The System Health Check

If your volume doubled, which department breaks first?

Most operations can't answer that. So money goes on headcount while the real constraint is a rule nobody remembers making, or on a new system built on processes nobody has mapped. The Health Check answers it properly: two to six weeks, fixed fee, on your floor.

Book a scoping call See a sample report

Fixed fee

agreed at scoping, no day rates

2–6 weeks

sized to the operation

On site

your floor, not a Zoom call

The trap

Fix one bottleneck and the pressure moves to the next.

Growth doesn't break an operation all at once. It breaks the weakest department first, and when you fix that, the pressure lands on the next weakest, and you discover your operation one failure at a time, live, with customers watching.

Spending blind

A second shift, more racking, another machine: easy cheques to write, and every one of them a guess if nobody has measured where the capacity actually goes. Money spent on a symptom hides the cause.

Systems on sand

An ERP or a new IT build sits on top of your processes. If those have blind spots, the system automates the noise and amplifies it. More dashboards do not equal more clarity.

Truth in a few heads

The people compensating for the process are the only ones who know how it really works. One resignation or one long holiday, and that knowledge walks out of the building.

The guide

Someone who stands on the floor, then checks it against your data.

I've spent ten years inside regulated operations, rail and NHS supply chain, watching where reports and reality part company. Beyond Venn runs today on live NHS supply-chain data. The Health Check is the same method, packaged: walk the floor, talk to the people who do the work, then test their account against the numbers.

Maxie Earle has done an outstanding job in developing a cutting-edge studio that has exceeded our customer's expectations. His expertise in creating a visually stunning platform, combined with powerful data analysis tools, has truly impressed. Not only did he deliver top-notch graphics, but he also designed a system that allows for seamless data exploration and in-depth elaboration. His work has significantly enhanced our ability to present and interpret data, making it both accessible and impactful.

Graham WalshManaging Director, Eleanor Care

The best part of using Maxie as a consultant is his talent for a birdseye view. He combines it with his competency in systems development, optimisation and efficiency building. On top of that, his ability to manage projects and communicate well with all actors involved is a true asset. The cherry on the ice cream is his passion and heart for systems, efficiency and the end product.

Jimmy WesterheimCEO, The Human Aspect

The plan

Three steps. You'll know the shape of it before we start.

Book a scoping call

Thirty minutes. You describe the operation and where it hurts; I tell you honestly whether the check will pay for itself, and how many weeks yours needs. If it won't pay, I'll say so.

I walk your floor

One to two days on site with the people who do the work, then a read-only extract from the systems you already run. Nothing to install, nothing for your team to learn.

You get the map

Every department scored on scale-readiness, the bottleneck order mapped, fixes ranked by impact against cost. The report is never emailed over and left to speak for itself: I present it in person, finding by finding, with your team in the room to challenge the evidence.

Judge it by the deliverable.

This is the exact report you receive, filled with illustrative data for a fictional client. In a typical check, around half the ranked fixes cost nothing but a decision.

Open the sample report

The delivery

Built on your floor. Delivered in person.

Maxie on a warehouse floor during a Health Check

This is not a questionnaire and a PDF. I stand where the work happens, watch orders actually get out of the door, and talk to the people who move them. The findings get tested against your data, then I come back and present the report myself.

That last part matters. A report that arrives by email gets skimmed and shelved. A report presented in person, with the floor's evidence behind every score, gets argued with, agreed on, and acted on. You and your team leave the session with the ranked list and no ambiguity about why it's in that order.

The deal

Fixed fee. Fixed time. No follow-on required.

The report is yours to act on with your own team, your IT partner, or nobody at all. If you want help delivering the fixes, that's a separate conversation for after you've seen the map.

Fixed fee

sized to the operation, never a day rate

2–6 weeks

sized to the operation, agreed up front

2 / month

maximum checks I run, personally, on site

UK-wide

based in Warwickshire, travel included

What does it cost?

A fixed fee, agreed at the scoping call and sized to the operation: a single-site distributor and a multi-site group are not the same audit. Whatever the number, it is fixed before we start. No day rates, no creep, and the fee is on the table before you commit to anything.

What do you need from us?

Floor access for one to two days, short conversations with the people who run each stage, and someone to authorise a read-only data extract from your existing systems. Total time cost to your team is a few hours, spread across the engagement.

Is our data safe?

Access is read-only and agreed in writing before anything is touched. Findings go to you and nowhere else. A mutual NDA before the first site visit is standard.

Who is this for?

Operationally intensive businesses, multi-site manufacturing, distribution and supply chain especially, roughly £10m to £100m turnover, running an ERP they can't get answers out of. If that's not you, the scoping call will say so quickly and cost you nothing.

Is this a pitch for your software?

No. The check stands alone, and in a typical report around half the fixes cost nothing but a decision. If the map shows problems my tools can help with, I'll say so; if it shows your existing systems can do the job, I'll say that instead.