Strategic Analysis
Experience includes:
Rationalising the brands and restructuring the distribution network of a brake components manufacturer as part of a strategy to become the lowest cost producer in Europe.
Facilitating the development of strategic plans for the business units of the Portuguese subsidiary of a major oil company.
Analysing the car parts aftermarket and leisure superstores in the UK for a Russian client wishing to replicate the model in Russia.
The design and delivery of a benchmarking exercise for one of the five Post Office businesses, to establish how it stood in relation to other businesses with regard to costs and services, providing an input to its future strategy.
The creation and running of training courses on strategy and marketing for a major player in the personal care market in Eastern Europe
The design and running of a workshop for a nuclear business and its stakeholders involved in entering the US market that brought the stakeholders together and identified the barriers to entry.
As part of the restructuring of the British nuclear fuels industry, developed the future strategy and style of its engineering division
Organisational Change
Experience includes:
The turnaround of a site of a pharmaceutical major that was in danger of closure, implementing a large cost reduction programme whilst increasing volumes and reducing lead times thus preventing closure and attracting new investment.
A detailed investigation of a nuclear business to stimulate it to move to towards a process of continuous improvement and learning in its organisation and cross border practices in order to gain maximum synergy from its diverse entities and activities.
The introduction of a new culture in a nuclear fuel plant that was more appropriate to its new trading conditions and in the process reducing costs.
Conducting a human resources survey in a dispersed civil engineering organisation, making recommendations as to the organisational development strategies the company should follow.
A pre-privatisation culture change programme in a region of an electrical distribution company, moving it from being budget driven to cost and profit orientation.
The introduction of a culture of continuous improvement and cost reduction in the non-core business areas of a nuclear fuels reprocessing facility to achieve substantial annual savings
Process Improvement
Experience includes:
The design, development and installation of cell working and JIT in two plants of a transformer and PCB producer, reducing work-in-progress in one area from two months to a few days.
Improving the productivity in the warehouse and order intake areas of a plastic rainwater goods producer, introducing and implementing a new organisation structure.
Transforming the Russian subsidiary of an international home and personal care business, reorganising the company around its supply chains and introducing: Sales and Operational Planning, statistically based forecasting, MRP, new warehouses, a new factory layout, lean manufacturing principles and changes in culture that resulted in line efficiency improvements of 40% and lead times reduced by 30%.
Analysing the Saudi Arabian supply chain of a global cigarette company, making recommendations regarding cost reduction and the future development of distribution in the region and at the same time breaking down the resistance to change
Mapping the Personnel Management Processes of the Russian subsidiary of an international home and personal care business enabling the development of a new organisation structure and tools to measure performance and establish resource levels.
The development and implementation of supply chain management systems and processes in a Russian packaging manufacturer so that it could compete against more expensive but higher quality imported packaging.
Analysis of the operations of a Russian supermarket chain providing a template for the re-design of its supply chain and retail outlets. The exercise was carried out when it had 36 stores but it was able to gain EBRD funding and subsequently grew to thousands of outlets.
Determining the scope for lean and six sigma practices in a large chemical plant in Frankfurt and developing a plan for rolling out the practices to its operations across the globe.
Implementing Sales and Operational Planning for a UK based business in its largest market, Nigeria, across four diverse businesses: personal care, home care, dairy products and consumer durables.
Technology Improvement
Experience includes:
The comparative analysis of spare parts order and inventory management systems for a national infrastructure owner. The analysis showed that the current system was still the best from a lifetime cost and technical and functional specification points of view. Investigation showed that the current system requirements had been poorly specified leading to inappropriate customisations and a proliferation of Excel workarounds. Poor governance, lack of a systems owner and high turnover of staff combined with poor training had resulted in a negative view of the system. A more vanilla system was recommended with minimal customisations and the introduction of new best practice processes with appropriate training and improved system governance.
In post perestroika Russia many new manufacturing businesses had grown from a few people to thousands in the space of a few years. The businesses lacked both the management skills and disciplines that would be necessary for full blown MRPII and ERP systems. Simple, entry-level spread sheet based MRP and supply chain management systems linked to the preferred 1S accounting system were designed and developed on which clients could learn the necessary disciplines and skills. These implementations provided an inexpensive learning platform to enable clients to move with confidence to more sophisticated ERP systems.
Examination of the requirements for a new Management Information System for a UK infrastructure owner showed that the existing system could meet the requirements. However, poor file structures, poor governance and lack of organisation around workflows meant that the system was used largely as a document management system and deemed not fit for purpose. A proof of concept around one of the major workflows was proposed to demonstrate its true capabilities. Remaining with the same system provided considerable savings in licensing costs.