Case Studies
The Challenge
A health care organization had many vendors supplying similar products to its hospitals and community health centres. There was no consistent approach to source new products. Faced with significant budget constraints, the organization turned to strategic sourcing to reduce costs. We were engaged to provide guidance and leadership to develop and implement a standardization program.
Intervention
Through interviews and workshops, we identified the root causes of the disparate policies and procedures that were in place. We developed the strategy and an overarching standardized program for purchasing of medical supplies, and a preferred list of vendors and purchasing consortia to leverage economies of scale. We implemented the program for a few pilot categories and provided training to the management team on implementation.
Results
The program standardized purchasing of medical supplies, eliminated over 200 similar product items, reduced the number of vendors and spending across clinical facilities managed by the organization.
The Challenge
A merger of two telecommunications companies brought together two mail order business units. Both units were distinctively different, from product offerings, sales approaches, return policies, customer support, vendors to billing systems. The newly formed company needed to harmonize the two business units in order to streamline strategy and operations.
Intervention
We began with the strategy review for the mail order business. Then, we conducted an extensive review of the two business models, including product choices, vendor selection, sales commissions, return policies, order fulfillment, billing guidelines, call centre support, product support by vendors, roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders, billing and warehousing systems. Best practices were referenced to harmonize the business model. A team of over 30 members was formed to represent both companies on the project.
Results
The harmonized model reduced confusion and frustration for staff, standardized product offerings and vendor support helped to increase profit margin, streamlined processes enhanced productivity, and the adoption of a single application eliminated workarounds. The company achieved significant savings year over year.
The Challenge
An educational institute uses a legacy registration application and many Access databases, supported by adhoc processes to execute its registration and student tracking functions. Some of the databases are dated and vendor supported is limited. Evolving business needs and the cumbersome workarounds required the organization to explore alternatives to replace what they use.
Intervention
We completed a review of the critical activities, prepared an inventory of the tools deployed, and identified the key processes for registration and tracking. This was followed by a research on alternative applications. We developed a detailed assessment model based on a list of evaluation criteria to rank the options.
Results
The review uncovered the gaps which the new application needs to fulfill. Duplicate data entry, export of data and their manipulation, reconciliation of data, and manual intervention are some of the challenges that need to be addressed. We offered an impartial assessment of the options available. The client was able to make an informed decision based on our recommendations.
