Operations Consulting

Costs running out of control?

Procedures too inflexible?

A company’s operations can often be the cause of expensive overruns, sluggish response, or a lack of transparency. Many times, operations are built up with a narrow but shifting focus over time, eventually accomplishing a goal yet not being aligned with a company’s strategic objectives. If your operations are not efficient and value adding, they could not only be siphoning profits from the company but also derailing efforts elsewhere in the organization.

A company’s operations form the backbone of the organization, but are often left neglected due to a short-term focus or sheer complexity. Yet like any support structure, the implications of a suboptimal configuration can be hugely detrimental: built too large, it will cause collapse under its own weight; built too lean, and it will lack the power and flexibility to provide adequate support. The challenge facing many companies is to find the balance between providing effectiveness and avoiding waste, which often requires the prospective and expertise of someone objective to the organization’s history.

Edgescope’s Approach

One practice in the operation consultant’s toolkit is the elimination of non-value added activities. To accomplish this, Edgescope maps out processes start to finish, interviews key stakeholders, and measures every resource allocation against its benefit and opportunity cost. Consultants experienced in Six Sigma and other methodologies are utilized where appropriate to bring those processes that do add value under control.

However, the all too common evaluation of processes in a vacuum is of limited value if it doesn’t support the larger strategic initiatives of the company. That’s why Edgescope takes a holistic approach to evaluate a company’s operations in the context of its larger goals. By using its iterative strategic approach, Edgescope ensures both that strategy is based on operational competencies, and operational improvements are prioritized to support strategy. With this frame of reference, Edgescope is able to avoid investing in highly efficient processes that do not support key objectives while identifying areas crucial to success. Fully incorporating the cross-functional linkages (e.g. with marketing through distribution, or with finance through inventory management) allows Edgescope to form recommendations for a support structure that is truly aligned with all other areas of the business.

To transform how your organization operates, contact Edgescope today.