Interim management solution for manufacturing
Launching a new division is always a pivotal moment for a manufacturing business. No-one can afford to get a start-up situation wrong.
With the right leader in place, the results can go beyond expectations – as our interim general manager demonstrated at a leading glass manufacturer.
- Interim general manager placed to support new manufacturing division
- Mentoring and support for the divisional director and team
- Direct impact on sales growth, key business metrics and customer confidence
“The Return on Interim methodology was highly effective when measuring the quantitative elements of the role such as OTIF, quality and increase in production. The interim was extremely demanding of people, as well as highly supportive in equal measure and many team members are grateful for being stretched, challenged and supported.”
Our client is a globally well-renowned brand providing glass and glass solutions to the commercial and building sectors.
The business’s objective was harness interim talent to support the start-up of a newly-formed UK division. A key aspect of the assignment would be to mentor and support the divisional director in his goal to grow the business and develop the corporate vision for the new division.
A complicating factor was the underperformance of the company’s largest processing business, which was not meeting customer service requirements. Dealing with this was distracting the director from establishing and growing the new business division.
Finally, the interim was required to re-energise the organisation and strengthen the management and sales teams, whilst establishing structures and processes to secure sustainable growth.
Our interim quickly became a visible presence, through engaging with the workforce on a daily basis and participating actively in meetings across the site. A big focus was made on winning the confidence of the entire workforce and giving manufacturing a much higher profile within the businesses. In addition, they moved quickly to organise the internal and external sales teams to improve margins and growth.
By removing the departmental and external central functions barriers, a ‘can do’ attitude was fostered. The interim also chaired the morning operation meeting to establish it as a forum for actions. They also ensured other departments supported operations during the challenges, drawing conclusions and implementing actions promptly.
Through the engagement they actively supported and mentored the new teams (including the divisional director) to successfully implement the new processes.
Confidence was quickly restored on the shop floor and in sales. Manufacturing quickly built a much higher profile across the site, and the new format and operations meetings were fully embraced and implemented.
To strengthen decision-making, visual process management was introduced, featuring real-time data.
Tangible results were seen fast:
- Sales grew by 38% over four months
- The cost of non-quality reduced from 5.4% to 0.6%
- On-time-delivery improved from 85% to 99%, which restored crucial customer confidence
- 250% return on human capital investment