Client Success
Stories
We Do,
Stories Speak
Client success stories provide insights into how Kepner-Tregoe consulting and training services resulted in measurable improvements in targeted KPIs.
Client success stories are organized by industry, but many are relevant across industries because they illustrate dramatic results based on the application of analytic thinking to the problems, plans and decisions made by individuals and teams in our increasingly digitized and changing business environment.
Sara Lee Launches Six Major New Products
Challenge
Sara Lee launched an ambitious multi-year plan to transform Sara Lee into a company focused on food, beverage, household and body care businesses around the world. As part of its plan, Sara Lee is driving growth with new products in its strong brands which include Ball Park, Douwe Egberts, Hillshire Farm, Jimmy Dean, Kiwi, Sanex, Senseo, and namesake, Sara Lee. To meet these goals, Sara Lee wanted a more systematic approach to developing new products.
Result
Implementation of the new process and acceptance of necessary changes have aligned new product development with the Sara Lee strategy for growth. With the new NPD process in place, Sara Lee is building a results-focused portfolio of targeted projects that have an increased probability of commercial success.
Operational Efficiency Improved by 47%
Challenge
Griffin’s Food is one of New Zealand’s largest branded food companies. After a major capital investment at one of its biscuit factory, Griffin’s needed to address several variables impacting overall conversion cost. The site was struggling with high waste, high downtime, and planning deficiencies; and overall workflow was not conducive to producing at the lowest possible conversion cost.
Result
Griffin’s turned to Kepner-Tregoe (KT) for help making rapid and sustainable step change improvements. KT has worked with manufacturing facilities world-wide to achieve dramatic improvements in operational efficiency by resolving issues affecting plant uptime, cycle time and quality. At the conclusion of the KT engagement the plant achieved a 12:1 ROI over a 12 month period—surpassing ROI goals by 140%.
From Project Overload to Project Control
Challenge
When the leaders of an international beverage company wanted to improve product development, they turned to Kepner-Tregoe (KT). Chronic project overload and lacklustre project performance had hampered new product success. KT helped the organization compare best practices with the current product development process, identify gaps in performance, and collaborate on a multifaceted improvement plan for product management.
Result
The new, systematic approach links strategy and product development and provides clear, prioritized criteria for selecting projects. High-level portfolio management and an agreed-upon process guide projects through the product development pipeline. Chronic project overload has been overcome by improving resource use and allocation and by integrating risk management, project management tools, and project monitoring into the process.
Company Sustains Sweeping Changes to Product Development
Challenge
This foods product company worked with Kepner-Tregoe (KT) to redesign their product development process defining new roles and responsibilities and new commercialization activities. In some instances, the approach required radical changes in behavior. KT partnered with this client to design and implement a new process and sustain the necessary changes.
Result
In six months, KT helped execute a three-pronged approach to product development. The KT team helped the client stay on course, guided by clear objectives and metrics. The project completed on time and on budget. Now new products are developed through a process owned by the client and managed by their own project managers working consistently across the product portfolio.
Transforming Problem Management
Challenge
The Global Problem Management team for the Group Technology and Operations (GTO) division of a major German bank wanted to standardize the problem process. They were experiencing inconsistency in the approaches used by Problem Managers during Root Cause Analysis (RCA) sessions. There was no common structure or format for RCA, creating confusion about the nature of the problem and the objectives.
Result
Kepner-Tregoe (KT) worked with the team to transform the efficiency and effectiveness of Problem Management by using Value Stream Mapping. They identified bottlenecks in the initial investigation and tackled the quality of problem investigations by introducing KT Clear Thinking processes. The transformation program reduced the number of incoming incidents by 60% in year one, and by 55% the next year.
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high-impact issues, supporting smoother and more
cost-efficient business operation.
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KT's unique critical thinking methods are designed to
support you in situations of maximum stress. When it
really matters that you find the best solution, the KT
toolkit is proven to deliver.
Process Plus Experience
KT consultants have a wealth of experience in
supporting clients use of the KT methods in a wide
variety of industries and situations. We can help you
get the maximum value from deploying the KT
toolkit.
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