Argon & Co has entered a global partnership with QAD | Redzone in a move aimed at helping manufacturers improve factory productivity and frontline performance amid growing pressure on the sector to operate more efficiently.
The agreement combines Argon & Co’s operational transformation consulting capabilities with QAD Redzone’s connected workforce platform, which is currently deployed across more than 2,000 factories worldwide.
The partnership marks QAD Redzone’s first strategic global alliance focused specifically on transformation-led operational consulting, as manufacturers continue to face labour shortages, rising operational costs and increasing production complexity.
Industry leaders are under mounting pressure to deliver measurable productivity gains, particularly as many businesses struggle to convert investments in automation and continuous improvement programs into sustained frontline execution and long-term operational performance.
“Manufacturers have more operational data and technology than ever before, but many still struggle to turn that into consistent performance on the shopfloor,” said Paul Eastwood, Managing Partner APAC at Argon & Co.
“Too often, improvements fail to stick, and digital investments struggle to deliver measurable results at scale.” said Eastwood,
“As AI and connected operations continue to evolve, the real opportunity lies in combining operational insight with the execution disciplines and behaviours needed to sustain performance over time.” he said.
The partnership combines Argon & Co’s proprietary Manufacturing Optimisation and Daily Execution system, known as MODE, with Redzone’s AI-powered connected workforce platform to give manufacturers a more unified and scalable approach to operational performance.
Rather than relying on fragmented improvement initiatives, the combined offering is designed to provide real-time visibility across factory operations, supported by AI-driven insights and frontline collaboration tools that allow teams to respond more quickly to performance issues as they emerge.
By integrating Redzone’s connected workforce technology with the MODE framework, manufacturers are able to standardise operational processes, improve visibility at every level of the business and embed performance capability more deeply within frontline teams.
The companies say the combined approach can help manufacturers achieve operational gains at a pace that traditional transformation programs have often struggled to deliver.
“Redzone’s mission is to transform manufacturing by empowering the frontline to win every day and that mission demands more than great technology, “said Ken Fisher, President at Redzone.
“It requires world-class coaching by people who have actually worked inside a factory. Argon & Co’s consultants are proven manufacturing experts who understand the realities of the shop floor,”
“That depth of expertise, combined with their truly global reach, is exactly what it takes to help manufacturers achieve what once seemed impossible: five days of production in four,” he said.
Through the partnership, manufacturers will be able to combine connected worker technology with embedded operational disciplines, including daily management systems, standard work, structured problem-solving, leadership routines and capability transfer programs.
“Redzone has already built a significant client base in the US, and there’s a reason for that, it delivers results. What excites me is the opportunity to take that even further.
“By combining Redzone with Argon & Co’s MODE operating system, we can help existing Redzone clients unlock even greater factory performance, while enabling manufacturers implementing Redzone for the first time to embed stronger operational disciplines,” said Eastwood.
The Argon & Co and Redzone offering brings together connected workforce technology, a proven manufacturing operating system, and deep expertise in transformation and behavioural change, an integration that remains uncommon in manufacturing transformation programs.
The partnership will initially target manufacturers in food and beverage, consumer goods, industrial manufacturing and process industries, with rollout capability across Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.
