WORK

PROBLEM

• Fast-growing CPG was inconsistently monitoring and managing KPIs at self-owned manufacturing facility

• No transparency into SKU-level, run-level, line-level, and category-level KPIs

• Some KPIs calculated inaccurately and others measured inconsistently

ACTION

• Selected cascading set of manufacturing KPIs

• Wrote Excel tool to input floor-level data and output granular and summary KPI results

• Built Excel and Tableau dashboards to visualize and track KPI results

RESULT

• Increased transparency into KPI data and trends

• Improved ability to set KPI goals and monitor progress over time

• Alignment among plant team and business executives over KPI goals and results

PROBLEM

• CPG firm growing 40-60% per year

• Single-sourced self-manufacturing of primary products

• ~18 months until out of capacity existing facility

• ~24 months to build new facility -> needed to move quickly on decision, but had to get right given strategic importance and capital requirements

ACTION

• Built comprehensive demand and capacity forecast

• Initiated strategic analysis and evaluation of self-manufacturing vs. co-manufacturing

• Built cost model and implementation options for self-manufacturing

• Conducted comprehensive global search of co-manufacturers

• Negotiated initial pricing for select target co-manufacturers

• Analyzed make vs. buy decision for cost, risk, and strategic fit

RESULT

• Decided on hybrid manufacturing strategy using both a co-man and expanding existing facility

• Launched with new co-manufacturing partner for initial SKUs

• Co-man secured -> significant additional production capacity -> ability to afford downtime at self-owned facility -> able to re-build and expand production lines

• Successfully solved medium and long-term capacity needs with low risk, low CapEx solution

PROBLEM

• Aerospace OEM targeting an aggressive 15-25% cost reduction on direct material spending

• Huge scope: all programs, all commodities, all suppliers, all procured spend

• Knowledge highly siloed and sequestered; limited sharing of ideas and strategies across programs, commodities, and supplier managers

ACTION

Design Phase

• Consolidated & analyzed spend data to set priorities & goals

• Built playbook & toolkit for manufacturing, negotiation, & design levers

• Developed multi-phase global roll-out plan

• Created buy-in of goals, targets, methodology, & plan with commodity/supplier owners

Launch Phase

• Focused on initial commodity to prove strategy

• Ran idea generation workshops internally & at suppliers

• Developed business cases for project ideas; transitioned to client-owned implementation

RESULT

• Found $40M in direct material savings for initial commodity targeted during launch phase

• Program rolled out across all commodities & suppliers over 24 months, achieving cost reduction goals

PROBLEM

• Overall goal to reduce waste and improve margins at food manufacturer

• Discovered that packaging overfill was highly variable across SKUs and production lines, leading to waste of raw materials

• Reduction of average overfill % would lead to margin improvement and cost savings

ACTION

• Analyzed packaging overfill across SKUs, lines, shifts, and operators

• Determined that overfill was highly variable & there was inconsistent process to monitor & manage

• Created new standards and monitoring process

• Rolled out overfill reduction and standardization plan across plant

RESULT

• $500k in annual raw material cost savings with immediate EBITDA improvement

PROBLEM

• Stagnant manufacturing performance -> COGS too high, output unreliable

• Inconsistent and inefficient tracking and monitoring of real-time manufacturing

ACTION

• Evaluated digital manufacturing monitoring SAAS solutions

• Selected Redzone system to manage and monitor manufacturing performance, productivity and compliance

• Worked with manufacturing teams to configure system

• Developed training, launch, and roll-out plans

• Monitored performance improvement over time

RESULT

• Increased manufacturing productivity and compliance

• Reduced downtime and COGs; improved output volume and consistency

• Able to incorporate Redzone data into granular KPI and COGs reporting

PROBLEM

• Manufacturing quality not meeting targets, leading to product waste and customer complaints

• No system to measure and manage manufacturing quality over time

ACTION

• Designed system to measure, monitor, and manage manufacturing quality

• Re-wrote floor-level quality and compliance paperwork

• Built Excel tool to input floor-level data and aggregate into manufacturing quality KPIs

• Created Excel, PowerPoint, and Tableau dashboards to monitor performance

RESULT

• Improved transparency into manufacturing quality

• Reduction in customer complaints

PROBLEM

• Food manufacturer had no standardized system and process to accept, manage, track, and respond to customer complaints

• Current process was managed inconsistently and inefficiently using emails and spreadsheets

• Root causes were not being addressed in the plants

ACTION

• Determined customer complaint system requirements and process needs

• Evaluated third party SAAS solutions from multiple vendors

• Selected vendor and managed process design and system implementation

• Built SOPs and trained managers and employees on new system

RESULT

• Managed ongoing customer complaint process and SAAS system

• Improved the ability to determine and address root causes

• Reduced customer complaints over time

PROBLEM

• Industrial tool manufacturer with goal of >5% product margin improvement

• Concern that product cost not well-aligned with customer priorities

ACTION

• Developed Design to Value (DtV) program to improve product margins

• Conducted teardown analysis of client and competitor product portfolio

• Ran clean sheet analyses for highest priority products to identify cost reduction opportunities

• Conducted internal idea generation sessions & workshops

• Prototyped best opportunities -> evaluated using qualitative & quantitative customer research

• Developed business cases & implementation plans

RESULT

• Captured 4-8% margin improvement for product SKUs during initial DtV phase

• DtV process rolled out across remaining product categories

PROBLEM

• Rapid operations improvement needed at chemical company site

• Workstreams targeting OEE, maintenance, and CapEx during 30-day sprint

ACTION

• Evaluated CapEx projects using integrated safety, risk, financial, and OEE metrics

• Led workshops with client team to sort and prioritize CapEx projects

• Developed updated CapEx plan for following two years

RESULT

• Achieved 25% savings in CapEx spending compared to baseline plan

PROBLEM

• Aerospace OEM planning to launch major new aircraft program

• New programs had traditionally focused on performance targets above all; cost considerations second priority at best

• Needed to hit aggressive product cost reduction targets compared to initial estimates

• No existing process to integrate product, manufacturing, and procured cost during design phase

ACTION

• Designed and launched comprehensive Design to Value (DtV) program

• Set cost baseline and reduction targets for all aircraft sub-programs

• Created DtV toolkits, training program, and roll-out plan

• Developed KPIs and dashboards to monitor progress over time

RESULT

• Increased confidence that product cost target would be met, leading to board approval of new aircraft program