ABOUT Private

About Us

Private Productivity Consulting, LLC was founded in 2001 to assist manufacturing and service businesses produce superior profits.

The distinct advantage we provide is a single focus on profitability. We attack the most important problems undermining business success. Sales, Engineering, and Manufacturing are intertwined and excessive cost symptoms in one area can have originated in another. A poor engineering design can cause the plant to miss cost targets, over promising delivery or selling to the wrong customers can overload engineering, and manufacturing can be stumbling over excessive inventory and convoluted processes so they miss even reasonable customer shipment deadlines. Fix the root cause and the symptoms evaporate.

We use a data driven decision making process in conjunction with our top management and business ownership perspectives when solving problems. We've held executive positions as well as owned and run our own businesses and know the kind of profound solutions necessary to produce extraordinary results. We appreciate and provide open and honest dialog.

Experience

We have worked with and assisted more than 250 manufacturers in many different industries and markets: Machining, stamping, casting, plastics, and rubber; dip & injection molding, electronics, sub-assembly, and precious metals (PGM), within automotive, lawn & garden, tool & die, medical, health care services, vineyards/winery, commercial real estate, and printing.

A few of the more familiar companies we have worked with: General Motors Corporation, DaimlerChrysler, Delphi Automotive, St Joseph Mercy Medical Center, Teleflex, Goodyear Tire & Rubber, SKD Automotive Group, KSR International, INA Engine Components, Trelleborg, Tenneco Automotive, and others.

Problems solved for clients have included: fixing major quality defects shutting down vehicle and engine assembly plants, correcting new product launch startup problems (capacity & quality), process audits, eliminating warranty and quality defects, manufacturing productivity and cost improvements, office process installation, market strategy, component costing, design improvements, purchasing methods, merger & acquisitions and post-merger company integration.

Available Technical Skills

Strategy and Finance, Masters Business Administration (MBA)

Quality Black Belt/Six-Sigma/Shainin Journeyman

Mechanical Product Engineering

A Big Toolbox

Our Expert Problem Solvers tackle issues using familiar tools: Six-Sigma, Lean Manufacturing, DOE, SPC, Error Proofing, Quick Changeover/SMED, Process Reengineering, Technical Problem Solving, ABC costing concepts, DCF analysis, TCO, Supply-chain mapping, Complexity Reduction, VAVE Value Engineering, and other significant technologies.

Preferred Client Profile

We have succeeded in solving pressing problems in both large and small companies yet have found we prefer the intimate nature of working with privately held small and midsize ($1-100 million in Sales and 1-1,000 employee, per facility/location) manufacturing and service businesses. Why? Because these businesses have the greatest urgency for survival, for improving competitiveness, and are often under extreme expansion pressures. Our tools, philosophies, and interests fit best with companies in these environments.

The business owner, a senior executive, or the plant manager needs to believe in the need for change and be an active sponsor for our programs – lacking top level buy-in will create conflict and frustration at the working level from inconsistent messages that thwart any real progress.

We can either confidentially review a business to help a management team ascertain the largest profit opportunities, analyze and recommend specific improvements, solve product or process problems, or focus on implementing existing projects.

Our target client base remains within a few hours of Detroit, Michigan, primarily covering Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, and Ontario Canada. However, modern technologies enable assisting companies outside of this regional sphere.

Cost effective solutions

We are Virtual Partners without investing in permanent employees. We intend to provide significantly more value than our service costs - and we back that intent with our Service Guarantee.

We work with clients to agree on the problem to be solved, the value of solving it, and how to measure success. Our preferred, but negotiable, fee model is based on a small weekly retainer and an "at risk" value share of the actual measured success, for just the first year after implementation. This protects and motivates both the client and us - we want to see improvements implemented while clients want to ensure they have the problem solved, solved quickly, and with the most long-term profitability.

We can certainly consider alternative compensation formats, if your budgeting process happens to be less flexible. Please keep in mind the major benefits of our service - you are generally getting more value for project time than may be readily apparent: A consultant is typically transparent to departmental headcount restrictions, there are no hidden overhead costs wrapped up in healthcare and pension benefits, and there is the flexibility of scheduling on an as-needed basis so you are not locked into a constant permanent full-time salary expense. Enjoy superior expertise for just a few hours here and there, for a few days a week, or for a couple of weeks a year.

Then it's always valuable to have a fresh, outside perspective that is free from prior decision history, internal politics, or departmental alliances that is impossible to achieve when hiring someone to fill a permanent position.

Have a thorny problem? Are your Customers demanding you do something to fix an urgent issue? Often bringing in external resources, advice, manpower, and experience can be a positive gesture to your Customer that you are really "pulling out all the stops" to fix their problem fast. Then you will still be the hero when the problem is solved, too. So seriously consider a Virtual Partner for your future.

Our Service Guarantee

If a client is unsatisfied with our services, for whatever reason, the client may forego all future value sharing payments on that project.