Manufacturing consultancy that starts with a digital readiness assessment
We start on your shop floor. We measure where the business is, work out where money is being lost and why, and give you a costed plan in writing within 1 to 4 weeks. If you want us to deliver it, we stay. Every piece of work is fixed price and agreed before it starts.
The Hidden Cost of Not Knowing
UK Investment
UK manufacturers invested £38.8bn in 2024. Most still cannot say where the money is being lost. Make UK: The Facts 2024
Skills Challenges
Of manufacturers report moderate to significant difficulty filling production roles. In most plants we visit, part of that gap is a process problem wearing a recruitment label. Deloitte 2025
Lost to Downtime
Of revenue lost to unplanned downtime by large manufacturers. Much of it is preventable once the cause is measured. Siemens True Cost of Downtime 2024
Evidence first. Opinions last.
Around 70% of digital transformation projects fail to deliver what was promised, and most of them started in the wrong place. We measure before we recommend, we benchmark before we prioritise, and every recommendation carries the number that justifies it.
Measure
A structured review of your operations against a recognised framework. It is a working session on your floor with your people, not a questionnaire.
Benchmark
Your scores set against manufacturers like you, so good becomes a number you can defend to a board.
Prioritise
Impact against effort, quantified. You leave with a sequenced roadmap: quick wins first, then the larger investments, each with its projected return.
Our Core Principles
A digital tool does nothing on its own. We look at the people who will use it first, then the process it sits in, and the technology last. That is the order in which projects succeed or fail, so it is the order we work in.
People
The skills, the ownership and the habit of improving. Without them a new system is a screen nobody looks at.
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Skills development and training
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Change management support
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Leadership development
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Team engagement strategies
Process
Standard, stable, measured work. A system that automates a bad process only makes the waste faster.
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Process mapping and optimisation
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Lean manufacturing implementation
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Quality system improvements
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Performance measurement
Technology
ERP, MES, SCADA and the links between them, chosen for the process they serve and the people who will run them.
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PLM system implementation
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Digital transformation roadmaps
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Automation and IoT integration
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Data analytics and reporting
Our Consulting Approach
An assessment takes 1 to 4 weeks and follows the same 6 steps every time. It shows where money is being lost, why, and what to fix first, with evidence behind each finding.
Scope and align
We agree your priorities, your constraints and what good looks like before we measure anything, so the diagnosis is aimed at what matters to the business.
Talk to the people
Operators, supervisors, planners and the board. Each sees a different part of the problem, and the As-Is picture has to hold all of them.
Walk the floor
We map the flow as it runs, not as it is drawn. We time operations, find the bottlenecks and put a cost on the delays.
Cost of quality
Rework, scrap, warranty claims and customer complaints, counted and costed. In most plants this is the largest hidden expense.
Technology gap
We review the systems you have, from ERP to the machines, and identify where technology would pay back most with the least disruption.
Action Priority Matrix
Every finding is ranked by impact against effort. You get a sequenced roadmap: quick wins first, then the larger investments, each with a projected return.
Why use Smart Industry Readiness Index (SIRI) to assess
SIRI, the Smart Industry Readiness Index, is the international standard for measuring how ready a manufacturer is for digitalisation. We use it because it stops a project starting in the wrong place, which is where most of them go wrong.
- It is vendor neutral. SIRI measures process, technology and organisation on one scale, so the result cannot be bent toward a sale.
- It covers the whole business. 16 dimensions across process, technology and organisation, so skills gaps and culture are measured with the same rigour as machines and software.
- It prioritises by value. The output is a shortlist of the dimensions where improvement pays back fastest, matched to your cost profile and your ambitions.
- It is comparable. Thousands of assessments worldwide mean your scores benchmark against real manufacturers, including ones your size.
Five stages, from a free day to a system you own
Each stage is a separate piece of work with its own price. Most assessors stop once the report is written; most integrators start once the plan exists. We do all five, and you can join at any of them.
3 ways to start. All fixed price.
Every engagement starts with 1 of these 3. Scope and price are fixed in writing before any work starts. Which one fits depends on where the business is now.
You do not know where to start
1 day. Half a day walking your factory with your team, half a day writing it up. Adopting SIRI principles, the As-Is picture on 1 page, 3 next steps you can act on.
You need a baseline and a plan
The full SIRI assessment. All 16 dimensions scored with your people in the room, benchmarked against manufacturers like you, prioritised to your cost profile and KPIs, with a costed roadmap a board or a funder will accept.
You have a plan and nobody to drive it
2 to 4 days a month in your business. We own the roadmap, the systems decisions and the delivery, and we train your own person to take it over so you are not dependent on us.
Roles We Help
What Outcomes We Deliver
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An executive summary with the total profit improvement opportunity quantified -
A priority action plan with a projected return for every recommended fix
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A 12-month roadmap sequenced by impact and effort
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Value stream maps of the current state and the future state
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A breakdown of where money is being lost and why
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Quick wins you can start on straight away, many at no cost
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A business case written for board or investor approval
- Support, training and an engineer at the end of the phone
Digital readiness assessment: the 3 questions every MD asks
What is a SIRI assessment?
SIRI, the Smart Industry Readiness Index, is the international standard for measuring how ready a manufacturer is for digitalisation. A Certified SIRI Assessor scores 16 dimensions across process, technology and organisation with your people in the room, benchmarks the scores against manufacturers like you, and ranks the dimensions where improvement pays back fastest. It is independent of any vendor.
How much does a digital readiness assessment cost?
A 1-day Scan of 2 dimensions is from £1,500. The full 16-dimension Assess is from £6,500 for a single site, set by staff numbers, turnover and sites, and fixed in writing before any work starts. Both prices exclude VAT. The estimator shows the figure for your business.
Is Made Smarter funding available for this?
Manufacturers with under 250 people and under £50m turnover in a region where Made Smarter runs can have 50% of intensive technical support funded, which covers an Assess and the first months of Embed. We handle the application alongside the proposal.
Tell us where the business is
A 30-minute call is enough to say which of the 3 starts fits. You get the answer in writing within 2 working days, with no obligation.