Costs associated with conversion need to be lower than the perceived value added. Q Ultima enables cost reduction program by improving the effectiveness of resources used.
Working together as team to achieve outstanding results
Cost & Efficiency Improvements
What is Cost & Efficiency Improvement?
Identifying opportunities of improving processing costs and optimizing their usage is referred to as cost and efficiency improvement. Organizations lose market share or margin due to inability to continuously reduce cost. Cost can be reduced by
- Continuous monitoring of cost structure and reducing the biggest driver
- Reducing wastes and improving efficiencies of operations
- Product redesigning by achieving same performance at more cost effective
Why cost and Efficiency Improvements?
Today in the world of “Quality is given”, the cost has become biggest business driver. The profit is calculated as cost of production of competitor minus cost of production of the organization. In this fierce competition special focus on cost can lead to huge organizational success.
If you are the lowest cost producer, you are definitely the leader in the Industry. What are you waiting for?
How to drive Cost & Efficiency Program in your company?
Since 2005, Q Ultima’s manufacturing experts have helped clients align their operations in most efficient way. The goal is simple, increasing revenue and margins. This may translate into smaller goals to reduce costs, increase productivity, reduce wastes, improve cost effectiveness etc., Q Ultima has been there to help its clients build continuous success using its unique methodology of cost reduction. Working closely with clients every at each step, our consultants and expert trainers follow a step-by-step business improvement process detailed as follows:
Through to well defined program of Q Ultima enables initiation by development and deployment of initiative, and ends with goal realization and handover for internal management.
Our Cost & Efficiency Program Deployment process is demonstrated below. This process is designed to deliver tangible results in the shortest possible timeframe as well as to “in-source” capability within the organization to be able to take over, drive and expand the initiative independently without Q Ultima support.
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Diagnose
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Strategize
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Plan
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Train
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Results
Q Ultima customizes it’s framework to suit organizations’ vision and objectives for problem solving through Cost & Efficiency Program, their current state of readiness and their culture. Through various interventions as shown below, Q Ultima is able to work with client organizations and deliver results-
- Diagnose, what will enable and what are potential road blocks in the organization for Deployment of cost and efficiency program.
- Enable cost consciousness for organization and developing organization wide understanding for same. This is achieved through executive awareness sessions, one-on-one meetings with the senior management team and planning sessions.
- Establishing cost structure review and understanding consumption and price deviation impacts. Understand ideal efficiencies and setting up the norms
- Building the necessary infrastructure in terms of policies and procedures required for long term sustenance of the Lean initiative
- Establishing the framework for identification and prioritization of the right interventions that are aligned with the organization’s business goals and strategy
- Executing these interventions through internal resources of the organization or through senior consultants of Q Ultima. Where required, we would create the requisite capability within the organization on problem solving through Lean tools.
- Strong project and program management to ensure the initiative is progressing as planned
While building and executing this roadmap, Q Ultima’s ability to integrate with the client organization at an operating level has helped in managing the resistance to change and keep the momentum of the initiative going.
Strategic Interventions for overall business success
We enable organizations to unlock their inherent potential (internal & external) by creating balance outlook of short term and long term for profitability in short term and profitable growth in long term.
What is strategic intervention?
Effort to improve the bottom-line and fuel top-line growth by unlocking the inherent internal strengths and scanning outside opportunities refers to strategic intervention. It includes extending and protecting existing business; build emerging business; and create new values of future.
Why strategic intervention?
Opening perspectives for profit and profitable growth.
How to drive Strategic Intervention Program in your company?
Since 2005, Q Ultima’s business experts have helped clients align their operations in most efficient way. The goal is simple, increasing revenue and margins. Q Ultima has been there to help its clients build continuous success using its unique methodology of strategic intervention. Working closely with clients every at each step, our consultants and expert trainers follow a step-by-step business improvement process detailed as follows:
Strategies to Maintain Short Term Balance
- Strategies for Growth, expansion and sustainability
- New markets / new geographies for growth
- Improving customer facing processes
- Setting of ambitious growth projects & their execution plan
- Performance excellence to maintain edge on quality, cost & productivity
Strategies to Maintain Medium Term Balance
- Strategic Planning for midterm (3 – 5 years)
- Supporting core growth initiatives (New Products)
- Focused innovation
- Market scanning for investment opportunities
- Change management through innovation
- Customer acquisition strategy
- Mergers and acquisitions for geographical/synergic expansion plans
Strategies to Maintain Long Term Balance
- Customer value management
- Innovation Management
- Business process re-engineering for outstanding performance
- Transforming businesses for aligning with changing business environment
- Invincible Core Competencies
Diagnostics for Journey of Excellence
Q Ultima enables client organization to keep aligning its excellence journey to the changing organizational directions as well as refuel to maintain the speed.
What is Diagnostics?
Diagnostic is dip stick study to check if we are moving in right direction and achieving intended results. It is an evaluation of objectives, road map and resource capability with respect to specific excellence journey.
Why Diagnostics?
It is important to take periodic pauses, evaluate one-self, refuel, re-align and start afresh to keep initiative live and maintaining high effectiveness live. Companies get following benefits by doing such diagnostics
- Objective Alignment –The initiative in its full vigour may lose track and real intent of meeting objectives gets lost. Diagnostic highlights it and brings it back to track
- Resource Alignment – The initiative with time may lose critical resources due to reduced focus, normal employee attrition or any other reason. It is very important to keep feeding resources for expecting results. Diagnostics help in bring back the resources.
