Turning Stock Into Cash: Delivering Sustainable Inventory Reduction Across a Complex Industrial Site
Outcomes
The engagement delivered clearly defined and quantified improvement potentials for each operational unit across the site, with benefit realisation targets and KPIs established to underpin accountability going forward. A new, differentiated planning methodology was implemented, enabling inventory levels for scheduled and unscheduled maintenance articles to be managed separately for the first time, directly reducing stock levels. The central stores function was strengthened to enable more proactive, effective management of common parts across the site. With the project ongoing at the time of writing, the expected fee payback for the client was 10 to 1 within twelve months.
Background
Inventory had been growing steadily, but the underlying causes had never been properly diagnosed. Across more than ten operational units on the site, material planners were each working to their own individual practices, with no unified process, no shared methodology, and no common set of KPIs to manage performance against. Accountability for inventory levels was effectively absent.
Compounding this was a lack of differentiation between planning for articles used in planned maintenance versus unplanned maintenance, a distinction that matters significantly for determining appropriate stock levels, and whose absence was contributing directly to inflated inventory across the site. The result was working capital tied up in stock that, in many cases, the business could not properly account for or justify.
Curzon Approach
Curzon began by establishing the size of the prize — quantifying the addressable improvement potential across the site using an 80/20 approach to focus effort where it would have the greatest impact. This gave the client a clear, evidence-based view of what was achievable and formed the basis of a structured implementation plan.
A unified maintenance spares planning process was developed and implemented across the site — replacing the patchwork of individual practices with a single, coherent methodology. Critically, this process differentiated between planned and unplanned maintenance articles, allowing stock levels to be set with genuine precision rather than as a blunt hedge against uncertainty.
To manage the risk of site-wide rollout, Curzon piloted the new processes and management approach in two units first — validating the methodology and refining it before scaling. KPIs were defined and implemented to give operational units the visibility and accountability they had previously lacked, and a centralised planning function was established for freely available articles used across multiple plants.
Underpinning all of this was a shift from reactive order processing to proactive inventory management — embedding a continuous improvement mindset that would sustain the gains beyond the life of the project itself.
CASE STUDIES
Read some of the client problems we have solved!
Driving Strategic Impact: A Curzon Consulting Guide to Procurement Excellence
As management consultants, we help clients achieve substantial cost savings and efficiencies through procurement transformations. But truly effective transformations require surmounting common challenges like limited spend visibility and stakeholder alignment.
Based on a recent engagement delivering over £5M in savings, here are our proven tips for procurement transformation success:
Optimise spend visibility
Robust spend analysis is crucial. Categorise expenditures and pinpoint top suppliers and contracts per category. Without clean baseline data, it’s impossible to identify savings levers. Advanced analytics and mining uncover hidden insights, while stakeholder interviews provide a qualitative context.
Benchmark and identify gaps
Benchmark pricing and performance versus industry best practices to reveal overpayment. Consolidate volumes for improved leverage. Deep supply market analysis uncovers alternative vendors and guides negotiations.
Strategise and priortise
Conduct opportunity assessments to inform transformation planning. Develop tailored category-specific sourcing strategies. Model potential savings scenarios and sequence initiatives based on impact, effort, and stakeholder readiness.
Secure stakeholder alignment
Amidst change, align stakeholders through clear communication and early buy-in. Identify key decision-makers and influencers. Educate on best practices and projected bottom-line impact. Procurement must shed its tactical image and be seen as a strategic function driving millions in bottom-line impact.
Relentlessly implement
With the strategy set, focus intensely on implementation. Maintain discipline in negotiations while preserving supplier relationships. Enforce contract compliance and tail spend management.
Continuously improve
Sustaining change requires continuous improvement. Redesign operating models, policies, KPIs, training, and integrate new tech and ways of working. Build analytics to monitor savings and flag waste recurrence. Institutionalising change is the hallmark of procurement leaders.
After meeting our cost-savings goals, we leveraged our award-winning assessment framework to ensure the procurement organisation’s long-term success. Our framework evaluates Procurement across five dimensions: People, Strategy, Systems, Governance, and Management. This data-driven approach identified gaps and enabled us to strategise implementing best practices. Ultimately, these steps addressed challenges, so the procurement organisation can expand its influence and be viewed as a strategic partner across all business units.
In conclusion
As trusted consultants, we overcome inertia and silos to deliver rapid yet lasting transformation. With deep expertise and cross-industry perspective, we objectively assess opportunities, align stakeholders, and implement best practices. The result is simplified sourcing, lower costs, reduced risks, increased efficiency, and strategic impact.
Let us conduct an initial diagnostic for your procurement organisation. We will benchmark performance, identify savings levers, and provide a roadmap to deliver value.
