How Electronic Operations Brought This Tech Company Up to Speed

Technology is one of the fastest-growing and most competitive industries of today, and this company, listed at the bottom of our case studies page, was doing fantastically in that environment. Operating in more than 75 countries and employing over 200 people, this company was able to bring in an annual revenue of $150 million.

 

But what separates the successful, cutting-edge technology companies from those that flop is a shatter-proof operational foundation. This company was falling behind on outstanding payments, sending out orders, shipments and billings inaccurately, facing employees who could not manage their time and workflow, and a 100% paper process for scheduling, orders, shipping, and billing.

 

Their buggy system would crash without a reboot, so they called the experts at Poka-Yoke Solutions to help reimagine their operational processes. After a consultation and deep exploration of the company, the team of Operations Experts, Project Managers and Process Analysts created four key components to their plan.

 

First, they implemented electronic orders and billing. They created and put into action a four-prong plan to transition all teams from paper to electronic processing. This alleviated late billing issues and problems with team buy-in. This was a highly scalable implementation. Second, they designed a product selector tool that could create 26,000 combinations of order items, disallowing incompatible combinations from being selected and saving the company from hours of error-editing and inaccurate product shipments.

 

Next, the team created a more efficient process that allowed the operations team to manage a 3500% increase in order volume despite only hiring two new people. To supplement this, they automated several operational processes, including certain interactions with vendors, to reduce manual work and touch points that could create inaccuracies. This also helped with time management.

 

After implementation, Poka-Yoke continued to monitor the company’s progress and patch any new post-fix issues that could have arisen. What they found was an 83% faster ship time, a decrease in DSO (days sales outstanding) by 95%, an increase in service up-time by 94%, and a 79% improvement in forecast accuracy.

 

Change can be a scary thing for your business, but through deep exploration, trust, compassion, and a true understanding of your goals and current processes, we can enhance your efficiency, reduce your errors, and increase your profits. 

If any of this sounds familiar, contact us to see how we can use the Poka-Yoke Effect on you.