Decide what to sell, then define exactly what you ship. Decide where you build it, who builds it, and whether you can ship it when the order lands. Then run it with visibility, install the people and the system behind it, survive the turn — and show what it was worth. Any one can be bought on its own.

What the work is for

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Avoid a plan that reads beautifully and never gets done

Value creation & governance

“We have a value creation plan. Nobody can tell me what operations does differently on Monday.”
The sponsor and the CFO can build the model. You end up with the operations half of it, written in the units the investment committee already uses.

The decisions, in the order they get made

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What to sell, and why they will buy it

Product strategy & roadmap

“We have a roadmap, and I could not tell you why it is that one.”
Decide what features make the product because they create customer value, not what the last contact ask for. You end up with a roadmap every item on which traces back to a movement in the market.

Knowing exactly what you ship

Product definition & change control

“Nobody knows which revision is current, and changes cost us money we never see.”
The bill of materials is the control artefact. You end up with a change process your managers run without me.

Where you build it — and how you can defend the decision

Manufacturing strategy & footprint

“We are about to commit capital and we cannot defend what, where, or how.”
Eight stages in order, each producing one named output that gates the next. You end up with a manufacturing strategy you can take to a board and defend line by line.

Who builds it, and whether the price is right

Sourcing & contract manufacturing

“Our contract manufacturer is running us, and we cannot tell if the price is right.”
Outsource the operation. Never outsource the knowledge of how the operation works. You end up with a sourcing strategy and a cost model that lets you argue with a quote.

Congratulations, you won the order. Can you build it?

Scale-up

“We just won the order. Can we build it?”
Readiness gates, phased ramp, decision rights. You end up with a ramp plan and an organisation structure stood up behind it.

It’s hard to make forecasts, especially about the future

Planning, visibility & risk

“We find out about problems three weeks after they happen.”
Plan before the crisis, not during it. You end up with an operating rhythm and a weekly report the board reads without asking a follow-up question.

The market just turned. What now?

Downside planning & exposure

“Orders have stopped and nobody can tell me what we are committed to.”
Committed separated from cancellable, before you need it. You end up with a number for what a downturn actually costs you, and a sequence for unwinding it.

What all of it rests on

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Who decides when you are not in the room?

Organisation & people

“Every decision still comes back to me.”
A small dedicated team beats economies of scale. Every time — that is ITW’s decentralised operating philosophy, and it holds in businesses a fraction of that size. You end up with a procurement, quality or logistics function that exists as a structure rather than as a person.

Buy the system last.

ERP, PDM & PLM

“We spent two million on the system, and I still can’t tell you what’s in the warehouse.”
Check the skeleton before you bolt on the rib. You end up with an independent, vendor-neutral read on the ERP and PLM decision — and the discipline to hold it.