BUILD IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME — AND EVERY TIME AFTER
We help manufacturers redesign products and processes for cost, quality, and manufacturability — before problems get baked in.
What We Do
Design for Manufacturing & Assembly (DFM/A)
We evaluate product and system design through a manufacturability lens—identifying opportunities to simplify assemblies, reduce components, eliminate handling waste, and improve production flow. We translate engineering intent into practical solutions that work on the shop floor.
New Product Introduction (NPI) Support
We support teams early in development to identify risks, streamline design transfer, and ensure alignment across R&D, AME, operations, and supply chain. The result: smoother launch, lower cost, and fewer surprises downstream.
Redesign for Cost
We analyze cost drivers across design, materials, manufacturing, and supply chain to uncover opportunities for cost reduction. Our approach includes VAVE, component consolidation, alternate sourcing strategies, and engineering tradeoff analysis.
On-Site Manufacturing Assessment
We conduct targeted, hands-on assessments to understand how products are currently built—mapping processes, identifying inefficiencies, and evaluating ergonomics, rework loops, test processes, and key bottlenecks. We deliver clear, actionable recommendations aligned to your cost and performance goals.
Cross-Functional Technical Facilitation
Most problems aren’t just technical—they’re cross-functional. We bring R&D, engineering, AME, operations, and supply chain together in structured working sessions that accelerate decision-making, reduce friction, and build ownership.
How We Work
Consultant-Led
We run the assessment, conduct the analysis, and deliver a detailed cost-reduction or redesign roadmap.
Team-Based
We guide your internal technical teams through structured problem-solving, ensuring buy-in, capability growth, and long-term ownership.
Hybrid
We combine our technical depth with your team’s context and bandwidth—ideal when you need expertise but want your team engaged and developing.
Our Technical Background
Our experience spans GE Healthcare, and high-growth med-tech environments across R&D, development engineering, AME, and operations.
We bring:
Deep technical understanding across complex assemblies
Practical knowledge of manufacturing realities and process constraints
The ability to surface hidden assumptions and bridge cross-functional gaps
A facilitation style that reduces friction and accelerates alignment
The communication skills to work seamlessly from shop floor to C-suite
From coaching, to spread
We trained one manufacturer's CI leaders to coach problem solving more effectively — so the capability could spread across their sites instead of relying on a handful of heroes. Deep, genuinely rich lean culture already existed there. Our work was making their leaders confident enough to coach through it instead of solve it for them.
“We slow the room down before anyone spends a dollar on a fix — and build people who can find the answer themselves, so the next problem doesn't need us in the room at all.”
— Sarah Tilkens, Founder
FAQ
What is the difference between problem-solving training and Lean training?
Lean training teaches tools — Value Stream Mapping, 5S, standard work — for eliminating waste in a process. Problem-solving training teaches a way of thinking that makes any tool more effective.
Do you work with non-manufacturing organizations?
Yes — our work translates to any organization with cross-functional friction or recurring escalations: financial services, healthcare, professional services, government, nonprofits.
If you’re ready to solve your toughest technical and operational challenges, we’re here to help you engineer the systems that make it possible.
Let’s work together to transform your problems into possibilities.