Business
Improvement services address performance issues in the functional areas
of Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing and Finance. The service focuses
on
improving the client's
profitability and projects can range from a corporate supply chain
strategy to a tactical cost reduction, continuous improvement and process improvement. Typically this
involves
coordinating changes to process, people/org and systems.
Clients
of this service are usually facing some of the following issues:
- A
performance issue has existed for some time, but has not been addressed
due to other priorities or a lack of skilled resources.
- A performance issue is suspected but no
one knows the exact magnitude of the problem or its root cause.
- A long term strategy is lacking to
prioritize areas of improvement.
- Some
of the improvement recommendations may be more appropriate for a
neutral third party: downsizing, outsourcing, job re-design.
- Past
improvement initiatives have hit roadblocks which prevented complete
implementation or metrics were not put in place to measure results.
We
employ a Six Sigma methodology to analyze and address the particular
business
problem and to put metrics in place to measure results. This
methodology provides a commonly understood framework with which to
coordinate the improvement efforts. It also provides stage
gates
where project sponsors are given detailed updates on the project's
progress, and where the project can be assessed and even cancelled if
it isn't meeting initial expectations.
We have experience delivering business improvement in the Supply Chain
and Finance areas:
- Customer Service
- Finance/Treasury
- Forecasting
- Inventory Management
- Maintenance
- Manufacturing
- Operations
- Order Management
- Transportation/Logistics
