Press and advance copies
Everything you need to write about the book.
For review copies, interviews, excerpt permissions and speaking enquiries: hello@theflowequationbook.com. Gustavo Valente is available for interviews in English and Portuguese.
The book
The Flow Equation: How Small Operational Gains Multiply Profit
By Gustavo José Valente · Coming in late summer 2026 · English and Portuguese editions
Portuguese title: Aritmética do Fluxo: a engenharia invisível que multiplica resultados
Publisher, ISBN, formats and price are being finalised and will be posted here. Advance reading copies are available now on request.
In one paragraph
Companies keep doing more and getting less. The Flow Equation argues that results are not produced by resources but by flow, the work that actually crosses a system and comes out finished, and that every operation is governed by a single constraint that decides its pace. Working through fifteen everyday scenes, from a herd crossing a gate to a barrel with one short stave, the book shows why a 25% improvement at the right point can multiply profit several times over, while the same effort spent anywhere else produces nothing at all.
Story angles
· AI is helping companies do more, faster. If the constraint has not moved, technology only accelerates the congestion.
· The hidden reason growth stops converting into profit in mid-sized companies.
· Why the busiest company in an industry is often the slowest.
· What an aerospace engineer learned about delay that applies to every business.
· The arithmetic behind a 25% operational gain that turns $5,000 into $17,500.
The arithmetic outside the book
Client names are withheld, in the book and here, but the figures are real.
· In a metal finishing operation, 26% more throughput became more than $5 million a year in additional sales, with no new equipment and no additional people.
· In a vehicle upfitting manufacturer, throughput roughly tripled, on-time delivery rose above 95%, and cycle time fell by about half.
· In an industrial products company, project durations fell by roughly half.
Further detail, and introductions to clients willing to speak on the record, are available on request.
About the author
Short bio. Gustavo José Valente is an engineer and the founder of Plan4flow, a consultancy that helps leadership teams find what limits performance. He spent more than three decades in aerospace and manufacturing at Embraer and Bombardier, and is a member of TOCICO. He lives in Vaughan, Ontario.
Long bio. Gustavo José Valente is an engineer and the founder of Plan4flow, a consultancy dedicated to aligning leadership and accelerating results through flow. Over more than three decades in aerospace and manufacturing, at Embraer and Bombardier, he led programs and engineering teams in highly complex environments, where late delivery is measured in years and the cost of delay is visible to everyone. As a consultant he has helped organizations multiply throughput, cut lead times in half, and raise on-time delivery above 95%, generally without adding people or equipment. He is a member of TOCICO and was credentialed as a Professional Engineer of Ontario. He was born in Brazil and lives in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada.
Downloads
Download the complete press kit, with everything below plus bios, fact sheet and story angles as text.
Cover, high resolution
Author portrait, colour, high resolution
The herd and the gate, the book’s signature illustration
All images may be reproduced in coverage of the book, with credit to Gustavo Valente / Plan4flow.
About the illustrations
Some illustrations in the book and on this site were produced with the help of image generation tools, from the author’s own metaphors and direction.
Read before you write
The fifteen laws, the complete argument in fifteen lines. The one-page constraint finder. A full sample chapter is available on request.