Six shapes
of operational pain.
One way through.
Different industries, different methods, same approach: a senior practitioner who has solved your shape of problem before, in your kind of environment, from lean shopfloor work to AI in operations. The mandate is always the change, not the slide deck.
A senior practitioner maps the actual flow, finds the real constraint, and rebuilds the cadence with your team. Cycle time falls in weeks, not quarters.
-44% cycle time, claims dept.
SMED specialists who have done it on your kind of machine, in your kind of regulated environment. Validation stays clean.
-62% changeover, medtech line
A tiered daily-management system installed in four weeks. Coaches stay long enough for habits to outlast their visit.
+38% OEE, tier-1 mfg
Root-cause facilitation and standards work with the people who do the job. Defects fall, and ownership stays inside the team.
94% first-time-right, insurer
Process redesign and capability building so the same headcount carries more, and new joiners reach productive faster.
+15% productivity, no new hires
A practitioner who maps the value stream first, then says where automation and AI fit, and where they do not. Scorecards the board can read.
6 of 19 pilots scaled
Six steps.
One week to start.
No procurement marathon, no slide-deck sales cycle. We replaced both with a 24-hour shortlist guarantee and a single signature page.
Brief
Write a short problem statement: where the pain is, what good looks like, when you need it solved by. No template, no RFP, no committee.
One page, plain language
Confidential by default
NDA before any expert sees it
Shortlist
A Lean Competence domain lead reads your brief and hand-picks two or three practitioners from the network. You see full profiles, references and the outcomes they have shipped on jobs like yours.
Top 3% of applicants
Sector and method matched
Outcome track-record visible
Intros
30 minute intro calls with each shortlisted expert. You assess fit. They assess scope. No obligation to proceed.
Calendar held for you
Question bank provided
Free of charge
Scope and sign
Pick your practitioner. The two of you scope the engagement against an outcome target, with us facilitating. You both sign the SOW; Lean Competence handles MSA, NDA, insurance and billing setup.
Outcome-scoped, fixed pilot fee
Single signature page
Insurance bundled
Kickoff
Practitioner lands on site or on-call. Daily standups, weekly progress notes, agreed milestones. You see the same milestones your invoice tracks against.
On site or hybrid
Live milestone tracking
Weekly progress email
Handoff
Closing workshop, sustained-improvement plan, your team owns the change. Optional fractional follow-up to keep cadence.
Documented playbook
Internal champion certified
Optional 90-day follow-up
Four ways to get
this done.
Honestly compared.
Lean Competence
1 week
Big consultancy
8 to 12 weeks
Boutique firm
4 to 6 weeks
Direct hire
3 to 9 months
Lean Competence
Principal
Big consultancy
Mostly analysts
Boutique firm
Mixed
Direct hire
Whoever you hire
Lean Competence
Outcome-scoped pilot
Big consultancy
Day-rate, leveraged
Boutique firm
Day-rate, bespoke
Direct hire
Fixed salary
Lean Competence
Per engagement
Big consultancy
Multi-quarter retainer
Boutique firm
Multi-week min
Direct hire
Permanent
Lean Competence
One signature
Big consultancy
Procurement + legal cycle
Boutique firm
Bespoke
Direct hire
HR + sign-on
Lean Competence
Built into scope
Big consultancy
Often extra
Boutique firm
Usually included
Direct hire
Stays with hire
Lean Competence
Zero
Big consultancy
High
Boutique firm
Medium
Direct hire
Severance
Four real shapes
of engagement.
If your situation looks like one of these, the network has solved it before. If it does not, tell us anyway. We will say so.
Plant turnaround
01COO of a Tier-1 industrial
THE NEEDOEE below 50%, complaints rising, three different consultancies have failed.
WE BRINGSenior plant manager, ex-Toyota supplier
SHAPEInterim, 6 to 9 months
FEECHF 24k to 38k per month
Validated changeover
02Operations lead, medtech
THE NEEDChangeover on a sterile line consumes 14 hours, blocks two product launches.
WE BRINGSMED specialist with GMP background
SHAPESprint, 2 weeks
FEECHF 28k to 42k fixed
Lean office rollout
03Head of claims, insurance
THE NEEDCycle time creeping up year on year, no clear daily-management system.
WE BRINGLean office coach with bank or insurer experience
SHAPEFractional, 6 months
FEECHF 3.2k to 5k per week
AI in operations
04VP transformation, retail
THE NEEDEighteen AI pilots, two in production, no clarity on where to scale.
WE BRINGLean practitioner with digital and AI fluency
SHAPEProject, 6 weeks
FEECHF 48k to 72k milestone-based
Four filters.
Top 3% in.
Most candidates are accomplished. Most candidates do not pass. The Lean Competence acceptance rate sits around three percent because the bar is operator credibility, not method credentials.
First week not a fit? We swap the expert, no questions, no extra fee.
CV and portfolio screen
Three documented case examples with measurable outcomes. Sector relevance. Years of line responsibility.
Technical interview
Two Lean Competence domain leads challenge methodology, problem solving and gemba behaviour on a real anonymised case.
Reference triangulation
Three prior clients contacted directly. Two must be in a sector the practitioner claims as a specialty.
Paid trial engagement
A one-day diagnostic with a current Lean Competence client. We watch. Client rates. Below 4.5 out of 5, no entry.
Three ways to start.
Always scoped together.
Every engagement is scoped against an outcome target, jointly with the practitioner you pick. We facilitate that scoping, contract it, insure it. You see what the pilot fee buys before any signature.
Analysis
A senior practitioner runs operational due diligence on the floor or in the value stream, finding where the real constraint sits, not where you assume it sits.
Gemba walks on shift, not on tour
Value-stream and constraint map
Prioritised improvement roadmap
Outcome baseline you can hold us to
12-week project
After analysis you pick one lighthouse area. Your practitioner runs a focused 12-week project there with your team, then the playbook rolls out.
Senior practitioner on site or hybrid
Lighthouse pilot + roll-out plan
Sustained-improvement playbook
Internal champion certified
Fractional / interim
A senior practitioner on a weekly cadence or embedded full-time, depending on how much the seat needs filling.
Same practitioner week to week
Operating-committee seat available
Gemba walks and daily-mgmt coaching
Pause anytime, two weeks notice
Pilot fees are scoped by you and your practitioner against an outcome target, never billed by the day. Lean Competence facilitates scoping, handles contracting, and adds a flat platform fee, transparent on every invoice. No retainers, no annual minimums, no procurement gymnastics.
Three cases
from this year.
Browse all case studies → Five sectors. Deep benches.
Industry
320+ ENGAGEMENTSDiscrete, process, automotive, machinery
Medtech & pharma
180+ ENGAGEMENTSGMP, validation, regulated production
Healthcare
110+ ENGAGEMENTSHospitals, clinics, patient-flow redesign
Construction
60+ ENGAGEMENTSLast-planner, takt, lean construction
Admin streams
140+ ENGAGEMENTSBack-office, claims, shared services
Buyers ask us.
Median time from brief to first day on site is seven working days. The fastest engagement we have placed was four days. Highly regulated environments add one to two weeks for compliance paperwork.
Tell us where
you're stuck.
One paragraph. Two minutes. A Lean Competence domain lead reads every brief and replies within 24 hours, even if it is to say we are not the right fit.
Confidential by default
NDA before any practitioner sees your brief
Free to brief
You pay only if you sign a SOW
Reply within 24 hours
A real person, not a calendar link