Skilled Trades Consulting for any Operational Needs

How this fits

Assessments are often the starting point for our clients, but not all companies need to begin there. Some plants already know the problem. They need structure, follow-through, and someone who can help turn a weak or inconsistent process into a working system. That is where consulting support fits.

Common consulting engagements

Training and qualification structure for skilled trades. CMMS setup and work order discipline. Planning and scheduling improvement. Preventive maintenance structure and PM optimization. Reliability program buildout. Incident review support, countermeasure development, and corrective action structure. Capital planning support tied to asset condition and operational risk. Program standardization across multiple sites or teams.

What that work often looks like

One client may need a better training matrix, clearer task expectations, and role-specific development for technicians. Another may need a CMMS system that works like an operating tool instead of a digital filing cabinet. Another may need help sorting through recurring downtime, weak follow-through, poor ownership, or a corrective action process that keeps treating symptoms. The exact project can vary, but the pattern is usually the same: too much informal knowledge, not enough structure, and too little alignment between what leadership expects and what the system can actually support.

Additional examples of support

Audit readiness support for operations that need better alignment between written systems and actual execution. Skilled trades recruiting support tied to role clarity and operating stability. Operational metrics, charting, and targeted loss analysis. Practical use of AI where plant data and process discipline are mature enough to support it. Program scaling support for multi-site or growing operations. Other manufacturing-focused work can be discussed based on fit.

What clients should expect

The work is practical, site-aware, and built around real operating conditions. We do not promise a canned answer before understanding the plant. We also do not avoid new problems just because they are not packaged services. If the need is a good fit for manufacturing safety, risk, reliability, or skilled trades performance, we can talk through it.

Return on Investment

Consulting pays because bad decisions are expensive, especially when they are made before the business fully understands the problem. PMI reports an average project performance rate of 73.8%. IBM cites Gartner research showing poor data quality costs organizations an average of $12.9 million per year, and McKinsey reports that 70% of transformations fail. Forbast helps companies define the real issue before they spend money on the wrong fix, whether that means incident support, corrective action, CMMS integration, AI, training, or broader operational improvement. The return is fewer false starts, less rework, better adoption, and stronger decisions based on what is actually happening on the floor instead of what leadership assumes is happening.

Executive letter for CEOs and CFOs outlining the operational and financial case for ongoing consulting support.

CEO/CFO Letter

Metrics Charting and Graphing

A visual like this helps turn downtime history into something far more useful than a list of breakdowns. By charting losses by cause, equipment, system, or recurring failure pattern, it becomes easier to see where the largest concentration of production loss is actually occurring. That creates a clearer basis for decision-making, whether the goal is to reduce repeat failures, improve maintenance focus, prioritize corrective action, or justify where time and money should be invested first.

Forbast can help build targeted charting and loss analysis for selected critical assets or problem areas within your operation. This can include downtime Pareto views, recurring cause breakdowns, trend analysis, and other focused visuals that help turn raw plant data into practical insight. The objective is not just to produce charts, but to help you understand what your data is pointing to so you can make better operational decisions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Forbast help us after an incident has already happened?

Yes. One of the most valuable ways we support clients is immediately after an incident, near miss, equipment failure, or safety event. We help stabilize the response, identify likely gaps, develop practical immediate countermeasures, and build long-term corrective actions that address the actual causes instead of just the visible result. That can include reviewing the event with your team, helping structure the investigation, pressure-testing corrective action plans, and supporting you as you work through internal expectations or outside scrutiny.

Can Forbast help us integrate AI into maintenance, reliability, or operational decision-making?

Yes, but the focus is practical use, not hype. We help identify where AI may actually create value, such as failure pattern review, reporting support, work order analysis, document standardization, troubleshooting support, and trend visibility. We also help prevent companies from wasting time on tools that sound advanced but sit on top of bad data, weak processes, or undefined expectations.

What kind of consulting work does Forbast do beyond assessments?

We support companies with practical improvement work after risks and reliability gaps have been identified. That can include maintenance system improvement, PM and PdM program development, training, CMMS improvement, incident support, spare parts structure, reliability standards, maintenance planning, and focused help on specific operational problems. The goal is not to hand over a report and leave. It is to help you turn findings into stronger systems and better execution.

Can you help us improve or restructure our CMMS?

Yes. We can help evaluate how your CMMS is being used today and where it is falling short. That may include asset structure, work order flow, PM setup, parts linkage, failure coding, data quality, scheduling logic, labor tracking, and reporting. In many plants, the system is not the real problem. The issue is that the structure, expectations, and day-to-day use are too weak to produce useful decisions.

Do you offer training programs for maintenance, reliability, or leadership teams?

Yes. We can help develop training around maintenance fundamentals, reliability practices, troubleshooting, planning and scheduling, leadership expectations, safety responsibilities, and standard work. Training is most effective when it is tied to the actual issues on your floor, not generic material that sounds good in a classroom but changes nothing in the plant. We can support one-time training, rollout support, or structured development tied to broader improvement work.

Can Forbast help us decide what to automate, improve, or standardize first?

Yes. Many companies know they need improvement but are unclear where to invest first. We help identify which problems are truly driving loss, instability, labor waste, quality issues, or recurring downtime so resources are aimed at the highest-value opportunities. That may include process review, maintenance workflow improvement, vertical integration planning, automation candidate review, or support with project planning.

Can Forbast help with reliability programs even if we are still mostly reactive?

Yes. In fact, that is where structured consulting often has the most value. A company does not need a mature reliability program before asking for help. We can help identify where the current approach is breaking down, what standards or systems are missing, and what should be built first so the business stops spending money reacting to the same problems repeatedly.

Can you help us improve maintenance planning and scheduling?

Yes. Planning and scheduling problems usually show up as reactive work, poor labor use, weak parts readiness, inconsistent PM completion, and constant priority conflicts. We help evaluate how work is identified, planned, approved, scheduled, kitted, executed, and closed out so the maintenance function can operate with more control. Better planning is often one of the lowest-cost ways to improve wrench time and reduce avoidable downtime.