MANAGEMENT CONSULTING
OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE · WORLDWIDE · SINCE 2011

Strategy becomes operating margin.

Management consulting for operational excellence. For executive teams whose strategy needs to show up in results faster than today.

01 · LEVERS OF OPERATING MARGIN

Four levers of operating margin.

COST STRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT
-15 %
AVG. OPERATING COST

Structural cost reduction across plants and functions, without quality loss.

PROCESS ACCELERATION
-40 %
AVG. LEAD TIME

Order-to-delivery cycle, measured across mandates.

PRODUCT DESIGN
+30 %
AVG. ENGINEERING OUTPUT

Time-to-market and engineering efficiency in industrialisation programmes.

PERFORMANCE CULTURE
90 %
SUSTAINED 24 MON.

Effects still in place two years after engagement end.

Source: internal programme database, Q1 2026 · aggregated across mandates.

02 · OUR POSITIONING · 02.1

We work where strategy meets operations.

Operational excellence is not a project you purchase. It is a capability your company builds. Our role: shorten the path and make it durable.

01

Industrial depth

We know the mechanics of each industry we work in. Not from research. From operating it. What we understand, we have decided, delivered and weathered ourselves.

02

Rethink the question

We rethink every mandate from scratch. No standard solutions. What worked ten years ago is often today’s problem. We test assumptions before we offer answers.

03

Solve complexity

We take the mandates others avoid. Ramping four plants in parallel. Restructuring in flight. Industrialising new platforms. Where it gets difficult, our work begins.

03 · SERVICES · 03.1

Four syncs between strategy and margin.

Depending on where you start: four approaches.

03.1 8 WEEKS · FIXED FEE

OpEx Assessment

We diagnose where your margin points sit. Across the operation: commercial, plants, supply chain. Outcome: a robust EBIT thesis and a prioritised path to delivery.

DELIVER
Diagnostic · quantified business case · delivery path
Learn more →
03.2 EXECUTION · WITH YOUR TEAMS

Performance

We deliver the programme that moves the numbers. With your leadership team, inside your operation. Data, decisions and accountability come together where the work happens. Impact that lands on the P&L and outlasts us.

DELIVER
Anchored programmes · clear accountability · empowered teams
Learn more →
03.3 NEW PRODUCTS · NEW LINES

Industrialisation

New products, new lines, new platforms. We industrialise so that ramp-up, supply chain and operating control come together from the first unit out.

DELIVER
Ramp-up plan · capacity model · production readiness
Learn more →
03.4 WHEN THE NUMBERS TURN

Restructuring OpEx

When the sites no longer carry what the strategy demands. We stabilise first: liquidity, delivery and operating control. Then the structural rebuild. Typically effective within the first quarter.

DELIVER
Stabilisation · performance management · rebuild plan
Learn more →
AWARD
TOP CONSULTANT 2025, COMPAMEDIA · WHU

Top Consultant 2025.

Recognised for the third consecutive year by compamedia, based on an independent client survey conducted by WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management.

Lean Group delivers consistently executed transformations with measurable impact in production. Not on slides.

JURY · WHU OTTO BEISHEIM SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
04 · ENGAGEMENT

How we work.

Three principles:

I.
Measure the result

Every thesis carries a number. Every effect a proof point. What we promise can be counted at month-end.

II.
Change things

Recommendations mark the start, not the result. We change how your operation decides, measures and steers.

III.
Build what stays

We leave more than numbers. Operations that decide faster, steer more clearly, measure more honestly.

05 · CASES · SELECTED

What we have delivered.

Three recent mandates, anonymised by client request:

LG–25–MD–ENG
MEDICAL DEVICES
€ 540 M REV · 220 ENGINEERING FTE

Time-to-market cut by 38 %

A medical-device manufacturer couldn’t bring new products to market fast enough, with rising regulatory complexity and flat engineering capacity. We rebuilt the engineering operating model: portfolio logic, capacity steering, design discipline.

TIME-TO-MARKET -38 %
ENGINEERING OUTPUT +31 %
DEV COST -€ 14 M
LG–26–IG–FOOTPRINT
INDUSTRIAL GOODS
€ 1.4 BN REV · 9 PLANTS EU+US

EBIT quick-impact in 90 days, footprint rebuilt in 18 months

An industrial-goods group with nine plants across Europe and the US was losing margin to fragmented allocation and weak utilisation. We delivered a quantified EBIT quick-impact programme in 90 days. Then we rebuilt the footprint: two plants consolidated, product allocation restructured, utilisation lifted significantly.

EBIT EFFECT € 42 M
UTILISATION 67 % → 84 %
EFFECTIVE IN Q1
LG–26–IK–ADMIN
INDUSTRIAL GROUP
€ 2.1 BN REV · 6 BUs

Admin processes halved, data as a common language

An industrial group with a grown process landscape had redundant admin routines, manual interfaces and inconsistent data across six business units. We rebuilt the working methods, standardised the interfaces and built one shared data foundation. Result: faster decisions, less effort, one language across the group.

PROCESS EFFORT -54 %
CYCLE TIME -61 %
COST/YEAR € 11 M

Further references under NDA · on request

06 · VOICES

What client decision-makers say.

We had been describing the problem differently than it was for two years. Lean Group understood in eight weeks what was really going on. Six months later the first new launch came in early.

COO · Medical Devices · € 540 M revenue

They delivered in 90 days what our own programme had not achieved in two years. With numbers that arrive in the P&L, not in a status update.

CFO · Industrial goods · 9 plants EU+US

They worked with our people, not in their place. Two years after the mandate the new structure carries itself. For me, that was the real test.

Chairman of the executive board · Industrial group
07 · INDUSTRIES

Industries we work in.

Six sectors with operational depth, from machinery and automotive to process plants and medical devices. International mandates. A reference list is available in the first conversation.

01
INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT & MACHINERY
02
AUTOMOTIVE & SUPPLIERS
03
RETAIL & LOGISTICS AUTOMATION
04
BUILDING & INFRASTRUCTURE
05
PROCESS & EPC
06
ELECTRONICS & MEDICAL DEVICES
08 · CLIENTS · SELECTED

Who we have worked with.

A selection from our mandates.

Daimler
Linde
Meyer Werft
General Electric
Alstom
Bilfinger
Hochtief
Bauwens
Lidl
AIDA
Becton Dickinson
ALHO Systembau
Hundhausen
IFCO
Oda
Helse Stavanger
Fagsi
VIA Optronics

FURTHER REFERENCES UNDER NDA · ON REQUEST

09 · INSIGHTS · PUBLICATIONS

What we think about it.

From our work with clients. What we see, what it means, what can be taken from it.

From our work with clients. What we see, what it means, what can be taken from it.

CONTACT

Get in touch.

Matter-of-fact, confidential, no commitment. We respond promptly with a clear assessment.