Process Review - Whole business

A well-established high-volume subcontract manufacturer of metal components (T/O ~ £ 6M) had grow slowly since its formation 15 years ago. Over the last 5 years the rate of growth had accelerated dramatically and it had diversified via the purchase of an unrelated product-line from another company. The systems and processes that had evolved during the slow growth period were unable to cope with the new situation and major quality and supply issues were beginning to emerge.

We were given the task of doing a complete audit of all of the Company's processes from forecasting through to delivery logistics. To deal with such a broad scope we adopted an approach based on "iterative scoping", that carried out a fast, top-level review, which was followed by in-depth "drill-down" studies in specific areas (reviewed and agreed with the Client, as part of the process).

The report provided a detailed assessment of all of the critical processes, and our detailed analysis revealed that a few fundamental issues which were responsible for the large (and increasing) number of problems. Pragmatic and detailed improvement recommendations where given covering a range of areas including sales order forecasting, stock control, design and information control and production scheduling. 

• Quick, minimal disruption 
• Iterative approach 
• All aspects considered 
• Key issues found 
• Pragmatic recommendations