A new level of operational productivity – in just 35 weeks

Background

The FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) industry comprises a wide range of frequently purchased, non-durable goods, including food and beverages, personal care products, and household items. These products are characterized by high volume, low cost, and rapid turnover.

FMCG companies operate in a competitive market, employing marketing strategies, efficient supply chain management, and strategic pricing. They face challenges such as changing consumer preferences and the need for innovation. Sustainability and environmental consciousness have become important considerations in the industry.

Our client is a major soft drinks manufacturer and distributor in Southeast Asia, operating 6 production plants and 10 warehouses in its country of operations. It specialises in various types of beverages such as flavoured water, mineral water, fruit juices, soft drinks, Japanese green tea, sports and energy drinks. The client is also a leading supplier of dairy products.

Analysis

We were brought in to evaluate the client’s organisational efficiency, as well as identify and validate improvement opportunities in the client’s indirect functions. The principal objective was to improve key business processes and optimise the organisational profile, supplemented by a complete manload review.

During the study process, it became apparent that activities needed realigning due to a merger that happened recently with under-utilised employees able to take on additional workload; this was the story across most of the departments studied.

Project Approach

Our 35-week project with the client kicked off with our Focus Process®, developed over many years and based on experiences with hundreds of successful assignments. Additionally, best practices were customised and incorporated into working practices for the departments.

This process took the client’s staff through a learning experience that promoted commitment and ownership of the new solutions that were being implemented, whilst retaining the company’s essential organisational goals and corporate identity.

To achieve maximum impact and buy-in, we set up management action teams (MATs) led by functional heads in order to directly engage the individual departments in implementing the required improvements. The MATs covered the Domestic Commercial Operations, Shared Services, Finance & Procurement, and Indirect Manufacturing departments.

“This project enabled us to make massive change rapidly; results were achieved within 8 months. Renoir’s methodology and detailed approach to evaluating manning levels allowed us to validate our actual manpower requirements. As a result, we gained significant savings from the project.”

First Vice President Human Capital

Project Deliverables

We were able to design, develop and install improved work processes for several departments. The new streamlined work processes reduced the emphasis on manual data entry, removed unnecessary parties from the processes, and clarified roles and responsibilities that previously overlapped.

Once the scope for improvement had been established, the focus then turned to process improvements. Areas of focus for manloading alignment and process improvements were the Marketing and Regional Administration functions which led to significant streamlining and consequent headcount rationalisation.

We also supported proposals for new structures and organisation profiles to ensure that future ways of working in these new departments are as lean as possible. Following the 80:20 rule, further major processes were mapped, and investigations were carried out across the client’s sales market with the highlighted improvements endorsed by management. Workshops provided a forum for process owners and stakeholders to voice their suggestions and critique the current process which further supported the change effort.

Key Results