Consulting - Operational Efficiency

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Our experienced and specialised team offers our clients a wide range of services.

The areas in which we can support your company encompass:
  • Production processes optimisation
  • Value chain/supply chain optimisation
  • Improvement of purchase area efficiency

PRODUCTION PROCESSES OPTIMISATION

The dynamically developing economy requires efficient use of the production force in order to satisfy clients’ demands. Losses in production translate into decreasing profits from sales and margins. High investment costs and the preparation period increase the advantages that result from improvements in production force use and the potential value of discontinued and postponed investments. At the same time, the significance of production costs increases together with growing pressure on the costs of labour and materials. Productivity improvement helps reduce such pressure.

How can PwC help your company?

PwC, in co-operation with clients, examines production activity improvement opportunities and supports the implementation of changes in an organisation.

Production activity diagnosis
Areas of our focus:
  • Assessment of overall equipment efficiency (OEE) and production force management
  • Work organisation, shift work schemes, etc.
  • Resource management, production planning, managing production in progress
  • Products quality, defective products, quality control
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Production improvements implementation
Areas of our focus:
  • Implementing the examined improvement opportunities
  • Transfer of know-how
  • Key performance indicators and current performance management
  • Change management and focus on constant improvement


VALUE CHAIN/SUPPLY CHAIN OPTIMISATION

Value chains have a similar purpose in most enterprises – they deliver products and services that satisfy clients’ needs with a maximum end margin. In many companies, however, it is not clear how to achieve this goal or whether a company is able to achieve it. Moreover, sometimes particular links of the value chain (departments/units/partners) may work to achieve their own goals that are not necessarily consistent or sometimes even contradict the main goal of the company.

How can PwC help your company?

In co-operation with our clients we recognise shared goals and establish the role of each link in the goals implementation chain. We also help define the appropriate value chain configuration (e.g. company’s own development or external commissions, configuration of supply and distribution network, sales channels) and the framework of value chain management (key processes, organisational structure and appropriate performance indicators).

The end result is a “slimmer” enterprise that is able to realise the value demanded by its clients and co-operate in achieving shared goals.


IMPROVEMENT OF PURCHASE AREA EFFICIENCY

The rising prices of resources and increasing strength of suppliers result in a cost increase and a decrease of the enterprise's productivity. The pressure for specialisation and, at the same time, for outsourcing increase enterprises' purchase expenses in relation to their income to the highest level ever.

Our experience indicates that efficient purchase area management is a remedy for cost increases and a solution for improving the quality of products and services. An appropriately organised purchase function together with adjusted supporting tools, consciously developed employees' skills, efficient planning process and purchase realisation may have a significant influence on the company's performance.

How can PwC help your company?

PwC has at its disposal proven solutions that enable a company to use the purchase area for gaining a competitive advantage on the market. Our services include:

Optimisation of purchase processes and organisation:
  • Establishing maps of the optimal flow of purchase process,
  • Defining products created as a result of process realisation,
  • Establishing the principles of co-operation with other processes within the company,
  • Choosing efficiency indicators for the entire process and its particular stages,
  • Designing the structure of the purchase organisation, establishing the optimal level of centralisation,
  • Establishing the roles of organisation units in the process and assigning them tasks.
Costs and purchase categorisation system analysis:
  • Establishing the rules of dividing a company's purchase into the main purchase groups and further into purchase categories,
  • Isolating particular purchase categories and characterising them,
  • Analysing purchase costs for particular purchase categories and groups,
  • Indicating savings potential and opportunities for management improvements in particular purchase categories.
Development of purchase strategies:
  • Establishing purchase area role and goals that result from the company's overall business strategy,
  • Establishing methods of goals achievement in such dimensions as human resources, IT, purchase policies and management methodology; formulating a purchase strategy,
  • Planning strategic activities in particular purchase categories (researching suppliers' market, researching the company's purchasing power, identifying purchasing levers, preparing a strategic activity plan).
Saving schemes:
  • Analysing the purchase area in respect to unused purchasing power levers,
  • Building Total Cost of Ownership models for chosen purchase categories in order to identify all cost sources,
  • Building "should cost" models for chosen purchase categories in order to establish expected prices for the particular Total Cost of Ownership elements,
  • Analysing specifications of chosen purchase categories in order to establish costs of redundant quality,
  • Analysing the principles of co-operation with chosen suppliers in order to indicate opportunities for common optimisation of processes and IT,
  • Preparing an activity plan and monitoring the implementation of saving schemes.
Strategic sourcing:
  • Identifying the company's needs in respect to purchasing particular goods and services – co-operating in preparing optimal specification,
  • Building cost models in order to define and optimise all costs of ownership,
  • Researching suppliers' markets, analysing current trends on those markets and current situation of major players,
  • Strategic planning - preparing the strategy for activities and negotiation,
  • Pursuing enquiries and negotiations,
  • Auditing contracts realisation and suppliers efficiency.