TPS
Lean · TPS · Operational Excellence

TRAINED BY TOYOTA.
DEPLOYED,
EVERYWHERE.

Fourtre Consulting deploys Toyota Production System methodology the way it was designed — where the work happens, with your people, building capability your organization keeps forever.

Boutique by Design. Proven by Performance.
Contact Us → See Our Services
Toyota OMDD / TSSC Trained Consultants · The Source.
25+
Years TPS Practice
200+
Kaizen Events Facilitated
40%
Avg. Productivity Gain
Who We Are

WE DON'T CONSULT FROM CONFERENCE ROOMS.

Fourtre Consulting partners with companies who are serious about transformation — not incremental tweaks, but the kind of deep operational change that moves the needle on safety, quality, cost, delivery, and culture simultaneously.

We've been in your building, on your floor, and inside your numbers. Whether you're a Plant Manager fighting chronic waste, a VP of Operations executing a productivity mandate, or a C-suite sponsor launching an enterprise-wide Lean transformation — we speak your language and deliver results you can measure.

The methodology is Toyota's. The commitment is ours.

Credentials
TOYOTA OMDD &
TSSC TRAINED
Our consultants were trained directly through Toyota's Operations Management Development Division (OMDD) and the Toyota Supplier Support Center (TSSC) — the same rigorous methodology Toyota uses to develop its own operations leaders worldwide.

This isn't adapted TPS. This isn't "Lean-inspired." This is the source.
OMDD Certified TSSC Trained Authentic TPS Toyota Methodology
What We Do

OUR SERVICES

End-to-end operational excellence engagements — from rapid kaizen events to long-term system transformations.

01
Jishuken Kaizen Events
Intensive, structured improvement workshops that deliver measurable results in days. Cross-functional teams, real problems, real solutions — not simulation exercises.
→ Flagship Service
02
Shop Floor Leadership Development
Team Leader and Group Leader capability programs. Standardized Work, FMDS, visual management, and daily accountability systems that outlast the engagement.
→ Culture Change
03
TPS / Lean System Design
End-to-end operational system builds — JIT, pull systems, takt-based production, 4M change control, and Andon escalation frameworks built to Toyota standard.
→ System Build
04
Executive Hoshin Deployment
Translate boardroom strategy into shop floor reality. Hoshin Kanri cascade, KPI architecture, and PDCA governance that connects every level of the organization.
→ Strategy Execution
05
OEE & TPM Programs
Equipment reliability strategies, loss-category analysis, and total productive maintenance rollouts that reclaim hidden capacity and eliminate chronic downtime.
→ Asset Performance
06
Gemba-Based Assessment
Rapid two-day floor assessment with a prioritized improvement roadmap. Know exactly where your operation stands and what to attack first — no fluff, no filler.
→ Quick Start
How We Work

THE ENGAGEMENT MODEL

Four phases. Measurable outcomes at every step.

1
Gemba Assessment
Two days on your floor. We observe, document, and prioritize. No assumptions — only what we see.
2
Roadmap Design
A structured improvement roadmap tied to your strategic targets, built around your team's capacity.
3
Kaizen Execution
Facilitated events with your people. We teach while we improve — capability transfers in real time.
4
Sustain & Scale
PDCA governance, leader standardized work, and audit systems that lock in gains and spread them across the plant.
The TSSC Methodology

MODEL LINE ENGAGEMENT

The TSSC model line approach is how Toyota actually transfers TPS — not through classroom lectures or tool installations, but through hands-on learning by doing, anchored in a focused pilot area where real problems get solved with real people.


The model line becomes a living laboratory — a place where leaders experience TPS firsthand, build the muscle to sustain improvements, and develop the confidence to spread the system across the rest of the organization. This is the Fourtre Consulting engagement model. It is the same approach TSSC has used with over 500 organizations since 1992.

PHASE 1
🎯
Top Management Workshop
2.5 Days
Senior leaders (CEO, COO, VP) learn TPS philosophy, understand their role in transformation, and align on the business need driving the engagement.
PHASE 2
🔍
Select Model Line / Pilot Area
Weeks 1–2
Identify the highest-priority value stream or work area. Start from need — the most pressing operational problem becomes the teaching ground.
PHASE 3
🛠️
On-Site Coaching & Kaizen
9–12 Months
Weekly on-site presence. Consultants work side-by-side with your leaders implementing TPS — building stability, flow, pull, and built-in quality through repeated PDCA cycles.
PHASE 4
👥
Leader Capability Development
Concurrent
As we improve the model line, we simultaneously develop the internal leaders who will sustain and spread TPS. The goal: your team coaches themselves.
PHASE 5
🚀
Sustain, Spread & Scale
Ongoing
The model line becomes a showcase. Proven gains are locked in with standardized work, FMDS, and daily management — then replicated across the enterprise.
MODEL LINE → ENTERPRISE
→
Stability First One-Piece Flow Pull Systems Built-in Quality (Jidoka) Visual Management Leader Standardized Work Daily Management (FMDS) Problem-Solving Culture
The model line proves it works. Then your leaders spread it. That's the Toyota way — and it's how lasting transformation happens.
Domain Expertise

SPECIALTIES

Every discipline in TPS — applied at depth, not surface level.

