Metals, Critical Materials & Manufacturing Operations

Turn your complex industrial operation into a scalable, disciplined system.

Solstice International partners with metals producers, critical materials companies, advanced manufacturers, and industrial technology suppliers to improve operations, scale production, and develop technically demanding markets.

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47.6777° N 116.7805° W COEUR D'ALENE, IDAHO

Founder & Principal

Kenneth Harrison

I am a materials engineer and manufacturing executive who has designed, built, commissioned, led, and improved factories and production systems across advanced ceramics, ultra-high-purity metals and alloys, rare-earth magnetic materials, critical materials, and precision manufacturing.

My direct operating experience spans metal refining, alloy casting, vacuum induction melting and casting, forging, rolling, powder metallurgy, high-temperature thermal processing, precision machining, coatings, and product qualification. Through Solstice, I apply that plant-level perspective to operating strategy, production scale-up, equipment reliability, capital planning, and technical-commercial market development.

Materials & Process Experience

Direct experience across demanding material systems

Operational and manufacturing leadership spanning the materials, processes, equipment, and quality systems required to move technically demanding products from development into stable production.

Metals & Alloys

Rare-earth metals and alloys, copper alloys, aluminum alloys, titanium alloys, and refractory metals.

Powder & Magnetic Materials

Rare-earth powders, sintered permanent magnets, and powder-metallurgy feedstocks.

Advanced Ceramics

Engineered ceramics, formed and sintered products, and precision ceramic components.

Coatings & Surface Finishes

Thick-film metallization, electroplating, anodizing, and ceramic plasma-spray coatings.

High-Purity Materials

High-purity materials and precision components for semiconductor manufacturing environments.

Precision Components & Machining

Precision machining, dimensional control, process qualification, and production of technically demanding finished components.

What We Do

Where Solstice helps

Metals & Critical Materials Operations

Plant leadership and operating improvement across melting, refining, casting, forming, powder processing, and high-temperature production systems.

Industrial Market Development

Technical-commercial qualification, application alignment, account development, and U.S. market-entry support for specialized industrial suppliers.

Greenfield & Brownfield Startup

Capital planning, commissioning, operational readiness, and ramp execution from equipment installation through stable production.

Operational Excellence & Operating Systems

Lean improvement, standard work, performance metrics, daily management, and accountability systems built for sustained results.

Production Scale-Up & Reliability

Capacity, maintenance, engineering, quality, and supply-chain support to increase output while protecting process stability.

P&L & Site Leadership

Interim or fractional operating leadership for plants, business units, and industrial organizations in transition.

Tools & Methods

Expertise in deploying and sustaining

Lean Six Sigma Kaizen Events 5S & Visual Management Value Stream Mapping OEE / TPM SPC & FMEA Hoshin Kanri DFSS Standardized Work Manufacturing Operating Systems (MOS)

Solstice Insights

Practical thinking for complex manufacturing operations

Perspectives on production readiness, value-stream performance, scale-up, and the operating systems required to turn technical capability into reliable finished-product output.

Production Readiness

Equipment Ready ≠ Production Ready

Commissioning proves that equipment can operate. Sustainable production also requires trained people, controlled processes, materials, quality, reliability, and leadership systems.

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Value Stream & Flow

Maximum Rate ≠ Optimum Flow

The objective is not to maximize every machine. It is to understand system demand, manage the true constraint, and rate-match the value stream from raw materials through finished goods.

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Operational Assessment

Where Is Performance Actually Being Lost?

A focused assessment identifies the few constraints, rate mismatches, and operating-system gaps that are limiting throughput—not merely a long list of observations.

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Get In Touch

Let's talk about your operation.

Available for consulting engagements across the Inland Northwest and nationwide.

520.241.6072 solsticeintlco@gmail.com linkedin.com/in/kennethrharrisonjr Coeur d'Alene, ID