Excellent performance from the supply chain to the shop floor
Manufacturing companies face increasing complexity, combined with an entirely new level of speed and volatility. Changes to supply chain structures, levels of vertical integration, inventory strategies, the integration of new technologies, or a factory’s changing role within its production network often have strategic implications for factory operations. Sustainable success, however, depends on more than making the right strategic decisions. It requires their effective implementation within an existing factory system.
This is where our Operational Excellence team comes in, bringing together perspectives from the supply chain to the shop floor. The result is a consistent, systematic portfolio of solutions for operationalizing the strategic direction. This is reflected in the design of specific initiatives and demonstrated through the KPI cascade.
Achieving consistently excellent factory operations requires numerous elements across the entire value chain to work together seamlessly. Isolated optimization measures with short-term effects quickly lose their impact if they are not sustainably integrated into the end-to-end process with all interdependencies taken into account.
Our project experience repeatedly demonstrates that the sustainable success of operations projects depends on a comprehensive end-to-end perspective. Strategic consulting and operational optimization are not opposing approaches; together, they are essential to project success. As an end-to-end operations partner for manufacturing companies, we validate strategic ideas as a trusted thought partner, derive specific measures for successful operationalization, and work with shop-floor teams to implement them effectively.
Excellent processes provide the foundation for stable operations, short lead times, and high productivity.
An excellent organization establishes clear responsibilities and creates the capabilities required for continuous improvement.
Excellent leadership empowers the organization and manages operations transparently using clearly defined KPIs.
To increase the share of value-adding activities, improve efficiency, or enhance quality, it is first necessary to understand process interdependencies, organizational structures, and established leadership practices. The targeted application of suitable tools, based on the company’s specific situation, creates the required transparency. For this analysis, we use proven Lean Management tools and methods, such as value stream analysis, SIPOC, 5 Whys, and FMEA, to systematically reveal waste. We complement these methods with carefully selected technological advancements while keeping people at the center of the transformation.
Through our Operational Excellence Quick Check, we work with our customers using a structured methodology to produce a transparent assessment of their factory’s operational performance. Based on this assessment, we identify optimization potential, translate it into clearly defined action profiles, prioritize the measures using weighted criteria, and prepare them for implementation.
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An objective assessment of your factory’s operational performance.
An end-to-end target vision covering processes, organization, and leadership.
Operationalization of the target vision through an appropriate improvement program.
A clear implementation sequence established through the weighted prioritization of all individual measures.
Visible results and increased acceptance through the implementation of quick wins.
Trust built through successful projects
Strategic Development of an International Production Network
Quality Initiative and Efficiency Improvement in Medical Technology
Optimization of the Production Strategy in Medical Technology
Manage volatility.
Manage complexity.
Secure material availability.
Address the skilled labor shortage.
Integrate future technologies.
Metroplan helps companies systematically identify and realize operational potential. We create transparency across processes and untapped performance potential, prioritize the relevant areas for action, and work with you to develop actionable improvement measures that deliver measurable results.
What is operations consulting?
Operations consulting focuses on the operational core of a manufacturing company: processes, organization, material flow, and planning and control systems. Its objective is to measurably improve operational performance - for example, by reducing manufacturing costs and lead times while improving quality stability. Unlike traditional strategy consulting, operations consulting directly addresses value-adding activities and combines analysis, concept development, and implementation.
Which areas does operations consulting cover?
The scope ranges from optimizing individual value streams, production planning and control, Shopfloor Management, and production logistics to broader topics such as leadership tools, organizational structures, and the establishment of continuous improvement. The focus is not on an individual process but on how the entire value chain works together - from order receipt through delivery.
How can I tell whether my operations have optimization potential?
Typical indicators include rising manufacturing costs, increasing defect and scrap rates, long lead times, and growing inventory levels. Less obvious signs can also indicate optimization potential, such as rush orders that regularly disrupt production plans, excessive searching and waiting within the material flow, or insufficient transparency into actual order progress.
Operations often drift gradually away from their optimum without a single identifiable cause. A structured operational assessment reveals the underlying interdependencies and identifies where the greatest opportunities for economic improvement lie.
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Manager Business Development
Managing Partner
