From the first call to the last check
Walking the floor
A piece of work with us runs through eight stages, always in the same order, because each one hands the next something it needs. Nothing is redesigned before it has been walked, and nothing is handed over before your own team can run it.
Open any stage below to see what we ask of you, what happens, and what stays with you when that stage is over. The length of each stage depends on the floor; the order does not.
One piece of work
Eight stages, one direction
1 First call
- We need
- The problem in your words, who owns it, and what better would look like.
- What happens
- A conversation of under an hour about the flow, the shifts and anything already tried.
- You keep
- A short note of what we heard, and a plain answer on whether a walk makes sense.
2 Walk the floor
- We need
- An ordinary shift, a host, and your site induction.
- What happens
- We follow the work from arrival to departure with the people who do it, and trace its route on your floor plan.
- You keep
- The route as drawn, and a first list of where work waits.
3 Baseline
- We need
- Time on the floor for timing, and any measures you already keep.
- What happens
- Time studies, counts of work in progress, output per hour and the shape of demand across the day.
- You keep
- The numbers, set out so your team can take them again without us.
4 Agree the scope
- We need
- Someone who can decide, and an hour of their time.
- What happens
- A short statement of work: the objective, the measures, the weeks and who is involved.
- You keep
- The statement of work. Nothing starts without one.
5 Design with the team
- We need
- The people who do the work, in short sessions that fit the rota.
- What happens
- Current and future state on brown paper, small trials on the floor, standard work drafted.
- You keep
- The future-state map and the drafts, written by the people who will use them.
6 Pilot
- We need
- One zone, one shift or one product family to try it on.
- What happens
- The new way runs for real and is measured against the baseline.
- You keep
- A clear view of what changed, and of what did not.
7 Roll out and train
- We need
- Time on the rota for training.
- What happens
- The method spreads, the job aids go up and the shift-start huddle begins.
- You keep
- Trained people and the aids they work from.
8 Hand over and check back
- We need
- An owner for each measure.
- What happens
- We step back, and return at 30, 60 and 90 days to look at the measures with you.
- You keep
- The measures, and the habit of looking at them.
What we take on
Nine kinds of work, each with its question
We describe the work by the question it answers on your floor, because that is how it starts: someone notices the same thing going wrong again.
Floor walk and diagnostic
Where does the time go between an order dropping and it leaving the building?
Warehouse flow and layout
Why do pickers cross the whole unit for the lines that move fastest?
Process mapping
How many times does one order change hands before it is despatched?
Standard work and job aids
How does a temporary starter learn the right way on their first day?
Daily huddles
What went wrong yesterday, and who is doing what about it today?
Root-cause problem solving
Why do mis-picks rise on Mondays, and did the fix actually hold?
Project set-up
Who decides what, and when, while a change is under way?
Unit move sequencing
What has to be in place before the first pallet arrives?
Improvement sprints
What can a team change in two to six weeks with someone working alongside?
When it fits
Planned around your year, not ours
Warehousing and retail usually freeze change from October to the end of December, when peak runs, so improvement work is planned between January and September. Set-up work for a move or a new shift tends to start in January and February, and July and August are thin on most rotas, which suits a walk more than a trial.
- Jan–Feb set-up and planning
- Mar–Jun walks, trials, roll-out
- Jul–Aug lighter rotas, walks
- Sep last changes before peak
- Oct–Dec peak: no change
On your floor
How we behave on someone else's floor
Your site rules and induction apply to us from the first minute, and we keep our own duty of care to the people around us. We walk where your people walk and stand where we are told to stand.
Time studies and interview notes are personal data under UK data protection law. They are kept only as long as the work needs them, used for nothing else, and shown to the team before anyone else sees them. We time the work, not the person; the privacy notice covers what the site itself keeps.
Every engagement is carried out with reasonable care and skill, on terms agreed in writing in the statement of work before anything starts. If a question comes up that belongs to a specialist — a lawyer, an accountant, an engineer — we say so and step aside.