Customized Building Systems

A post-merger integration led to the new organization experiencing significant increase in lead times, excess and obsolete inventory, late orders and dissatisfied customers. We were asked to assess the new integrated operation, end-to-end, and develop an improvement Road Map.
Surprisingly for our client, though actually quite common, 75% of the end-to-end lead time, and much of the waste, complexity and frustration was consumed by non-manufacturing activities: order processing, engineering, and planning. To help the new management team achieve swift improvements, we targeted Order Processing as the key to quickly delivering significant improvement with measurable business impact.

Our journey took us through a 6-week Phase 1, where we collaborated closely with the client’s dedicated Task force, developed and validated a Road Map, and consolidated opportunities and recommendations into a set of prioritised work streams with clear time frames, benefits, deliverables and accountability.

Conclusion

In the quest for improvement, we identified significant bottlenecks spanning the entire Value Chain, particularly in Customer Order processing, Engineering, Procurement, and the shop floor. With the Road Map approved, we launched our first initiative: quick wins to shorten lead times and clear order backlogs. The outcome was impactful —order backlog was reduced from 14 to 4 days, and the overall lead time diminished by 25% within just 3 months. Customer satisfaction increased, leading to reduced cancellations. This case study shows how targeted interventions can lead to significant improvements, increase customer satisfaction, and pave the way for future growth.