Small machine & job shop
Quotes go out, jobs run, parts ship. Jobs on machines and shipping are current because the travelers get scanned. Mill 2 is stale — next week's load is a photo of a whiteboard, and it says 130%. Quoting and cost are dark: nobody marks which quotes were won, and hours are never tied back to jobs, so the true cost of a job is a guess. That is where the margin hides.
Sample — illustrative mock-up
Twelve-person machine shop (sample)
The company and the numbers are invented. The shape is the one we find.
as of March 6, 2026 at 17:00 UTC
4 current 2 stale 3 dark
Two weeks back, one week ahead
Each row is one record. The band pinches when the record changes and widens as it ages. Past today it is the Frame looking ahead, and it stops where it can no longer say.
- the record changed
- top row: how far ahead the whole picture could see, day by day
- your own move, marked so the Frame doesn't read it as a trend
- already on the calendar, so it doesn't fade
- Past this line the Frame can't say: Quote is dark.
The week ahead, as the Frame lays it out
Each bar is a job, laid out from how long this kind of work has really taken here. The solid part is as far as the record it waits on can be trusted; past that the end blurs by as much as that record is out of date, and where the Frame can no longer say, the bar is hatched.
- as far as it can be trusted
- the end blurs by how old the record behind it is
- past the point the Frame can say
Quoting
2 sensors · 1 current · 0 stale · 1 dark
- Quotes out current14 quotes
age 4h
quoting spreadsheet
- Quotes won darkDARK
age —
nobody marks a quote won or lost
which work to chase
The floor
3 sensors · 1 current · 1 stale · 1 dark
- Jobs on machines current6 jobs
age 1h
job travelers, scanned at each machine
- Mill 2, next week stalebooked 130%
age 4d
whiteboard, photographed Monday
the bottleneck
- Scrap and rework darkDARK
age —
goes in the bin, never logged
Shipping
2 sensors · 2 current · 0 stale · 0 dark
- Jobs due this week current8 jobs
age 2h
job tracker
- Shipping late current2 jobs
age 2h
job tracker
Office & cost
2 sensors · 0 current · 1 stale · 1 dark
- Material on order stale3 POs
age 5d
purchase-order log
- True cost per job darkDARK
age —
hours never tied back to jobs
where the margin hides
- Quotes out feeds → Mill 2, next week
- Mill 2, next week feeds → Shipping late
- Material on order feeds → Shipping late
- Scrap and rework feeds → True cost per job
a value nobody measured is null and renders dark, never zero
Start with a $400 consultation: a generous half day.
In person when we can. You leave with a Frame sketch on one page and a lot of good questions; within a week, a written proposal with deliverables and a price.
Sample — illustrative mock-up
Twelve-person machine shop (sample)
Two weeks back, one week ahead
Each row is one record. The band pinches when the record changes and widens as it ages. Past today it is the Frame looking ahead, and it stops where it can no longer say.
- the record changed
- top row: how far ahead the whole picture could see, day by day
- your own move, marked so the Frame doesn't read it as a trend
- already on the calendar, so it doesn't fade
- Past this line the Frame can't say: Quote is dark.
The week ahead, as the Frame lays it out
Each bar is a job, laid out from how long this kind of work has really taken here. The solid part is as far as the record it waits on can be trusted; past that the end blurs by as much as that record is out of date, and where the Frame can no longer say, the bar is hatched.
- as far as it can be trusted
- the end blurs by how old the record behind it is
- past the point the Frame can say
This sample, three ways
Twelve-person machine shop
Sample — illustrative mock-up
Twelve-person machine shop
Twelve-person machine shop
Sample — illustrative mock-up