Planning the future now and growing profitably

Generally speaking, all areas of the company should be examined in a performance optimisation analysis. After all, the opportunities offered by the various measures are as wide-ranging and diverse as the company itself. Only if the company as a whole is efficiently structured and constantly strives to strengthen its market position through improvements can corporate success and profitability be guaranteed over the long haul. Measures aimed at reducing costs and increasing profits can especially be realised in operational areas along the value chain.

Through conscious optimisation of purchasing, considerable cost reductions can be achieved at a company. Inventories can usually be significantly reduced through detailed demand planning, while supplier conditions must also be repeatedly checked and renegotiated if necessary. Other measures, such as leveraging economies of scale through volume pooling, use of cheaper substitute materials or various make-or-buy decisions should be considered to reduce costs.

The largest share of costs for manufacturing companies is incurred in the area of production and logistics. This makes it all the more important to have a lean and efficient production and logistics processes, while maintaining the quality level and the ability to deliver. Through the planned use of important production factors, not only can costs be saved - capacity utilisation of machine and employee can also be boosted. In addition, the reduction of throughput times or optimisation of warehouse processes and stocks can improve the cost situation.

The area of marketing and distribution is particularly relevant in a strong customer and market orientation, as is continuous improvement of the company's success in the market. Intensive and transparent contact with end customers is of particular importance, as this allows needs to be understood and trust to be built. A clear focus on handpicked customers and product groups is essential here.

Finance and controlling play a special role in a company. Transparency in finance and controlling is the key to early crisis detection and crisis prevention. The frequent analysis of key metrics reflecting a company's situation is already state of the art in the present day. The development of suitable key performance indicators for corporate controlling and the improvement of reporting instruments (e.g. the management information system) can produce far-reaching benefits.
A company's employees are also an important part of the service delivery process. Nevertheless, changes and transformation regularly have an impact on human resources. Detailed personnel controlling provides information about important key metrics, such as personnel requirements and personnel deployment, while opening up the possibility of coordinating these with each other, thereby eliminating unnecessary costs.

For many companies today, the quality of the IT infrastructure determines the success or failure of the entire business process. The planning and control of many business functions can be simplified and made more efficient with the help of special data-processing IT solutions such as ERP, CRM or SCM systems. The IT process landscape and IT structure are key to effective data processing and should be subject to a continuous improvement process.

To measure success, for example by comparing a situation before, during and after optimisation measures, certain requirements have to be met. After the actual situation has been analysed, a target is typically specified that is to be achieved through a measure. Quantification of the relevant key figures is of elementary importance here, as only in this way can a measurement of success be comparable and valid because it offers sufficient objectivity. 

To take an example to illustrate this: 
Anonymous AG has been considered the market leader of a niche area in the metal processing industry for years. Nevertheless, the management decides to hire a consulting firm to optimise the performance in the production process in order to maintain the company's strong competitive position in the future. For this purpose, the throughput times of the production process at Anonymous AG were first analysed and recorded by the consultants and at the same time defined as a key metric for measuring success. Measures to streamline the process, for example by reducing time-consuming disruptive factors and integrating standardised process steps, were then implemented, after which lead times then were measured once again and compared with the initial situation. Compared to the first measurement, the result was significantly shorter throughput times after streamlining of the production process.

The capacities of a company's management and employees are usually largely tied up in the day-to-day business - and that is precisely where we come in. The focus in our daily work is to support you and assist you in an advisory capacity. To do this, we scrutinise existing processes and patterns and eliminate disruptive factors. Based on our restructuring and reorganisation expertise, we also always design projects to increase performance in a highly efficient manner and with a long-term perspective going forward.

The term "asset protection" refers to legally binding options for protecting assets against third parties such as banks, creditors or the fiscal authorities. Especially in times of crisis, the use of asset protection is particularly relevant in order to avoid liability claims. Asset protections can include not only the company's assets, but also the business owner's private assets.