On Time Delivery Performance
The Situation
I was engaged as a consultant to address declining on-time delivery rates at a manufacturing facility in Italy in the Marine industry. Delivery performance was at 53%, the lowest amongst its sister sites in Europe and causing concern commercially and on the board .
The Task
The objective was to analyse and understand the root causes of poor performance, develop a robust strategy to improve delivery rates, and implement sustainable operational changes to achieve a target of 85% on-time delivery within six months.
The Action / Approach
I led a cross-functional team comprising internal staff and external analysts to evaluate the facility’s end-to-end value chain. Using Lean and Six Sigma methodologies, I conducted a series of workshops to:
- Collaborated with the COO to define and agree on the approach.
- Led the internal management team to assess and align on the current situation.
- Directed internal and external analysts to focus on necessary data analysis.
- Benchmarked with sister plant in Germany to foster collaboration between the management teams on best in class performance.
- Developed hypotheses and identified root causes.
- Supported the leadership team in creating actionable items within the improvement plan.
- Delivered the final report.
The Result
Within four months, on-time delivery rates improved significantly, rising from 53% to 87%, surpassing the initial target. Customer satisfaction increased, and the improvements established a foundation for continued operational excellence. The initiative also resulted in increased employee engagement, as teams took ownership of the new processes and sustained performance gains.
