Lean Manufacturing and Operations with FIT

Solving chaotic challenges

When we’re helping a client solve a problem – like a business that’s fighting production problems and losing money – we often hear about chaotic situations, and the very survival of a plant or business can be at stake.

Follow the physics

One of the first things we say is: let’s follow the physics. And you might think what does physics have to do with fixing a plant? Well, physics has EVERYTHING to do with your performance. That’s why physics and thermodynamics are at the heart of Cornerstone’s FIT method.

10 intrinsic orders

It’s based on 10 science-backed “intrinsic orders” — predictable patterns that occur in business and in life. They are the markers we use to assess the current state of any complex-interdependent system in manufacturing, supply chain, distribution, logistics, retail, and more.

Primary drivers of FIT

FIT also is the foundation of recommendations we make to return those systems — in a single plant or across the enterprise — to balance high performance and profitable operations.

The FIT Operations method acknowledges three primary drivers:

• Time is our most important resource -- it is finite, and once it’s gone it cannot be recovered.
• Entropy is a given -- any complex system that is activated will generate waste, and as it operates that system is in decline and ultimately will fail unless that waste is managed, or even used to optimize the system.
• Murphy’s Law is real and must be accounted for in complex system management and optimization. Vulnerabilities must be identified and evaluated, and contingency plans developed to address them.

Value delivered

FIT Operations is our approach to helping clients understand the interplay of forces and decisions in a manufacturing or other operation, and set the path toward a renewed balance and optimized performance. CCO has applied it countless times to help our clients find and fix problems in their business operations, and return them to their highest potential and performance to deliver renewed cash flow and EBIDTA.