Toyota Production System Jishuken Kaizen Standardized Work FMDS Hoshin Kanri OEE / TPM Shop Floor Leadership Gemba Visual Management Takt Time Kanban PDCA A3 Problem Solving 5S Andon Yamazumi 4M Change Points Muri / Mura / Muda Operational Excellence Lean Manufacturing Group Leader Development SWCT OMDD / TSSC JIT DOWNTIME Analysis
Online Learning

LEARN TPS ON YOUR SCHEDULE

Not every transformation starts with an on-site engagement. Fourtre Consulting's online learning platform gives your team access to Toyota Production System fundamentals — built by OMDD and TSSC trained practitioners, not adapted from a textbook.

Our courses are designed for Team Leaders, Group Leaders, and Operations Managers who need working knowledge of TPS concepts they can apply immediately on the floor.

🏭
Introduction to the Toyota Production System
FOUNDATION
📋
Standardized Work
OPERATIONS
📊
FMDS & Visual Board Management
LEADERSHIP
🔄
Kaizen Fundamentals & A3 Thinking
PROBLEM SOLVING
🎯
Shop Floor Leadership Development
LEADERSHIP
Powered by Thinkific
🎓
FOURTRE
LEARNING
Self-paced courses built on authentic TPS methodology. Learn at your pace, apply it on your floor.
Access Online Courses →
Opens in new tab · Powered by Thinkific
The People Behind the Work

OUR CONSULTANTS

Toyota-trained practitioners who've done this work inside the world's greatest production system — and now bring that knowledge directly to your organization.

Monte Mitchell
Monte Mitchell
President & CEO · Principal Consultant
★ LEI Faculty · OMDD Trained
Monte began his career at Toyota's NUMMI facility, managing Production, Special Projects, and the TPS Group. In 2003, he was selected from over 600 managers to join Toyota's three-year Executive Development Program at OMDD, where he led jishuken across North American Paint and Plastics facilities and deployed TPS at supplier companies — mentored by members of Toyota's elite OMCD. He founded Fourtre Consulting in 2007 and has since applied TPS across automotive, retail, finance, healthcare, and building products industries on a global scale.
Toyota OMDD NUMMI / TMNA Jishuken Lead LEI Faculty 35+ Yrs TPS Global Deployments
Paul Hamilton
Paul Hamilton
Senior Lean Consultant
★ Operations Executive · OMDD Trained· President-Optimum Value Partners
A strategic and tactical organizational leader with 28+ years of Toyota-trained TPS experience, Paul brings rare depth to every engagement. His tenure with Toyota's Operations Management Development Division shaped a practitioner who moves fluidly from C-suite strategy to frontline standardized work. At Avon Technologies, he served as President of Global Operational Excellence and CI, deploying lean culture across international operations. Known for translating high-level financial objectives into measurable shop-floor outcomes that stick.
Toyota OMDD Global OpEx C-Suite to Floor 28+ Yrs Experience CI Transformation
Salvador D Sanchez
Salvador Sanchez
Senior Lean Consultant
★ LEI Faculty · TSSC/OMDD Trained · CEO-Operations Management Consulting
Sal's lean journey began in 1990 at NUMMI, where he progressed from Assembly Team Member through Team Leader, Group Leader, and ultimately Manager of the Plastics Plant. He spent three years at Toyota North American HQ learning TPS directly from Japanese managers at TSSC/OMDD, then traveled to 100+ plants across 20 countries as Global Senior Manager for a Toyota supplier's Operations Excellence team. His certifications from Toyota include Standardized Work, Master Train-the-Trainer, and Problem-Solving Facilitation — earned in Japan.
TSSC / OMDD NUMMI 20 Yrs 100+ Plants Global LEI Faculty Toyota Certified SW Jishuken Facilitator
Matt Wehr
Matt Wehr
Senior Lean Consultant
★ LEI Faculty · TSSC/OMDD Trained · CEO-Big Four Lean
A former Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America executive, Matt was trained by general manager-level sensei under former TSSC presidents Hajime Ohba and Hideshi Yokoi. From 2002–2009 he led TPS transformations across all Toyota North America Assembly plants, overseeing national workshops in powertrain, stamping, body weld, paint, plastics, and assembly. A graduate of Harvard Business School, Matt brings executive breadth — equally at home guiding boardroom strategy and coaching frontline leaders on the gemba.
TMENA Executive TSSC Trained LEI Faculty Harvard MBA All NA Assembly Plants Executive Coaching
Timothy Benningfield
Timothy Benningfield
Senior Lean Consultant
★ 30+ Yrs Manufacturing · Automotive & Industrial · Multi-Plant Leader · Toyota "A" Supplier
Tim brings more than 30 years of hands-on Lean and manufacturing leadership spanning automotive, building products, packaging, and industrial spring manufacturing. His decade-long tenure at Akebono Corporation — where he implemented Lean and JIT across three plants and served as Plant Manager — built the shop-floor foundation that defines his practice. Subsequent roles at Tomkins Building Products, Caraustar (Operational Excellence Business Partner), and Automatic Spring Products Corporation — where he rose from Plant Manager to Director of Manufacturing over a combined nine-year run — demonstrate a track record of sustained operational transformation at scale. At Fourtre, Tim deploys TPS principles where they matter most: the floor.
Automotive / Industrial Lean & JIT Multi-Plant Leadership Director of Manufacturing 30+ Yrs Experience Akebono · Tomkins · Caraustar
Michele Thomas
Michele Thomas
Senior Lean Consultant
★ LEI Faculty · TSSC/OMDD Trained · Founder A Second Look Consulting
Michele began her Toyota career in 1991 as a production team member in Body Weld at TMMK, advancing to Group Leader by 1997 across the Camry, Sienna, and Venza lines. In 2011, she joined Toyota's OMDD group supporting internal plants and suppliers, and from 2016 led the TSSC practice — guiding 45+ projects across 18 organizations, including manufacturers and nonprofits, over nearly a decade. After 24 years of distinguished Toyota service, she founded A Second Look Consulting in 2026, continuing her mission of organizational excellence through TPS.
TSSC/OMDD Trained OMDD TMMK · 24 Yrs 45+ Projects Non-Profit TPS A Second Look Consulting
Real-World Results

