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Supply Chain Performance Review

Gibson provides an understanding of what you are doing today, opportunities for tomorrow, and a roadmap for success that we will execute with you.

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Review Your Supply Chain Now to Improve Performance

As the world recovers from the effects of the Global COVID-19 Pandemic, many organizations are seeing rapidly growing demand for their goods and services. For manufacturers and distributors alike, this may translate into an increased need for raw materials and supplies. However, this sharp increase in need is leaving many companies short of critical supplier components and resources. This situation is causing executives to question if the shortages are due to the COVID-related economic upheaval or is there an underlying weakness or opportunity in the organization’s supply chain? Can the supply chain be improved to ensure a consistent flow of cost-effective raw materials and supplies to keep the manufacturing process running smoothly? The answer is yes, you just need to know how to get there. We know how, we have done it for over forty years. Gibson Consulting does one thing better than anyone else in the market, help clients improve their supply chain and business operations. We have global experience assisting clients across a wide range of industries. Our independent reviews of Supply Chain Performance help executives gain an understanding of their Supply Chain Performance and identify the opportunities for improvement.

What do I get?

Simply put … you will get an understanding of what you are doing today, opportunities for the future, and an execution roadmap that we will help you deliver on! Execution quality is where Gibson differs from the competition. We will provide a strategy and implementation roadmap and stay with you to execute to ensure you realize the savings benefits. Specifically, through a variety of diagnostic tools we begin by answering these four fundamental questions.

1

What are the opportunities for our organization?

2

How do we know these opportunities actually exist?

3

How do we capture, realize, and sustain these benefits?

4

How does Gibson bridge the recommendations to our organizations strategic and operational objectives?

How do we start?

We start with Data; both quantitative and qualitative. Gibson works with our results driven diagnostic approach. Yes, Data can be scary, yes data can be dirty and fragmented from multiple ERP systems. We like that! But data is where the real answers lie in your organization. If another consulting firm tells you they can do the work without a deep data diagnostic, they are leaving millions on the table and will most likely not be sticking around to help you execute their fantasy game plan. Gibson will lay out the roadmap, tell you projected results before the engagement and stick around to not only execute, but train your team in order to sustain the results. It’s what we do, put us to the test.

  • Quantitative Data

    Gibson conducts a thorough data review and validation coupled with an internal cost investigation to set baselines and understand true costs.

  • Qualitative Data

    Gibson examines your Strategy, Operations, Organization, & Systems (SOOS) through in-person cross-functional interviews of key personnel, facility site visits, contracts review, and supplier and customer interviews.

  • Opportunity Identification

    Gibson benchmarks your current processes against best-in-class companies and identifies lowest-total-cost-opportunities and operational improvements within your network.

  • Executive Plan

    Gibson's diagnostic process concludes with formal options and recommendations for a successful implementation.

Next the data is used for our sourcing assessment across every element of your organization using our Strategy, Operations, Organization, and Systems (S.O.O.S.) model. This will determine what is working in your organization and help to identify any blind spots in your supply chain. The key elements of our S.O.O.S. model include:

S
Strategic
  1. Strategic enterprise supply chain goals and alignment
  2. Identification and handling of key issues and challenges
  3. Supply chain strategies and involvement of the C-suite
  4. Targets – goals and objectives
  5. Category strategies
  6. BU or Segment or Location Strategies
  7. Customer Requirements / Asks to be more competitive in market and challenges of Supply Chain or how supply chain supports
O
Operational
  1. Day-to-day supply chain management and tactical processes followed
  2. Departmental projects and activities
  3. Continuous improvement processes
  4. Sourcing process – reviewed for consistent execution quality
  5. Contracts – what is negotiated?
  6. How is process (and suppliers) managed?
O
Organizational
  1. Overall structure of the supply chain organization
  2. Capabilities and responsibilities of each element of the supply chain organization
  3. Training within the supply chain organization
  4. Collaboration between groups within the organization
  5. Personality Assessments of personnel – DISC Profiles
  6. Skills Assessment
  7. Centralized vs. Decentralized
  8. People – Roles & Training
  9. Involvement and linkages to other functions (Eng., Ops, etc.)
S
Systems — STP (Systems / Technology / Processes)
  1. Network infrastructure and operating systems to support supply chain needs
  2. Use of eSourcing tools and data analytics for category management
  3. Use of technology for organization-wide spend visibility
  4. Standard or custom reporting
  5. Supplier Master, Location and Total Spend and SKUs (heat map of locations)
  6. KPI Reporting by top suppliers
  7. Category reports – top spend categories, suppliers with spend, SKU’s

Delivering Superior Results

Our final executive management presentation and report shows you where your supply chain risk is located, where there is savings potential, and how to execute to maximize financial impact while mitigating your risk.  Results also can take other forms, for example … recommendations on process, skills, resources, your org structure, supplier diversity, technology and tools. The list goes on. It is about much more than the data, it’s the application of that data to yield the best results across your organization.

