The manufacturing sector encounters numerous challenges such as labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, heightened competition, and the demand for cost reduction and efficiency enhancement, among others. Thriving manufacturing enterprises are those adept at transforming challenges into competitive advantages. At The Hill Group, we collaborate with our manufacturing partners to devise and deploy resilient strategies, drive enhancements, and relentlessly strive for excellence.

Strategy: Formulating a Vision for Tomorrow

Our strategy consulting services help manufacturers develop strategies to unlock their full potential. Our strategy consulting services include:

• Value Stream Analysis (VSA): Our most comprehensive and in-depth assessment guides the client through a systematic evaluation of operations by mapping the current state, identifying waste and inefficiencies, generating opportunities for improvement, and creating an ideal Future State Value Stream Map and implementation plan. The VSA leverages the client’s subject matter experts from all levels of the organization to enable large scale transformations and provide a road map to the future. Additional benefits include:
  • Valuable insight into processes, reduced costs, improved quality, streamlined operations, and greater value to customers
  • Visual representation of the current state and desired future state inform and facilitate buy-in from all levels of the organization
  • Input for generation or revision of the Operations Roadmap.
• Operations Roadmap Development: Every Operations team needs a roadmap that outlines vision and objectives, initiatives, milestones, investments, resources, and risks to ensure long-term goals are achieved. The Hill Group can assist your organization with developing a roadmap tailored with the necessary level of detail to ensure comprehension and support across all levels of your organization.
• Operations Roadmap Deployment: Translate your Operations Roadmap into specific actions throughout all levels of your organization to ensure goals and individual responsibilities are aligned. We will also help you establish performance measures and structured reviews to ensure progress is being made.
• Lean Transformation: Push your organization to Peak Performance within 24 months! Is your company interested in implementing Lean practices but unsure of where to begin? Or perhaps you’ve already started your Lean journey and could benefit from additional support in certain areas? The Hill Group is here to help, whether you’re just starting out with Lean or need assistance in specific aspects of its implementation. Our solutions are customized to suit the unique needs of each client.

Execution: Realize Tomorrow’s Potential through Relentless Execution

We enable manufacturers to implement strategies through a relentless passion for continuous improvement, attention to detail, and drive for results. We offer a multitude of execution services, including:

• Targeted Improvements: The Hill Group employs a combination of Lean and/or Six Sigma methodologies to deliver rapid and sustainable improvements to address your most pressing challenges. Improvements can be made through workshops (1-3 days), Kaizen events (3-5 days), or projects (>1 week) depending on the scope of the improvement effort.
• Daily Management: Boost daily operational performance with the implementation of Daily Management systems to know whether you are winning or losing in real time, identify support needs, drive accountability, and improve buy in from all levels of the organization.
• Visual Factory: Make information easily accessible and understandable to everyone in the operation through visual cues to improve performance. The Hill Group will tailor visual management solutions to the needs of your operation.
• Manufacturing Process Development and Optimization: We will ensure you achieve manufacturing process throughput, efficiency, profitability, and quality targets whether you are in the early stages of product development or are already in production. With over 30 years of combined experience developing and optimizing manufacturing processes, we offer the following services:
  • Design for Manufacturing for new and existing products
  • Risk planning and management (pFMEA)
  • Fixture design, development, and fabrication
  • Process Development and Optimization
  • Master Validation Plans
  • Process Validation
  • Gage R&R Studies
• Back Office Transformation: Don’t settle for the inflexibility of rigid and expensive IT systems. At the Hill Group we develop and implement highly customized, low-cost, cloud-based applications to improve efficiency, quality, and delivery of transactional and administrative processes in Operations, HR, Finance, Customer Service, Sales and Marketing, Service, and Product Development.
• Project Management: We provide comprehensive project management services for all types of projects, such as process enhancements, capital upgrades, and new product launches, among others. We can either take the lead or guide project management teams through any or all phases of a project.
• Project Portfolio Management: Most companies have a large list of projects to complete, but limited resources to complete them. The Hill Group can help your firm implement centralized management of your firm’s project portfolio to ensure you are doing the right projects at the right time to bridge the gap between strategy and implementation and maximize return on investment.

Measurement: Measurement Drives Improvement

Understanding the current state performance through meticulous measurement is essential to improvement. Our measurement services include:

• Operations Performance and Maturity Assessment Tool (OPMAT): The Hill Group’s Operations Performance and Maturity Assessment Tool (OPMAT) provides a quick, systematic assessment of a client’s operations. Clients complete a short survey and are provided with a report within one business day that evaluates performance and practices across 6 elements: Leadership, Materials and Flow, Processes, Suppliers, Support Systems, and Continuous Improvement. Results can be used to identify areas for deeper analysis, identify and prioritize improvement opportunities, generate action plans, and measure improvement over time. After the report is delivered, The Hill Group will schedule a call to review results and provide recommendations.
• OPMAT+: The OPMAT+ provides a significantly more comprehensive assessment than the OPMAT. Building on the framework of the OPMAT, OPMAT+ is facilitated by The Hill Group at the client’s site over a 2-day period. The assessment includes additional sub-elements that are scored against detailed criteria by a cross-functional team of the client’s employees. Prior to the site visit, the Hill Group will schedule a call to prepare and select the cross-functional team. The on-site assessment will entail a site tour, scoring sub-elements, capturing qualitative feedback, summarizing results, identifying and prioritizing opportunities for improvement, and generating an action plan. After the visit, we will generate a report within 10 business days and review with the client to conclude the assessment.
• Operations Performance and Maturity Audit: Our most comprehensive assessment has all the benefits of the OPMAT+ and is conducted by one of our consultants for an independent, unbiased assessment. We will visit the client’s site to assess any or all areas of the OPMAT+ by observing work areas in operation, reviewing/auditing documentation, reviewing/auditing KPI’s, and conducting management and employee interviews. On the last day of the visit, we will share results and work with the client to prioritize improvement opportunities and generate an action plan. After the visit, we will generate a report within 10 business days and review with the client to conclude the audit.
• KPI and Dashboard Development: The Hill Group can help your firm focus on the most critical aspects of the operation by generating Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and creating dashboards to drive data-driven decision-making and promote a culture of continuous improvement.
• Time Studies: We can perform time studies of manufacturing or administrative/support operations to support cost modeling, capacity planning, and identifying non-value-added activities for reduction or elimination.
• Quantitative Modeling: The Hill Group can model your operations to enable fast, data-driven decision making and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Capacity Planning: We can help you determine your future staffing and space needs including investments and financial analysis of alternatives.
• Product Cost Models: We can generate cost models to support making design choices during product development.
• Materials Planning and Inventory Optimization: We can assess your inventory to ensure appropriate material levels, identify opportunities for reduction, and introduce tools for enhanced inventory management.