Indirect costs have increased at many organizations in recent years. Companies know that they need to optimize not only manufacturing, but also back-office processes which are not easy to measure. Our experience from transformation projects shows that it is not unusual for back office employees to spend 40% of their working time on low value-added activities. How can companies unlock the potential for increasing company profit by measures in the back office that will bring higher added value?
“Our experience shows that companies do not systematically address the productivity of back-office processes.”
Jakub Vančo, Manager
“We can find reserves of 1 to 3% of EBITDA in the back office.”
Richard Hurka, Manager
What have we achieved with back-office transformation projects?
We found that employees of an energy company spent 30% of their working time on activities of low value to their business;
We achieved annual savings of 20% in the back office of a production company operating in mechanical engineering;
We proposed streamlining the management structure.
We increased the quality of back-office services at a construction company by eliminating duplicate activities and reducing controls;
We streamlined the meeting and reporting structure;
How to consider indirect costs at a company with more than 2,500 employees and turnover exceeding EUR 200 million
Meetings took up 32% of working time and more than 1 FTE was dedicated to reporting
How to make customer care processes at a well-established and growing company more efficient
Summary of all analysed areas
Details of the project:
2. Phase - Design (2 weeks)
Strategic workshop with company management to determine the optimal state of processes
Recommendations for implementation and setting priorities for the main focus
Quantification of savings and added value
1. Phase - Analysis (4–6 weeks)
- Comparison of departments across companies and the sector;
- Management model analysis
- Analysis at activity and process level
3. Phase - Implementation – (4–8 months)
Implementation plan
Joint working groups and objectives
Ongoing evaluation
On-the-spot implementation support
Evaluation and completion
References