Some of the more recent focus of our clients has lead to strategy and implementation around:

  • Logistics – capacity and options within the Supply Chain during COVID
  • Supplier diversification – Supplier options both offshore and nearshore, minimizing the risk to your supply chain during unexpected future events like shortages or port closures
  • Benchmarking – by category to best in class companies and industries
  • Supply Chain assessment – process, organization structure, skills, tools, risks, alignment to strategy, supply base and ultimately your customers

Section I

  1. What are the Opportunities
    1. Assessment Process (Data-Driven)
    2. Key Data Findings
    3. Key Issues (Internal and External)
    4. Market Benchmarking
    5. Overall Savings Opportunities

Section II

  1. How do we know these Opportunities Exist?
    1. Process Review (Operations)
    2. Interviews & Supplier Feedback
      1. Supplier capability, capacity, and competitiveness
    3. S.O.O.S Analysis
    4. Market Intelligence
      1. Systems/tools, processes, and practices (Technology)
      2. Supplier and Network Optimization

Section III

  1. How do we capture these Opportunities
    1. Implementation Recommendations and Roadmap
    2. Key Next Steps & Introductions

Our Gibson Partners have saved over $10 Billion across 2,000 categories at 18-23% savings with 50% to 200% typical client EBITDA impact from strategic sourcing projects. We have analyzed over 500,000 supplier profiles (super-sized RFPs), conducted over 5,000 supplier negotiations, and led thousands of executive training sessions. Our consultants hold the tools and experience to deliver results. So much so that we are willing to guarantee our results as a multiple of our fees.

View Gibson Guarantee

Client Annual Savings Return on Investment Savings Multiple 5 Year Project ROI 5 Year Project Savings Multiple
Fortune 100 Electronics Manufacturing—PI $77,000,000 5133% 51X 25667% 257X
Top European Printing Company—PI $15,040,000 3008% 30X 15040% 150X
Largest U.S. Metals Distribution SC—PI $81,377,000 1493% 15X 7466% 75X
Fortune 100 Building Materials Company—PI $15,649,000 1304% 13X 6520% 65X
International Mining Chemical Company—PI $87,000,000 1088% 11X 5438% 54X
Construction Metal Pipe Manufacturing—PI $2,363,000 1050% 11X 5251% 53X
International Printing Company—PI $10,300,000 1030% 10X 5150% 52X
Largest N.A. Telescopic Handler Mfg. $31,613,000 1020% 10X 5099% 51X
Snack Food Mfg. Conglomerate $5,000,000 1000% 10X 5000% 50X
Fortune 100 Electronics Manufacturing $21,970,000 879% 9X 4394% 44X
Purchasing Dist. to McDonalds Corp. $1,900,000 844% 8X 4222% 42X
27 Division Private Equity Holding Co. $13,700,000 685% 7X 3425% 34X
Largest Mining Equipment Mfg. $20,817,000 672% 7X 3358% 34X
International Power Tools Mfg. $24,100,000 669% 7X 3347% 33X
Pre-Press Graphics Design $885,000 632% 6X 3161% 32X
International Hand Tools Manufacturing $22,800,000 585% 6X 2923% 29X
Heat Recovery Steam Generators Mfg. $1,117,000 496% 5X 2482% 25X
Private Equity Holding Company $5,921,000 423% 4X 2115% 21X
Heat Recovery Steam Generators Mfg. $2,659,000 355% 4X 1773% 18X
Fortune 100 Multi-Industry Mfg. $9,106,000 235% 3X 1265% 13X

A Word from Our Founder

Frequently Asked…

If you have further questions, we would love to start a dialogue with you and answer your questions with one of our partners.  Just fill out the form below.  In the mean-time we put together a list of questions that may help you deepen your understanding of our Supply Chain Performance Review and our firm.

How long does it take typically for this type of assessment?

Typically, 30 days, depending on availability of data and its accuracy/validation, number of global sites to visit, and the number of team members to interview.

What do I get at the end of the assessment?

