Skip to content
STRATAGEM_

Operations consultancy · Sheffield · est. 2017

For manufacturers whose numbers have stopped moving.

Stratagem is an operations consultancy for UK mid-market manufacturers — £10m to £100m turnover. We work on the floor, with the people who run the line, and we stay until the number moves.

−23%

Unit cost · sheet-metal fabricator, £28m · FY24 vs FY23 management accounts

How — and two more
A welder fabricating a steel component on a factory floor
FIG. 01 — THE FLOOR, WHERE THE ANSWERS ARE

Who this is for

You already know what’s broken.

Operations directors don’t need a slide deck explaining their own factory. You need independent capacity to fix the thing the day job never leaves room for — and evidence to take to the board when the fix needs capital.

We don’t do strategy retreats, transformation programmes or culture journeys. We do unit cost, OTIF, scrap, changeover time and working capital, on the floor, with the people who run it.

  • No deck theatre
  • No junior leverage model
  • No invoice without a baseline

The work, measured

Three engagements. Three numbers that moved.

The cases in full
  • −23%

    Unit cost

    Sheet-metal fabricator, South Yorkshire, £28m · 9 months

    Indexed 100 → 77 · FY24 vs FY23 · management accounts

  • +41%

    On-time-in-full

    Contract food producer, East Midlands, £55m · 6 months

    OTIF 61% → 86% · 12-week rolling vs prior year

  • −£1.9m

    Working capital

    Precision components group, West Midlands, £85m · 12 months

    Stock cover 14 → 9 weeks · audited accounts

Clients named under NDA are described by sector, region and turnover — never loosened. Measurement basis is stated on every figure; ask and we’ll walk you through the workings.

Method

Find. Fix. Prove.

The method in full
  1. 01 · FIND

    The Diagnostic Fortnight

    Two weeks on your floor — data pulled, shifts walked, operators listened to. Output: the three constraints that matter, costed, with a baseline you’d sign.

  2. 02 · FIX

    Redesign with the line

    Changes designed with the supervisors and operators who’ll run them — because a fix the line didn’t build is a fix the line quietly reverts.

  3. 03 · PROVE

    Embedded until it moves

    We stay through the messy weeks, measure against the baseline, and part of our fee rides on the number. Proof, not a handover deck.

The firm

Three partners. No bench.

About the firm
  • Marcus Whitfield

    Partner · CMC

    Nineteen years in manufacturing operations; plant director at two sites before consulting.

  • Dr Elena Vasquez

    Partner

    Process engineer by training; twelve years in automotive manufacturing systems.

  • Priya Banerjee

    Partner

    Former finance director of a £60m fabrication group; owns the numbers side of every engagement.

Next step

Bring us a number that should be better.

OTIF, unit cost, scrap rate, working capital — whichever one keeps coming up in the monthly review. A half-hour call tells you whether the Diagnostic Fortnight is worth £9,500 to you. We’ll say plainly if it isn’t.