Client situation and challenge
The client is a global chemical company with a turnover of €8bn. This project was run at one of their production sites in the Netherlands, where high tech fibers are produced with around 750FTE. The client needed to adjust the cost structure to realize economies-of-scale for planned future expansions and the management needed data driven analyses to be able to make the necessary decisions.
This analysis involved understanding the effectiveness of workforce, asset utilization, performance control system, leadership, and culture.
Approach
We supported our global chemical client by:
- Interviewing all layers and disciplines of the company (general interviews and specific Human Dynamics interviews).
- Quantifying non-value add time of workforce through 'day in the life of’ reviews and other time studies
- Running an OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) - Loss analyses on all production lines, to understand losses and to use in target setting
- Cooperating closely with stakeholders to ensure the results and findings were agreed
- Communicating transparently and frequently with entire workforce to align them on the approach and (preliminary/final) outcomes
Main Results
- Around €13m potential savings identified on labor and €1m on out-of-pocket cost in maintenance.
- Increased OEE by 5% identified
- The organizational effectiveness assessment led to integration and reduction in indirect functions. The design of the organization chart, and the corresponding resources were altered as to fit the true purpose of specific departments.
- A ready to go implementation plan was developed, that was agreed with management and work council.
- Levers to work on were identified (performance control system, culture, focused improvement teams) and customized to address the losses found in the analyses