Business Processes

Case Study 1 - Research and Development Optimization

Winthrop Management Services provided Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) and consulting services to a client that needed to develop a comprehensive research and development plan that was cost effective and provided an efficient time to market.   The client also sought to re-engineer the company’s innovation process to provide increased visibility by allowing executives to more accurately project sales revenue, determine acceptable levels of business risk, and set expectations for specific R&D investments.  Specific objectives addressed during this contract included:

Winthrop Management Services applied the SWOT (Strengths/Weakness/Opportunities/Threats) model to evaluate and analyze where the company was strong and where it was vulnerable, where it should defend, and where to attack.  Winthrop Management Services used the SWOT model to view the most important factors influencing the survival and prosperity of the client and  finally to use this analysis to develop a plan to act on.  

Winthrop Management Services’s consulting and management framework provided an innovative approach used for addressing research and development that enabled the client to make the best possible investment decisions based upon market forces and trends. Winthrop Management Services’s consulting and training effort provided the company a new process to enable, to formulate, collect, analyze, frame, and interpret decision making information for evaluating and selecting an optimal research and development portfolio.  Winthrop Management Services’s expertise from the world of finance tailored methodologies for solving the R&D portfolio selection challenge given limited resources.  Additionally, Winthrop Management Services provided consulting to effectively deal with uncertainty or budget constraints followed by the addition of temporal budget constraints and profiles. 

Through Winthrop Management Services's recommendations, the client  implemented a highly optimized process for product research and development allowing them to maximize their potential sales success while increasing the “time to innovation.”   Winthrop Management Services successfully “re engineered” the client’s R&D planning, development, and go to market cycle by an average of 13 months per device (an average 24 months faster than its competitor) through its imaginative analysis and systematic planning.  Winthrop Management Services’s extensive marketing analysis and go to market strategy provided the basis for the growth in all major regions of the world within the first year of the plan.  

Case Study 2 - Manufacturing Operations Efficiency

Winthrop Management Services provided consulting and management services to a systems manufacturer to develop a comprehensive strategy and implementation plan to establish a Wholly Owned Foreign Enterprise (WFOE) to assemble and sell medical devices in China.  This included developing a complete corporate strategy involving extensive economic analysis and project management from conception to  manufacturing and assembly operations. 

Winthrop Management Services applied common six sigma tools starting with problem solving methods such as the Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control (DMAIC).  The company studied the nature and extent of problems resident in the European factory to identify true cause and effect of optimizing the supply chain and independent development of component parts.  Winthrop Management Services initially developed a high level process map using the SIPOC (Suppliers, Input, Process, Output, Customers) diagram method.   This identified areas of high cost, long lead times, and variations in manufacturing that impacted overall customer satisfaction and future sales.  The team also used Value Stream Time Value Mapping to capture the main sequences in the client’s manufacturing and assembly of medical devices, along with industry recognized analysis tools to examine detailed and specific processes activities related to testing and shipment of the completed machines. 

Winthrop Management Services’s international management and manufacturing background provided the expert guidance to support the client in establishing a wholly owned subsidiary in China.  Winthrop Management Services provided detailed analyses, studies and evaluations of its current manufacturing operations in Europe along with its dependent supply chain vendors to develop a solution in China that allows for the local procurement of certain parts and components while still maintaining the core technology elements under the parent company’s control.  Winthrop Management Services provided, through its management and strategy consulting initiatives, an efficient coordination of all facets of the procurement program from design to delivery. 

Winthrop Management Services exceeded the required time line for all project milestones by an average of three months and established a new country wide distribution channel within nine months.  Additionally consulting led to the creation of a Wholly Owned Foreign Enterprise (WOFE) along with a vetted staff that provided the ability to conduct both manufacturing and sales in operations and delivered the solution below budget expectations, increased product margin, achieved a 33% reduction in burdened manufacturing cost, and realized a 55% reduction in component sourcing lead-time.  Supply chain lead time and costs to assemble a new machine were reduced while maintaining the highest quality standards in the local factory.  Additionally the Winthrop Management Services team provided consulting and training to the assembly plant staff to use effective Six Sigma principles to ensure these processes endure.  Winthrop Management Services continued to guide the client through final audit inspection to could obtain a production license.

The client stated that Winthrop Management Services’s innovative and aggressive approach to this project on the operational and organizational fronts allowed them to greatly reduce waste, variability, and inflexibility.  Winthrop Management Services provided training and counseling to the client’s leadership team to instill this new “lean” mindset for its employees as key to measuring their performance.   The analysis and process documentation delivered allowed the client to receive both regulatory and licensing approval in China six months faster than the average time for manufacturing life supporting medical devices.