Manufacturing Operations Consulting

Plants run better when the system does.

North Plant Consulting brings Toyota Production System discipline to manufacturing plants — production control, standardized work, daily management, and the visual systems that make on-time delivery hold.

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Toyota Production System TWI Job Instruction Visual Management Kaizen
Toyota-TrainedTPS & TWI methods, applied on real plant floors
System-FirstFix the process before the org chart
Built to SustainYour people run it after we leave
What We Do

Seven capabilities that make a plant deliver.

Hands-on operations consulting for manufacturers — grounded in the Toyota Production System and focused on measurable improvement, not binders on a shelf.

01

Operational Assessment

A structured on-site review of flow, scheduling, staffing, data, and daily management — showing exactly where your plant loses time and money, with a prioritized improvement roadmap.

02

Production Control & Scheduling

Constraint-based master scheduling, order launch and release rules, and real-time order visibility — so every department knows what to deliver, in what sequence, by when.

03

Process Data Capture

The shop-floor data most plants never collect — cycle times, miss reasons, order aging, downtime causes — captured simply and reliably, so decisions run on facts instead of anecdotes.

04

Dashboards & Real-Time Visibility

Where every order sits, which department holds it, and how long it's been there — live plant dashboards and hour-by-hour boards the whole floor can see and act on.

05

KPI Systems & Accountability

Metric definitions everyone agrees on — OTD, first-pass yield, productivity per labour hour — with cascaded objectives and tiered daily management that turn numbers into ownership.

06

Org Design & Capacity Planning

Floor org charts with defined spans of control, job descriptions rebuilt against real work, headcount models tied to demand, and skills matrices so cross-coverage is planned — not improvised.

07

Training, SOPs & Standard Work

Standardized work for every core job, TWI-style train-the-trainer programs, tiered operator certification with visible tracking, and hazard analysis built into every SOP.

Line balancing & takt analysis Time studies & station design Kitting & material presentation Water-spider delivery routes A3 & 5-why problem solving Andon & escalation systems 5S & workplace organization Quality containment at handoffs Supervisor & leader development Succession & tribal-knowledge capture Line balancing & takt analysis Time studies & station design Kitting & material presentation Water-spider delivery routes A3 & 5-why problem solving Andon & escalation systems 5S & workplace organization Quality containment at handoffs Supervisor & leader development Succession & tribal-knowledge capture
The System, Made Visible

What your floor looks like when the system runs it.

Not stock photos — the actual tools we build with your team: hour-by-hour boards, standardized work, and a daily management cadence that escalates problems in hours, not weeks.

Plant floor team reviewing the live Plant Daily Dashboard on a wall-mounted screen
Tier 1, 7:00 AM. The numbers, live on the floor. The same dashboard the executive team sees — where the work happens.
Hour-by-Hour — AssemblyShift 1
HourPlanActualStatus / Reason
7–81212On plan
8–91213+1 ahead
9–10128Kitting short — R04
10–111212Recovered
11–121212On plan

Every miss gets a reason code the moment it happens — so "why did it miss" produces data, not arguments.

Standardized Work — Frame BuildCert. Tier 3
1Stage components per kit list Q1.5 min
2Fixture & clamp frame S2.0 min
3Fasten joints — torque spec Q3.5 min
4Gauge check & sign-off Q1.0 min
Cycle: 0.0 minTakt: 9.2 min

One best way, written down — quality checkpoints and safety callouts built into the sequence, TWI-style.

Tiered Daily Management15 min each
Tier 1 · Team lead
Start of shift, at the board
Tier 2 · Supervisor
Department misses & blockers
Tier 3 · Plant manager
Cross-department conflicts
Tier 4 · Executive
Resources & priorities
Problems escalate in hours — not weeks

A standing cadence with a defined escalation path, so nothing waits for the monthly meeting to get unstuck.

Who We Are

Toyota discipline, applied to your floor.

North Plant Consulting is built on Toyota Production System experience — standardized work, TWI-style job instruction, tiered daily management, and visual control, applied hands-on in real plants, not taught from a slide deck.

Our approach is system-first: when delivery slips or a department is drowning, the root cause is usually a missing process, not a missing person. We fix the system, then build the roles, training, and cadence that keep it running after we leave.

Talk to Us

Why clients choose us

  • Toyota Production System & TWI background — methods proven for decades
  • System-first: fix the process before touching the org chart
  • Measurable results: on-time delivery, first-pass yield, productivity per labour hour
  • Built to sustain — your supervisors and leads run it after we're gone
How We Work

A straightforward engagement process.

01

Listen

A no-cost intro call to understand your operation, your pain points, and what success looks like.

02

Assess

On-site or remote review of your operations, data, and processes to find the biggest opportunities.

03

Plan

A prioritized, practical improvement plan with clear owners, timelines, and expected impact.

04

Deliver

We stay engaged through implementation so improvements stick — and results show up in your numbers.

Contact

Let's talk about your plant.

Tell us a bit about your operation and the challenge you're facing. We'll follow up within one business day.

keith.h@northplantconsulting.com
Serving industrial & manufacturing clients across North America

Request a Consultation

We respond within one business day.