Outcomes
- CAPEX spend avoidance of £18m with extrapolated implications to the whole division of c.£100m
- Improved join-management understanding of the levers of capacity and profitability, supported by a cross-market decision making governance process to make data-based trade-offs
- Increased production capacity through de-bottlenecking with resulting potential contribution uplift of £10m p/a
- 235 tonnes of unlocked capacity through selective elimination of low margin product variants and sales realignment
Background
- A division of a leading speciality chemicals company offering high-performance products and technologies to the chemical industry
- Perception that demand was constrained by supply capacity
- Curzon was asked to help the business to identify and agree the priorities for increased top and bottom-line performance
- Highly siloed organisation with poor relationships between Commercial, Supply Chain, Operations and R&D. Little trust all round
- A ‘who shouts loudest’ approach to dealing with supply constraints
- Lacking and/or no visibility of key business information; market potential, product costing, R&D plans, regulatory landscape etc.
- Unable to drive a management process to align and move forward
Curzon Approach
- Alignment of the functional leaders around a structured approach to reach an informed decision on priorities
- Collation, research, analysis and presentation of the relevant market, customer, production, product development, regulatory and financial information needed for a meaningful management discussion
- Facilitated sessions to review the available information, share insights and question assumptions
- Full cross-functional participation in a management event to arrive at an agreed business decision based on the facts
- Development of a cross-business implementation plan and an appropriate governance process to maintain a joined-up approach
- Codifying the methodology for re-use with other businesses
