We apply our process improvement knowledge in many areas...
Lean Manufacturing and Lean Six Sigma
Most companies do several things well, but typically there are a few things that prevent the company from flourishing. For instance, how can a competitor manufacture a similar product at half the cost? Why are there so many defective products and late deliveries? Why does it take four months to collect accounts receivables? Why are incidents repeated? These management system failures often occupy too much time and attention, and left unchecked can cause a business to fail. We will help you identify these problems, and then we’ll work with you and your staff to develop and implement solutions.
Safety and Process Safety
Poor safety performance will rapidly lead to poor performance. Safety issues are expensive, they lead to low moral, and worst of all, on-the-job injuries can devastate employees and their families. Every workplace injury is preventable, and every incident is due to a failure of one or more management systems. Don't blame the employee, fix your management systems. We will help senior managers communicate their commitment to improving safety, and we will help client teams develop or improve management systems which will help the company prevent future incidents.
Operational Due Diligence
We'll help you reach your EBITDA goals faster. Private Equity firms are generally expert at the finance involved in a deal and they're also quite adept at analyzing a company's strategy and market position. However, not everything shows up in the numbers. Without boots on the ground, you can't see the hidden opportunities. How much inefficiency and waste is still in the operation? How much are safety issues really costing the firm? What is the true cost of allowing the equipment to become obsolete? Did they use substandard parts and labor in their construction projects? How much can be saved by switching to lean manufacturing? We will visit the asset and help you identify the hidden costs. After the purchase, we can help fix these problems and provide a significant boost to the IRR of the investment.
Leadership & Executive Coaching
We’ve all heard the proverb, “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” It sounds lovely, but it’s incomplete. Instead of teaching someone to fish, what if we help this future leader see the problem in a new light? What if instead of becoming a fisherman, this future leader can identify the skills needed to feed the entire village? A good mentor will help you become a good fisherman. A good coach will help you see all the other possibilities beyond just feeding yourself. And when you solve the problems yourself, the solutions are usually better and become “hard-wired”, leading to even greater success.
Strategy
Business owners are creative and recognize opportunities that others just don’t see. But which ones make sense? Which ones should we skip? Which ones are the most profitable? Who else is pursuing the market niche, and will they do it better, cheaper or faster? What are the opportunity costs? Does the new opportunity fit the firm’s mission and strategy? Does the strategy even exist? All successful firms have a clear idea of want it wants to be and how it will get there. Senior executives and business owners are often overwhelmed with the day-to-day activities of managing a business and often have trouble stepping away to think through long term issues and opportunities. We will help you sort through all the clutter, evaluate your options and develop a clear, focused strategy.