Interim management project (2014 - 2019)

Production company: STILLAG RUSSIA, St. Petersburg

Area of ​​activity: Development and production of technological equipment with electromechanical and electronic controls for commercial kitchens (HoReCa): Video-1 , Video-2.

As part of the interim management project, Sergei Grigoryev held the position of Deputy General Director.

Management of all departments of the production company:

  • development (R&D, design and technology departments);
  • procurement, transport and warehouse logistics;
  • production;
  • total quality;
  • marketing and sales (negotiating with key clients, working with tenders of the Moscow Region and large chains of retail stores), exhibition activities.

Under the leadership of S. Grigoryev and with the absolute support of the changes by the owner (CEO) of the company, the management system in the company is being transformed with a complete abandonment of piecework wages and the use of individual KPIs in the compensation system (staff motivation system) for the transition to a new performance assessment system taking into account the natural differences of a company's employees and the fundamental role of the very system in which they work. This was a primary condition for establishing a true environment of collaboration between and within the company's divisions.

See the description of the method in the open solution: A critical look at the use of KPIs in the personnel motivation system. Or how management deprives itself of the most important information for managing the company and destroys teamwork. What instead?

The sales department no longer blames production for all problems, production no longer wastes time and energy fighting the sales department and, in turn, does not blame the design and purchasing departments for problems that are actually the result of poor management. All departments accept the need for effective collaboration and act to maximize their contribution to the operational and strategic goals of the company as a system as a whole.

All numerically measurable performance indicators of the company are analyzed using statistical methods, the main tool of which is Shewhart control charts, which make it possible to separate signals from noise when choosing improvement measures and objectively assess the effectiveness of such measures using simple graphical methods, predict future behavior of processes and demonstrate them potential opportunities. The analysis of numerical indicators is carried out with the understanding that the most important factors for company management are numerically immeasurable, and many may not even be differentiated by the observer.

The system of fines for workers for producing defective products has been completely abandoned, and any penalties (in some companies these sanctions are called depreciation) in relation to employees of all divisions of the company have been eliminated.

