Archives: Services

One concept has effectively stood the test of time to solidify itself as being a corner stone to success. Management Systems.
Management culture, that sees & acts as a whole organization is essential for the business to grow together and as a consequence, create more value.

For an organization to become effective in management system a baseline needs to be established, which includes developing standardized structures for information & meetings across the whole business from top to bottom. These structures also serve as platforms for decision making, learning and importantly, sharing.

Performance targets should be aligned with the rest of the business and linked with leading measures, so decisions are made to improve overall performance. To ensure relevant stakeholders are informed it’s critical that visualization and feedback based on these measures are created.

Training leaders in the Operating System model is paramount for success as it requires a mindset, that is focused on the holistic perspective of the organization and the long-term results that it produces. The program is designed to instill this mindset, which will enable the leaders to manage for total effectiveness and value.

Typical deliveries connected to Management System with ZCG:
Offerings:

• Integrated meeting structure from CEO to shop floor.
• Integrated execution, improving, and sustaining the business into one muscle.
• Aligned and balanced KPI structures.
• Visualized measures brought to dialogue at all levels in the organization.
• Full process definitions, including process capability, flexibility, and competence level.
• Management scheme to ongoing confirm and improve process capabilities.
• Integrated capacity decision making, adopted into standard meeting structure at all levels.
• Integrate project models adopted into standard meetings.
• Next level management mindset programme, that help leaders being effective in using the Operating System model as their platform for long-term management.

The half double project management method seeks to eliminate time wasted on output with no value and substantially increasing impact that delivers value to the business.With three core elements, Impact, Flow & Leadership, a new guideline for effective project management and execution can be achieved.

Traditional project management is focused on the outcome of the project rather than the impact or effect it has and is usually conducted with a linear non-agile methodology. This makes project execution slower when phased with the inevitable changes and uncertainty in the environment, which results in a costly and less productive project by end.

The half double simply turns traditional project management upside down and improves on time, cost and quality.

The three core elements for project management all have unique tools and methods, that when followed will ensure all stakeholders are aligned, committed and engaged.

Impact creation is the foundation for the project to become successful as it creates the platform, which stakeholders use as a reference for why, how and when tasks are completed.
By building the impact case it’s possible to drive changes within business and behavior, as stakeholders can see and understand the challenges ahead.
The project is designed around the case for early impact delivery, however, it’s important not to lose touch with key stakeholders as they are vital for the success of the entire project. Ensure continuous feedback, always.

Flow is required for effective performance as too much complexity and various halts in progress will reset the projects overall effectiveness.
By planning the project with flow in mind you should allocate core team and ensure colocation, so the team can solve complex issues without time or space being a hindrance. Furthermore, defining a project heartbeat will ensure stakeholder interaction can be planned alongside executing the project in sprints allowing early impact delivery.

Leadership ties the other elements together with a collaborative and people first approach, which ensures the project leader engages with its stakeholders to drive the project forward.
It is important that the project owner stays active, committed and engaged, while keeping a mindset of reflection and adaption. In short, embracing uncertainty and change while staying involved is the key to success.

Typical deliveries connected to Project management with ZCG:

• Identify mindset of organization to prepare for half double method
• Customized governance to ensure flow
• Reduced focus on deliverables and enhanced focus on effect
• Gain early value creation in project execution
• Continuous feedback of stakeholders to ensure satisfaction and development
• Focus on project progression and reduced optimization of resources
• Active leadership and involvement of project owners
• Project rhythm that creates energy, efficiency, quality and faster development
• Visualized project plan to demonstrate connectiveness of tasks
• Reflective and adaptive mindset of leadership

Successful digitalization with significant positive business impact is possible only where efficient processes, strong IT solutions and people competences are integrated and combined. One doesn’t go without the other and is always connected to the overall strategy.

The experienced resources at ZILLION are the architects you need to bridge between processes, IT and people – and unfold the digital potentials of your business.

Our thinking is holistic and end-to-end. Our specialist competences are deep across the value chain. Our focus is to make digitalization support your strategy.

Whether you are new to digitalization looking for an overview of potentials and the way forward, or you are more digitally mature with a project roadmap to implement, ZILLION is the professional partner you need.

Our services include:

• Assessments of digital matureness, -potential and challenges
• Roadmaps and project designs
• Implementation via project- and program management, facilitation, training, coaching, sourcing and selection.
• Bridging to IT Solution Partners if relevant

At ZILLION you meet only senior advisors with vast industrial experience and a practical and straight-forward approach – also when it comes to digitalization. We have all done it before and are motivated by harvesting the business potentials in real life.

