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9.28.15
What are the Issues?
- Customer requirements not understood, not documented
- Our manufacturing capabilities are inconsistent
- Product development time is too short
- Maintenance & operations don't have the capabilities to support the new products
New Services
Design of new products
Design of new services
Surveys
Mapping voice of customer to attributes
What are the Issues?
- No standard format for receipt of customer orders
- Quoting = research project
- We enter the order into 4 different systems
- Customers cannot view the status of their order
Custom Order
Pricing
Credit approval
Sales quotation
Apply discounts
Receive order / EDI (non EDI)
Order entry
Order Verification
Reporting
What are the Issues?
- The forecast is (really) wrong. 35% accuracy on a good day
- Schedule break-ins are the norm
- Wrong inventory types and amounts on hand
- Batch sizes are too large
Scheduling
Forecasting
Convert order to work order
Validate product configuration
Verify / order stock raw materials
Schedule operations
Analysis & processing
Reporting
What are the Issues?
- We don't have enough capacity - we don't have the right capacity
- We use 42 shades of white
- BOM errors are not corrected which cause recurring problems
- Our equipment is down .... again
Design
Order review
Product / service specifications
Customization / substitutes
Modify / review BOM
Costing
Reporting
What are the Issues?
- Travel distances in manufacturing are .... not short
- We reward firefighters - the very behavior we are trying to prevent
- The front office is consuming 80% of our promised lead time
- Our scheduling process is a shamble
Manufacturing
Schedule equipment
Coordinate staffing
Plan materials
Change overs
Production / order fulfillment
Reporting
What are the Issues?
- Running equipment to failure
- Rewarding reactive fire fighting
- 85% of failures are random and not directly cycle related
- Data collection is very poor
- Maintenance is under manned and under trained
Maintenance
Planned maintenance
Breakdown maintenance
Data analysis
New equipment installation
Systems engineering
What are the Issues?
- Little transparency / confidence to when customer orders will ship
- Expediting is the normal mode of business
- Inventory $'s are too high - and at the same time service levels are too low
- We have 100's of suppliers - our network is simply too large
Logistics
Verify shipping details
Shipping
Warehousing
Delivery
Reporting
What are the Issues?
- Month end close takes too long
- Needless reporting, reporting (did I mention reporting)
- Duplicate invoices / payment errors are the norm
- Standard pricing is incorrect and deeply flawed
Accounting
Reporting
Process A/P
Process A/R
Matching / reconciliation
Dispute / deductions
Bad debt / write-offs
Receipts
What are the Issues?
- Issue # 1 customers waiting
- Customer requirements not understood, not documented
- Our manufacturing capabilities are inconsistent
- Product development time is too short
- We don't measure product/service like our customers
New Services
Design of new products
Design of new services
Surveys
Mapping voice of customer to attributes
What are the Issues?
- No standard format for receipt of customer orders
- Quoting = research project
- We enter the order into 4 different systems
- Customers cannot view the status of their order
- Time and cost estimates are .... wrong
Custom Order
Pricing
Credit approval
Sales quotation
Apply discounts
Receive order / EDI (non EDI)
Order entry
Order Verification
Reporting
What are the Issues?
- Workloads across team members are not balanced
- Expedite is the norm, not the exception
- Information is not available
- Reporting metrics describe the symptoms, not the root cause of our obstacles
Scheduling
Forecasting
Convert order to work order
Validate product configuration
Verify / order stock raw materials
Schedule design/programming
Analysis & processing
Reporting
What are the Issues?
- Customers keep on making changes to specification
- Customer requirements not defined
- Design won't ever release the project
- We don't charge our customers enough for change requests
Design
Order review
Product / service specifications
Customization / substitutes
Modify / review BOM
Costing
Reporting
What are the Issues?
- Duplicate entry into multiple systems
- Receipt of information from customer incomplete, includes errors
- Email. Email. Email. (Don't we need a process?)
Order Processing
Order verification
Order entry
Pricing
Proof approval
Forecasting
Convert order to work order
Validate product configuration
What are the Issues?
- No visibility of project status
- Delays waiting on the customer
- No standardized / consistent means to share information with our customers
- Redundant / duplicate file attachments
Customer Review
Review / approve artwork
Review / approve design
Provide additional information
Sign proofs
Notary
What are the Issues?
- File sizes are too large
- File formats have not been standardized
- Font library discrepancies
- Lost / duplicate / out of revision files
Transfer Files
Send / submit artwork
Send / submit designs
Send / submit drawings
Send / submit software code
What are the Issues?
- Month end close takes too long
- Needless reporting, reporting (did I mention reporting)
- Duplicate invoices / payment errors are the norm
- Standard pricing is incorrect and deeply flawed
Accounting
Reporting
Process A/P
Process A/R
Matching / reconciliation
Dispute / deductions
Bad debt / write-offs
Receipts
Is your "Order to Cash" process building or destroying capital?
