Gulati head shot
Akhilesh Gulati

Principal, PIVOT Management Consultants

PIVOT Management Consultants

Akhilesh Gulati is the founder of PIVOT Management Consultants. Specializing in operational excellence, process redesign, TRIZ, and quality systems, PIVOT provides training and consulting in a variety of industries, successfully collaborating with hospitals, manufacturers, and global suppliers to drive systemic improvement and cultural transformation. Gulati also owns Akhil International, a printing and promotional products business. He holds a master’s degree in marine engineering and naval architecture from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, an MBA from UCLA, and is a Six Sigma Master Black Belt and a Balanced Scorecard Professional. You can reach him at gulati@pivotmc.com.

Thu, 11/13/2025 - 12:03
Leveraging Quality Tools Throughout the Organization Applying design of experiments to marketing
Thu, 01/15/2015 - 16:47
Design of experiments (DOE) is a term familiar to most quality professionals. Some use it on a regular basis and others try their best to avoid it. Most of those who employ this problem-solving tool have done so mainly on behalf of quality…
Limit Your Way to Innovation Determine constraints to achieve competitive advantage
Thu, 11/20/2014 - 13:13
In today’s world, it’s almost expected that product or service innovation will yield competitive advantage. So how does one innovate? One approach is to hire genius employees and to combine the attributes of a number of tools (e.g., theory of…
The Underlying Philosophy of TRIZ Been there, done that
Thu, 09/11/2014 - 10:36
An important concept within TRIZ is that someone, somewhere, has already solved your current problem. In other words, they have “been there, done that.” Or course, the problem has to be clearly stated, in a generic sense, to enable the recognition…
Effective Problem Solving Calls for Adaptable Detective Work Finding the root cause vs. treating the symptom
Tue, 08/19/2014 - 16:40
Editor’s note: This article continues the series exploring structured innovation using the TRIZ methodology, a problem solving, analysis, and forecasting tool derived from studying patterns of invention found in global patent data. The TRIZ…
Radioactive Cleanup: A Job for TRIZ Solving the problem of soil contamination at Washington Hanford Closure
Mon, 07/07/2014 - 11:55
Editor’s note: This article continues the series exploring structured innovation using the TRIZ methodology, a problem solving, analysis, and forecasting tool derived from studying patterns of invention found in global patent data. A special…
Embrace Change Resistance is futile
Mon, 06/30/2014 - 10:51
By electing President Obama in 2008, the people of the United States opted for change. In the May 2014 elections in India, the people of India opted for change by nominating N. Modi for Prime Minister after a long run by the Congress Party. The…
TRIZ for Identifying Wireless Power Transfer Solutions An example of TRIZ in real life
Wed, 05/07/2014 - 11:20
In late 2010 an R&D lab at one of the world’s largest microprocessor manufacturers was tasked with identifying solutions to improve the effectiveness of a wireless power transfer system. This article summarizes the thought process and methods…
TRIZ and Patterns of Evolution Forecasting technological development with inventive principles
Tue, 04/01/2014 - 16:45
Sean was looking forward to the MEC meeting. He'd seen a potential application for TRIZ in a medical setting and wanted to discuss this with the group. His mother had been suffering from digestive problems and had needed an endoscopy that she…
TRIZ for Developing the Flow Incorporating TRIZ into the general problem-solving methodology
Wed, 03/19/2014 - 18:02
Following last month’s meeting, Belinda, the executive council’s facilitator, contacted the group’s consultant, Henrietta, and explained that they were interested in seeing a step-by-step approach for problem solving with TRIZ, something akin to…
TRIZ and Lean Lean helps us recognize nonvalue-adding activities; TRIZ helps us avoid them
Tue, 02/11/2014 - 09:41
Editor’s note: This article continues the series exploring structured innovation using the TRIZ methodology, a problem solving, analysis, and forecasting tool derived from studying patterns of invention found in global patent data. Belinda started…