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How we work

Deeper. Sharper. Delivered.

We find what is critical and solve that first. The rest can wait, and some of it turns out not to matter.

We start with many questions and come out with one critical path, and a system that keeps running after we leave.

The engagement

How a piece of work runs.

Three phases and seven operating principles. We use the same approach whether the job is a plant, a supply chain, a procurement organisation or a launch.

  1. Phase 01

    Deeper.

    2–4 weeks From complexity to truth

    We go where the number is made and work through it with the people who make it. You hear our unvarnished read in person, before anything is written down.

    1. 01

      Size the gapWe size the gap before we touch anything.

      Nobody proposes a fix in week one. What you see first is the size of the problem, worked out from your own numbers.

    2. 02

      Go to sourceWe go down to the level where the answer sits.

      That means the floor and the line item, down to the hour on the machine. Interviews and maturity surveys stop one level too high, which is where most diagnoses miss.

    • Plan or design

      In a biopharma quality organisation, the sample counts showed only the tests. We modelled the hours behind them, and the model put at least 16 staff-hours per batch on QA documentation alone. The site set staffing and shifts on those hours.

      Read the case
  2. Phase 02

    Sharper.

    inside the diagnostic From truth to decision

    From the read comes the critical path: what is critical, what to do about it and in what order, and what to leave alone. It is tested before it is proposed, and the decision at the end is yours.

    1. 03

      TestBefore money moves, we test the decision.

      Each option, from building or buying more to changing the supplier, is run as a scenario before it becomes capital.

    2. 04

      ChooseFrom the options, we narrow to one path.

      That path holds two or three moves, in order. Everything else is written down as 'not yet', and the list is defended.

    • Realised result

      Building looked like the obvious move for a cell-therapy manufacturer. The critical question was whether the capacity already existed, and the model showed it did, putting capacity 30% above the previous estimate. Before any capital moved, $1M was saved in validation batches, and the company deferred its second construction phase.

      Read the case
    • Realised result

      What looked like a supplier problem at a Nitinol device company came down to transparency. Once we took every quote apart, the partner decision was easy to make, at about half the incumbent's manufacturing cost.

      Read the case
  3. Phase 03

    Delivered.

    until the number holds From decision to lasting impact

    Where delivery is in the scope, the same senior people carry the critical move through. Each move is reviewed against its target and escalated in the week it stops.

    1. 05

      Owner + clockEach move has one owner and a date, and every decision runs on a clock.

      The deadline for each decision is set in advance, independent of the steering committee calendar.

    2. 06

      Real valueValue is counted only once it is real.

      A figure can be assumed, estimated, actual or realised, and the report to your board shows which of the four each one is.

    3. 07

      SystemWe leave a working system behind.

      After we leave, your team keeps the meeting and the performance board running, and each owner still owns their move.

    • Realised result

      On a global post-merger integration we set up and ran a single PMI office for a European parent and its Israeli team. Day-1 landed on time with no operational delays, and the company delivered the quarter's sales.

      Read the summary

Ways to engage

How far we carry it.

Each option follows the same path and stops at a different point. You choose how much of it sits with us.

  1. 01

    Advise

    This is our shortest engagement, and often the right one. We diagnose, argue the options and bring you to a decision you can defend; your team executes it.

    Done meansYou hold the decision and the plan.

  2. 02

    Lead

    Working alongside your team, we run the programme and its cadence and answer for the number. This is how we engage most often.

    Done meansThe number is in the P&L.

  3. 03

    Hold the seat

    A seat can be empty, or brand new, after a departure, a deal or a crisis. One of our senior operators then takes line responsibility and runs the operation, with the aim of handing the seat back. That handover is what we deliver: a named successor on a set date, and a management system that outlives us.

    New in the seat: the real baseline

    Done meansThe role is handed over.

Ways to start

Two ways to start.

Both are defined and time-boxed, and each closes with a decision for you to take.

Operational diagnostic

2–4 weeks

The deliverable is defined: the critical path, and a prioritised set of moves with the expected value, cost and owner of each. It also sets out what we are telling you not to do yet, which is just as useful. It is written so your controller can validate it and your team can run it.

For a programme whose dates no longer hold, the diagnostic runs as a project health check of about two weeks: the plan and its history, interviews with the sponsor, the team and key suppliers, and a check of what is finished and accepted. It ends in the same decision.

Fits when
A site is missing output, cost or delivery targets; a new leader needs a baseline; a plan's benefits are overdue; a programme's dates no longer hold.
Answers
Which two or three moves shift the number, in what order, and what to leave for later.
We need
Access to the floor, the plan and the numbers, and a sponsor for one review a week.
Not included
Implementation, and any decision taken for you.
Ends in
Your decision: implement with us, implement alone, or not yet.

Applied intelligence sprint

3–6 weeks

One high-value problem: cost, supply or demand. A working model of the problem your team keeps using, and a decision at the end.

Fits when
The problem sits in cost, supply or demand, and you have the data to model it.
Answers
What the problem is worth, and which option pays.
You get
The model, which your team keeps using, and the decision it supports.
We need
The data behind the problem, and a counterpart on your team who will own the model.
Not included
A platform rollout, or anything commercial decided without a person approving it.
Ends in
Your decision: deploy, extend, or stop.

We hold a small number of engagements at once, so the senior people who start the work stay on it. If we're full, we'll tell you, and tell you when we can start.

We are done when it's in the P&L.

Describe the situation to the senior person who would do the work. You don't need to prepare data for it, and if we are not the right firm, we will say so.

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