Griffin McGuire

Setpoint Advisors exists because the gap between consulting theory and operational reality is large — and expensive. Most small manufacturers don't need a firm with a polished methodology deck. They need someone who has stood on a production floor, managed a shop end-to-end, and understands what the regulations actually require at the point of execution.

Before launching this firm, Griffin McGuire owned and operated Residential Metals, a custom metal fabrication business, for nearly three years — managing production, quality assurance, materials procurement, logistics, vendor and client relationships from the ground up. Before that, he worked as a fabricator and passivation specialist performing GMAW, FCAW, and GTAW on stainless steel for pharmaceutical and food production clients in highly regulated environments, and as a production welder fabricating aluminum and steel assemblies.

That combination — regulated industry fabrication, business ownership, and now consulting — produces a different kind of advisor. One who can read a welding code and also explain why experienced welders ignore the parts written by people who have never held a stinger. One who can develop an SOP that people will actually follow, because it's written the way the work actually happens.

In parallel with operations consulting, Setpoint Advisors provides assessment development and SME services for eLearning platforms, publishers, certification bodies, and academic programs. The same floor experience that informs every consulting engagement also informs every assessment question — because the best assessments are written by people who have done the work. Active engagement with trade programs across Western New York from Buffalo to Rochester keeps the content connected to how training actually happens.

Setpoint Advisors is based in Western New York and serves clients locally and remotely across the United States.

Certifications

  • CAWI — Certified Associate Welding Inspector (AWS)
  • Actively pursuing full CWI certification

Professional Experience

  • Founder & Operator — Residential Metals (Custom Fabrication, ~3 years)
  • Fabricator & Passivation Specialist — Pharma & Food Grade Stainless Steel
  • Production Welder — Aluminum & Steel GMAW Fabrication
  • GMAW, FCAW, and GTAW process experience
  • Manufacturing process automation
  • Logistics and expediting operations

Education & Training

  • AWS CWI Examination Seminar — AWS D1.1 & API 1104
  • Erie 1 BOCES — Welding Technology Program
  • St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute, Buffalo NY — NYS Regents Diploma

Assessment & Curriculum Work

  • Full exam review and difficulty rebalancing — eLearning platforms
  • Original item writing: questions, rationales, distractors, and illustrations
  • Curriculum alignment to AWS SENSE, NCCER, and OSHA standards
  • Hands-on engagement with trade students across Western New York
  • Domains: Welding, CNC, Robotics, Electronics, Metallurgy, Construction, Project Management

Community & Professional

  • Chairman, Membership Committee — AWS Niagara Frontier Section, District 6
  • AWS Youth Leadership Summit Participant
  • Weld-Off Judge — AWS Niagara Frontier Section (2nd consecutive year, 2026)

The Setpoint Approach

🔧

Field-Level, Not Theoretical

Every recommendation is grounded in how work actually gets done — not how it looks in a textbook. Clients who have been burned by consultants who don't understand their environment notice the difference immediately. The same applies to training content: assessments written by practitioners test what actually matters on the job.

Deliverables That Get Used

An SOP nobody reads is worthless. A training assessment that doesn't reflect real work is useless. Documents and content are written for the people who use them — appropriate language, correct sequence, specific enough to be actionable. The goal is adoption, not documentation for its own sake.

AI-Augmented, Expert-Verified

Setpoint Advisors uses AI tools to deliver faster, more thorough research and documentation than traditional consulting workflows allow — while applying real operational judgment to every output. The same tools accelerate assessment development without sacrificing technical accuracy. Speed without sacrificing quality.

Work with someone who has been there.

Operations consulting for manufacturers. Assessment development for training organizations. Both built on real industrial experience.

Get in Touch