Lean Transformation & Operational Excellence
Most operations have more capacity than they're using. The constraint is usually visible once you know where to look. I help manufacturers and complex organisations pinpoint what's holding them back, close the gap fast, and build the internal capability to stay ahead.
I don't just recommend improvements. I work alongside your team until the results are real and the capability sticks.
About
With 17+ years transforming operations across manufacturing, defence, energy, and pharmaceuticals, I've developed one strong conviction: the best improvement tools in the world deliver nothing without people who believe in them.
I was professionally shaped within one of the world's leading Lean practitioner networks, working alongside globally published authors and recognised experts. My work spans enterprise diagnostics, strategy deployment, Kaizen programs, daily management systems, capability coaching, and AI-enabled workflow design, always grounded in data and always focused on results that last.
I'm based in Sydney and work across Australia and globally.
My Approach
Every engagement starts with deep diagnosis. No two organisations are the same, so I resist off-the-shelf solutions. What you get is a structured process tailored to your constraints, your people, and your ambition.
Performance data, process mapping, workflow analysis, cultural assessment, and stakeholder interviews. I get under the skin of your operation before prescribing anything.
→ Diagnostic report & prioritised improvement roadmap
Collaborating with leadership to translate organisational strategy into aligned priorities, cascaded targets, and executable plans, using Hoshin Kanri and Strategy Deployment principles.
→ Strategy A3, aligned KPIs, and cadence design
Kaizen events, system redesigns, daily management implementation, rapid improvement workshops. We address variability, waste, and constraints, and measure every step.
→ Measurable improvements across output, quality, and lead time
Structured coaching, Leader Standard Work, development workshops, and governance rhythms that transfer capability, so your team sustains and scales improvement independently.
→ Embedded capability, coaching plans, management systems
Case Studies
The Challenge
A pharmaceutical manufacturing site was experiencing chronic stoppages on a critical Respules production line, with the line stopping on average every 23 minutes. This was creating downstream schedule pressure, rework cost, and operator frustration. The site needed a structured approach that would embed daily improvement discipline, not a one-time fix.
The Approach
The Results
The Gemba Walk leadership program developed on this site was subsequently adopted as a global standard and presented at industry conferences.
The Challenge
A manufacturing client was significantly under-delivering against its production potential. Capacity constraints, process variability, and a lack of structured performance management were leaving real revenue on the table. Leadership needed both immediate throughput gains and a sustainable operating system to protect them.
The Approach
The Results
The Challenge
A US-based manufacturer was struggling with excessive lead times across its production system, limiting its ability to serve customers reliably and respond to demand variation. The business needed rapid, substantive improvement, not incremental tweaks.
The Approach
The Results
The speed of improvement was possible because the diagnostic was thorough. We spent time understanding the system before touching it. The interventions were targeted and immediate.
The Challenge
A large mining equipment manufacturer wanted to build real, lasting Lean capability across its organisation. The four-year engagement evolved from foundational Lean support through to strategy deployment, practitioner development programs, 5S, problem solving, rapid changeover, and a significant transformation of maintenance operations.
The Approach
The Results
Example: Pin Line Blade Changeover
Clients don't sustain an engagement for four years unless the results, and the people, are real.
The Challenge
A defence manufacturer needed to understand what it would realistically take to scale civil production from approximately 8,000 to 35,000 units, across a site operating in a high-compliance, regulated environment with skilled labour constraints, long recruitment and training timelines, and complex tooling requirements. The assessment needed to be specific enough to drive genuine investment decisions.
The Approach
The Results
The client received a full interactive model where the leadership team could simulate scenarios by adjusting production volumes, staffing assumptions, and timeline parameters to support confident investment decision-making.
The Challenge
A major energy generator and mining company wanted to fundamentally shift its safety culture, from compliance-based behaviours (doing it because they had to) to genuine proactive risk prevention (doing it because they owned it). This required embedding improvement thinking into the daily routines of nearly 900 people across the site, with a structured governance and rollout plan that could scale.
The Approach
The Results
The Challenge
PaletTheory was a made-to-order sustainable fashion brand co-founded in 2020, collaborating with Indigenous and international artists to translate their stories into textile design. There was no existing operation to inherit. Every process, system, supplier relationship, and digital workflow had to be designed and built from scratch, while simultaneously launching a brand and running a live business. The model needed to be lean, on-demand, and scalable without the overhead of traditional fashion production.
The Approach
The Results
This experience is what makes the AI and digital work tangible. It is not theoretical. I have built automated workflows, designed digital operations, and made commercial decisions under real constraints, as a founder responsible for the outcome.
Services
Whether you need a focused diagnostic, a rapid improvement program, or someone to coach your team over the longer term, engagements are designed around your situation, not a standard package.
A rigorous assessment of your current operation: performance data, process analysis, waste mapping, and cultural review, resulting in a clear prioritised roadmap with quantified opportunity.
Typically includes
Focused 6 to 12 week programs that attack a specific constraint: throughput, lead time, quality, or maintenance performance, with immediate, measurable results.
Typically includes
Structured programs that transfer real improvement capability to your leaders and teams, so the results don't walk out the door when I do.
Typically includes
Hoshin Kanri and strategy cascade facilitation, helping leadership teams translate vision into aligned priorities, measurable targets, and execution cadence that actually sticks.
Typically includes
Pre- or post-acquisition operational assessments that quantify productivity upside, identify risks, and model labour and capital investment scenarios with confidence.
Typically includes
Designing and building AI-enabled workflows, automations, and digital operating systems that reduce manual overhead, improve visibility, and free your team to focus on higher-value work. This is practical, hands-on capability built through years of applying these tools in real operational and commercial contexts, including co-founding and running a fully digital business end-to-end.
Typically includes
Who I Work With
You're leaving output on the table and you know it. The bottlenecks are real but unclear. You need someone who can find the constraint, fix it fast, and protect the gain.
You're tired of improvement projects that fade the moment the consultant leaves. You want your own people to be able to diagnose problems, solve them, and hold the line.
You're scaling up, integrating an acquisition, or entering a new market. You need operational clarity and rigour before you commit capital and headcount.
You operate in defence, pharma, mining, or energy, where the stakes are high and the tolerance for error is low. I've worked in these environments for 17+ years. I understand the constraints.
Diagnosis before prescription. I won't tell you what the problem is before I've seen your data, walked your floor, and talked to your people.
Hands-on presence. I work alongside your team, not from a PowerPoint deck. You'll see me on the floor, in the data, in the room where the work happens.
Honest conversations. If something isn't working, I'll say so early. I'd rather have a difficult conversation now than present results that don't hold three months later.
Results you can measure. Every engagement is anchored to specific metrics: output, lead time, OEE, cost, or whatever matters most in your context.
Capability transfer. My goal is to make myself unnecessary. By the time we're done, your team should be able to sustain and scale what we've built, without needing me.
Long-term thinking. Some of my client relationships span close to a decade. I build them by delivering results and treating people well, every single time.
Get In Touch
The best starting point is usually a conversation. Tell me what's frustrating you, what you're trying to achieve, and what you've already tried. We'll figure out together whether there's a good fit.