Service · The first step
Potential analysis: where digitalisation really pays off in your production
Together we walk through your order process, from quotation to delivery. Afterwards you know where most of the time gets lost, what a solution would deliver and whether it is worth building something there. If it is not, we will tell you that too.
The result
What you have in your hands at the end
A written assessment that your production manager understands just as well as your IT does, and a first prototype for the bottleneck that pays off most. The assessment answers three questions.
Where the time gets lost
A description of your order process with the points where people search, wait, retype or chase up information, in your terms, not ours.
What pays off first
A ranking: which bottleneck costs you the most, which is easiest to fix and where we would start if we were you.
Roughly what it costs
For every proposal, an order of magnitude for the effort. Not a quotation accurate to the euro, but enough to decide whether you want to think about it further.
On top of that
A first prototype, before you commission anything
You see what the solution for your most important bottleneck would look like and how it would be used. That is far easier to discuss with your people than a document.
And if your ERP can already do something, or a project is not worth it, that is in there too. You can then take the result to your ERP vendor yourself, or we join the conversation.
Process
Process: from a phone call to the first prototype
One day at your site. Before that a phone call, afterwards an assessment and a prototype you can base your decision on.
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1
Preliminary phone call
You tell us where things get stuck and what you have already tried. We clarify who should be there on the day and whether a potential analysis is the right step for you at all. Expect a 30-minute call.
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2
One day at your site
We follow a real order from quotation to delivery: sales, design engineering, production planning, purchasing, production, assembly, shipping. At every station we ask where the information comes from, where it goes and which list is kept on the side. We watch and ask questions. We do not show any slides.
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3
Assessment and prototype
You receive our assessment in writing: the bottlenecks, a ranking by benefit and an order of magnitude for the effort. For the most important bottleneck we build a first prototype. We go through both with you. Then you decide whether to continue, and with what.
To be honest
Who it pays off for, and when we advise against it
It pays off if …
You have an ERP and, next to it, lists the company cannot run without. Deadlines wobble, and nobody can say exactly why. Or you have several ideas for what could be improved and do not know where to start.
Then an outside view brings order to the ranking and puts an order of magnitude on every idea.
We advise against it if …
You already know exactly what you need. Then one conversation is enough, and we talk about the solution straight away.
Or you are about to introduce an ERP across several plants. We are not the right people for that. Or so much is changing in your company right now that the process will soon look different. Then it is better to wait until it has settled.
Cost
What it costs
We will tell you the price after the initial call, before you decide on anything.
It includes everything described above: the preliminary call, the visit at your site, the written assessment and the prototype. Whether a project follows is up to you.
What a follow-up project costs depends on the bottleneck. That is exactly what the order of magnitude in the assessment is for, so that you can weigh the effort against what an hour of searching, a round of rework or a postponed FAT date costs you today.
Frequently asked questions
What you want to know about the potential analysis
Who should take part in the potential analysis?
Someone who can make decisions, and the people who live the order process every day: usually the managing director or production manager, plus production planning, design engineering, purchasing and assembly, each for their own part, not for the whole visit. Your IT should join for part of the time, so that we know early on how we can get to the data.
Who is needed when is agreed in the preliminary call. That way nobody is taken away from their work for longer than necessary.
How much do we need to prepare?
Very little. You do not need to prepare any material or build a presentation. It helps to have a current or recently completed order that we can follow, together with the lists, printouts and notes that are actually used along the way. Those are exactly what shows what your ERP is missing.
What if nothing worthwhile comes out of it?
Then that is exactly what the assessment says. It may be that your ERP already offers a function, or that an organisational change helps more than software.
That is a result too: you then know that you do not need to spend money on software at this point. A project that does not pay off for you is of no use to us either.
One day at your site. Afterwards you know where you stand.
Call us or write to us. In the initial call we clarify whether the potential analysis is the right step for you.