The timestamps were inconsistent. Amara fixed everything Claire pointed out. Then she did something Claire didn’t know about. She kept working on her own analysis. Late at night after everyone else had gone home, Amara stayed at her desk and dug deeper into Turner’s operations.
She looked at production schedules, machine maintenance logs, quality control reports. She cross-referenced everything, building spreadsheets and models. And she found it. The problem wasn’t in any one area. It was in how the areas connected.
Turner’s production scheduling system didn’t communicate with their maintenance system. So, machines were being scheduled for heavy use right when they needed maintenance. This caused breakdowns. The breakdowns caused delays. The delays caused overtime costs and quality issues.
The quality issues caused returns and refunds. It was a cascade effect, and it was costing Turner approximately $$3.2 million a year. Amara documented everything. She built a presentation showing the problem, the cost, and three possible solutions. She checked her numbers five times.
Then she saved it to her personal drive and said nothing. Week six, Marcus called an emergency meeting. “We have a problem.” The client isn’t happy with our progress. They want to see preliminary findings next week, and what we have so far isn’t strong enough. Claire spoke up.
The operational efficiency analysis is almost done. I’ve identified several areas for improvement. Walk me through it. Claire pulled up her presentation. It was professional, well-formatted.
But the recommendations were generic. Reduce waste. Improve training. Streamline processes. Nothing that would save Turner millions or justify a $$400,000 consulting fee.
Marcus frowned. This isn’t enough. Turner already knows they need to reduce waste. They’re paying us to tell them how and where. I can refine it.
Claire said quickly. We don’t have time to refine. The presentation is in six days. He looked around the room. “Does anyone have anything else?” Any other angles we should explore?