Altemir Consulting
Manufacturing ERP Optimization Experts

Altemir Consulting of Dallas, Texas provides professional management consulting services for a broad variety of discrete manufacturing industries. Production scheduling, shop floor control, and FDA medical device regulatory compliance are their key specialties. Altemir also offers a broad menu of lean manufacturing, supply chain, engineering, and enterprise IT expertise including ERP implementation and optimization.

Altemir pioneered the establishment of pull-based material flow in the factory using existing ERP systems with a concept known as “Lean MRP”. This approach first seeks to stabilize the ERP manufacturing schedule so that it can be useful for establishing customer-directed work priorities. This provides the predicate for mediating the movement of materials between work cells in the factory using lean principles. It can dramatically improve lead times and on-time performance.

It is not uncommon for ERP scheduling to yield wildly changing dates such that an effective production control system is impossible. “Manufacturers need to step back and think about what they want to achieve with a production schedule so they can take maximum advantage of their ERP system and make it more effective,” says David Altemir, President of Altemir Consulting. In most cases, many of the factors that induce schedule date volatility can be completely removed so that a renewed sense of stability and direction is gained on the shop floor. Manufacturers often inadvertently create a feedback loop in their production schedule, which impacts on-time performance. Lean MRP is based on the premise that the purpose of a production schedule is to drive the shop floor, not vice versa. The positive impact of stabilizing a manufacturer’s production schedule cannot be overstated. A few success stories include a $30M contract manufacturer for a major defense program that was able to revitalize their entire manufacturing operation by allowing Altemir to optimize their ERP system and reset their production scheduling in a more effective way. A $3B aerospace manufacturer similarly riddled with long lead times and poor on-time performance was able to reduce the volatility of their MRP system by 25 percent within 48 hours by simply disabling negative feedback loops that invalidated target due dates with every schedule run.

Manufacturers often inadvertently create a feedback loop in their production schedule, which impacts on - time performance

More recently, a medical device manufacturer who identified sound production scheduling as their greatest need was successfully acquired for $345M. Unlike many of the “top tier” consulting firms, the Altemir Consulting team includes senior manufacturing consultants that have solid operations experience at nearly all management levels and across all functions. They have practical hands-on expertise in reducing inventory, improving quality, shortening lead times, and increasing productivity and have experience with a wide range of systems including SAP, Infor, Epicor, QAD, Cetec, LillyWorks, MRPeasy, and QuickBooks. Altemir seeks lasting transformational improvements rather than incremental workarounds that just skirt the periphery of a business’ true challenges.

With this approach, tangible operational turnarounds are possible, particularly for those manufacturers or distributors that seek to maximize their cash flow and valuation, sometimes prior to a business sale. Altemir Consulting’s contingency-based fee option (i.e., no improvement, no fee) allows underperforming companies to obtain specialized expertise to help unlock their potential. Altemir’s other fee option is a weekly retainer for a fixed contract period, which eliminates uncertainty with no chance of billable hours running out of control. Manufacturers in diverse industries as aerospace, medical devices, consumer products, manufactured homes, and contract manufacturing have realized meaningful improvements with Altemir Consulting. Clients have ranged from pre-revenue start-ups to multi-billion-dollar manufacturers. Altemir particularly enjoys working with small growing businesses where key operating improvements can be particularly meaningful.