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Illustrative flow: goods in, machining, inspection, packing, storage and dispatch. Work queues in front of packing, the slowest step. Goods inMachiningInspectionPackingStorageDispatchWork waits here

Find the one step holding up your output.

Manufacturing, engineering, warehousing or logistics: one slow step sets the pace. We find it, so you fix the right thing.

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For our first ten SMEs Gloucestershire and South West UK

Try it: find the step that sets the pace

Speed up the wrong step, and nothing changes.

Scroll, and the model runs each change for you.

  1. Here, that’s packing. Work piles up in front of it, and the steps after it wait for work.

  2. A second machinist makes parts faster, but they only join the queue at packing.

    Line outputSame as before

  3. A second packer lifts the whole line. Then work starts to wait at the next slowest step: storage.

    Line outputUp 25%

  4. Give any step more capacity, then watch where work waits.

    Line output Starting point

    Work is queuing at packing. It’s the slowest step, so it sets the pace for the whole line.

    Illustrative model, not real data

Is your operation losing time like this?

Different products, the same patterns. Tick what you see and we’ll add it to your Operational Health Check request, so we know where to focus first.

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How Optiflow finds the step holding up your output.

Five steps take a symptom to a measured result. The model follows along as you read.

  1. We walk the process with the people who do it, following real jobs, parts or orders from the first step to dispatch.

    You getA shared picture of how work really moves.

  2. Time each step, count what waits and trace how people move, so every later change can be measured against today.

    You getA starting point: times, queues, rework and walking.

  3. Separate symptoms from causes. Mapping the process and asking “why?” until the answer runs out shows which step limits output, and what’s holding it back.

    You getThe slow step, named, and what’s causing it.

  4. Design changes that fit your people, space and budget: here, a second packer, a check that stops errors at source and a shorter route to dispatch. Options are compared before anyone spends money.

    You getOptions with their trade-offs, and a clear recommendation.

  5. Check results against the starting point across the whole operation, not one step. Fixing one slow step can move the queue to another, so you see where to look next.

    You getProof of what changed, and the next place to look.

Every operation has one step that sets its pace. The skill is finding the right one. What you can hire us for

How we can help

Start with an Operational Health Check, or bring us a specific problem.

Also Warehouse and logistics improvement · KPIs · Time and motion studies · Process redesign · Simulation and scenario testing

University research · Manchester Metropolitan University · Simulated, not a client project

In simulation, automation cut the rework. The waiting didn’t move.

The MSc research behind our approach began on the floor of an anonymised, high-volume UK distribution operation that met its daily targets while time leaked away. Using Lean Six Sigma DMADV, time-and-motion study, process mapping and discrete event simulation, it traced the causes, then tested two redesigns, alone and together.

Three problems. All in the process, none in the people.

  1. Rework. Mis-scanned and mislabelled parcels had to be handled again.

    CauseNothing stopped a bad scan or label at the source, so errors travelled downstream and came back.

  2. Walking. Stowers, who shelve parcels, and stagers, who load routes, walked long distances every shift.

    CauseTask sequences ignored the layout, sending people back and forth across the floor.

  3. Waiting. Stagers waited for empty cages before they could load a route.

    CauseStaging and dispatch ran on separate schedules, so empty cages ran out.

ProblemRedesignSimplified from the layout in the research. The direction of each change comes from the simulation, not from this animation.

Test the redesigns

Pick a scenario to see where it acts on the model.

Three problems at once: errors at the start, walking in the middle, waiting at the end.

  • Direction of change in the simulation. Copper marks a problem the scenario left in place. Detailed results are not published.

How we know

  • Time on the floor, across night and morning shifts
  • Staging timed route by route
  • Walks traced by hand onto layout maps, and the whole flow mapped from arrival to dispatch
  • Root causes traced with fishbone diagrams and repeated “why?” questions (5-Why)
  • The model checked against observed staging times before any redesign was tested

The judgement

Neither redesign was enough alone. Only the combination improved rework, walking and waiting together, without moving the bottleneck elsewhere.

  • Automation removes scanning errors at the source, but it needs capital and brings new failure modes, such as sensor misreads, that need calibration and checks.
  • The stowing change is mainly new rules and agreed routines, not new software, and the extra cages are low-cost. It fixed the waiting that automation couldn’t touch.

The lesson carries to any operation: find the step that sets the pace, and understand the whole system, before deciding what to spend on.

Limits and source

This is university research evaluated in simulation. It is not a completed implementation or a client result. The model represented a scaled-down part of the operation and simplified human behaviour; every scenario used the same random seeds, so differences come from the design rather than chance. Costs, training and change management were outside its scope, and results from one site don’t transfer automatically to another.

Applying a Lean Six Sigma DMADV Framework: A Simulation-Based Redesign for Industry 4.0 Last-Mile Warehousing, MSc Engineering Project Management, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2024–25. The operation is anonymised.

Kunj Patel, founder of Optiflow, smiling, in a white T-shirt against a grey background.
Kunj Patel, founder

Work directly with the founder.

Optiflow was founded by Kunj Patel, a production engineering professional with an MSc in Engineering Project Management from Manchester Metropolitan University. His research used Lean Six Sigma methods and computer simulation to redesign a high-volume operation, starting on the floor with a stopwatch and a printed layout map. You work with him directly.

  • Observe before prescribing.
  • Consider layout, information and resources together.
  • Include the people doing the work.
  • Compare alternatives before committing.

Based in Gloucestershire, working with operations across the South West UK. Optiflow on LinkedIn

Straight answers

What happens in an Operational Health Check?
We agree the scope with you, spend time understanding how your operation runs, and give you a concise findings report: your priority improvement opportunities and practical next steps.
Is it really free?
Yes, for the first ten SMEs, our Founding 10. There’s no obligation to buy anything further. If an improvement project makes sense afterwards, it’s scoped and quoted separately, and you decide whether to go ahead.
Is the warehouse study a client project?
No. It’s our founder’s university research, evaluated in a scaled simulation. We show it to explain how we think, not as a client result.
Will you just recommend automation?
No. We recommend what the evidence supports. In the university study, the lower-cost change, new stowing rules and a few extra cages, fixed the waiting that automation couldn’t touch. Both options were compared before drawing conclusions.
Where do you work?
With manufacturing, engineering, warehousing and logistics SMEs across Gloucestershire and the South West UK.

Founding 10 SME Programme

Get one of ten free Operational Health Checks.

We find where work gets stuck in your operation and what’s worth fixing first, before you spend on the wrong fix.

  1. Tell us what you’re seeing. Call, text or use the form. A few minutes is enough.
  2. We look at your operation. We agree the scope with you, then spend time understanding how work actually flows.
  3. You get a concise findings report. Your priority improvement opportunities and practical next steps. No obligation to buy anything further.

An Operational Health Check is not a free implementation project: any project is scoped and quoted separately. Availability is confirmed when we speak.

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