Keystone Axis Advisors embeds with family-owned manufacturers and regional distributors when overtime is masking a planning problem, scrap is creeping up, or the ERP and the shop floor tell different stories. We map constraints on the line, rebuild scheduling rules your supervisors trust, and leave SOPs with owners and dates—not another strategy deck that collects dust.
Typical diagnostic: two weeks on-site, written 90-day plan included.
Every project starts with measurable baselines—cycle time, changeover minutes, late shipments, margin by SKU—so you can see whether the work paid for itself.
We shadow three shifts, capture downtime reasons in plain language, and build a heat map your plant manager can explain to the board without jargon.
Finite scheduling rules, frozen zones, and exception paths that planners can defend when sales asks for another rush order on a short-staffed Friday.
Floor leads practice daily standups with real numbers, not vibes. We role-play hard conversations about scrap, absenteeism, and cross-training gaps.
Poka-yoke checks, visual standards, and audit sheets that quality techs actually use instead of filing after the customer complaint arrives.
We rebuild quoting templates from true routing times and scrap rates so busy months stop hiding unprofitable SKUs.
ERP routings, barcode scans, and the whiteboard must agree. We document master data fixes and who owns them after we roll off.
We capture takt, downtime codes, and late-order reasons without blaming individuals—just facts supervisors agree on.
Cross-functional teams rewrite scheduling rules and visual management boards; we facilitate, you decide.
One line proves the new cadence. We measure daily, adjust twice a week, then publish the rollout plan for the rest of the plant.
Fixed fees with written change orders—no surprise hourly tabs.
Two-week on-site diagnostic, constraint map, and 90-day roadmap with owners.
$6,800/ mo equiv.
Twelve-week embedded team, pilot cell, rollout support, and weekly steering notes.
$12,400/ mo equiv.
Ongoing operating partner two days a week with KPI reviews and hiring support.
$18,900/ mo equiv.
“They stopped our default answer of ‘add a Saturday shift’ and showed us where WIP was lying to us. Overtime fell before we bought any equipment.”
“The scheduling playbook survived three sales surges. Planners finally had language to push back without sounding like obstacles.”
“Weekly written updates meant my ownership group could read progress on a phone between customer visits—no more two-hour slide meetings.”
Composite quotes from fictional manufacturing clients.
Yes. We involve stewards early, focus on safety and training outcomes, and document changes through your labor agreements.
We specify master data and routing fixes; your IT partner or internal team implements. We stay through UAT on the shop floor.
Diagnostics within 400 miles of Cleveland include travel. Beyond that we quote airfare and lodging upfront in the SOW.
We tell you. About one in eight diagnostics ends with ‘fix leadership cadence first’ and a smaller follow-on instead of a full transformation.
Send a shift schedule and your top three late-order SKUs. We will reply with whether a diagnostic fits.
1901 Superior Avenue, Cleveland, OH (fictional)
+1 216 555 0138
