Solutions consultancy: understanding your process is key

Nobody is better qualified to explain the way you run your process than you. It may be due to specific internal procedures and practices in place for many years, to local egislation, or so many other factors. But in the end, who really knows how your processes run, if not you?

Management teams often don’t have a clear view of the way plants and processes actually run. To address this issue, our business process consultancy (BPC) methodology documents the actual in-plant situation by using information obtained from operating teams in your plant in the areas of production, IT, maintenance, etc. Based on this input, our BPC team applies an active approach during workshops, with the entire process covered under a non-disclosure agreement.

Based on our previous years of workshops and experience, we have found that it is an eye opener for our customers to see how much transparency can be achieved for process improvement by improving the flow of real status information as provided by operations personnel.

The outcome is progressive recommendations jointly created with your plant personnel. Due to this co-creation process, we often find acceptance significantly improved, as opposed to just providing recommendations by an external consultant. Syndromes like “not invented here” or “it does not fit to our culture” don’t arise to hinder the process. The result is changes come from within, which are proven to have a higher acceptance rate.

Finally, financial considerations are very important because each improvement must pay for itself. Some improvements provide quick return, while others cost more and take longer to provide too much ROI. Grabbing some low-hanging fruit delivers early wins and builds patience for longer-term implementations, with the process transparent for all stakeholders.