A Day in the Life - Hongyu Lu

Hongyu Lu

Subject Matter Expert
Operational Excellence, China

What does a typical day look like as a Subject Matter Expert in the Operational Excellence team?

Every day in the Operational Excellence team is filled with interacting with interesting people and tackling challenges. We identify the key value drivers in clients’ business, define the problem correctly, and break it down into addressable topics by integrating our structural thinking, analytical skills together with clients’ industrial know-how. This is an appealing journey to crack puzzles, and the answer is insight into clients’ business and solution to drive operational excellence.

Why did you choose a career in consulting?

I chose consulting out of two reasons. One, for personal development. Consulting is a perfect job if one is looking for a very steep developing curve. It combines analytical skills, people skills, industrial know-how together, and trains one intensively until they become part of habit. I fully agree with the claim that consulting triple times accelerates one’s learning curve compared to a “conventional” job. Secondly, the impact. I genuinely enjoy helping clients overcome complex challenges and seeing tangible results from that work. Being part of solutions that drive real change is incredibly rewarding.

Why did you join dss⁺?

Two things drew me to dss⁺.

First, its strong engineering heritage from DuPont. Unlike many consultancies that focus purely on top down strategy, dss⁺ goes a step further, we work alongside clients on the shop floor to bring solutions to life. There’s something incredibly rewarding about seeing a concept evolve from blueprint to tangible results.

Second, the opportunity to grow with the firm. While rooted in a rich history, dss⁺ as an independent consulting company is still on an exciting growth journey. It’s a place that embraces new ideas, fresh perspectives, and continuous innovation, giving you the chance to help shape the future together.

What do our values mean to you?

OTo me, dss⁺ values are rooted in a clear purpose: to transform and sustain. We stay relevant by tackling our clients’ most critical challenges and delivering solutions that create real, lasting value. That’s ultimately why we exist.

Sustaining that value is what truly sets us apart. We don’t just drive technical transformation, we embed change into management systems, build capabilities, and shape mindsets. This holistic approach ensures that improvements are not only achieved, but sustained over time. To me, that’s what differentiates dss⁺ from a purely technical provider, it’s about creating impact that lasts.