Services »Domains »Product Development
Product Development
Product Development has probably the most significant impact on the firm’s fortunes going ahead. Future of the company hinges on the success of new products launched. Companies good at product development reap the benefits of higher revenues and greater margins compared to competitors. To increase the market share or penetration, a firm needs to introduce new and highly differentiated customer centric products at the right time regularly.
New product introductions impact the revenues of the company in a major way.
If a firm is able to launch a customer driven product at the right time, it is able to derive higher margins at least for the time before competitors come up with a similar product.
Stock markets move on expectations. Depending upon the strength of the planned product launches, the market valuation shoots up in the stock market, which gives the firm an added source of investments and increase in the brand equity at the same time.
Product development deals with all the stages from the product conceptualization to disposal throughout the lifecycle of the product. Typical stages that a product goes through are: conceptualisation, detailed product design, engineering (prototype), testing, mass production and disposal. Product development can involve slight modification to an existent product, a new product in same segment/category in which the firm is already present or penetrating into an entirely new target segment. These three are in increasing levels of complexity.
Some typical issues in Product Developmen
Last Updated On:11/20/2008 4:33:03 PM
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Logistics Cost Reduction for a Leading Global Refractory Manufacturer
Title: Conducted a Logistics Network Evaluation exercise by Evaluating the impact of total logistics costs (Inbound + Outbound) for new manufacturing plants and new outbound warehouses in order to reduce the total overall logistics cost
Business Scenario:
Client was a leading global refractory manufacturer with strengths and leading market share in monolithic products
Existing manufacturing facilities were in Katni, MP and Nagpur, Maharashtra for historical reasons
Client had an advantage of sourcing major RM from local sources in Katni, but were far from customer locations
Major customers were at the extremes of the country and constituted Iron & Steel Plants, Cement Plants, Sponge Iron Manufacturers in the East, South and West. Competition had facilities close to their customers
Distributors formed one channel of sales besides direct customers
For low priced products, the difference in logistics costs was significant enough to affect sales
Our Solution:
Determined all the relevant factors and costs impacting the business such as sources of RM, High Level Bill of Materials, Freight Rates, etc
Identified suitable facility locations based on 5 year growth projections of customer demand by industry segment, location of distributors, RM sources and competitors
Identified the right combination of product mix, manufacturing facilities and customer service areas for producing the maximum impact on logistics costs
Evaluated the Increase in Sales and Profits by measuring the impact of additional volumes gained by passing on the reduction in logistics costs to the end customer for one production line at each of the
Last Updated On:7/5/2011 5:04:13 PM
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Management Team
Management Team
Ram Mantravadi
CEO
More than 14 years of global consulting and leadership experience with firms like Satyam, IBM, EDS – Excellent understanding of strategy, operations and management in both business and IT realm – Led IT strategy & transformation practice in Satyam – Trained in Six Sigma Black Belt, TOC, eSCM. TOGAF certified enterprise architect. Industries include logistics, supply chain, retail, manufacturing, consumer goods, oil & gas.
Some Projects: Logistics strategy & organization setup for Leading conglomerate in ME, Supply Chain cost optimization for a leading Farm equipment manufacturer - Customer acquisition/ logistics cost reduction strategy for a leading Indian logistics service provider – Customer acquisition/ warehouse set-up and future strategy for a leading Indian logistics service provider – Business, operations & IT strategy for a leading Indian logistics service provider – Business process reengineering for a leading Indian logistics service provider – India market entry strategy for a German logistics service provider –Transformation Strategy and Roadmap for Shared Services Organization of a leading North American Bank – Outsourcing and Transition planning for a global publishing organization – IT efficiency and effectiveness improvements for a large US retail chain – Balanced scorecard design for a leading manufacturer of automated process control systems – E-business strategy & supply chain initiatives for a global auto giant – US State Welfare systems, design and development.
