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LEAN.
CONSULTING.
Lean consulting is a truly bespoke option where you can draw heavily on our expertise to work alongside you and your team, sleeves rolled up on-site, to tackle a thorny or complex issue you have.
We’ll be guided by your needs; it can be anything from creating a bespoke Production System for your business or setting up a Lean Academy tailored to your needs, to improving a business process (e.g NPI) that’s holding you back, to performing manufacturing due diligence on an acquisition. See below for some examples of our clients’ needs and how we addressed them, for both SMEs, multinationals, and those in between.
HOW OUR CLIENTS USE
OUR LEAN CONSULTANT SERVICES.
SETTING UP
LEAN ACADEMIES.
We’ve designed and set-up Lean Academies for 2 global manufacturers, both of them a mix of classroom and mini-functioning factories.
Several thousand people have been through these academies and through development courses that we designed, created and initially delivered to prove. We’ve done similar things, at a smaller scale, in designing bespoke upskilling programmes for SMEs.
DIGITAL
MANUFACTURING.
We help manufacturers embrace digital manufacturing in a smart way, using lean start-up principles. We diagnose where to start, how to engage with possible solutions providers to run the right experiments and gain the improvements they need before scaling.
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We have first hand experience having created our own digital products and for other start-ups we've lived through the Proof-of-concept, Prototype, Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and Roadmap loop. We’re well placed to advise start-ups with a manufacturing element to their product. Helping them to prove their products, learn from beta testing and get to market, without investing in capacity too early.
PRODUCT PORTFOLIO v PROFITABILTY v
OPERATIONAL ASSESSMENT.
Working with a truly cross-functional team from all corners of the business, we established a future blueprint and process for setting and adjusting the product portfolio.
A portfolio that is both profitable and scalable across different businesses in the group.
CREATING & DOCUMENTING
PRODUCTION SYSTEMS.
To support lean deployment within multi-site businesses we’ve created Production Systems that can guide lean transformation on each site, without straitjacketing them into a copy-and-paste method.
This has helped to create situational skill, a common culture and common approach to lean standards. It has also led to the ability to share best practice across the businesses and develop internal talent.
TROUBLESHOOTING
In times of client crisis we've been asked to travel across the world to help put out product quality and delivery “fires” and strengthen the sites involved to avoid recurrence.
NON-MANUFACTURING
CONSULTING.
Because manufacturing companies are made-up of both production value streams and non-production value streams (i.e order-to-invoice or New Product Introduction) we've often also helped with these non-production value streams.
For example, improving a purchasing process to make it easier and quicker to work with suppliers or mapping the work of a skilled group, like product designers to ensure that we make the most of their scarce skills and don't tie them up with tasks that could be done elsewhere or through automated workflows.
MANUFACTURING
DUE DILIGENCE.
Sempai has been active, both in the UK and overseas, performing manufacturing due diligence of potential acquisitions.
This has involved establishing the capacity, capability, performance and probable future Capital Expenditure requirement. Additionally, we understand the operational culture, the strength and capability of the people currently running the factory, and the longer term requirements for people.