Common Sense Solutions Fit to Your Business
Mark Woeppel, President
When you hire a consulting firm, you're really hiring for one or more of three basic reasons:
- You need specialized expertise
- You need additional resources
- You need an objective viewpoint
Our entire website is devoted to helping you understand our unique expertise. Obviously, we have resources to accomplish the work. However, what is often difficult to understand is the "worldview" of a team. Here's how we look at things.
Our firm is built on a set of principles:
- Create something of lasting value
- Make it as simple as possible
- Achieve real results
To us, the engagement is more than just work, it's an opportunity to make a positive difference in the lives of your people and your shareholders. We're problem solvers, not data entry clerks. We genuinely want to make your organization better. So while we're engaged with your organization, creating sustained value is foremost in our minds. When we conduct a project, we are constantly searching for ways to make the changes stick.
We focus on what we believe is best for the organization. This sometimes takes the form of informing you of facts that you may feel uncomfortable receiving. Our goal is to be transparent in our communication and to keep the interests of your shareholders in the forefront.
We believe that the best solutions are built on common sense and simplicity. Nearly everyone has been involved in complicated solutions that are difficult to understand, implemented, and maintain. Because of this, we focused on keeping things simple. That means that the solutions we develop are based on keeping things simple and focused for the people that operate and manage them. It also means that we're primarily interested in achieving the results you want and the principles that get the results rather than any specific methodology. We help you do thing things that work.
We think of ourselves as consultants that produce "results that matter". Our projects are tied to real business results: improved profitability or return on investment. Every project we undertake is designed to improve those two measurements; whether it's reducing inventory, increasing throughput, or boosting sales.
Organizations across a range of industries and international regions turn to Pinnacle Strategies for transforming their business processes using Theory of Constraints Lean Six Sigma. Our clients choose us because they want genuine transformation and results, not just software or training.
Why? Perhaps because we have been transforming management processes since 1987. Perhaps it’s because of our record of achieving results that matter using the Theory of Constraints, Lean, Six Sigma and Critical Chain Project Management. It may be that we employ a common sense approach to our clients’ business that is grounded in real world experience in industry. Often, it’s because of our team’s specific industry expertise in product development, manufacturing, and construction. Even more, perhaps they realize that there’s more to life than fighting fires.
No matter what the reason, we have been consistently rewarded by our customers’ trust and referrals to their colleagues.
We invite you to give us a call to discuss how we can serve you and your team.
Client Results
Industry
|
Problem
|
Solution
|
First Year Results
|
|
Engineer to Order Manufacturing |
The business had stagnated, suffering losses over three years. The owner needed bottom line results and cash flow right away. |
Working with the management team, we implemented a series of process changes from Theory of Constraints and Lean Manufacturing in order fulfillment, shop floor processes, customer service, & sales. |
Shareholder equity from negative to positive EBITDA increased 397% from negative to positive |
| Oilfield Equipment manufacturer & distributor |
Inventories were very high Service to distribution was very poor Order lead times were long Engineering was creating delays in order fulfillment |
Implemented a combination of approaches to emphasize rapid delivery to market; Theory of Constraints, distribution process changes, level loading (Heijunka), make to order, and rapid response execution management |
On time delivery improved from 47% to 93% Inventory reduced 32% Order lead time reduced 53% Production lead time reduced 43% Overtime spending reduced 39% |
| Make to Order Wood Products Manufacturer |
Late deliveries to customers Poor utilization of equipment Disorganized flow Owners felt the business was out of control. |
Reengineered the order fulfillment process, implementing a combination of approaches to emphasize rapid delivery to market; Theory of Constraints, distribution Reorganization of staff & realignment of responsibilities Refocus on profitable product and customer segments SMED to increase utilization of constraint resources 5S to improve product flow & storage processes |
Sales tripled Monthly shipments stabilized Improved utilization of floor space |
| Engineer to Order Fabrication |
On time performance below 50%
Plant difficult to manage
80% of shipments were in the last week of the month
High level of expediting – reactive management |
Implemented the Theory of Constraints scheduling solution, reengineering the order
promising and execution management processes.
Implemented a throughput-based measurement system.
|
Sales growth of 35% Inventory turns increased from two to 10 Productivity improvement of $72,000 per employee 20% reduction in overtime Consistent 95% or better on-time delivery
Easier place to work – more proactive management 60% of monthly shipments completed by week 3 Over $1mm in bottom line improvement |
| Contract Machine Shop |
Growing sales and transfer to next generation of ownership.
On time performance below 50%
High level of expediting – reactive management |
Implemented a broad scale transformation program:>
Reorganization of staff & realignment of responsibilities Refocus on profitable product and customer segments> Implementation of Throughput-based measurement system> Implementation of SDBR order fulfillment processes> Implementation of structured sales process>
Implementation of 5S |
Doubling of labor productivity
Easier place
to work – more proactive management
Consistent
95% or better on-time delivery
Additional sales opportunities and penetration into new accounts
Monthly shipments stabilized |
| Consumer products manufacturing & distribution |
Can’t meet deliveries to region distribution
centers
Not making money |
Implemented a combination of approaches to emphasize rapid
delivery to market; Theory of Constraints, distribution
process changes, level loading (Heijunka), make to order,
and rapid response execution management |
Past due dropped to zero in 90 days and stayed
there
On time performance improved to 99% within the
same period
Plant sales increased 44% in 8 months
Inventory reduced $30 million in 6 months |
| Consumer products manufacturing & distribution |
Can’t meet deliveries to region distribution
centers
Lead times too long |
Reengineered the order fulfillment process, implementing a combination
of approaches to emphasize rapid delivery to market; Theory
of Constraints, distribution
system process changes, make to order, and rapid
response execution management
Created new market offer
Worked with engineering to create new manufacturing process, enabling
quick response. |
Reduction of order fulfillment process lead
time from 3 weeks to 24 hours
Sales increase of 44% |