Q & O Consulting

What Q & O Consulting does

Q & O Consulting S.r.l. is a privately held Italian management consultancy founded in 1996 by Claudio Curcio (formerly a director at Datalogic) and headquartered in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The firm specialises in Lean manufacturing, operational excellence, digital transformation, supply chain optimisation, and change management, primarily serving Italian manufacturing companies and family-owned SMEs (PMI), with a focus on the Emilia-Romagna industrial belt. Core service lines include Business Development consulting, Digital Transformation consulting, Product Innovation consulting, Supply Chain Excellence, and Production Optimisation, delivered as on-site project-based engagements.

The firm monetises through three streams: professional services (consulting mandates and training/workshops), licensing of proprietary digital platforms (EASY-PLUS for data collection and diagnostics, SYNKRO for supply chain management, Asaichi for visual management), and experiential training via the Q&O Serious Games portfolio (five simulation products). Its core intellectual property is the change&coach® registered methodology, which combines organisational change management with people coaching, supported by an ecosystem of sister entities (Easy-Plus, Lean Company). The firm is ISO 9001:2015 certified and has completed 878 projects for 580+ clients over 30 years.

The customer base includes named accounts such as SMEG, De Nigris (EUR 25M→100M revenue growth case study), COESIA, E80-GROUP, Lesaffre, and others, with documented outcomes including a multi-fold revenue increase for De Nigris without external acquisition, and complete business transformation to industrial model with ISO certification for 76 Industrial Graphics. Distribution is direct field sales with no channel intermediaries; marketing is conducted via LinkedIn, blog content, email newsletters, and hosted events such as the Digital Leap conference at Tecnopolo di Reggio Emilia. The firm is currently undergoing a generational leadership transition, with Giorgia Curcio (founder's daughter) taking operational leadership alongside the hire of an ex-Amazon Business Developer, Sebastiano Dal Ben.

Name

Q & O Consulting

Legal name

Q&O Consulting S.r.l.

Website

https://qeoconsulting.it

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Q & O Consulting is an Italian Lean manufacturing and digital transformation consultancy founded in 1996 in Reggio Emilia, serving Italian manufacturers and family-owned SMEs through on-site consulting, proprietary change&coach® methodology, and licensed digital platforms (EASY-PLUS, SYNKRO, Asaichi).

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Reggio Nell'emilia

HQ country

Italy

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Management Consulting Services: Project-based consulting engagements for business development, digital transformation, production optimization, and supply chain excellence. Services delivered on-site at client locations across Italy.
2. Training and Workshops: Catalog courses, workshops, and Q&O Serious Games - experiential training simulations that teach Lean principles and supply chain management through interactive exercises.
3. Software and Platform Licensing: Licensing of proprietary platforms including EASY for digital data collection, SYNKRO for supply chain management, and Asaichi software for visual management.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Q&O Consulting provides strategic management consulting, digital transformation, supply chain optimization, and production efficiency services to Italian manufacturing and industrial companies. The firm sells project-based consulting engagements, proprietary digital platforms (EASY-PLUS, SYNKRO), and experiential training programs (Q&O Serious Games) combining Lean methodologies with proprietary frameworks such as change&coach® and Data-eMotion.

Product overview

Q&O Consulting offers a portfolio of proprietary consulting methodologies and digital platforms alongside traditional consulting services. The core methodology is change&coach®, which combines organizational change management with personal coaching. Digital offerings include the EASY-PLUS platform for data collection/analysis and the SYNKRO supply chain management platform. The company also offers experiential training through Q&O Serious Games, which includes five distinct simulation games (Il Gioco della Birra, Esercitazione 5S, Bollino Perfetto, L'officina degli aeroplanini, La Prova dei Lotti). Consulting services span Business Development, Digital Transformation, Product Innovation, Supply Chain Excellence, and Production Optimization. The Data-eMotion methodology integrates data analysis with process expertise for operational excellence.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• change&coach®: The proprietary methodology combining process change (Change) with coaching support for people (Coach) to help organizations navigate transformation.
• EASY
• Easy-Plus
• QEO Serious Games
• Digital Leap
• SYNKRO