- Result Validation – Sometimes interest is lost in an initiative as people are not able to acknowledge the associated benefits and results. Diagnostics help in ensuring same is identified and communicated.
- Any other – Company may specifically demand from our consultant to evaluate other aspects like rigor of methodology, expertise developed, validation of financial results etc.
How to conduct diagnostics in your company?
Q Ultima’s initiative experts have helped clients to revisit their systems by collaborative evaluations. It includes
- Assessment of Results against set targets & expectations
- Evaluate Adherence to agreed systems and approaches
- Assess extent of deployment to all relevant functions and geographies
- Evaluate changes in business scenario and need of alignment to same
- Preparing action plan for realignment of efforts towards excellence journey
Each level of assessment gives sufficient information to functionaries to start working immediately on expected changes, while a detailed action plan is provided to the management team at the end of the study. In this process, evaluators for subsequent years are developed.
Many of our clients take this opportunity to link to existing systems like strategic planning (SWOT analysis input), Performance Appraisal and so on.
Process Improvement
Q Ultima enables client organization to map processes in detail, conduct criticality analysis using FMEA, develop control plans based on criticality, enable deployment by establishing skill management system and ensure continuity by provisioning layered audits.
What is Process Improvement?
Ability of an organization to run repeatable processes so that improvement become part of very existence of process management is called Process Improvement. Following characteristics of process indicate that it is on improvement journey
- Process is divided into unique controllable steps.
- Each step is Identified by Output, input and related characteristics
- Criticality of each characteristic is understood and used for prioritizing resources
- Relevant characteristics are controlled
- People are capable of executing and maintaining the controls
- Entire organization shows interest in maintaining and improving the processes.
All other methodologies used for process improvement become highly effective if this unique approach is existing in the organization.
Why Process Improvement?
Process Improvement approach developed by Q Ultima has enabled organizations to manage their processes effectively by involving team members who are actually executing it. Due to step by step definition of processes, it becomes very easy to define linked work instructions. The characterization of these processes enables easy identification of root causes and hence problem solving is handy. The definition of controls ensures all processes are under control and hence even optimization and trials are promptly done.
Ingrained audits and skill management system also ensure sustained process stability and capability.
Companies who opted to work on this methodology were able to crash their new plants stabilization time by more than 50%.
How to establish Process Improvement in your company?
Q Ultima’s process improvement methodology is established by
- understanding the requirements,
- identification of core team of process experts from the organization
- Agreement with the management on expectation and time commitment of experts
- Characterisation of Process, criticality identification and validation of high and low criticality items
- Control definitions, development of SOPs / WI and skill management process
- Layered Audit system for involvement of all
- Validation of achievement of objectives e.g. did we achieve process stability in less than budgeted time or has scrap / defects / rework come down etc.
One of our clients interestingly stated, “without Q Utlima’s Process improvement system, we should not start any process and above all we should not commission any plant”.
Shop Floor improvements
Q Ultima enables client organization to uplift shop floor and its resources (all 6Ms – Man, Machine, Material, Method, Measurement System & Mother Nature) to next level by standard and proven methodologies already available across the globe.
What is Shop Floor Improvement?
Ability of an organization to maximize utilization by ensuring healthy condition of its resources i.e. 6Ms (Man, Machine, Material, Method, Measurement System & Mother Nature) is called shop floor improvement. The shop floor improvement techniques include
Man
- Overall Housekeeping – 5S
- License to Operate or execute Process
- Skill Management System (KI – Knowledge Imparting, OJT – On Job Training, PO – Performance Orientation and D – Discipline)
- Suggestion Schemes for enhancing employee engagement towards organizational success.
Machine
- Schedule Management – Cleaning, Routine and Periodic Checks
- Autonomous Maintenance Systems
- Planned Maintenance Systems
Material
- Standardization of storage conditions
- Material Flow Management
- Norms of Stock levels (ROL, ROQ, SS)
Method
- Visual SOPs
- Work Standardization
- Work Simplification
Measurement System
- Instrument Master and Periodic Maintenance
- Calibration System
- GRR Assessment and improvement system
- Attribute Agreement and Appraiser Scoring System
- Master Sample Management
Mother Nature
- Noise Monitoring & Reduction System
- Lighting for Lux
- Ergonomics of Work place
- Best conditions to work
Working around these systems and many more customizations to improve overall shop floor effectiveness is called as “Shop Floor Improvement”
Why Shop Floor Improvement?
Shop Floor Improvement approach improves effectiveness of all resources and hence help achieving
- Highest Manpower productivity
- High Machine availability & productivity
- Zero material wastage
- Minimized material handling
- Consistent processes
- Right measurements, right decisions and hence no defects
- Conducive working conditions
This results into high productivity and lowest conversion costs. What are you waiting for? Take your shop floor to world class level!
How to establish Shop Floor Improvement in your company?
Q Ultima’s shop floor improvement methodology is unique and business oriented. It identifies the sequence which will yield maximum business benefits and hence continuous resources for improvements. Contact us to make it happen!