Marketing and Sales
  1. New methods of promoting products to a highly competitive market are being developed and implemented together with the company’s distributors and dealers, taking into account the entire life cycle of the company’s products. These approaches are based on the fundamental principle of “cooperation, everyone wins.”
  2. A new model for offering products through online configurators (cost optimizers) has been developed and is being implemented. It is possible to easily carry out any of the tens of thousands of configurations through all the company’s processes from the buyer’s application to the release and shipment of finished products. Configurators made it possible to increase the number of products offered hundreds of times (taking into account the preferences for materials, financial capabilities and technology of end customers), while the selection of the required product was reduced from several minutes to 15–30 seconds. Moreover, now the company’s dealers have at their disposal a tool that allows them to put into practice, which has already become empty words, the principle of “individual approach to each client,” and the dealers’ clients have the opportunity to purchase what they really need.
  3. The processes performed by the sales department employees are being improved, and the information space surrounding them is filled with interactive panels implemented in a combination of 1C: Production and Power BI, which allow us to interpret data with a speed and volume of conclusions previously unavailable. This interactivity is used by sales specialists during telephone, online and face-to-face negotiations. For example, previously for personal negotiations I only needed at least three hours to prepare information on historical data of working with a client, now interactive panels that you can take with you to a meeting on your laptop allow you to do this in seconds in the context of any factor and any depth of data .
  4. Optimal automation of “workplaces” in 1C made it possible to reduce the time for performing routine operations by 5–10 times, while simultaneously improving the quality of work with the company’s clients and related departments.
  5. In the "Power BI" software, interactive panels (dashboards) are developed for comparative analysis of similar equipment from different manufacturers for use by employees of the company's commercial department and dealer employees on the sales floor, which provide a visual representation of important product indicators and, for example, the equivalent of the overall consumer value and consumer value per 1 thousand rubles of product cost.
  6. The sales and marketing department uses information panels developed in "Power BI" to work with current and potential clients (dealers), instantly demonstrating the market capacity of our company's products in all regions of Russia. When preparing panels, Rosstat data and expert assessments are used.
  7. Together with employees of the design and marketing departments, “lightweight” 3D models of technological equipment produced by the company were prepared and made publicly available. A process is provided for their easy use in the free software "Sweet Home 3D" for arranging the equipment offered by our company on top of the drawing of the client premises, during communication between dealer employees and clients, in a matter of minutes. Employees of the company's commercial department provide online training for dealer personnel. Based on the results of the training, the latter receive personalized certificates.
  8. A video studio was built in a dedicated room and equipped with the necessary equipment for a full-fledged filming process, where the production of video materials using the company’s products is carried out, with the active participation of the company’s employees: Video-1 , Video-2 , Video-3 , Video-4
  9. Sales management applies an approach to competition using a statistical assessment of key parameters of the quality of its own products and competitors' products, which allows one to objectively identify the competitive advantages and disadvantages of one's own products.
Procurement and logistics
  1. Processes are being improved and the “workplaces” of procurement and logistics specialists are being automated. Simple access to consolidated information on production orders, product specifications, warehouse balances of raw materials and materials, materials in transit, delivery times, significantly reduces the routine of timely assessment of the needs for the purchase of raw materials and materials, warehouse stocks are reduced, and errors in material and financial planning resources are constantly decreasing.
  2. An online system for collecting and analyzing proposals from the company’s main suppliers (prices, availability, schedule of arrival at suppliers’ warehouses, other product characteristics) has been implemented and is successfully operating in a semi-automatic mode. Moreover, data entry into the system is done remotely by the suppliers themselves.
  3. The system of incoming inspection of materials and components from suppliers is constantly being improved. Quality management methods are being introduced using Shewhart control charts, which are used in negotiations with suppliers who are ready for this level of relationship. We require suppliers to provide statistical confirmation of the quality of the supplied raw materials and materials, and not unfounded statements about quality.
  4. Based on the results of the analysis of complaints about defects in components from suppliers that could not be identified before shipment of products, work is underway with suppliers of these components. The number of suppliers (manufacturers) of a homogeneous assortment is minimized in order to reduce sources of variability, and the selection of suppliers is made from among those who are ready to statistically confirm the availability, timely shipment and quality of their components.
  5. Now a low purchase price does not matter without a systematic analysis of the full cost of using components and materials in production and throughout the entire life cycle of the company’s products.
Product development and production launch
  1. The method of developing new products is changing. More attention is paid to the initial preliminary design, which helps prevent designers from making non-optimal decisions before the start of development, as a result, reducing the cost of developing new products.
  2. The protection of products developed by employees of the design department is carried out in a working group with representatives of all interested employees from the sales, production, purchasing, technology departments and senior management of the company.
  3. Digital models of designed products are created with an understanding of the real capabilities of production processes, assessed using Shewhart control charts, rather than making do with tolerance fields and nominal design.
  4. Particular attention is paid to visualization tools. For example, visual explosion diagrams have been added to the passports for the company’s products, and components are equipped with additional tags that greatly simplify the identification of elements that require replacement from end buyers and dealers.
  5. Research and development work (R&D) is becoming systematic, and more and more importance is being given to the scientific approach using knowledge in subject areas, the theory of knowledge, statistical methods, and approaches that allow finding innovative solutions.
  6. Design engineers participate in presentation events of the products they develop along with sales department employees.
Production
  1. An automated “just in time” kanban system has been developed and implemented (transfer of parts upon request to subsequent technological operations), an integral part of which is the developed and implemented system for the address storage of parts in specialized racks with cells in the production workshop. This production system made it possible to use pre-optimized standard control programs for cutting steel sheet materials, significantly reducing the amount of unused part of the material, which, in turn, led to a reduction in the time for preparing production for the launch of an order by several times.
  2. Electronic document flow has been introduced in terms of transferring working drawings to additionally installed displays to the operator control panels of CNC machines. This made it possible to completely abandon paper drawings, the natural deterioration of quality and timely updating of which have always caused great difficulties. This implementation additionally resulted in a significant reduction in scrap due to confusion with product drawing versions and freed up additional space on the production floor.
  3. Automated workstations for preparation for production and management of production orders are constantly being improved, which leads to a constant reduction in the consumption of raw materials and a reduction in the time it takes to launch orders into production.
  4. The complete abandonment of the system of fines for workers for “defects” in production, which only brings harm, has made it possible to timely obtain reliable information about its quantity and causes, which makes it possible to make the necessary systemic improvements aimed at reducing the proportion of defects at all previous stages, looking for the sources of problems in upstream processes.
  5. Work to improve the quality of manufactured products is carried out at all levels of the enterprise from top management to the shop level and in all departments of the company. Building a trusting atmosphere with workers allows for the full implementation of improved work methods and processes at the enterprise.
  6. Training is provided to production unit managers and business contacts are maintained with shop floor workers.

Above is only a small part of the improvements made. All this became possible thanks to the full support of the ongoing changes by the owner of the enterprise.