The definition of Lean might differ depending on which industry it is practiced in, however Lean, when condensed, is about making activities produce more value while eliminating waste.
But before we move further ahead, then let’s get some common misconceptions out of the way about Lean first.

Common misconceptions about Lean will say it only focuses on manufacturing, that expectations are to do more with less or its time consuming and costly to implement.
None of these statements are true in fact, as Lean principles can be applied to other functions within a business as well. It seeks to, as mentioned previously, produce more value and eliminate waste, which can be achieved outside of manufacturing too.
One of the objectives is to create flow of products, services or information, which is not about increasing the pace of which employees work. This focuses on productivity, coordination and elimination of waste such as removing delays, reducing movement or producing too much.
Starting to practice Lean and a continuous improvement culture is about understanding the philosophy and methodology behind, which is then tied into ideas and practices within the business. It’s not a requirement to purchase expensive machines or software to be successful with Lean, since the methods are about identifying and eliminating waste, establishing or improving flow of the processes and this is done by all the stakeholders involved.

Let’s have a closer look at the Lean principles.
The initial foundation is to Define Value from the Perspective of the Customer through methods such as Voice of Customer for specific products or services, which is then traced back to the internal processes of the business.

Having the value defined then comes the Value Stream Mapping, which is vital to further identify value-adding and non-value-adding activities within the process to bring the product or service to the customer. By exposing these activities, a plan to establish flow through the end-to-end process can be put together with tools such as Just In Time, One-Piece flow, Kanban etc.

Referring to the 7 wastes it’s important to produce to actual customer demand in order to eliminate waste, and an implementation of signals of actual demand to pull the product or service through the entire value stream is essential for being successful with developing a lean process.

As customer demand changes as well as products and services and new technologies, a continuous improvement effort needs to be established and a work to perfection mindset created. With continuous improvement projects that seek to eliminate further waste through re-evaluations of current setups or breakthrough innovations, that additionally adds more customer value.

And it’s worth mentioning again the importance of ensuring to get every employee onboard with the lean culture, which involves all the above aspects. Therefore, when the identifications of value are mapped and processes designed to implement flow and pull, the stakeholders involved to perform needs to be trained, informed and aligned. Otherwise, it ends up being an implementation of a Lean tool instead of operating and learning in a Lean & continuous improvement culture.

Typical deliveries connected to LEAN & Productivity with ZCG:

• Quantified potentials in your processes.
• Customer/value-based design of processes.
• Kanban material pull systems.
• SMED change-over optimizations.
• One-piece flow layouts and work balancing.
• Shop-floor KPI definitions and visualizations.
• 5S clean-up and visualized tools and materials placement.
• Standard processes and continuous improvement setups.
• Visual management boards to engage all employees.
• Training programs for employees and managers.
• LEAN assessment tools to evaluate gaps and ongoing audit of behavior.

Despite seeing more digital solutions and services being offered today, which doesn’t require complex shipment routes or need to carry costly inventories. Most businesses today still produce or offer services, that require a physical distribution network towards customers and suppliers.

As any other business process,it should be aligned with the entire value chain, have transparent costs along with an optimized transportation and inventory structure.
These tasks are crucial if you want to improve the end-to-end processes, which by covering three key areas: Transport optimization, Simulation and Inventory optimization can be achieved.

If optimization is to occur, an analysis of the current state needs to be performed, which seeks to create insights for total cost and map distribution structure and network. Having a point of reference is required to run evaluations on ideas&improvements, both quantitative and qualitative.

The next steps are focused on finding solutions that fit the desired structure and are there strategic or tactical requirements to be considered. These steps could involve consolidation of shipments, routings, balancing of shipments and costs, however it will be based on the initial drivers and uncovered requirements for the business. Therefore, the solutions can be many or few, complex or simple.

Having the distribution structure covered, then the goods being transported needs review as well. As inventories tend to build up for the transports to be filled, it can be a capital intensive and expensive operation.However, with smarter inventories that seeks to decrease carrying costs, working capital and eyes the customers satisfaction from the beginning.The results aim to reduce total costs of transportation, reduce inventory risk and improve on cash flow and profitability.

To address the complexity and uncertainty from distribution networks, and specifically when changing these networks and policies. A simulation that encompasses all the relevant elements is to be conducted, which will highlight possible risks and errors within the network. It also provides further knowledge to align, decide and develop the solutions, which is significantly less costly than implementing solutions that doesn’t work or fulfill requirements.

