Megbízónk, egy Private Equity cég, egy befektetéséhez keresett az adott iparágban (high tech) jártas, de alapvetően felső vezetői tapasztalatokban bővelkedő interim igazgatósági elnököt, tanácsadót, a management és a tulajdonosok közötti kommunikáció javítóját.

A jól működő cég piaci helyzetének stabilizálása, folyamatos, fenntartható növekedési pályára állítása, majd eladása állt a befektető célkeresztjében. Ehhez alakítottuk ajánlatunkat, melyben a közösen meghatározott célokhoz igazítottuk tevékenységünket:

„Az előzetes ismerkedések alapján kialakított véleményünk szerint az operatív elnöki tevékenység első 12 hónapjának időigénye 3 szakaszra bontható. Az első három hónapban heti négy napra van szükség (ismerkedés, stratégia kialakítása és tevékenységekre és időszakokra való lebontása, idei árbevétel biztosítása), a következő három hónapos időszakban heti három nappal számolunk (tervezés, a legnagyobb ügyfelekkel való tervegyeztetés, érdekeltségi rendszer véglegesítése, kontrolling rendszer kialakítása, nagyobb költségcsökkentési projektek beindítása), míg az elkövetkezendő hat hónap vélhetően heti két nap elfoglaltságot jelent.

Ebben a kalkulációban a jelenlegi vezérigazgató maradásával számoltunk, ha ez mégsem így alakult volna, akkor nagyobb heti elfoglaltság mellett vállaljuk az interim vezérigazgatói poszt betöltését, valamint az új állandó vezérigazgató keresés irányítását.

Díjazásunkat két részre osztottuk. Egy havi fix díjra, melyért cserébe vállaltuk a fenti célokat és egy jelentősebb sikerdíjra, mely a cég sikeres – előre meghatározott összeget elérő – eladásához kötődött.

Végül az eredetileg tervezettnél hosszabb időre volt szükség, de a projektet mindenki megelégedésére zártuk, a cég azóta is sikeresen működik.

The client

A large, Japanese family-owned company (a recognised Tier-1 automotive supplier) was building a modern factory in Eastern Europe to serve its automotive customers. Shortly afterward, it acquired a competitor's division in the same city, which was engaged in a similar activity. The two divisions merged, leaving the old factory of the acquired company empty.

Almost at the same time, the company won a tender from a top European commercial vehicle manufacturer for the production and supply of a range of products. This represented a huge growth opportunity and all the conditions seemed to be in place.

The problem

However, once production started, serious problems arose. It turned out that:

• an industrial building is not a factory,
• the employees who used to work there are not a team,
• a commercial vehicle is not a car,
• and the corporate culture of the new customer is not like that of the existing customers.

The company contacted Interim Ltd. at the point where the situation had reached the point where they could only meet the customer's needs with daily express aviation transport.

The very next day, our interim manager showed up at the client's factory and the project was underway! Within a week, he assessed (diagnosed) the situation and identified:

• the technological process was perfect for producing car parts, but the specific nature of commercial vehicles was not considered due to the short timeframe.
• the employees who were brought back together did not form a team, the many excellent people did not play in one band.
• there was a total lack of accountability and responsibility of management.

The solution

The interim manager was personally involved in implementing the solution steps. He led the review and correction of incomplete and faulty technological processes. His work relied heavily on the rapid implementation of simple, visual management tools.

He brought team-building tools to bring the team together, switched to daily reporting, introduced one-on-one mentoring, and conducted goal-oriented individual and group discussions.

The result

Thanks to the intervention of the interim manager, nice results were achieved:

• the express flights were eliminated within four weeks.
• the situation became manageable within three months and customer service was in the acceptable zone.
• after the successful project closure, Interim Ltd. received further assignments from this customer in Europe and Africa.

The client

An American entrepreneur relocated production from Western Europe to Hungary, which included manufacturing, storage of food materials, automated packaging, and delivery throughout Europe.

The problem

The company turned to Interim Ltd. because its production efficiency was significantly below expectations. Their OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) had previously been 80%, which the company wanted to increase further. In comparison, after the relocation, this figure barely hit 60%. This was compounded by significant delivery delays, leading to fears that customers would turn away from the product.

The solution

The problem was solved by one of our interim managers who had previously gained experience in manufacturing, and quality management in a multinational food company and many well-known Hungarian companies. Building upon this knowledge, after a careful assessment, he concluded the following:

• The owner and the quality manager did not speak Hungarian, so direct communication with middle managers was very difficult.
• The managing director had previously worked as a trader in Eastern Europe and had minimal operational experience and knowledge.
• During the technology transfer, the transferring company delivered the machinery and equipment incompletely and did not provide the necessary technical, technological, and maintenance information, which was not perceived by the receiving side (due to, among other things, a lack of language skills).
• During the transfer, there was a complete lack of a plan and a project manager responsible for its implementation.

The interim manager's objective was to ramp up the production process, and the following measures were implemented:

• He reviewed the technical state of the packaging line and proposed immediate measures to improve availability and maintenance.
• It was necessary to promote production discipline by introducing process measurements.

The result

Thanks to the experience of the interim manager, he was able to make the changes acceptable to the owner. Although it was not smooth at first, doubts turned into satisfaction over time.

By the fifth month, the target was achieved, and our interim manager was given the task of relocating another production line as a full-time project manager.

At the end of what was originally planned to be a six-month project, the client offered our interim manager the position of managing director, which he accepted.

Customer issue

Our client was experiencing problems with its internal logistics processes, particularly concerning the supply of materials and the efficiency of its production and warehousing processes.

Interim Ltd. was requested to transform and improve these processes by engaging an experienced, well-prepared, and efficient interim manager.

Solution

We started by assessing the state of internal material flow, followed by interviews with production/warehouse/logistics staff. Based on the analysis of the warehouse and material handling processes, a detailed action and action plan was drawn up.

Once the diagnostics and the plan were in place, the next step was to redesign and optimise the production material handling process. The introduction of the new processes was accompanied by testing on the production floor and in the warehouse, followed by the optimisation of the warehousing processes.

Of course, any ambitious idea needs human support. We therefore had to win over colleagues, which meant that we also provided ongoing training for the staff involved. It was also important to document the new processes (work instructions and process descriptions) precisely

For the final evaluation, KPIs were established and regularly reported to our client. These KPIs were: increase in productivity, rate of reduction of downtime due to material shortages, and measurement and an indication of workforce optimisation or its potential as a result of positive changes.

Following the successful transformation of the selected production area, we were also tasked with extending and implementing the changes to the other production departments. In addition, we were involved in the selection and training of the permanent internal logistics manager and the continuous and complete transfer of tasks and responsibilities.

Results

• Operational productivity increased by 15%.
• Downtime due to material shortages was reduced to below 2%.
• Staff numbers were reduced by 20% due to the internal reorganisation of staff.
• The interim manager was offered a job after the project and remained in the organisation as an employee.