The model works. The question is whether the plant does.

Your bank ran the numbers. Your accountants confirmed the earnings. Nobody in that stack can tell you whether the sintering line will actually hit the volumes in the CIM, whether the certifications on the tin are current and transferable, or whether the “proprietary process” is proprietary — or just undocumented.

Precision manufacturing assets fail diligence questions that generalist diligence never asks.

I’ve been the operator on every side of this: ran a 1,200-person precision manufacturer as President, integrated an acquired MIM business and cut its backlog 50% in 45 days, turned a business unit from -22% to 44% EBIT, and screened acquisition targets and data rooms as a consultant.

Two things from that career matter most here. I once took over a company whose ISO certificate was window dressing — the credential on the wall, none of the discipline behind it — and spent years building the real thing underneath. I know the difference on sight, because I’ve owned both. And I’ve fixed a division whose P&L said “sales margin problem” when the floor said “uptime problem” — the losses weren’t where the statements pointed. That’s the skill diligence actually needs: not reading what the numbers say, but knowing where they’re wrong.