Maier Brothers Consulting
+1 404 640 9347 Free intro call

For US plant owners and plant managers

Get more out of the plant.

I help US manufacturers get more out of their plants and their products: higher throughput, less scrap and shorter changeovers on the floor, plus product development and documentation that holds up to ISO 9001, ISO 13485 and FDA requirements.

Call Steffen Text Steffen

Free 30-minute introductory call. Can’t talk now? Text a good time and I’ll call you back. Prefer email? info@maier-brothers.com

Steffen Maier, principal of Maier Brothers Consulting
Steffen Maier, PrincipalAtlanta, GA
Qualification
Mechanical Engineer, Master of Business Administration (MBA)
Leadership
Former CTO, GMP pharmaceutical production
Standards
ISO 9001, ISO 13485, FDA requirements
Based
Atlanta, Georgia, permanent US resident
What your plant runs today, against what the same equipment can run without a capital request. That distance is the work.

Sheet 02 · Sound familiar?

The symptoms are already on your morning board

  • The machine is up, the parts aren’t there

    Uptime looks fine, output doesn’t. Micro stops, waiting for material, slow restarts.

  • Changeovers eat the shift

    Setups take hours, so batches grow, and so does the finished goods rack.

  • Scrap nobody can pin down

    The rate moves every month, and rework has its own permanent bench.

  • Ship dates that only hold with Saturday overtime

    Overtime and expedited freight keep the promise. Stop paying for them and the date slips.

  • Three people hold the place together

    The know-how lives in their heads. When one is out, the shift limps.

  • Every technical call ends up on the owner’s desk

    No one owns engineering, quality and production together, so it lands with you, after hours.

Two of these sound familiar? That’s worth a 30-minute call.

Call Text

Sheet 03 · Services

Four ways I help

Operational excellence in the plant you have

More output, less scrap, shorter changeovers from the equipment you already own. Fixed with your crew, written down, and built so your team keeps it running.

What that covers
  • Cycle times and downtime measured by hand, against what the system reports.
  • Changeovers cut with the setters who do them.
  • Scrap and rework traced to the operation that causes them.
  • Standard work written with operators, in their own words.
  • Line balanced to takt, and a shift board short enough to survive a busy week.

Product development and documentation to standard

From first concept to a released, manufacturable product, documented so it holds up to ISO 9001, ISO 13485 and FDA requirements.

What that covers
  • Product development from concept to production release, with manufacturing at the table from day one.
  • Quality management documentation built to ISO 9001 and ISO 13485.
  • Technical documentation and records for FDA requirements in medical and pharmaceutical production.
  • Procedures written so your own team can keep them current.

CTO-level leadership, part time

The judgment of a technical head without the full-time hire. Typically two days a month on site, plus calls in between.

What that covers
  • Equipment and capital decisions, before the quote arrives.
  • Make or buy, supplier qualification, machine acceptance at the vendor and on your floor.
  • New product and new line introduction, through to a stable rate.
  • Documentation, validation and change control for regulated production.
  • Covering a vacancy, and building up the person who replaces me.

German-owned plants in the US

German-trained mechanical engineer, living in the US. I translate between head office and your American floor, in person.

What that covers
  • Drawings and standards in substance: ANSI and ASME against DIN, EN and ISO, GD&T.
  • Metric and imperial reconciled in tooling, fasteners, stock and gauges.
  • Machinery bought in Germany, with acceptance criteria agreed before it ships.
  • What head office means by a date, and what a US supervisor expects to decide on their own.
What I turn down
  • Work meant to run on video calls. If I can’t stand at the machine, the work doesn’t happen.
  • Reports for a board pack or investor where nothing on the floor is meant to change.
  • Plants outside the Southeast, the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast, unless travel is agreed first.
  • Projects that don’t stand up legally.

Sheet 04 · How it works

How it works

  1. Call or text

    A free 30-minute phone call. You describe the plant, I tell you straight whether I can help.

  2. Next steps agreed

    If it fits: a video call on Teams or Zoom, an NDA before I see your numbers, and scope and fee in writing.

  3. One to two days on the floor

    I follow a part from receiving to shipping and talk to the people who run it.

  4. Findings in writing

    What it costs you, what to fix first, what your team can do alone. Fixed fee, travel at cost.

  5. Fixed at the machine

    Changes tried on a live shift with your crew, with an agreed end date. I take no commission from equipment or software vendors.

Sheet 05 · Who shows up

Two brothers and a network

Steffen Maier

Principal · on your floor

Mechanical engineer with a Master of Business Administration, so the machine decision and the money decision are one conversation. Former CTO in pharmaceutical manufacturing. Has worked production in Germany, England, China, South Africa and Tunisia.

Qualification
Mechanical Engineer, Master of Business Administration
Has run production under
GMP, ISO 13485, FDA registration
Based
Atlanta, Georgia

Dr. Florian Maier

Brother in Germany · data and AI

Runs his own consultancy, 8Komma3, in Germany. Joins when the answer is data, documentation or AI, or when a supplier or machine builder sits in Germany. Steffen is the one on your floor.

Based
Bayreuth, Germany
Website
8komma3.de

The network: automation engineering, quality engineering and regulatory affairs, brought in case by case. You get the name and the reason before anyone sets foot in your plant.

Steffen Maier on a dock, holding a catfish he has just caught.

Off the floorI live with my family in Atlanta. Weekends go to a boat or a rod, winters to a mountain. I moved here. I didn’t fly in for the project.

Sheet 06 · Questions

Frequently asked

How does the first conversation work?

Call or text +1 404 640 9347. The introductory call takes 30 minutes by phone and is free. If it’s a fit, we agree the next steps there: a video call on Teams or Zoom, an NDA, and scope and fee in writing.

Where do you work?

On site at manufacturing plants in the Southeast, the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast of the United States. Headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, office in Elkton, Maryland. Further afield if travel is agreed up front.

Will you sign an NDA?

Yes. Before you share production numbers, drawings or anything else confidential.

How is the work billed?

The on-site assessment is a fixed fee agreed in writing before I travel, with travel billed at cost. Ongoing work runs on a monthly retainer with a fixed number of days on site. Nothing is billed hourly by surprise.

Which kinds of companies do you work with?

Manufacturers in metal, plastics and composites, including regulated pharmaceutical and medical production under GMP, ISO 13485 and FDA registration.

Can you help with ISO 9001, ISO 13485 or FDA documentation?

Yes. I build and rework product and quality documentation to ISO 9001, ISO 13485 and FDA requirements, and I support product development from concept to production release.

Do you work remotely?

Calls and video meetings, yes. The work itself happens on your floor, with your crew.

Sheet 07 · Where to start

Call or text Steffen

Tell me what the plant makes and what’s holding it back. If I can’t pick up, text a good time and I’ll call you back.

+1 404 640 9347
Call Text Email
Introductory call
30 minutes by phone, free
Answer within
One business day
Email
info@maier-brothers.com
Service area
Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast
Languages
English, German