"The outcomes have been astonishing and have enabled us to reinvigorate the business" - was how Matthew Beck, managing director of the Magna Science Adventure Centre in Rotherham described the results achieved by Simon Lamb of About-Turn Interim Management.
Simon was called into Magna, the award-winning visitor attraction, to help them overcome supply chain management problems which were affecting customer service in key areas of the business.
Working closely with the Magna management team, Simon devised a strategy to map the supply chain of the visitor attraction's three core businesses. Critically, he developed an approach whereby Magna more clearly understood what the customer requirements and expectations were and then matched these to suppliers' product and service delivery.
Explains Simon: "We measured supplier profile and agility against the same criterion used to score customer needs, such as company information, relationship and brand, competence and the 'wow' factor. We benchmarked Magna's performance against a leading competitor in the region - Royal Armouries in Leeds - and developed a score card for supplier excellence with appropriate key performance indicators (KPIs).
"The KPIs were important to measure the success of the changes, so we benchmarked against the expected future service level, the achievement against strategic objectives, profitability and cash flow."
As a consequence of Simon's work and the implementation of changes at Magna, the supply chain has been streamlined with the link up to identified strategic suppliers.
Departmental restructuring has also taken place. Now, business teams are clearly focused on delivering profitability and raising customer service in their areas, because there is much greater visibility of costs and income streams.
The overall procurement process has been improved as staff are better trained and focused in the needs of the business and its customer expectations.
Says Magna's Matthew Beck: "As a result of Simon's work our organisational structure has changed reflecting the internal stresses that were impacting on our customers; we have a new set of top down KPIs so that we are all targeting the same objectives; we have a new method of assessing our suppliers with the needs of the customer in mind; we have a clear understanding of the type of relationship that we want to maintain with our suppliers in order to sustain the agility of our organisation to meet the needs of our new customers and we have gained in control of our costs and efficiencies with improved cash flow, stock turns and eventually profitability.
"We are delighted with Simon's work and have no hesitation in recommending him to other clients who wish to carry out a supply chain project. I have no doubt that they would achieve similarly astonishing results."
