Boutique AI & Operations Consulting
Operational Grit.
AI Edge.
Built by an Operator. Designed for Yours.
Melissa Sawin spent 30 years inside manufacturing facilities, distribution networks, and field service organizations before she ever advised on one. She works with a small number of founders and presidents — primarily in the $50M to $300M range — who are ready to build AI capability that their teams will actually adopt and use. EOS experience is a plus. A healthy culture is a requirement.
What We Do
Services Built on Real Operational Experience
Every engagement is grounded in three decades of operational leadership across manufacturing, distribution, and field services. Solutions are built for the real world, not the whiteboard.
AI Agents & Workflow Automation
Most AI tools sit unused within six months because they were built for a demo, not for the way your team actually works. Sawin Consulting designs and deploys role-specific AI agents, multi-agent systems, and end-to-end workflow automations built around real workflows, tested with real users, and governed well enough to last. Individual agents handle specific functions, and where the work calls for it, those agents are connected into coordinated systems that automate handoffs, surface insights, and eliminate the manual effort that slows teams down. Deployments have been built across sales, operations, leadership development, compliance, and customer experience functions, with measurable adoption and documented time savings from day one.
AI Enablement & Training
Technology is only as valuable as the people using it, and most organizations underinvest in the human side of AI adoption. Sawin Consulting builds company-wide AI literacy programs and role-specific training that meet people where they are, reduce resistance, and build genuine confidence across every level of the organization. Training is practical, grounded in real tools your team already has access to, and designed to build internal capability that doesn't depend on outside help to sustain.
Operational Excellence & Continuous Improvement
Thirty years of operational leadership across manufacturing, distribution, and field services means this work comes from experience, not frameworks borrowed from a textbook. Sawin Consulting partners with leadership teams to eliminate waste, standardize workflows, and build the operational infrastructure that lets a growing company scale without losing the discipline that got it there. Kaizen events, operational playbooks, cross-functional problem solving, and leadership accountability systems are all part of the toolkit.
EOS Implementation & Advisory
The Entrepreneurial Operating System works when it is implemented with discipline and sustained with accountability, and it struggles when leadership teams treat it as a checklist rather than an operating philosophy. Sawin Consulting has lived inside EOS and Pinnacle as an operational leader and brings that firsthand experience to companies implementing the system for the first time or trying to get more traction from an existing implementation. This is advisory work at the leadership team level, not a certification program.
Customer Experience Optimization
Customer experience is an operational discipline, not a marketing initiative, and improving it requires changing the way work actually gets done. Sawin Consulting has driven NPS improvements of more than 100% and reduced Customer Effort Scores by nearly 50% inside a complex, multi-site service organization by embedding customer experience principles into daily operations, leadership expectations, and team accountability systems. That same approach is available to mid-market companies ready to make customer experience a measurable competitive advantage.
Governance, Compliance & Risk
AI deployments that lack clear policies, defined guardrails, and ownership structures create liability, confusion, and erosion of trust over time. Sawin Consulting builds the governance frameworks, usage policies, approved tools lists, and oversight structures that give leadership teams confidence their AI program is responsible, auditable, and aligned with their organizational values. This work is designed to be practical and sustainable, not a binder that sits on a shelf.
About Melissa Sawin
Where Operational Experience Meets AI Capability
Melissa Sawin is a former manufacturing and distribution executive who spent 30 years building and running complex operations before turning that experience into a consulting practice focused on AI enablement and operational excellence.
She has overseen four manufacturing plants, led teams of more than 350 people, and managed businesses at the $100 million scale, all while becoming known for dramatically improving customer experience, workforce safety, and operational performance. As COO of one of the largest independently owned Pella branches in the country, she drove NPS improvements of more than 100%, reduced Customer Effort Score by nearly 50%, and cut the company’s Experience Modification Rate by more than 50%, well below the industry average of 1.0.
She has implemented EOS and Pinnacle as an operational leader, not as an outside advisor, which means she understands the difference between a leadership team that is running the system and one that is going through the motions. She has led more than 100 Kaizen events, taught lean principles to manufacturing professionals across Minnesota for 14 years through the Manufacturers Alliance, and facilitated peer groups for presidents and senior executives.
Today, through Sawin Consulting, she works with a small number of founders and presidents of mid-market companies in manufacturing, distribution, and field services who are ready to build real AI capability inside their organizations. Every engagement is selective. Every solution is built to work in the real world.
What Others Say
Trusted by Leaders Across Industries
“I'm thrilled that you're so excited to be our AI architect. I firmly believe this gives you excitement but also provides us a vehicle to do something we probably wouldn't do if you were not available for this role. You have made immense improvements in the operational team — significant improvements in almost every metric — with an understanding that we're still on a journey, but we have come so far.”
Proven Track Record
Results That Speak for Themselves
Three decades of operational leadership, measured in outcomes — not just activity.
More than doubled NPS, reaching peak scores that place the company among top-tier home improvement and installation service companies nationally, by embedding customer experience principles into daily operations and leadership expectations at every level.
Built a safety and ergonomics culture from the ground up, reducing the Experience Modification Rate by more than 50% and driving it well below the industry average of 1.0 through leadership accountability, ergonomic investment, and rigorous incident post-mortems.
Led full implementation of the Pinnacle operating system across all of operations — every team member participating in tactical meetings with Win the Week and quarterly rocks cadence.
Oversaw four manufacturing facilities, 350 employees, and $100 million in business — driving operational excellence and customer outcomes at scale.
Organized, led, and oversaw more than 100 Kaizen events — embedding a culture of continuous improvement across operations, quality, and delivery.
Trained hundreds of manufacturing professionals in lean principles as an instructor for the Minnesota Manufacturers Alliance over 14 years, teaching Leaders Standard Work and Measuring the Right Things.
How I Lead
How Every Engagement Is Led
The difference between a consultant who advises and one who gets results is the willingness to be both strategic and hands-on. These are the principles that drive every engagement.
Right People. Right Seats.
Constantly evaluating fit and leveling up the team is non-negotiable. The best strategy in the world fails without the right people executing it, and Melissa is direct about when talent is thriving and when it is time to make a change.
Decide Fast. Pivot Smart.
Moving confidently on 80% of the information and course-correcting without ego when the path needs to shift is how complex operations stay in motion. Waiting for perfect information is a luxury most organizations cannot afford, and speed with accountability consistently outperforms slow perfection.
Accountability Is the Standard.
High expectations, consistently held across every level of the organization, are not a punitive tool. They are a standard of respect for the team, the customer, and the mission. Everyone owns their outcomes.
From Strategy to the Floor.
Whether it is running a milling machine, installing components in a defense assembly, or rolling up her sleeves as a project coordinator, Melissa has no problem getting into the work. That is how great leaders build credibility, earn trust, and truly understand where value is created and where it is lost.
Tenacious. Passionate. Relentless.
These are not words on a page. They are a track record built over 30 years of showing up for organizations, teams, and the people inside them, driven by a genuine belief that operational excellence and thoughtful AI adoption can change the trajectory of a business.
Ready to Build?
Ready to Build Something
Worth Building?
If you are running a values-driven company and want an operator-level advisor who has been in your seat, this is the right place to start. Engagements are limited, so the earlier we connect the better.
Start the ConversationGet In Touch
Let's Build Something
Worth Building
If you are running a values-driven company and want an operator-level advisor who has been in your seat, this is the right place to start. Engagements are limited, so the earlier we connect the better.