Whether the problem is equipment breaking down, quality escaping to customers, AI pilots that won’t scale, or a transformation that isn’t moving the needle — ForgeShift finds the specific fracture and fixes it. Principal-led. Ontario-based. Built for manufacturers.
The owner operator with equipment breaking down and the corporate leader with a digital transformation programme that won't scale are solving fundamentally different problems. ForgeShift is built for the full arc — from plant floor to enterprise.
Pragmatic solutions for immediate impact and long-term growth.
A structured approach to digital and AI transformation designed for your business, your people, and your future.
Start here. Diagnose your operation and find the right solution — then engage us to execute it. Principal-led from first diagnosis to sustained performance.
Free to start — diagnose and navigate before you commit
Ready to engage? Choose your track.
Describe any manufacturing challenge in plain language — get the lean practice, the gaps, and the fix.
Turn your facility into an interactive map you can navigate — grounded in proven manufacturing standards.
One working AI system — built from the data you already have.
Build the judgment to work above the loop — a focused course routed to what you need to learn.
A 30-day, principal-led engagement that fixes a specific operational fracture — then leaves the standards to hold the gain.
Enterprise digital & AI transformation in three phases — enablement, data products, and value capture.
A post-engagement performance rhythm that holds the gain — accountability, reporting, live OT monitoring.
Weekly manufacturing intelligence, curated for plant operations — signal over noise.
Prior to founding ForgeShift Advisory, Hendrik led Industry 4.0 transformation across 60+ global manufacturing facilities at Magna International (body & chassis component group) — overseeing manufacturing process technology and smart manufacturing implementation across divisions.
Formerly Senior Director Manufacturing Process Technology at Magna International and Strategy Consultant at PwC Strategy&. M.Sc. Industrial Engineering, TU Braunschweig.
Based in Toronto, Ontario — serving Canadian manufacturers from 10-employee companies to large public enterprises.
Sectors
Based in
Toronto, Ontario — working with manufacturers in Canada, the US, and internationally
Scale range
10-employee companies to large public enterprises
Reducing unplanned downtime starts with understanding which equipment fails most often and whether there are early warning signs you are currently missing. The most common root causes are reactive maintenance (no planned PM schedule), missing equipment history (no CMMS), and no condition monitoring on critical assets. The 2026 Advanced Manufacturing Outlook survey of 114 Canadian manufacturers found that unplanned downtime is the top reported production loss driver. ForgeShift Compass diagnoses exactly where your maintenance practices sit today, and the Forge Sprint then executes the fix — mapping the specific interventions other manufacturers your size have used to recover 30–50% of downtime losses.
Book a Discovery Call to start your Forge Sprint diagnostic →
The right starting point depends on your biggest operational pain — not a generic framework. If equipment reliability is your problem, start with a CMMS and planned maintenance. If you cannot see what is happening on your floor, start with OEE tracking. If quality escapes are reaching customers, start with a process FMEA. The 2026 Advanced Manufacturing Outlook survey of 114 Canadian manufacturers found 31% say "too many choices, unsure where to start" is their biggest barrier. The free ForgeShift Compass diagnostic at forgeshiftadvisory.com/compass maps your specific operational problem to the practice and templates that solve it, benchmarked against Canadian peers.
Several Canadian programmes support manufacturers investing in digital and operational technology. The most relevant for manufacturing SMEs are NRC IRAP (Industrial Research Assistance Program), NGen (Next Generation Manufacturing Canada) consortium project funding, and SR&ED (Scientific Research and Experimental Development) tax credits. FedDev Ontario and BDC technology financing round out the landscape for Ontario-based businesses.
These programmes can often be combined — a well-structured project may recover a significant portion of implementation cost, though the right stack depends on the nature of the work and how the project is scoped.
Ask us how to structure your project for maximum funding recovery →
The cause is almost never the technology — it is the absence of a data strategy, operating model, and change management programme that can carry the pilot across business units and facilities. 82% of manufacturing executives cite data-related problems as the critical risk to their AI success, according to KPMG research. ForgeShift's enterprise transformation programme addresses all three barriers in sequence: Enablement (training, upskilling, operating model design), AI Product Development (data products, infrastructure, visualisation), and Domain-Driven Value Capture (domain roadmap, use case prioritisation, value realisation).
Book a Discovery Call to discuss your enterprise transformation →
Most engagements follow the same path. Start with ForgeShift Compass — describe your operational challenge in plain language and receive a gap analysis benchmarked against 114 Canadian manufacturers. No commitment required.
Forge Map then routes you to peer-verified solutions matched to your specific gap, sequenced by maturity and prerequisite.
From there, the path splits by challenge type. For SME operational problems — equipment downtime, OEE, quality, scaling — the Forge Sprint is a 30-day principal-led engagement: Assess (OEE benchmarking, root cause, digital readiness), Shape (roadmap, prioritisation, ROI modelling), Forge (48-hour on-site immersion, quick-win implementation), and Traction (90-day KPIs, weekly scorecards). For enterprise-scale digital and AI transformation, the Forge Transform programme follows a structured three-phase model: Enablement, AI Product Development, and Domain-Driven Value Capture.
Both engagement tracks lead into Sustain — the ongoing performance rhythm that starts on day 31.
All engagements are principal-led. You work directly with Hendrik Lojek.
Yes. For small and medium manufacturers, ForgeShift delivers pragmatic problem-solving: fixing the specific operational issue costing you the most, capturing critical knowledge before it walks out the door, and building the data foundation for future digital investment — solutions that fit your size and scale. For large enterprises, ForgeShift delivers structured AI and digital transformation: moving past pilot purgatory, building AI operating models, designing data products and infrastructure, and driving domain-driven value capture across a manufacturing network. Both engagements are principal-led by Hendrik Lojek.
Not sure where to start?
Compass is for manufacturers who want to fix what's broken before buying technology. Describe the problem you're facing — get back the practice, the gaps, and the templates to act on them today.
Open ForgeShift Compass →Ready to talk? Use the form to book a Discovery Call — expect a response within one business day.
