line and how it is released.
- Value stream mapping. One product family, from order to shipment, drawn from the floor and the plant’s own data.
- One pace for the line. We decide where to pace the line from the map, and schedule that point: the pacemaker.
- Pull and release. Work is released at the line’s pace, not when a machine is free, so work in process and lead time come down.
- Buffer inventory where work waits. Placed on purpose to protect delivery, instead of spread everywhere.
- Daily management. A short meeting on the floor every morning that acts on what is at risk today.
- Your team runs it. Schedulers and supervisors trained and coached until it runs without us.
Who it’s for
Manufacturers with late orders, growing work in process or a schedule the floor works around: high-mix, make-to-order and engineered products, one plant or several. Also private equity operating teams with plants in the portfolio.
Related: Theory of Constraints implementation · production scheduling consultants.
How an engagement runs
- Diagnostic. Fixed scope, fixed fee. A floor walk and a value stream map from the plant’s own data, where to pace the line, and a go or no-go.
- Sprint. Six weeks. The schedule set at the pacemaker, buffer inventory positioned where work waits, release tied to the line’s pace, and the team trained.
- Run it. A short daily buffer meeting, coaching until the plant team runs it, and results tracked against day one.
More on how it works.
Results from real plants
- Two-plant, high-mix hand-tool manufacturer: forge output up 25%, and the retry rate at the step that set the pace down from 30–60% to under 2%, while running more than 40 people short. Read the case study.
- Make-to-order furniture manufacturer: on time in full from about 60%, with overtime, to 100%; inventory turns from 3.0 to 4.2; the best shipping month in company history three months after go-live. Read the case study.
Sources: the case-study pages linked above.
FAQ
What does a lean implementation consultant do?
Helps a plant change how work flows, not just run workshops. We map the value stream, decide where the line is paced from, set up release and buffers, and coach the team until the new way of working runs without us.
Where do you start a lean implementation?
With a value stream map of one product family, drawn from the floor and the plant’s own data. It shows where work waits and where the line should be paced, so the first changes go where they move output and lead time.
Why do lean programs stall?
Often because improvement is spread across every step at once, while the schedule still pushes work onto the floor. Without one pace for the line and a release rule, gains at one step pile up as inventory in front of the next.
Do you combine lean with the Theory of Constraints?
Yes. Lean gives us the value stream map and the pacemaker; the Theory of Constraints gives drum-buffer-rope and buffer management. Together they tell the plant where to focus and how to schedule.
Is lean only for high-volume plants?
No. Most of our work is in high-mix and make-to-order plants. Pacing the line from one point and releasing work against it works when every order is different.
How long does it take?
A fixed-scope Diagnostic first, then a six-week Sprint to go live, then coaching until your team runs it. You decide after each step.
Lean or TOC? Read lean vs theory of constraints: why you need both.
Want one pace for your plant?
Tell us about the plant. We’ll say what we’d look at first.