I got these companies got the results they wanted by changing they did things, creating reporting mechanisms
that showed performance to objectives, and by motivating people.
The
common thread is that they got results through changes
to their business operations.
Click on any of the links above to see an excerpt
Streamlining Business Process Enables Achieving Multiple Objectives
Immediate Benefits:
- Made revenue analysis reports available in three days from closing the books instead of fourteen, - the original objective.
- Cut HQ labour from 30 hours a week to one hour a month
- Cut divisional labour by eight person-days per quarter.
- Provided highly accurate results
Long-term benefits:
- Current and highly accurate information enabled precise channeling of marketing efforts and resources
- New sources of information enabled creating targeted programs to encourage existing customers to upgrade to newer equipment.
- Resolved a number of frictions between various functions and groups within the company.
Benefits 2 through 7 were not included in the original objective. By making better use of existing resources
instead of using additional resources, we achieved the additional benefits without compromising
the original objective.
Building Trades Contractor Doubles Gross Revenues In Eleven Months"
Redesigning internal structure, process, and controls - and by motivating key people
enabled the company
to increase bookings from $12,000,000 to $26,000,000 within 11 months.
...Preliminary discussions with the Principals about their goals, objectives and perceptions of what they faced,
showed that they realized they had a cash crunch. They were quite busy dealing with immediate day-to-day problems and
understood they needed help in defining and implementing plans to help them realize their long-term goals. Our prime
objective in this area was to free them from mundane tasks and enable them to focus on growing and the business.
Meeting with various senior staff members to discuss their perspectives and daily activities uncovered a number
of latent and unsuspected problems. Many of these problems crossed functional boundaries and exacerbated their
effects. It became quickly apparent that we needed to launch a number of synergistic operations simultaneously.
Small Electroplater improves Revenues by $77,000
Improved revenues by $77,000 and turns ongoing losses
into sustainable profit within 8 months.
While the President of this electroplater (annual revenues around $800,000) knew he had problems, their sheer
volume overwhelmed him leaving him unable to address them consistently and follow through.
Roy Sequeira helped him:
- Create a problem list:
- Defining each problem area
- Quantifying its impact on the business
- Prioritize the problem list
- Create an action plan that addressed each problem on the list
- Execute to plan
Reducing capital expenses on project by well over 90% at an ex-Soviet Electric Utility
A redesign of business process frees up nearly
$750,000, and enables a better use of labor helping
achieve ultimate company-wide objectives.
... showed that with centralized cycle billing, the existing computer equipment, augmented by an additional
$48,000 worth of new equipment could handle the billing load quite comfortably
These two steps would free up nearly three quarters of a million dollars that for the much-needed and much-desired
infrastructure upgrades.
... these proposals together with his detailed analysis of additional benefits at a meeting ...
showed how these additional benefits would greatly improve their plans for privatization.
Business modeling increased profits by $4,700,000
Increase top line by $4,900,000 for an outlay of only $200,000,
with an additional benefit of enhanced mutual cross-functional cooperation.
This is a good example of how corporate functions in trying to improve their individual effectiveness and
profitability often sub-optimize the corporate bottom line. It also shows how a good business model serving as
a decision support tool can greatly improve results.
Reengineering Business Process Increases Revenues by $4,100,000
Increase
international service revenues by $4,100,000. With virtually no increase in costs, all of this increase
flowed down to the bottom line.
... International service revenues swiftly climbed to the $16.1 M level. When customers realized how much
they had benefited in the past, adverse reaction to the corrected charges was minimal and muted.
There was no resulting contract attrition.
Since there was virtually no added overhead, all the $4.1 M in increased revenues flowed straight to the
bottom line.
Fundamental Analysis Averts Expensive Disaster
Avert a potential
expense of hundreds of millions of dollars and a customer relations disaster.
This is an excellent example of how starting from fundamentals, knowledge how various functions operate under
pressure, and the ability to integrate knowledge from different disciplines, made a significant difference to
overall corporate profitability by preventing what could have easily turned into a disaster
Business Modeling in Strategic Decision Support
Uncover serious Marketing and Service implications
that would drastically lower Service margins and adversely affect market perception of the entire product line.
The contrarian approach taken by the analysis, taking nothing for granted and challenging some of the company’s
fondest assumptions, was essential to finding the problem with this “opportunity.” There was a lot of initial resistance
to the findings, especially when some generally accepted operational assumptions were proved wrong, but the dispassionate
focus on facts carried the day.
Reorganizing Service Improves Effectiveness and Positions Company for Favorable Sale
A broad range of initiatives quickly brings situation under control, improves company effectiveness
and reduces costs, to position the company favorably for sale.
Management originally focused this assignment on correcting the technical problems exacerbated by a recent
release of a bug-ridden product. Roy was able to show them that a thorough systemic overhaul of the entire service
structure was the only way to restore customer confidence in the company and its ability to service what it sold.
Forecasting Accuracy Of Better Than 99% turns Around Declining Service Revenues
Stems declining revenues and improves sales of service contracts.
... Since local management now had a clear idea of which contracts were up for renewal, they focused their
attention on assisting their counterparts in the customer’s administration in getting renewals approved quickly. This
resulted in an immediate upturn in contract renewals thus stopping a steady decline in the contract base. They
were also able to sell additional services, which resulted in an increase in service revenues for the first time in
years.
The very first forecast was $18.3 Million for the quarter; actual performance was $18.279 Million. The company
had never been this close even in their estimates.
Managing and Sustaining Major Sales Opportunities
Increase sales and revenues by managing commitments made to prospects and
delivering product and features to their expectations.
...Now the company had the information needed to globally optimize resource allocations and schedules
against revenue expectations. Quarterly revenues were now factored into scheduling decisions as Engineering
management now had full knowledge how they affected sales for the current and upcoming quarters.
Roy had the process complete and running within 6 weeks with immediate results. By eliminating a major cause
of lost sales, the company quickly saw an increase in revenues.