Our Approach
Assessment
Our Operational Excellence assessments provide a focused, data-driven view of current performance, helping organizations identify process improvement opportunities, operational losses, and performance gaps and establish a clear path forward.
Typically completed over 2–3 weeks, assessments are conducted before a continuous improvement or Lean Six Sigma initiative begins and may be repeated periodically to establish a new baseline and measure improvement.
We gather and analyze information from three complementary sources:
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Historical Data — Analysis of performance data, including slowdowns, shutdowns, downtime, and other measured losses.
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Direct Observations — On-site observations that reveal process losses, constraints, variation, and improvement opportunities not captured in historical data.
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Focused Interviews — Insights from process experts and employees that may not be captured through data or observed during the assessment period.
Findings are evaluated through four Operational Excellence drivers:
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People & Systems — Understanding how people, processes, and systems impact performance and improvement.
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Losses, Variation & Constraints — Identifying where losses occur and how they move through the process.
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Problems & Improvement Methods — Determining the nature of each problem and the most appropriate process improvement methodology to address it.
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Prioritization & Resources — Establishing the sequence of improvement initiatives and the resources required to maximize potential return.
The assessment concludes with a customized improvement roadmap outlining priorities, improvement initiatives, scope, and resource requirements—providing a practical foundation for Continuous Improvement and Operational Excellence implementation.
Training
Building capability is a key part of every successful improvement initiative. A+I provides customized training that helps organizations develop the knowledge and skills needed to sustain improvements long after an initiative has been implemented and handed over to process owners.
Our Operational Excellence and Continuous Improvement training is tailored to each client’s goals, incorporates adult learning principles, and includes measurable learning objectives and outcomes.
We offer two flexible training formats:
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Classroom Training — Customized instructor-led training designed to build awareness and practical understanding of Lean Six Sigma, process improvement tools, analytics, Statistical Process Control (SPC), management fundamentals, and other Operational Excellence methodologies. Training can include Lean Six Sigma certification programs and Minitab analytics.
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On-Demand Training — Self-paced online modules and instructor-led remote programs that provide flexible access to targeted improvement training. Many of our classroom courses can be adapted for on-demand delivery.
Some of our current offerings:
Our training approach ensures that improvement knowledge is transferred to the people responsible for sustaining performance, helping organizations build internal capability for long-term continuous improvement.
Coaching
Coaching turns improvement knowledge into applied capability.
A+I provides personalized, hands-on coaching to help improvement teams, supervisors, and leaders apply Operational Excellence and Continuous Improvement practices in their day-to-day work.
Coaching is a cost-effective way to develop practical skills, reinforce new ways of working, and build the internal capability required to sustain improvement over the long term.
Our coaching is delivered in two primary formats:
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On-the-Job Coaching — Hands-on support for employees and improvement teams as they apply continuous improvement tools and methodologies within their own work environment. For example, supervisors can develop the skills to recognize improvement opportunities, determine the appropriate level of response, and implement improvements effectively.
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Senior Manager Coaching — Coaching and support for senior management and improvement leaders in daily process management, management systems, and continuous improvement. The focus is on building effective management routines and leadership practices that sustain performance and improvement.
By combining practical application with ongoing guidance, A+I helps organizations move beyond learning improvement methodologies to building the skills, behaviours, and management systems needed to sustain results.
Improvement Projects
Clients engage A+I to lead or support improvement projects that address specific operational challenges or opportunities identified through an Operational Excellence assessment and improvement roadmap.
Projects may begin with an immediate business need—a “burning platform”—or with a prioritized opportunity identified through an assessment. Whatever the starting point, A+I uses a structured, data-driven approach to identify root causes, implement targeted improvements, and sustain results.
Apply the Right Tool to the Problem — Not the Other Way Around
A+I uses DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) as a systematic framework for Lean Six Sigma and continuous improvement, selecting the methods and tools that best fit the problem rather than forcing every problem through the same methodology.
Our improvement projects may draw from a broad range of Operational Excellence methodologies, including:
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Basic Problem Solving — Brainstorming, 5 Whys, Fishbone/Ishikawa analysis, and root cause analysis
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Statistical Analysis — R², ANOVA, hypothesis testing, and Design of Experiments (DOE)
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Lean — Waste elimination, Kaizen, 5S, and mistake-proofing
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Six Sigma — Variation reduction, Voice of the Customer (VOC), and cause-and-effect analysis
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Theory of Constraints — Constraint identification, bottleneck analysis, and constraint management
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Performance Management — KPIs/KPPs, Lean Boards, layered reviews, and Gemba Walks
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Change Management — Leadership, behaviours, culture, communication, and social intelligence
The result is a practical, sustainable improvement solution built around the specific needs of the organization, its processes, and its people.
Explore our Case Studies and Current & Past Projects to see how A+I applies these approaches to real-world improvement challenges.
Services
Specialized Services
Data-Driven Analytics
Organizations generate more data than ever, but having more data does not necessarily lead to better decisions. The Art of Data-Driven Decision Making focuses on separating meaningful information from the noise and identifying the insights that can have a real impact on business performance.
A+I helps organizations transform existing data into actionable insights that support both strategic and tactical decision-making. By identifying the right information, understanding what it reveals about performance, and connecting insights to business objectives, organizations can make more informed decisions and take targeted action.
The goal is not simply to collect or analyze more data—it is to turn data into decisions, and decisions into measurable outcomes.
Change Management
A+I’s Change Management model focuses on three stages: Evaluate, Execute, and Embrace.
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Evaluate — Understand the potential impact of both the change and the decision not to change, creating a foundation for effective planning.
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Execute — Build the leadership, communication, and teamwork skills required to implement change effectively.
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Embrace — Help individuals, teams, and organizations adopt and sustain the change as part of everyday operations.
Bottleneck Optimization
A+I uses Value Driver Modelling to quantify the impact of internal and external variation on operational performance and identify the factors that constrain an operation’s capacity and value creation.
By understanding how bottlenecks interact with the broader operation, A+I helps organizations prioritize and optimize improvement opportunities where they can have the greatest impact.
