You want it when?

The Client
A manufacturer of medium and heavy-duty trucks.

The Problem
The Sales Order function managed sales orders from the field and processed them into the manufacturing schedule. In addition, they were responsible for tracking the order process and provide information to dealers who could then advise customers about the status of their order. The goal was to see orders processed and moved into production with 45 days. Actual time averaged between 65 and 70 days. There was a corporate initiative to get that number down.

The Performance Improvement Approach
The Sales Order group was brought together and a formal process assessment was conducted that included one-on-one interviews, client surveys and process analysis. When the analysis was done we got together with the group and identified delays, non value-added measures, disconnects and redundancies.

The Result
We discovered that one of the major delays in the process was a redundant decision making step for each order that was executed by the same person. Because of the volume of orders being processed, there was a building backlog of approvals on orders that had already been processed but were merely awaiting another approval from the Sales Engineer. These approvals were automatic more than 95% of the time. By consolidating the decision making step, the backlog was eliminated, sales order process time decreased and the order-to-production number went from more than 65 days to less than 50 days within three months. Subsequent improvements allowed the department to hit the 45 day goal and drive it even lower.

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