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Preview draft — not all stories cleared for production.

Stories

Stories from the floor.

Each card is a problem, what we did, what changed, and one lesson. One story is held for clearance and is not public proof.

From the floor

  1. A $200M chemical distributorMax Lean Six Sigma

    Value Stream Mapping, four times faster

    Problem
    Mapping the value stream took too long for the improvement cadence the plant needed. Standard work lived in people’s heads.
    What we did
    Helped the team map the value stream and capture standard work with smart glasses so the next shift could see the work, not just hear about it.
    What changed
    The team ran Value Stream Mapping four times faster.
    Lesson
    Speed of seeing the flow beats another binder of process maps.

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  2. An automotive fluid-systems supplierMax Lean Six Sigma · VA/VE

    Already competitive — still paying too much

    Problem
    Competitor teardown said the design was already on par. Leadership still needed cost out of a high-volume product.
    What we did
    Ran VA/VE events that ranked ideas, updated design standards, and trained engineers through a live event.
    What changed
    About four events across canisters, fill pipes and thermostats (plants in three countries); more than 400 raw ideas; about two dozen changes into design standards; about a third of engineers trained through a live event; VA/VE written into new-product process and quality work instructions.
    Lesson
    If you can’t name what a part does for the customer, you can’t defend what it costs. Saving money on one product is good; changing the standard is the enabling layer.

    Which product would you put on the table first?

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  3. What we see in plantsMaxKnowledge · Digital Assistants

    The job that stops when one person is out

    Problem
    One setup tech (or scheduler, or estimator) holds twenty years of know-how. When they’re out, the line slows. Nothing is written where the next person works.
    What we did
    Capture the work inside the Microsoft 365 tools the team already opens. Pair a Digital Assistant / Recursive Agent for that function with a person who approves real actions.
    What changed
    New hires find the current answer without a scavenger hunt. That is what we see in plants. It is not a measured result.
    Lesson
    Most plants don’t have a training problem. They have a “the answer lives in one person’s head” problem.

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  4. Chris / Chiles & CompanyDigital Twin · Recursive Agent

    Digital Twin for the next shift — and the next generation

    Problem
    Know-how walks out — when a tech retires, and when a generation passes.
    What we did
    Building Recursive Agents that carry subject-matter expertise, with a person on every real decision. Same theme as the Digital Twin series opener on YouTube (@chilesandco).
    What changed
    Series in progress: lessons from manufacturing — and what a Digital Twin is for: the next shift and the next generation.
    Lesson
    Next shift. Next generation. Same discipline: write down what the expert knows, keep a person responsible.

    Watch the opener on YouTube (@chilesandco). This preview names the series and does not embed the clip.

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Held for clearance

One story is held for clearance and is not public proof.

  1. [DRAFT — needs clearance]

    A custom soft-goods makerMaxKnowledge + Max Configurator

    From picture to priced options

    Not public proof. Held until this story is cleared.

    Problem
    Every custom order starts with a picture. Price waited on the design team. Yarn usage worked out by hand. Leaders wanted sales, open orders and rep activity in one view while they were changing systems.
    What we did
    Walked a sample order from customer picture to priced options on Max Configurator, with role views in MaxKnowledge — on sample data, not their production system.
    What changed
    Image-to-priced-options in about three minutes on sample costs (design target until measured in production).
    Lesson
    Start where the quote waits. For custom makers, that’s between the customer’s picture and the price.

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From the floor

Lessons from the floor

What we keep learning in plants — and what we refuse to pretend.

  1. Function before cost.

    If nobody can say what a part does for the customer in one sentence, start there.

    A teardown can say the design is already on par and still leave cost in the part. Name the function, then decide what that cost is defending.

    Related story

  2. Standards beat one-off wins.

    A cheaper part today matters less than the design standard that makes the next product start cheaper.

    Saving money on one product is good. Changing the standard is what lets the next product start cheaper.

    Related story

  3. Speed of seeing the flow.

    A faster value-stream view is worthless if the next shift can’t see the standard work.

    On the chemical distributor’s floor, standard work lived in people’s heads. The team ran Value Stream Mapping four times faster once the next shift could see that work, not just hear about it.

    Related story

  4. [DRAFT — needs clearance]

    Start where the quote waits.

    Custom and configure-to-order businesses lose days between the customer’s picture and a price.

    For a custom maker, that wait sits between the picture and the price. This lesson stays with a story that still needs clearance, so it is not public proof.

    Held story

  5. One head is a single point of failure.

    Capture the expert inside tools the team already uses; put a person on every action that carries liability.

    One setup tech, scheduler, or estimator can hold twenty years of know-how, and the line slows when they are out. The current answer has to live where the next person already works, with a person approving every real action.

    Related story

  6. Human in the loop is the product.

    Recursive Agents recommend; people approve. That’s how trust and liability stay with the customer.

    A Digital Assistant can prepare work for one function inside the tools the team already opens. People approve every real action, so trust and liability stay with the customer.

    Related story

  7. Heritage is proven practice, not mystique.

    Lean, Six Sigma, S&OP, VA/VE — we name outcomes and the leaders who proved them, never how we build our own Digital Assistants.

    You will see those practices named for the outcomes they drive. You will not see an account of how our own Digital Assistants are built.

  8. Name only what you’re cleared to name.

    Unnamed plants and rounded program counts beat a flashy metric you can’t defend.

    Plants stay unnamed on these cards, and program counts stay rounded where a count is used at all. A metric we cannot defend does not go on the card.

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