MBA from Carnegie Mellon University. BTech. from IT-BHU
Manish Kumar Singh
Director - Business Advisory & Transformation Services
14 years of experience with more than 8 years in Supply Chain Consulting and Implementation in Sales and Operations Planning, Demand Planning, Network Optimization and Supply Chain Strategy. Actively involved in architecting supply chain processes and solutions and leading im
Last Updated On:11/11/2011 12:56:47 AM
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Services »Impact
Impact
Clients come to us when they have certain end objective in their mind. With our proven expertise in supply chain advisory services, Aqua MCG’s associates successfully understand client’s objective and strive to achieve those. Our expertise in multitudes of supply chain domain and capabilities help us to deliver the impact in areas as varied as Globalization, Innovation, Revenue Growth, Asset Utilization, Cost Reduction and Customer Experience. Read more about how we achieve client objective in these impact areas by selecting through the drop down menu.
Last Updated On:10/22/2008 12:04:57 PM
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Tools
Distribution Network Optimization Tool
Aqua MCG Distribution Network Optimization tool works with the objective of optimizing the economic value added to the shareholder capital by evaluating every investment made over multi period at its net present value.
We firmly believe that looking at just cost reduction with service level constraints as the driver for network design or redesign decisions is a deficient way of evaluating your distribution network. Instead these decisions are a continuous trade off between the costs and the service levels. The service level enhancement has the potential to impact the revenue significantly thereby resulting in a net value add for the organization despite higher operational costs or capital outlays. This forms the basis of our Economic Value Add (EVA) optimization
Components & Capabilities
1. Analysis, Aggregation :
a. Multi commodity, multi echelon and multi period evaluation
b. Measurement of the impact of changing service levels on the revenue
c. Optimal timing of capital outlays based on NPV consideration of the EVA generated
d. Clustering facility of customer/demand data, visualization of clustering
e. AHP (warehouse selection)
f. Pareto analysis
g. Ability to study the effect of aggregation on costs and model accuracy
h. Value Stream Map
2. Simulation Capabilities
a. Stochastic demand at changing service levels in different periods
b. Various inventory replenishment models
c. Various transportation and warehousing models
3. Transportation Ra
Last Updated On:5/11/2009 6:29:01 PM
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Services »Impact »Revenue Growth
Revenue Growth
A tighter supply chain brings down logistical costs and increases efficiency. In the upstream, it leads to more predictable demand forecasts leading to an optimum level of inventory and lesser wastage. In the downstream, it helps to create accurate supply schedules for retailers and end consumers. Aqua MCG looks at ways to streamline your supply chain and boost revenue growth.
In the past, firms simply used their supply chains as a means to control costs by improving efficiencies but now, they are using their supply chains as a mechanism to boost revenue and improve customer satisfaction through reduced turnaround times and better management of highly customized products. Shorter life cycle products, global competition and rising commodity prices have posed challenges for the firms to grow their revenues and increase product’s market share but at the same time, product development, better management and more integrated services provide huge opportunities.
Some of the supply chain domains where revenue growth can be achieved are:
Domain
Capabilities
Decision Drivers
Product Development
New product introduction
Economies of scaleo Capital investment analysis
Planning of capacity with the new product introduction and existing infrastructure
Last Updated On:10/16/2008 2:48:48 PM
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Our Answers to questions from participants of the webinar on
“Inventory Level Optimization and Better Supply Chain Visibility through Superior S&OP Practices" on December 17th 2008, 3 P.M. Indian Standard Time (IST)
How does it impact capital expenditure?
In the S&OP process, plans ranging from 6 months to 18 months are viewed critically. Their resource requirements is checked through the Bill of Resources. Eventually we have a Loading Chart for each time period comparing the Resources Available and Resource required.
Issues relating to Capital Investments become eminent through these Loading Charts and decisions on these critical issues are hence addressed well in advance.
What is the size of insustry which can afford running a good S&OP program?
