BACKGROUND
Process equipment manufacturing involves the design, fabrication, assembly, and testing of specialized equipment used in various industrial processes. This equipment is specifically designed to handle and facilitate the processing of raw materials or intermediate products in industries such as chemical, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, oil and gas, energy, and many others.
Process equipment can vary widely in complexity and scale. It can include reactors, distillation columns, heat exchangers, pressure vessels, pumps, compressors, mixers, and other specialized machinery.
The manufacturing process requires expertise in engineering, materials selection, fabrication techniques, and quality assurance to meet the demanding requirements of different industries and ensure safe and efficient operation of the equipment.
Our client is a leading player in the refractory lining and thermal insulation markets. Its technical team has already served hundreds of customers and performed thousands of projects across multiple regions.
The client has more than two thousand fixed employees providing maintenance, thermal insulation, acoustic insulation, and refractory services. Additionally, it also offers technical consulting, assistance, and advice to their customers.
We were brought in to help the client improve business performance by reducing and streamlining existing administrative processes. We began our work by analyzing the client’s processes and management systems to understand the current levels of operational performance and the impact of inefficiencies on cost and results.
Our analysis identified several opportunities within the client’s administrative processes and management systems:
- Improving labour productivity
- Optimising current processes and improving adherence to them
- Reducing inventory levels
- Better definition of roles and responsibilities to ensure clarity
- Better definition of KPIs and measurement mechanisms to improve their effectiveness
PROJECT APPROACH
Based on the results of our analysis, the client initiated an 18-week transformation project to deliver the improvements. The project involved the active participation and collaboration of all key stakeholders in defining the new opportunities, developing the optimum solutions, and implementing the changes required to realise the opportunities.
We set up Management Action Teams (MATs) using key stakeholders from the client’s side. The main responsibility of the MATs was to drive and manage the implementation of changes within their own areas.
The MATs were supported by a joint team made up of our consultants and client-side staff. The MATs and project team reported to a steering committee consisting of client-side senior management who had overall responsibility for the success of the program.
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
The project began by developing the methodology for reviewing business processes. Following our Focus Process®, the project’s key initiatives were then qualified and quantified in collaboration with the relevant MAT.
The project implemented tools that delivered sustainable change in the following Central Office management control system (MCS) elements:
- Leadership routines to promote active management.
- Management of action plans to analyse impacts and determine priorities consistent with budgets and deadlines.
- Productivity, resourcing, and employee performance measurement.
- Indicators to support the management of processes and performance in a systematic, routine, and transparent manner. These indicators were also capable of supporting root cause analysis of underperformance.
- Preparation and organisation of work areas to reduce unproductive time.
Each individual element of the MCS was designed and developed in direct collaboration with the client using diagnostic and brainstorming techniques. Critiques of existing systems and processes became opportunities aligned with the business needs and key drivers.
Appropriate KPIs and data management tools were developed and installed to provide the right information, at the right time and to the right person. The changes were implemented through a series of operational workshops, which allowed staff to become familiar with the changes and allowed concerns and issues to be addressed before they became problematic.
This allowed a wider group to become involved in and supportive of the changes. Behavioural audits were undertaken once the changes were installed to ensure their sustainability.
“We really managed to mobilise the entire company and managers. We now have the tools and methodologies, which the Renoir team taught us how to use, and this was really a very relevant experience.”
President
KEY RESULTS
21%
in stock reduction
Over 300
processes rationalized
2.4:1
return on investment
Our training helped the client lay the foundation of a continuous improvement culture, which was well received. 81% of staff rated the training courses as ‘very good’ and a further 19% as ‘good,’ with no-one rating the courses as ‘bad’ or ‘very bad.’
Our collaboration with client also delivered methodologies to define performance standards, analyse performance, and follow up on action plans. The installed tools and routines now ensure that the client’s processes are being controlled more effectively and are improving overall business performance.
