Manufacturing Advisory Services

Our firm draws on more than 40 years of experience spanning manufacturing research and development, patent prosecution across a range of industrial sectors, and engineering technology education. This combination of hands-on manufacturing experience, deep exposure to how companies document and protect their own innovations, and academic rigor provides a distinctive foundation for advising manufacturers on process improvement, quality, and production readiness.

Services

Tooling, Fixture & Equipment Specification

Review existing fixtures, jigs, and tooling to address tolerance issues or excessive changeover times. Develop detailed equipment and capital purchase specifications to support procurement decisions and ensure alignment with production requirements.

Process Improvement & Optimization 

Assess existing production processes to identify bottlenecks, scrap sources, and opportunities for cycle-time reduction. Deliver process flow documentation and standard work instructions.

Quality Systems Advisory 

Develop or refine a client's quality system, including inspection planning and statistical process control implementation. Support root cause investigations.

Facility Layout & Continuous Improvement 

Assess plant layout, workflow, and material handling. Recommend line balancing improvements and facilitate structured continuous improvement initiatives, from diagnostic assessment through implementation roadmap.

Materials, Process & Manufacturability Advisory 

Guide material and process substitution decisions to support cost reduction, performance improvement, or supply chain resilience. Review product designs prior to production to identify manufacturability and assembly risks.

Automation Readiness & Production Planning 

Evaluate automation opportunities and return on investment for a given process, including support for vetting systems integrators. Advise on production scheduling and capacity planning.

Supplier Quality & Cost Modeling 

Conduct supplier audits and qualification assessments, or support development of a client's internal supplier quality program. Develop should-cost models and support make-versus-buy analysis.

New Product Introduction Support 

Provide advisory support through the design-to-production transition, including tooling validation, test protocol development, pilot run planning, and launch readiness review.

Patent & IP Liaison Advisory 

Evaluate manufacturing processes, product designs, and process innovations for patentable potential, and help engineers document defensible invention disclosures. Coordinate with outside patent counsel on filing strategy and application execution, and support companies in building a sustainable in-house invention-disclosure process. Draws on active registration as a USPTO patent agent; application drafting and filing are coordinated through the client's outside patent counsel rather than performed directly.

Internship & Early-Career Talent Advisory 

Help engineering leadership and HR evaluate university programs and individual candidates for genuine technical fit, beyond what a resume conveys. Develop technical interview criteria, intern evaluation frameworks, and onboarding benchmarks tailored to the role. Typically offered as an extension of an existing engineering engagement.

Engagement Models 

Most of the services above are available either as a defined project or as ongoing advisory support, structured around your needs.

Part-Time / Shared Manufacturing Engineering Advisory 

Provide the manufacturing engineering judgment above on a fixed recurring basis — a set number of days per month — for organizations that don't have the volume to justify a full-time manufacturing engineer. Scales up to project-based support when a specific initiative, such as a new product introduction, calls for deeper focus.

Daren Davis, LLC · Granbury, TX · 817-360-9267 · daren@darendavisconsulting.com

Services provided by Daren Davis, LLC are advisory and consulting in nature and do not constitute the practice of professional engineering under Texas law.