Plan
Turn priorities into a clear operating plan.
Set quality and yield targets that reflect the process’s real capability.
USC Consulting Group / Quality & Yield
Fix losses at the source.
We build quality checks and root-cause routines into the daily operating rhythm, so scrap and rework stop recurring.
The management operating system
How the eight disciplines apply to quality & yield.
Every improvement runs through the same connected cycle. Here is what each discipline looks like in this part of the operation.
Schedule
Make the plan workable day to day.
Schedule checks, changeovers, and trials to protect first-pass quality.
Assign
Make ownership clear.
Make each quality standard and checkpoint someone’s responsibility.
Execute
Understand how work actually gets done.
Observe the process where defects and losses are created.
Follow Up
Keep commitments visible.
Contain issues quickly and confirm the fix actually worked.
Report
Give people a useful view of performance.
Report scrap, rework, and yield where the team can act on them.
Analyze
Use evidence to understand what is driving results.
Separate common causes from one-off events with evidence.
Improve
Turn what the team learns into better ways of working.
Turn proven fixes into standards and training.
How we work
Built with your team, not about it.
Understand before recommending
Work from facts, live examples, and operational evidence
Involve the people who own the process
Build with the client, not about the client
Lead with curiosity, not diagnosis
Treat the review as learning, not auditing
07 / Quality & Yield
Fix losses at the source.
We build quality checks and root-cause routines into the daily operating rhythm, so scrap and rework stop recurring.
- The challenge
- Scrap, rework, and yield loss erode margin every shift. Problems are contained but rarely solved, so they come back.
- What USC does
- We set in-process controls at critical steps, make yield visible by shift, and run structured problem solving inside the daily review.
- What changes
- First-pass yield improves, repeat defects fall, and quality is managed as part of production rather than after it.
How we measure progress:
- First-pass yield
- Scrap and rework cost
- Repeat defect rate
Client results
Quality & Yield case studies
Food & Beverage
Repeat client$2.3Min yearly yield savings
Midwest food distributor saves $2.3M a year in yield by controlling beef giveaway
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Food & Beverage
$16Min annualized benefits, against a $3.5M target
Food manufacturer reaches $16M in annualized benefits in half the planned time
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Manufacturing
$2Min annual bleach chemical savings at one mill
Pulp and paper maker cuts bleach chemical costs $2M a year at one mill
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Food & Beverage
$2M+in annualized labor savings
Dessert maker cuts $2M+ in annual labor cost and lifts throughput to $58M
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Food & Beverage
$11Min cost savings
PE-owned food company cuts $11M in cost and returns 10:1 on invested capital
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Food & Beverage
$8.1Min gains at the pilot complex, with no new capital
Turkey processor gains $8.1M at its pilot complex without new capital
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Food & Beverage
$16Min savings at one plant
Case-ready meat plant saves $16M with a real-time management operating system
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Mining & Metals
$45Min benefits
Steel operation cuts scrap 30% for $45M in benefits
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Food & Beverage
Repeat client$16Min annualized benefits
Pork producer gains $16M in annualized benefits from yield, labor and overtime
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Food & Beverage
$366Min annualized benefits
Global protein company delivers $366M a year across 70 plants
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Food & Beverage
$550M+in measurable benefits
Food company delivers $550M+ in benefits across seven operating companies
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Food & Beverage
4:1return on investment
Fifth-generation food processor earns back more than four times its investment
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Mining & Metals
23%reduction in mine cost per ton
Copper mine cuts cost per ton 23% and mines 22% more tons
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Aerospace & Defense
32%reduction in build time
Defense engineering firm cuts build time 32% and rework 45% after a knowledge drain
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Food & Beverage
68%increase in meat trimmed per hour
Meat processor trims 68% more meat per hour and raises trim yield to 96%
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Mining & Metals
55%plantwide yield, up from 38%
Metals processor raises plantwide yield from 38% to 55%
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Manufacturing
Repeat client42%reduction in overall giveaway
Vinyl siding maker cuts material giveaway 42% across its extrusion lines
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Mining & Metals
6%+increase in fleet productivity