A mechanical and plant engineering company (EUR 390 million turnover, 9,000 employees) had lost around half of its turnover within 3 years. In addition, the biotech and pharmaceutical company was suffering from quality problems and the loss of customers and suppliers following several changes of managing director and management errors. The group of companies commissioned the interim manager with a comprehensive restructuring of the CRM system and the associated processes in order to be able to process customer inquiries and orders more efficiently and reliably.
Poor digitalization and inadequate processes identified as causes
In his analysis, the interim manager quickly identified a number of causes for the major problems. These included poorly implemented digitalization, which was also based on inadequate processes and documentation. Unmaintained data records, overly complicated IT systems and disorganized processes also led to unacceptably long waiting times for orders. A lack of digital sales processes and the inadequate use of existing digital tools exacerbated this problem. For example, order confirmations took up to 14 days after the order was received. In addition, orders were incorrectly processed in production or by suppliers. Goods withdrawals were not documented and led to incorrect inventory figures.
Employees motivated for digital reorganization through involvement
The challenge in this mandate was firstly to clean up the data records in a master data environment that is used daily and is therefore constantly changing. The second challenge was to convince employees to use the digital tools. This was because numerous working methods had become established over the years due to the shortcomings and lack of user-friendliness: Employees stuck to this multitude of error-prone workarounds because of their bad experiences with the digital system, which was known to be problematic.
In order to convince employees, the interim manager placed great importance on involving employees in the restructuring of the digital processes from the outset. This was achieved, among other things, by putting all inadequate processes to the test in working groups and then redefining them. This quickly increased acceptance and identification with digitalization.
Key performance indicators agreed as the basis for the bonus system
A temporary employee was hired to maintain the data records, who concentrated purely on cleansing the data and processed it within 14 weeks. The IT system was optimized in several workshops together with the software provider. The interim manager defined, documented and digitalized missing processes together with the employees in the respective departments. He also worked with the staff to develop key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure performance, which formed part of the bonus system.
Online presence overhauled and store and order configurator added
In another sub-project, the interim manager completely overhauled the company's online presence. The homepage was redesigned, a web store was set up and a configurator for complex and consulting-intensive components was developed, which drastically shortened the ordering and delivery process by 60 percent.
Optimization of digitalization and processes successfully completed on time
After 9 months, the goals of the digital restructuring were fully achieved. The processes were much more customer-oriented and the response to customer inquiries had improved dramatically. The simplification of the system and greater adherence to processes significantly reduced the error rate.
The employees were satisfied that the long overdue and long-lamented shortcomings were finally being addressed and that they were able to contribute their experience. The modern website with a new store and configurator made them proud. Accordingly, the client was very satisfied.
The challenge for the company remains to maintain the digital systems and processes after the interim expert's exit - and not to fall back into uncontrolled growth. This applies in particular to the expansion of the digital systems and continuous data maintenance.
