Operational Excellence (OpEx) consulting focuses on corporate-wide cost reduction and productivity improvement programs. It covers an assessment of business processes and supporting procedures for clients in transportation & logistics. Improvement measures are identified and evaluated. Our integrated approach and proven toolset enables a continuous performance improvement of the entire value chain, ensuring sustained behavior change within the organization.
In this era of disruptive business models, with rising quality expectations of end customers and shippers, decision makers in transportation & logistics companies are challenged by the following key questions:
- How do transport operation units translate targets into measurable actions?
- How to integrate digital solutions to raise efficiency and quality potentials of the full value chain and how to anchor them in the organization?
- How to ensure that improvement potentials are followed up and maintained?
- How can managers encourage their teams to come up with ongoing improvement ideas?
Our approach is to focus on best practices and set standards in the dimensions of target processes (quality), leadership (transportation & logistics KPIs and performance improvement) and people (motivation). OpEx is a holistic methodology aimed at cost reduction and sustained business efficiency and quality. There are three milestones we seek to hit:
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Operational performance in detail- assess current business and identify target levels
- Analyze client value creation framework and do benchmarking
- Evaluate improvement potentials and measures
- Identify quick wins and immediate performance gains
Business outcome:
- Quick wins: e.g., elimination of useless activities
- Optimization hypotheses and evaluated initial improvement measures
- Financial business case
- Implementation roadmap
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Gain- move to higher performance levels by implementing measures
- Best Practice process development and standardization of initial performance improvement
- Roll-out and installation of management control systems in all business areas (KPIs)
- Set up training academy
Business outcome:
- Scenarios of optimization impact/interdependencies
- Realistic business case
- Assessment of needed resources
- Signed measures with responsibilities
- Reports to monitor progress of implementation and actual benefits vs planned potentials
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Sustain- move towards embedding a continuous improvement culture/sustained behavior change
- New OpEx mindset generates a self-improvement of operational procedures and activities
- Use of management control system for continuous improvement
- Internal OpEx areas perform audits, trainings and coaching
Business outcome:
- Management uses business reported measures (KPIs) to direct operational execution activities
- Continuous improvement opportunities are identified by the business through the KPIs and the processes
Our holistic OpEx approach takes the entire value chain to the next maturity level, meaning less complexity, organizational efficiency, process standardization, improved quality and increased customer satisfaction.
In the transportation & logistics industry we have successfully applied OPEX and lean structures to rolling stock maintenance, freight service procurement, procedures of distribution hubs and mail sorting centers, regional distribution logistics management, rail construction site management, rail infrastructure management, etc.
