CLIENT: Industrial Electronics Company.
PROBLEM:
An electronics manufacturer faced bankruptcy after losing money three years in a row. The major problem was that the information system was unable to extract critical information needed for decision-making. The client was losing control over the business because of excessive inventory and an unresponsive information system.
OPPORTUNITY:
By reviewing all major business processes, the company could regain control of its supply chain, inventory investment and indirect labour expenses. If costs could be reduced substantially and a responsive business information system installed, the business would not only survive but prosper.
DELIVERABLES:
Atticus proposed six major deliverables:
- Re-engineered the customer order cycle process, reducing it 30% to an average of four weeks.
- Identify and remove 25% of obsolete inventory and reduced on-hand inventory by 15%.
- Outsourced upgrading the enterprise resource planning software system to access decision-making information, added purchasing vendor measurements and improved production scheduling.
- Reduce product lines 85% to 450 from 3000 items by eliminating money losers and low or no growth items.
- Develop an E-business catalogue.
- Implement a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.
OUTCOME:
By meeting the deliverables, the client saw improvements that went directly to the bottom line. The business went from barely surviving to a thriving enterprise. Details include:
- Improving customer service response to order demand and increased on time deliveries.
- Customer contacts increased by 30% and sales increased by 8%.
- The CRM system managed prospects and reduced reporting and updating data by 20%.
- Duplicate data entry was eliminated, reducing manufacturing rework caused by errors and allowing the company to reduce its manufacturing support staff by two.
- Streamlining financial procedures in accounts receivable and payable were established and put in place.