Products and services

• Business Development Consulting Strategic consulting service including Business Modelling, Change Management, and Performance Improvement for Italian manufacturing and industrial companies.
• Digital Transformation Consulting Digital transformation consulting service including Software Implementation, Digital Transformation Tools, and Software Modelling for manufacturing companies.
• Product Innovation Consulting Consulting focused on product innovation and R&D optimization for manufacturing companies.
• Supply Chain Excellence Consulting Supply chain optimization and management consulting services for manufacturing and industrial companies.
• Production Optimization Consulting Manufacturing and production efficiency optimization consulting services applying Lean methodologies.
• change&coach® Methodology Proprietary consulting methodology combining organizational change management (Change) with personal coaching support (Coach) to help companies navigate transformation while supporting people through the process. Available as a documented book.
• EASY-PLUS Digital Platform Digital platform designed to support companies in their digitalization journey, integrating data collection, analysis, and visualization tools with consulting methodology.
• SYNKRO Supply Chain Platform Supply chain management platform that optimizes information flows between companies and suppliers, handling order management, delivery confirmations, document exchange, real-time KPI sharing, and reporting.
• Q&O Serious Games Interactive experiential training simulations that transform Lean theory and Supply Chain management into concrete skills for teams. Includes five simulation games (Il Gioco della Birra, Esercitazione 5S, Bollino Perfetto, L'officina degli aeroplanini, La Prova dei Lotti).
• Training Courses and Workshops Catalog courses, workshops, and Q&O Serious Games training sessions offered at client sites or at the Tecnopolo di Reggio Emilia venue.

Quantifiable outcome

• De Nigris: Revenue increased from 25 to 100 million euros without external acquisition
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Easy-PluscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEasy-Plus is a sister company/sister platform within the Q&O Consulting ecosystem. It is a digital platform supporting companies in their digitalization journey through data collection, advanced diagnostics, and intervention design/control. Part of the integrated ecosystem combining digital solutions, process optimization, and human capital development.
• Lean CompanycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLean Company is a sister company within the Q&O Consulting ecosystem specializing in Lean methodology software tools including Asaichi for visual management and SYNKRO for supply chain management. Part of the integrated ecosystem offering comprehensive operational excellence solutions.
• change&coach®coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegistered trademark and methodology developed by Q&O Consulting. The brand represents the combination of Change (organizational transformation) and Coach (people support), forming the foundation of Q&O's consulting approach. Available as a book documenting the methodology.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• KPMG Advisory: KPMG's Operations and Supply Chain advisory practice targets European industrial clients with transformation consulting comparable to Q&O's Lean and supply chain offerings, though at much larger scale and with broader technology integration.
• McKinsey & Company: McKinsey's Operations Practice and Manufacturing-focused engagements overlap Q&O's strategic and operational transformation work; their scale and brand access multinational clients Q&O cannot serve.
• Accenture: Accenture is the global incumbent with large operations consulting, digital transformation, and supply chain practices that compete for Italian manufacturing transformation mandates overlapping Q&O's Lean, supply chain, and digital service lines.
• Bain & Company: Bain's Operations and Performance Improvement practices serve global industrial clients with comparable process excellence and supply chain repositioning mandates that overlap Q&O's core delivery.
• Deloitte Consulting: Deloitte's Operations Transformation and Supply Chain practices bundle Lean and digital advisory with enterprise systems implementations, competing head-to-head with Q&O for Italian industrial transformation mandates.

Regional players

• Reply S.p.A. Reply is an Italian digital transformation and consulting group that combines technology expertise with industry-focused advisory for manufacturing and supply chain clients, comparable to Q&O's Digital Transformation and supply chain platform businesses in the Italian market.
• Bip (Business Integration Partners): Bip is a large Italian management and digital consulting firm serving Italian enterprises with operations, transformation, and technology advisory — comparable to Q&O as a domestic competitor targeting Italian corporates, though at significantly greater scale and breadth.

Others

• Lean Enterprise Institute: Lean Enterprise Institute is the global nonprofit that originated the Lean methodology body of knowledge underpinning Q&O's change&coach® and Lean delivery; it shapes the broader training and certification ecosystem in which Q&O competes as a licensed practitioner.

Direct peers

• Value Chain Group (VCG): Value Chain Group is an operations and supply chain management consultancy focused on demand-driven planning and Lean transformations for manufacturers, closely mirroring Q&O's supply chain excellence and lean operations consulting offerings.
• TBM Consulting Group: TBM Consulting Group is a global operations and Lean transformation consultancy that helps manufacturers eliminate waste, improve supply chains, and build continuous-improvement cultures — directly comparable to Q&O's Lean Manufacturing, Supply Chain Excellence, and Production Optimization service lines.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/q&oconsulting-srl/?originalSubdomain=it
• Xx.com/qeoconsulting
• Facebookfacebook.com/QeOconsulting

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Q & O Consulting