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Services

 

While my primary mission is to advance profitability at my client locations, Focus and Leverage Consulting also offers a variety of improvement training that is delivered at your location, thus eliminating the huge cost of travel to and from training sites.  Some of the training and/or workshops I offer:

  • Systems Analysis

  • Integrated Theory of Constraints, Lean and Six Sigma

  • Theory of Constraints Thinking Processes

  • Theory of Constraints Replenishment Model

  • Process Problem Solving

  • Throughput Accounting

  • Critical Chain Project Management

  • Drum Buffer Rope and Buffer Management

 

Focus and Leverage Consulting will provide either my standard training package or I can customize it to fit your specific industry type.  My rates are included in the following PDF file as well as an interview on my book Epiphanized:

 

Training/Consulting Rates         Link to Epiphanized Interview

Three of my most popular training sessions are my 1-day Continuous Improvement Boot Camp, Problem Solving, Problem Prevention and Decision Making Bootcamp, and Strategic Planning Bootcamp.  Check them out below.

   FLC 1-Day CI Bootcamp  Problem Solving & Prevention Bootcamp

Strategic Planning Bootcamp

Focus and Leverage Consulting - I fix broken companies and make good companies great!!

 

 

Focus and Leverage Consulting (FLC) is all about enhancing the effectiveness, profitability and success in all types of organizations.  But below the surface, FLC is much, much more.  FLC does so, not by using traditional methods like Lean or Six Sigma in isolation, but rather by using a new methodology that FLC refers to as The Ultimate Improvement Cycle (UIC).  UIC is a unique blend of Lean, Six Sigma and the Theory of Constraints which uses the concept of Focus and Leverage to create very significant bottom line improvement in very short periods of time (i.e. weeks, rather than months).  So how do we achieve this improvement in such a short amount of time compared to those using traditional Lean and Six Sigma initiatives?

 

The answer to this question lies in the third piece of this integration, the Theory of Constraints.  We have seen so many Lean and/or Six Sigma implementations that attempt to do what we refer to as, “solving world hunger” by attempting to eliminate waste and variation in every nook and cranny of a process or system.  In reality, there is typically only one place in particular where the improvement efforts should be focused…..the system constraint or bottleneck…especially if you’re trying to improve flow.

 

Ohno, Ford and Goldratt all recognized that, in order to improve flow, throughput and on-time delivery, it is necessary to reduce the amount of inventory contained within the system.  Ohno, Ford and Goldratt also recognized that the performance metric, efficiency, had to be eliminated in non-constraints, in order to achieve better flow, throughput and on-time delivery.  This belief is not well received by traditional Cost Accounting proponents, but the fact of the matter is, this metric causes systems to over-produce which was what Ohno, Ford and Goldratt intended to eliminate, since it only serves to increase lead times and negatively impact on-time deliveries.  Ohno achieved this by limiting the number of Kanban containers while Ford did it by limiting the available space for product to reside on his conveyor system.  Goldratt achieved even better results by recognizing the existence of the system constraint and realized that the constraint controls the output of any process or system and raw materials should be introduced into the process at the same rate as product exiting the system constraint.

 

FLC has developed an innovative approach to profit enhancement and decided to teach the world how to achieve great results in very short periods of time.  My approach is actually very simple, whereby I teach you how to assess your organization, using logical problem assessment tools and then explain how to attain levels of throughput you’ve not seen before.  I will teach you, your staff and others in your organization the basics of the Ultimate Improvement Cycle and then guide you through the step-by-step procedure needed to generate new levels of profitability.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Problem Solving, Prevention & Decision Making

All Nine Books.jpg
I change the way you think, so you can change the way you operate.....
 