Typically any organization with sales in excess of Rs 150 crores or so would require a good S&OP program to foster growth and reduce cost of goods sold.
What what type industries generally will have this kind of program?
S&OP is irrespective of industry type. Any industry where there is a purchase-to-pay and an order-to-cash cycle would warrant an S&OP program
Is the promotional products which come along with the main product?
Promotional products could be the main product itself like in the case of trade offers where a product is given free on purchase of a certain number of the product.
It could be gift items or sample items manufactured or purchased separately. Either way planning for these should be a part of the forecasting and S&OP process
Stock avaliability, is it the finished product you are referring which customer can see?
It could be Finished Product or stocks at an intermittent stage in a Assemble to Order environment. More important than the customer actually seeing the product, it is the ability that Customer Service gets of promising the product to the customer by a particular date or the Available to Promise
Sp
Last Updated On:12/29/2008 6:35:01 PM
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Industries »Metals & Mining
Metals & Mining
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Last Updated On:5/2/2011 11:14:24 AM
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Supply Chain Cost Reduction in India
- Supply Chain Cost Reduction opportunities for Indian Companies
The Market and Supply Chain Need
Failed companies. Rescued banks. Panicked markets. Our current economic suffering is being hailed as one of the worst of all times. With a sharp decline in spending & wealth, now more than ever, have organizations realized the need for strategic thought and structured planning. This is where cost reduction has assumed its insurmountable position.
Cost saving initiatives need to be shaped and implemented by all departments in the organization; the entire process of planning, monitoring and measuring needs the support of all. Everyone from the top to the bottom must be actively involved, and work towards the new goals set. Expense reports are obviously the most logical place to start. These should be over a relatively long period of time in order to remove any seasonal variations. It is also important to stay focused on the key areas that account for the major 80% of costs.
Many organizations believe in myths like an “informal program for cost reduction is fine”; or even that reducing costs have a negative impact on quality. Nothing could be further from the truth. The most efficient cost reduction programs are those that very formal / specific and have clear objectives & accountabilities attached to it.
Companies that have been successful in cost reduction realised that it’s not enough to just reduce expenses to remain competitive; rather it takes innovative measures to emerge as leaders. This is why the role of knowledge advisory groups is so important. They help provide a much needed innovative & structured program, designed through practice-proven tools and strategies from specialists.
For example, it is easy to see why so many companies choose to downsize their workforce so that employee costs, which often account for more t
Last Updated On:7/4/2011 5:43:49 PM
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RFIDs in logistics Logistics is one of the key areas where RFID implementation can have a huge impact. Some of the key opportunities are:
Automation of shipping, tracking and receiving
Shipment security through tracking which helps in theft control and prevents counterfeits
Logistic providers face the challenge of more demanding delivery times demanded by the customers. This sometimes leads to expedited shipments as well in the absence of real time visibility into the movement of products. RFIDs help in getting more visibility into the supply chain, thus helping to achieve increased customer satisfaction and reduced number of expedited shipments.
logistic providers can increase their asset utilization through the enhanced tracking capabilities of the RFID. They can easily track the location of trailers and pallets through the use of RFIDs and also provide information about the availability of these trailers/other equipment.
In the warehousing space, it leads to better utilization of the warehouse space. Also the movement of goods within the warehouse can be tracked and done in an accurate and orderly manner. RFID provides faster throughput and processing due to the capability of reading many tags at a time without being in the line of sight. Furthermore, the accurate information on the stock levels gives the warehouse manager ample time and visibility to effectively plan incoming and outbound shipments. All these factors together help the logistics industry to achieve cost reduction through increased asset utilization and timely & accurate delivery to the customers.
DISADVANTAGES
RFID implementation at present has higher system costs compared to bar codes
Depending on the frequency, some RFIDs are unsuitable for use where the water content is high whereas for some frequencies use of RFID in the proximity of metals is not recommend
Last Updated On:7/11/2011 1:18:23 PM
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