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PROPRIETARY INFORMATION An industrial heater manufacturer had completed a two day Work-Out session focused on achieving double-digit sales growth within five years and had identified many issues that were keeping them from achieving this goal. One of the issues uncovered was that their quotation process was taking too long, and they were losing potential customers because of it. The existing process was manual with many rework loops and all communications between sales and engineering happening via email, phone, or fax. The business had already launched a project to implement a web-based quotation tool, but the executive team realized that they needed to fix the process before they could implement the new IT solution. Streamlining the Quotation Process Because the business used different platforms for their US and UK businesses, two process mapping sessions were held to document and improve both existing quotation processes. At each session all the people who touch the process participated to ensure that the effort started with what was actually happening versus what people thought was happening. After creating a detailed step by step process map across the wall of a conference room, the team shifted their efforts to identifying ways to eliminate delays, rework loops, and non value added steps. An ideal process map was then developed including the requirements needed to support the upcoming web-based quotation implementation. Finally, a detailed action plan was created with specific steps, owners, and deliverable dates. The new ideal quotation processes became the framework for the launch of the web-based quotation process and moved the business closer to their 85% on-time quotation goal. The improvements to the quotation process contributed to the overall $2,600,000 in increased revenue achieved by the original Work-Out team. Client Challenge Our Approach Results