CASE STUDIES

Three engagement examples. Three industries. Measurable outcomes that speak for themselves.

Frozen Food Processing · Business Turnaround
SAVED IN 6 WEEKS.
NOT 6 MONTHS.
The Problem
A frozen food processor faced bank action on a $20M loan — six months of no profit, order fluctuations, inventory chaos, and operational breakdown. Fourtre had 8 weeks to turn it around.
The Strategic Pivot
✅ Convert C-Suite financial goals into actionable shop floor metrics
✅ No plan survives first contact — execute in real time
✅ Lead time is the ultimate metric
✅ Standardized Work deployed across three facilities for lasting sustainment
The Outcome
✔Business returned to profitability in  6 weeks
✔Lead time reduced by  46%
✔Overtime reduced by  90%
✔A third-generation family business was saved
Global HVAC Supplier · Cost Reduction
$8M SAVED.
3 MONTHS.
The Problem
A global residential HVAC supplier saw a 20% spike in conversion costs driven by low productivity and inexperienced management — threatening revenue across multiple sites.
The Strategic Pivot
✅ Convert C-Suite financial goals into actionable shop floor metrics
✅ No plan survives first contact — execute in real time
✅ Lead time is the ultimate metric
✅ Standardized Work and management coaching locked in gains across all sites
The Outcome
✔$8M in conversion cost savings within 3 months
✔Revenue grew from  $75M → $90M/month
✔Recovered  $17M in lost sales via improved supplier performance
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage · Lead Time Reduction
120 DAYS TO LESS THAN 15.
The Problem
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage faced federal pressure to cut loan modification time. The process took 120+ days — creating regulatory risk and massive customer impact across three campuses.
The Strategic Pivot
✅ Convert C-Suite financial goals into actionable shop floor metrics
✅ No plan survives first contact — execute in real time
✅ Lead time is the ultimate metric
✅ Process standards established across 3 campuses for cross-site consistency
The Outcome
✔Loan processing time cut to  <15 days
✔Rework reduced by  86%
✔Consistent results across all 3 campuses
// Ready to Move?

YOUR FLOOR IS LEAVING
MONEY ON THE TABLE.

Let's spend 30 minutes looking at your operation. If we can't identify significant opportunity, the call is on us.