From the moment an order arrives, the clock starts ticking. Speed is the key to success—deliver faster, and your profits soar. But the biggest obstacles to speed are delays, inefficiencies, inconsistencies, quality issues, and team miscommunication. Every organization has the potential to unlock massive gains by optimizing their processes. Those who act seize a powerful advantage, leaving competitors behind. Those who don’t? They’ll face the same persistent challenges, year after year, until they fall behind.
At The Guthrie Group, Inc., we’re here to change that. Whether you need a full-scale order-to-cash process overhaul, targeted solutions for specific issues, or training to cultivate a team of problem-solvers, we have you covered. Discover how we can transform your business. Connect with a consultant today and take the first step toward a faster, more efficient future.
Is your business process full of detours and delays?
- Difficulty breaking the status quo culture?
- Difficulty sustaining improvements?
- Lack of desire to see new approaches to old?
- A desire to see quick results?
Size the Prize
Here are some real results from TGG engagements.
Select your industry to see results.
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Manufacturing
- 300% Productivity improvement in throughput. Resulted in in-sourcing products back from China.
- 75% Lead time reduction in time to process quotes.
- $ 750K Medical device inventory reduction using runner, repeater, stranger analysis.
-
Service
- 75% Lead time reduction in home owner mortgage approvals.
- 50% Reduction in errors and lead time in on-boarding new EDI customers.
- 1,000 Reduction of computer screen selections available to users. 1 Week Kaizen event.
TGG uses best-in-class Six Sigma methodologies to help organizations address process issues.
Quite simply one of the most talented and engaging teachers/mentors I’ve had the pleasure of working with in my career. His knowledge and vast experience in lean application to transactional and manufacturing processes is rivaled only by his innate ability to draw the best out of every team member and create a truly participative and high performing team.
I have gone through many training sessions over the years, this was one of the best presented one I have ever done. Very engaging instructor. Impressed with their knowledge and ability to teach on our level.
Very well-spoken, energetic, and charismatic instructor. He is an obvious master of his craft and absolutely the most knowledgeable subject matter expert in Lean 6 Sigma that I have ever encountered. It made me think in a different way. We need to much more proactive and less reactive.
I have not seen such positive changes inside this plant in my 27 years with the company. Your group has helped us with tremendous change; I thank you and applaud your group. Your team is excellent, what they have done here with our people has given them new life and direction.
TGG has done a fantastic job of helping both my current company and my past employer implement a world class continuous improvement process. Not only are they an expert in Lean and Six Sigma but the have the communication and training skills to quickly develop others.
Projects We’ve Done:
- New Hire On-boarding Process Kaizen
- Customer Pricing Event
- Injection Mold PM SMED Event
- 3P Layout Project
- Returned Mail Reduction Kaizen
- Equipment Reliability (3) Year Strategic Planning
- Supply Chain Mapping of Roll Stock
- Orange Juice Processing Value Stream Map
- Lean Office Transactional Cell
- SKU Rationalization Project
- Block Schedule Run Strategy
- WaterJet RCFA Project
- Policy Deployment Strategic Planning Session
- ACH Payment Reconciliation Mapping Project
- Dust Handling TPM Event
- Ideal working capital project
- Medical device Kanban supermarket
- On time departure SMED for trains
- OEE A3 reporting calculator
- Print press ink cart TPM
- Daily management for tier 1 meetings
- 3P fixture development
- Quote sheet Kaizen
- Lean green belt training
- RCFA project laminator down time
- RME / RMA approval process
- Paper machine cutting pattern optimization model
- Peanut butter scrap reduction
- Master black belt training
- Plant manager Lean training
- Web portal transactional Kaizen
- Debt consolidation process
- P&L sensitivity calculator
- Railroad VSM
- Lean accounting box scores
View All
Industries We’ve Helped:
- Aerospace
- Automotive
- Banking
- Chemicals
- Construction
- Consumer Apparel
- Electronics
- Food & Beverage
- Furniture
- Household Products
- Healthcare
- Insurance
- Oil & Gas
- Pharmaceuticals
- Printing
- Plastics
- Pulp & Paper
- Tape & Adhesives
- Travel & Tourism
- Warehouse & Logistics
Class is in session:
Learn firsthand how to build a more profitable business the TGG way.
Blog
Define your Problem Statement.
The first step towards breaking your organizational log jams is identifying and verbalizing the challenge you're facing. What are you trying to solve? This simple Problem Statement exercise can have profound implications for your team. It helps you define the issue and gives TGG some sense of where the soft spots could be in your Order to Cash process. We invite you to take a few moments to fill out this form. A TGG consultant will contact you shortly to discuss your Problem Statement and provide some insight on how we may be able to help.
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