HR process consulting for Jig and Fixture Makers: a lean process review for urgent, one-off work
Fixture work arrives urgent and changes late. An HR process review looks at who does what from enquiry to proving, finds the two points where work stalls and gives each a simple owner and rule.
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Share your requirementsWhy HR process consulting matters in jig and fixture makers
Most fixture shops have no written process. Each job follows the owner's memory and the customer's pressure. The same questions are asked at the start of each job, the same late change is accepted without a cost, and the same hand-offs fail. Because the process is in people's heads, a new hire needs months to learn it and a holiday stalls the whole line.
A light process review follows one recent job from enquiry to delivery and notes who did what, where it waited and why. It then picks the two points that cost the most time, such as design approval or customer change, and agrees a simple rule for each. The review includes how people are asked, informed and recognised in the process, which is where an HR view adds value.
How to set it up
1. Trace one recent job
From the customer's first call to delivery, list each step, the person, the date and the wait. Use a job that felt typical, not the best or the worst.
2. Mark the two longest waits
Look for steps where the work sat, such as approval of a design or a customer's change. Ask the people involved why it sat.
3. Agree a rule for each
For example, a design is frozen on a sign-off date, and later changes are quoted as extra. Write the rule, the owner and the customer message.
4. Tell the team and the customer
Explain the rule and its reason to the floor and to your regular customers. Keep the tone helpful, so it reads as service, not as a barrier.
5. Review after three jobs
Check whether the waits shortened. Adjust the rule or the owner. See HR process consulting for how we would work through this with you.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Trace one recent job and list the days each step took.
- Count the late customer changes accepted free in the last quarter.
- Ask the fitters what slows them most, and write the top two.
- Check who in the team knows the whole process other than the owner.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach HR process consulting in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
Keep a short list of what an urgent job needs, such as a frozen drawing and a named lead, and say what moves aside for it. Agree it with the team before the next rush, not during it.
Set a sign-off date, quote later changes separately and tell customers early. Regular customers often accept it once the reason is clear and the cost is fair.
No, if it stays light. One job traced, two waits fixed and two rules written is a few hours of work and often the most useful hour of the month.