Editor's note: This is part one of a two-part series. In part two, former manufacturing managers will offer tips and best practices on how to transition from manufacturing to consulting.

In early 1990, when Chevron Corp. told Lonnie Wilson that he was being transferred from El Paso, Texas—where Wilson was the technical manager of a Chevron refinery—Wilson decided to retire and start his own consulting practice. For those following in his footsteps, though, Wilson recommends doing things a bit differently than he did.

“I didn’t have a desk; I didn’t have a client; I didn’t have a piece of letterhead,” Wilson recalls. “All I had was an idea of what I wanted to do, and the fact that I didn’t want to leave El Paso.”

After a 20-year career with Chevron, Wilson formed Quality Consultants in April 1990. Although the seeds of his consulting practice had been planted years before when he became smitten with the teachings of W. Edwards Deming, the move still came as a shock to his friends and colleagues.

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