Typical deliveries in a Distribution process with ZCG:

• Full transparency of total transportation costs.
• Gravity modelling with balance to unit costs and inventories.
• How to consolidate shipments and build multi-stop routes?
• Should we ship direct from vendor or go through DC’s.
• How much savings could be obtained by optimizing existing routes?
• How would routes and modes change with low, average, and high shipment volumes?
• How do current route costs compare to LTL and parcel costs?
• How to balance my shipments on weekly schedules?
• How to balance my facility/unit costs with transportation costs?
• The choice and dynamic consolidation of carriers.
• Negotiations with carriers.
• Data integration of network.

Warehousing is more than simply storing goods and covers aspects of physical layouts, IT systems, planning and process effectiveness. If your business seeks better utilization of tangible and intangible resources,real-time control and customer satisfaction, then it’s crucial to understand what and how it can be achieved through warehouse optimization.

Optimization can be achieved through mapping of the warehouse including dimensioning, which are inserted into digital solutions for faster and more intelligent planning.

Dynamic heat mapping to analyze picking patterns to reduce wasteful movement. Breakdown of batch and packaging sizes with further analysis to calculate the optimal size or determine the balance of fixed or floating layout types.

Combined with LEAN principles, where creating flow is at its center, it’s possible to improve on current processes for higher efficiencies and identify & eliminate other kinds of waste at either operational or strategical level.

Closely related to processes are the employees attached, which is why the culture surrounding it is very important. Keeping the employees motivated and informed about performance e.g. picking rates, fulfillment quality etc. are paramount for a performance driven culture.

Most warehousing setups are supported by Enterprise Resource Planning systems or commonly known as ERP systems, which serves as the backbone for controlling information about products, customers, agreements etc.

To stay competitive, it’s critical to ensure the backbone is strong and resilient against any changes that occurs around it such as market surges (up or down), IT breakdowns or crisis’s around the globe.

Serving alongside a strong IT backbone are areas of digitalization and industry 4.0 technologies, that all seeks to improve the way business is being executed on today.

Investments into technologies that automate picking, packing or delivery is not happening tomorrow, but rather today as more businesses are becoming ready to research, plan and implement the solutions fit for their requirements.

Our Key Offerings:

• Dynamic heat mapping of picking patterns.
• Performance management & motivation.
• Warehouse equipment management.
• Choice of equipment & level of automation.
• Warehouse 4.0 technologies and digitalization.
• Balance between fixed and floating layout types.
• ERP warehouse setup (AX, SAP, M3, NAV).
• Warehouse dimensions into planning systems.
• Optimize batch and packaging sizes.
• Warehouse LEAN optimization.

To stay competitive in any business environment today, then it’s critical to also stay in control of both customer- and process requirements.
Quality management combines the voice of customers with tools that defines processes and shapes them to stay within limits, so that businesses can stay competitive when the serve their customers.

Customer perceived quality is by now well known to be a leading indicator for success of any business and with the help of tools such as voices of customers it reveals these important indicators.

Performance measures rooted in manufacturing processes such as scrap rates, maintenance costs and first pass yield rates are part of the performance-oriented quality management view.
It quantifies and highlights processes that operates with gaps between demand requirements and actual capabilities, which can then be targeted for improvement.

The idea of analyzing processes for variation gaps needs to be accepted and understood by management as the process orientation isn’t just a tool, but a mindset to be in and make decisions on.
Furthermore, it focuses on processes standardization to reduce variation and improve on documentation for further analysis and compliance within unique certifications such as ISO, ASME, IATF mm.

These clarifications and orientations enable the definition of required skills and flexibility, which are essential when designing processes to these new requirements.

To make initiatives more actionable, tools such as Balanced score card can be implemented as it seeks to reduce the complexity between strategy and operations while being very focused on targets to be achieved. It can enable thematic initiatives, such as “Kill variation”, “Improve lead time” or “Reduce maintenance cost”.

Typical deliveries in a quality management process with ZCG:

• Map of quality voices of the customers.
• Total quality cost overview.
• Quality certificate compliant & process overview. Incl. ISO, ASME, IATF, etc.
• Performance definition by complaint level, first pass yield, scrap rate, and maintenance costs.
• Process orientation of leadership.
• Quantified variation gaps between demand and capability.
• Performance oriented quality management.
• Process standards & documentation.
• Skills and flexibility definitions.
• “Kill variation” initiatives prioritized to total performance.
• Actionable initiatives.

Bridge your end-2-end supply chain into a coordinated demand driven unit that operates with the aim to deliver true value to customers and stakeholders.

Rapidly changing business environment and ever-growing supply chain disruptions across all industries complicate supply chain planning as we know it. To effectively manage your supply chain, your planning processes, systems and organisation needs to be fully aligned and responsive to quickly adapt to new market trends and challenges.

Supply chain planning is more vital then ever, and is the foundation for supply chain excellence.