Operators often arrive defensive because someone once used a P&L as a weapon. Our lab does not start with definitions. We highlight three lines they already feel: discounting, scrap, and idle hours. Then we ask which tracker in the plant is supposed to feed each line.
Usually the tracker and the finance file do not meet. That gap is the consulting problem. Teaching EBITDA vocabulary does not close it. Naming a weekly reconciliation owner sometimes does.
We keep accountants in the room if they will tolerate questions that sound naive. If they will not, the session becomes a lecture and the plant leads stop talking. We would rather have an incomplete but honest map than a polished pack nobody believes.
Numbers in this note are deliberately absent. Your mix is not our last client’s mix. The method is the walk, not a benchmark.