RAK Food System

Name: RAK Food Systems - United Arab Emirates Division.

Sector: Engineering

Website:  available on request

Project Description

In April 2011 RAK Food Systems used Consultants Online for a project to expand the buisness. Objectives were to:

• Align the four functions of the business, People, Operations, Marketing and Finance.
• Create an R&D Department and implement Quality Control.
• Develop a better infrastructure to support production.
• Improve Cash Flow.

Consultants Online’s experience in facilitating performance management workshops using Balanced Scorecard tools and techniques enabled the management team to develop a common vision and an agreed strategy to expand the business and maintain a healthy cash flow.

A six month plan was agreed which included:

• Recruit production staff.
• Invest in state of the art production machines
• Create an R&D Department
• Ensure staff are flexible enough to changer tasks quickly.
• Develop an inventory management system.  
  

Project Results: 

• Full commitment of the senior management team
• Alignment with Head Office strategy.
• A production unit capable of delivering projects in short lead times.
• Better quality products with superior finishes.
• Materials planning and procurement system.
• Increased productivity and reduced working time in all operations.

“Consultants Online identified the vision, strategy and objectives we needed to expand the business and improve process control”
                                   Stanislas Bellon , Production Director

Project Skills:

• Workshop facillitation to brainstorm manager's ideas.
• Bringing consensus to the team and realisation of key priorities for the business.
• Developing an implementation plan with key milestones and reponsibilities.

Tools and Techniques Used - Strategy Map / Balanced Scorecard

The Strategy Map is a valuable tool to help an organisation decide what future to aim for, and which goals are shared by the management team.

It visually describes the key parts of the strategy across four basic departments or functions of the business; People, Operations, Marketing and Finance.

It gives equal weight to each of theses areas and ensures that it's not just revenue and profit targets that drive the business.

People have to be committed to the goals of the organisation, the systems and procedures have to work well, the customer's experience is paramount, and the financial objectives realistic - allowing for the appropriate investment.

At RAK Food Systems we invited people to a workshop from each of the key departments; Production, Marketing, Sales, HR, and Finance. They had to imagine the year was 2015, and their company was very succesful. It had achieved all it's goals.

The big question for each of the individual participants was, "What is your personal vison of success?" -  "Look back over the last three (theoretical) years and write down what has been achieved under each of the 5 headings:

1. Strategy (what we did to be successful)
2. People (the number and type of people we have, and how we are managed)
3. Operations (Systems & Processes)
4. Marketing (Sales materials, promotion and advertising, customer groups)
5. Finance (revenue, profit, cash flow, investment)

Each member of the tean agrees the vision and objectives of the company. They decide which activities will help to achieve the objectives, and they allocate responsibility for each of the activities to one of the people in the room.

The final step is to agree which measures will be used to report back on progrees towards completion of the task. What targets a re realistic? Who and how will the outputs be measured.

These measures become a focal point of future management team meetings.