The interim manager was hired by a family-run, medium-sized technical building services company with more than 500 employees. A production facility with around 100 employees of the TGA company was operating at a loss. In addition, the production facility was struggling with considerable quality problems.
Comprehensive revision of the process organization
In the analysis of the current situation, it quickly became clear that only a comprehensive restructuring of the core processes in the process organization could lead to economical production of reliable quality.
Definition of 6 sub-projects
In consultation with the board, plant management, works council and executives, the interim manager developed six sub-projects with detailed work packages and a defined schedule. These included:
- Investing in construction measures and equipment to optimize the material flow
- More efficient use of the existing ERP system
- Establishing defined internal and external customer-supplier relationships
- Introducing a key performance indicator system with closed control loops
The sub-projects were implemented in teams with internal employees. The interim manager was responsible for managing the sub-projects. In this change management process, the interim manager's communication skills were particularly required in addition to his technical qualifications. His intensive communication made a significant contribution to getting those involved on board and conveying a spirit of optimism in the production facility.
Result: significant increase in productivity and quality
After implementing the restructuring projects, the material flow in the plant improved significantly. Throughput times have been reduced by more than 40 percent. The introduction of areas of the Toyota Production System ensured additional increases in productivity. Among other things, this involved the introduction of Kanban systems at certain workstations and assembly stations specifically designed for these workstations. To improve production quality, an immediate reporting system with escalation levels was set up as part of the Kanban system.
