CHALLENGE
Organize the company in the process of expansion, define and fill new business functions, describe business processes and find and implement the best digital solutions for business support (ERP and CRM).
OUTCOME
After a thorough analysis, an organization and growth strategy has been developed and implemented. New departments were established, staff were employed in the right functions, work processes were optimized, digital solutions (ERP and CRM) were implemented and support was provided in setting up the local IT infrastructure.
Task and limitations
The processor of polyurethane products and semi-products needed help in organizing his company, and as he himself said – he didn’t even know where to start due to his overwhelming obligations. The company was financially stable, and in addition to its established product brand, he also did a lot of lohn-jobs for well-known foreign brands. As the amount of work grew, he decided to expand to a new hall and buy 2 new machines. In addition to the problem with the lack of employees, he also struggled with the logistical organization of the warehouse.
The given limitations were, among other things, to keep costs as low as possible and to find digital solutions that would be adapted to the specific needs of the business.
Solution
At first it was clear that the big problem is that the company depends on one person – the owner and the director – and in this sense the independence of the company had to be ensured. In order to enable the scaling of the company, it was important to lay a better internal organization and foundations for expansion, introduce new work methods and raise current work productivity.
The first necessary step was a detailed analysis of the company’s past operations. Such an analysis contains all aspects of the company’s work – financial indicators, operational processes, methods, organizational development, human resources. It was only after a thorough analysis that the development of the strategy and the strategy implementation plans could be started. That first phase of the project – analysis and report preparation, lasted almost 2 months, and took place in the office and in the field, in the company’s facilities.
The developed strategic plans were adapted in such a way that they did not interfere with the current operations and were adjusted according to the defined guidelines every 3 months.
With optimized processes and work organization, it turned out that there is actually no need to employ more workers in production, as our client initially thought. There was a greater need for employment in the “auxiliary” activities of the company, namely sales, procurement and HR. We helped introduce new business functions and define their work tasks, which, among other things, significantly relieved the client.
After analyzing business processes, it was possible to choose the optimal ERP solution (enterprise resource management), which significantly increased productivity and solved problems with warehouse organization. Although skeptical at first, the client agreed to implement CRM (customer relationship management), which he was extremely satisfied with in the end. Unnecessary duplication of data was avoided, measurable parameters and insights related to customers and suppliers were enabled, and everyone could more easily take over work when needed.
At first, the client started with the assumption that he definitely needed more workers in production, while he considered “office” jobs to be a significantly lower priority. In the end, it turned out that a well-organized production can function with fewer workers, and only with good organization, clearly defined tasks and the use of well-adapted ERP.
We also helped the client with setting up the local IT infrastructure necessary for connecting different devices and transferring and storing data.
OUR SERVICES
Result
The entire project lasted approximately 12 months. The client was aware that this process can be financially intensive, but according to current indicators (6 months after implementation), the financial value will increase significantly ( >5X ), so the return on investment is unquestionable.
We helped the client with:
- more efficient internal organization
- increased productivity in production
- digitalization of necessary business parts
- laying the foundations for the expansion of the company
- strategic direction for further development
In addition to finances, the client was extremely satisfied with the organization of new departments that are necessary for stable growth and further business expansion. They also enable the company to be independent, since most of these tasks were performed by himself, which was by no means sustainable in the long term.
The plan is to prepare for strengthening and stabilization of the client’s own brand. Although it is already present in some markets, it still does not have sufficient visibility and recognition, and the competition in that industrial segment is quite strong. For a larger market share, product diversification will be necessary, and we are already considering the development of some new product lines.