// Toolkit
The toolkit behind the audit.
The same operations toolkit David used inside real plants — value stream maps, maintenance calendars, 5S boards, safety audits — now sized for your business. This is how we find what's costing you money before we touch a single tool.
- 19 tools
- 20 years on plant floors
- Free, no email needed
// Find your tool
What do you feel every week?
Nobody needs all 19 at once: pick the symptom you feel every week. Each tool opens with the worked example, what goes on the sheet and how it looks in a business like yours.
// Tool 01
Value Stream Map (VSM)
See how much of your lead time is real work — and how much is waiting.
Waiting & delays
// Tool 02
Autonomous Maintenance (CILR) Calendar
Most “sudden” breakdowns had a warning days earlier.
Equipment & downtime
// Tool 03
5S Audit & Sustainment Board
5S doesn't fail at the cleanup day. It fails three months later.
Order & safety
// Tool 04
Safety & Environmental Risk Matrix
Find out what your biggest risk is before it finds you.
Order & safety
// Tool 05
OEE Dashboard
Equipment that's “on” isn't the same as equipment that's producing.
Equipment & downtime
// Tool 06
Kanban / Pull Board
Stop guessing what to make next — let what's actually being used tell you.
Waiting & delays
// Tool 07
KPI Tree
The number on your P&L moved. This is how you find out why, before next month.
People & goals
// Tool 08
Fishbone Diagram (Ishikawa)
Before you fix anything, get every possible cause on the table — not just the first one someone blames.
Mistakes & rework
// Tool 09
5 Whys Root Cause Worksheet
If your last five whys all end at “the employee should have been more careful,” you didn't find the cause — you found someone to blame.
Mistakes & rework
// Tool 10
Pareto Chart Worksheet
Most operations have one or two causes doing most of the damage — find them before you spread the budget thin.
Mistakes & rework
// Tool 11
A3 Problem-Solving Sheet
One page that forces the thinking — not a report written after the decision was already made.
Mistakes & rework
// Tool 12
Andon / Visual Workplace Board
A problem anyone can flag and everyone can see gets fixed today, not next month.
Equipment & downtime
// Tool 13
Waste Walk (7 Wastes)
Walk the same floor you walk every day — but this time, count what's actually being wasted.
Waiting & delays
// Tool 14
Poka-Yoke Design Worksheet
The best fix for human error isn't a warning sign — it's making the error physically impossible.
Mistakes & rework
// Tool 15
SMED Changeover Worksheet
Most of a changeover's cost is sequence, not equipment — and that part is free to fix.
Equipment & downtime
// Tool 16
Skills Matrix
If one person leaves, do you find out what breaks before or after they're gone?
People & goals
// Tool 17
Gemba Walk Checklist
The dashboard tells you there's a problem. The floor tells you why.
Order & safety
// Tool 18
TOC Five Focusing Steps
Improving everything that isn't the bottleneck doesn't move your output — it just moves the queue.
Waiting & delays
// Tool 19
Takt Time vs. Cycle Time
Running fast doesn't mean running at the right speed — it might just mean building inventory nobody ordered yet.
Waiting & delays
Standard, industry-level frameworks — not the specific way we apply them inside a paid engagement. No invented numbers; sample fields are marked as illustrative.
// Inside the diagnostic
How we use them in a loss diagnostic.
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We walk your operation
On site, with you, timing what really happens — not what the process says should happen.
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We pick 3 or 4 tools
Only the ones that fit the leak you have. Nobody needs all 19 at once.
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You get the loss in dollars
Each finding comes with its source and what fixing it is worth.
// Talk to David
Want to see this applied to your business?
No sales pitch: we look at your case and tell you which diagnostic size fits — or if it isn't worth it for you.