People first, then the shop floor, then the office.
Most consultants start in the meeting room. Whoever reads the figures first goes looking for confirmation on the shop floor afterwards. Whoever talks to the people first knows what to look for on the shop floor – and which figures to read afterwards.
Book an initial callTen areas, always in this order: people first, then process, then the shop floor, then the numbers, then the tools, and the market last. Start with the shop floor and you see machines. Start with the people and you see why the machines are standing still.
Staff conversations
Individual conversations across every level, from apprentice to shift lead, without supervisors in the room. One of the simplest questions reveals the most: does the employee know exactly what is expected of them today? Example: a CNC operator – do they know the quantity and deadline for the current order, or do they just get told to "keep going"? If ten employees give ten different answers to the same question, the problem is rarely the employees, it is how information gets passed down. What never happens: a name in the report – this is about patterns, not people.
Leadership
The same question as step one, seen from the other side: does anyone besides the owner make operational decisions? A second management layer is the difference between a business that keeps running without the boss and one that cannot survive three months of absence.
Processes
How does an order move from enquiry to delivery note? Where does it wait, who really decides, and where does the actual flow diverge from the org chart? This usually shows whether the issue from the first two steps hangs on one person or on the process itself – for example, when orders only get released once the owner is back from holiday.
Purchasing & suppliers
How much depends on a single supplier or a single source of raw material? A failure, a price increase, a delayed delivery – how hard does it hit the business, and is there even a second source for the critical items? Concentration risk rarely shows itself; it only surfaces once you ask directly.
Production
Only once the team, leadership and processes are clear does it move to the shop floor: machines, tools, setup times, scrap. With the findings from the earlier steps in mind, not in isolation – otherwise you end up fixing symptoms instead of causes.
Quality
Are there inspection plans, or does whoever has time do the checking? Is scrap and rework tracked systematically, or does it disappear into the actual costs without anyone noticing? Quality that is not measured cannot be improved either.
Costing
Does the quoted price really cover all the costs – cycle time, machine hourly rate, material, scrap, overheads, margin? In many businesses the answer lives in the owner's gut feeling, not in a traceable calculation. That is exactly where a clean pre-calculation starts, before the next quote goes out.
Post-calculation
Does the costing match reality? Planned costs against actual costs per order – where did the margin go, which type of order does not pay off, which one performs surprisingly well? These findings feed back into step seven, not into a drawer.
Digitalisation
Only now comes the question of software: which tool solves a problem the previous steps actually surfaced, not whichever tool happens to be trending. A spreadsheet everyone understands and maintains beats any software nobody uses. Digitalisation speeds a process up, it does not fix it.
Marketing
How does a prospective customer even find out the business exists – and that it can do exactly what they are looking for? For many owner-managed businesses, marketing has meant word of mouth and a website nobody has touched in years. That is enough as long as the existing customers are enough. Once new customers or new industries are the goal, it takes more than chance.
- Owner-managed businesses in machining, forming and welded construction, 9 to 250 employees.
- Point of contact: owner, managing director and plant manager.
- Also dealers and larger businesses that need an independent view of production or suppliers.
Beratungs-Check
Fixed price
Two days on site
- Ten areas reviewed
- Where does your business actually stand?
Defense-Readiness-Check
Fixed price
Two days on site
- Seven areas reviewed
- Ready for the defense supply chain?
Nachfolge-Check
Fixed price
Two days on site
- Seven areas reviewed
- Is your business ready to be handed over?
Technische Partnerschaft
Monthly fee
on request, 2 days a month, minimum 6 months
- Quoting, second sourcing, ramp-up, steering meetings
- 25% credit for a prior check
No permanent presence. If plant or production management is unexpectedly unavailable, Invictix steps in as interim – for a fixed term, full time. Only at businesses Invictix already knows from an advisory role.
- No permanent presence that makes the business dependent.
- No strategy papers without implementation.
- No restructuring at the expense of the working climate – whoever loses the team has lost the business.