A typical Performance Review will include the following deliverables:

  1. A multi-hour management presentation presenting the various options, pros/cons, and recommendations
  2. Executive Management Report detailing S.O.O.S. issues including an implementation plan. This will include a recommended roadmap and timeline based on plans and decisions made to date to implement.
  3. Detailed research, data spend analysis and reporting, internal/external SWOT analysis, and interview notes
  4. Numerous strategic working sessions and workshops
Is this free or do we pay?

The supply chain performance review is paid for by the client and gives you a dedicated Gibson project team and access to the Gibson Consulting network of Subject Matter Experts. Should you move forward with a project after the performance review, Gibson may offer a credit for the performance review fees.

Are we big enough?

Gibson typically works with Fortune 1000 and Private Equity clients. The cost reduction process works best with companies that have scale and size to tender to the global marketplace. If you are wondering, please feel free to reach out.

If we engage what will I need to have ready?

Executive sponsorship is critical to the success of the performance review and its timeline. In addition, any access to data and contracts help speed up the process.

Do you ever not find significant savings opportunities?

Our Performance review will give you a full perspective on what you are doing well, and where you can improve. From our experience, there is always something the companies can improve on, and additional ways to save money. Many companies are happy to hear the areas they are doing well and take the performance review as benchmarking opportunity.

Our last consultants did not meet expectations how can we be sure?

Gibson Consulting guarantees all the work we do. We don’t complete our work until you are satisfied. At Gibson, our consultants are from all of the large consulting firms and leveraged that experience in order to provide the ultimate “client service” model at Gibson. The biggest difference is the hands-on experience we provide. We are part of your team from the start, and not just staff consultants, partners included. We have a stake in the game and we will succeed together, guaranteed.

Is this only a one-time benefit to our bottom line?

No, many contracts are setup for 3-5 years so you will have access to the supplier pricing for at least that time. In addition, Gibson teaches an “alliance philosophy” so the suppliers typically provide continuous additional value during the relationships.

Can you deliver during COVID?

Yes, we have been very successful working during the COVID 19 Pandemic. We can adhere to any restrictions or requirements that you wish. Typically, we would like to hold interviews in person, but they can be held via videoconference should that be required.

Don’t Take Our Word For It

  • "…I've never experienced a more professional and methodical process. I wish all of my top customers were this organized…"

    Chief Operating Officer
    Chief Operating Officer Ryerson

  • "…Prior to working with this firm, we had never structured a CRU based Stainless Steel agreement with any of our customers, but they sold TK on the value proposition of stable earnings & volume over the course of the next 5 years…"

    President YKS
    President YKS ThyssenKrupp AG

  • "…I have worked with Gibson for over ten years at three Fortune 500 companies. At Textron, they transformed our purchasing into a profit center, rather than a traditional cost center. We made purchasing and global sourcing a sustainable competitive advantage with their help…"

    President & CEO
    President & CEO Textron Industrial Products

  • "…They have introduced to Vale a training academy that is simply first class. We have good people at our company, but our people need to develop essential skills in order to execute process at the highest level. Execution quality separates the best companies from the rest of the pack…"

    Chief Procurement Officer
    Chief Procurement Officer Vale

  • "…They understand and appreciate the cultural sensitivities that exists in building a true global partnership with a multinational company…"

    Executive Vice President Worldwide Sales
    Executive Vice President Worldwide Sales Nippon Steel

  • "…I have worked with these folks representing three different global companies. They are head and shoulders above the rest…they understand People, Process, & Technology…and they get results."

    Executive Vice President
    Executive Vice President Dover Corporation

  • "…This 11-gate process is very data driven and revolutionizes how we go to market with our strategic suppliers. We would have to conduct a thousand LEAN manufacturing projects to equal the value of one sourcing project."

    EVP & Head of Global Operations
    EVP & Head of Global Operations Bucyrus

  • "We have a staged and gated process for new product development and process improvement…but we didn't have a gated process for sourcing of materials and services which is 65% of our total cost…"

    Director of Global Operations
    Director of Global Operations Terex Europe

  • "…The skill-based training has made me a better executive…I have taken many training courses over my career and nothing compares to how real this training is…it is execution based…"

    Head of North American Operations
    Head of North American Operations Caterpillar, Global Mining Division

Let’s Start the
Conversation On Supply Chain Performance

How can we help?

Take the next step by learning more about Gibson Consulting’s capabilities and qualifications. To request information or arrange a face-to-face introduction, simply fill out the form below or give us a call at 312.291.4640.

Our partners have saved
$10+ Billion across 2,000 Categories

500,000+ supplier profiles. 5,000+ supplier negotiations. 1,000+ executive training sessions. Our consultants hold the tools and experience to deliver results.

Industries we Serve