Industrial & Mechanical Engineer · Lean Six Sigma Black Belt

I find the constraints that don't show up in the data.

Fifteen years embedded inside industrial operations — petrochemicals, rail, global logistics, building-products manufacturing — finding what the reporting misses. I've built that work into Fieldmark, the instrument I now bring to your floor.

Calgary, Alberta · Serving Western Canada

Track record

Fifteen years on the floor. Here's what it surfaced.

Embedded as an engineer and continuous-improvement lead — full-time and contract — across five sectors. Each of these is a constraint found where it actually occurred, and the measured impact of removing it. Companies anonymized.

$70M+
Risk prevented
Petrochemical manufacturer · Western Canada
Constraint

A planned $1B reactor expansion would have forced the entire plant to run at 78% capacity — a shared railcar infrastructure constraint nobody had modelled.

What I did

Built a production model showing a 22% capacity shortfall site-wide, with a financial impact analysis, and presented it to executive leadership two years before startup to secure infrastructure changes during planning.

Result

Prevented $70M+ in cumulative losses — a scope change in planning instead of a costly post-startup retrofit.

$1.7M
Potential savings · +41% capacity
Contract logistics (3PL) · Western Canada
Constraint

Layout and processes capping capacity and throughput in a pharmaceutical distribution operation.

What I did

Process analysis with layout optimization and workflow redesign for the medical-sector operation.

Result

Identified $1.7M in potential savings while adding 41% warehouse capacity — enabling expansion without capital investment.

$650K
Documented savings
Contract logistics (3PL) · 9 sites across Canada
Constraint

Inconsistent processes across sites preventing sustained gains and knowledge transfer between facilities.

What I did

Designed an enterprise improvement program with a standardized problem-solving framework; coached site managers and mentored improvement teams across all locations.

Result

$650K documented savings across 9 sites, 18-month roadmaps built with site managers, and teams that sustained results independently afterward.

35%
Rework reduction
Global railcar lessor · Western Canada
Constraint

No standardized processes — quality issues and rework across 700 railcars per year.

What I did

Developed standardized work procedures, shop-floor controls, and an operator training program.

Result

Cut rework 35% through standardized processes and operator capability — and supported a $9M strategic capital expansion analysis.

5%
Production volume retained
Building-products manufacturer · Western Canada
Constraint

A critical quality defect with failed inline detection threatened a major customer; the organization had jumped to 100% manual inspection, abandoning a newly purchased automated system.

What I did

Ran a structured root-cause investigation that cut through the organizational fear response — examining calibration, process controls, and specifications instead of accepting the equipment-failure assumption.

Result

Retained the customer (5% of production volume), found the real calibration/process root cause, and restored the automated inspection system.

How I work

Verify the constraint where it occurs — not in the spreadsheet.

01

Observation over data

I find the risks others miss by going beyond the existing reports — direct observation in production facilities, distribution centers, and rail yards.

02

Problems before solutions

I don't recommend fixes until the work clearly identifies your highest-value problems — solved in the right sequence, not the convenient one.

03

Tied to the number

Every finding is connected to measurable financial impact. If it doesn't move a number, it isn't the constraint.

Fieldmark

I've productized the work. It's called Fieldmark.

Capture what's actually happening on the floor, turn it into findings the same day, and leave a system your team runs — that method is now a product. An Operational Baseline puts me on your floor and leaves you the running system; the rest of the time your team runs it without me.

Contact

Start with a conversation.

The best first conversation happens on your floor.

lawrence@lawrenceyip.ca
Calgary, Alberta · Western Canada
Response within 24 hours