Sector: Chemicals and Pharma
Size: >1,000 employees

Initial Situation

Existing customers were complaining about overly long and unreliable delivery times. Repeated overhauls of the supply chain were jeopardizing the current market situation. Some customers were already switching to competitors.

Solution 1.0

Known process issues were addressed using Lean Six Sigma projects and with support from UMS. To that end, selected employees were trained and received coaching in parallel with the project work.

Success

The delivery time decreased by 28 percent in the space of ten weeks. Delivery reliability recovered well to reach 98 percent.

Customers are satisfied. Eleven employees successfully completed their training to become Lean Six Sigma Green Belts. Process awareness within the organization is higher than ever. 

Side Effects

Sales managed to acquire new customers thanks to the outstanding delivery performance. Existing customers began ordering more than ever before.

New Problem

The quantity being produced was not sufficient to capture the full market potential. Sales could sell more. Production did not want to run any additional shifts as that would jeopardize their cost targets.

Solution 2.0

Management attended a visioning workshop to define their targets and scope for further optimization. Together they identified the bottleneck and derived all further actions around that basis. 

Success

The targets and interests of Sales and Production are now aligned. The entire management team is pulling in the same direction. Production capacity has increased; revenues, market share, and profits are rising. 

Key findings by the Client

Ad hoc optimization tends to obscure any actual problems and potentials. The UMS approach helps set ambitious targets and enable the ability to reach them quickly.