Bob Sproull is a Systems Improvement Consultant who owns and operates Focus and Leverage Consulting, a Management Consulting firm specializing in rapidly improving the profitability of organizations from all business sectors.  Bob is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and a Theory of Constraints Jonah and an experienced manufacturing executive who has served as a General Manager of a manufacturing company, a Vice President of Quality, Engineering and Continuous Improvement for two different Manufacturing companies, with extensive consulting background in Manufacturing, Healthcare and MRO.  Bob focuses on teaching companies how to maximize their profitability through an integrated Theory of Constraints,  .Lean and Six Sigma (TLS) improvement methodology.  Bob loves helping companies improve their profitability!  Bob completed his undergraduate studies with a dual major in Math and Physics and is a nationally known speaker and the author of eight different books: My newest book:The Secret to Maximizing Profitability - A Business Novel on How to Successfully Combine the Theory of Constraints, Lean and Six Sigma to Drive Profit Margins to New Levels - Productivity Press, 2020;  The Focus and Leverage Improvement Book, CRC Press, Taylor and Francis, 2018 ,Problem-Solving, Problem-Prevention, and Decision-Making Guide, Taylor and Francis, 2018;  Focus and Leverage: The Critical Methodology for TOC, Lean, and Six Sigma;  Epiphanized: Integrating Theory of Constraints, Lean and Six Sigma 2nd edition, (co-authored with Bruce Nelson 2016, Productivity Press; Epiphanized: Integrating Theory of Constraints, Lean and Six Sigma 1st edition, (co-authored with Bruce Nelson 2015North River Press); The Ultimate Improvement Cycle – Maximizing Profits Through the Integration of Lean,  Six Sigma and the Theory of Constraints (2009, Taylor and Francis); Process Problem Solving – A Guide for Maintenance and Operation’s Teams (2001, Productivity Press).  Bob resides in Prattville, AL.

 

 

Epiphanized the Business Novel

Get your free copy by clicking on

this PDF icon.

 

Bob's Contact Information:

 

Bob Sproull – Phone 770-906-4787

 

Email:  Bsproull-flc@outlook.com or ras8202@live.com

 

Blog:  http://focusandleverage.blogspot.com/

Website:  https://bsproull-flc.wixsite.com/flc-consulting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Review of The Secret to Profitability:

Philip Marris

 

5.0 out of 5 stars Bob Sproull’s best book

Reviewed in the United States on February 27, 2020

Format: Paperback

Bob Sproull’s best book! This is quite a feat given that this is his eighth book and one of the previous one’s - Epiphanized -, is a bestseller.

In this “business novel”, the company first implements Six Sigma and makes some improvements. Then they implement Lean and make further improvements. And then they add the Theory Of Constraints to the mix and sparks start flying.

On page 17 one of the characters says: “our focus was on how much money we could save, rather than how much money we could make.” From that page on the roller coaster ride begins. The story takes you through all the relevant constituent parts of this potent cocktail: 5 focusing steps, replenishment solution, TOC flow management, the folly of local efficiency performance KPIs, etc. Then the author takes you into the world of thinking better via Bill Dettmer’s Logical Thinking Process and its powerful Goal Tree to quickly build a strategic improvement plan.

For those that have read Eliyahu Goldratt’s best seller, “The Goal” and its sequel “It’s Not Luck” then you will see that in this book Bob Sproull manages to cover the content of both those books since in the last 4 chapters the main character is promoted and has to manage a portfolio of several companies. This provides a variety of problems to solve and gives the reader a better grasp on how this approach is generic and can be applied to all sorts of organizations.

This book’s beauty is that it combines 3 things. 1) The accumulated knowledge of the author’s experience in many different industries. 2) His whitling down of how to explain succinctly the best way to mix a TOC + Lean + Six Sigma cocktail. 3) His now highly tuned book writing skills that enable him to produce what looks like a novel but impacts you like a very good conceptual textbook (that you actually read).

So, although there are pearls of wisdom and a lot of practical recommendations in Bob Sproull’s seven previous books, I believe that this is now the best way to why and how you should be combining the Theory Of Constraints with Lean and Six Sigma.

This is Bob Sproull's best book so far.

 

 

 

 

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