Challenge:
A longstanding private company in the building and memorial products industry was focused on improving its Return on Assets (ROA) and overall profitability. Despite a strong market presence, the company faced a key obstacle: inconsistent and inefficient estimating and sales processes. Disconnected workflows were creating quoting errors, delaying responses, and impacting profitability.
Approach:
To address these issues, Work Excellence guided the company through a structured process evaluation and strategy alignment. Key steps included:
-Conducting an estimator survey to understand existing processes and work standards.
-Developing a systematic estimating method supported by a resource allocation strategy.
– Creating a skills matrix to align estimator capabilities with job complexity.
This foundation set the stage for standardization, clearer decision-making, and better resource management.
Solution:
The company implemented a series of operational improvements through targeted workshops and coaching, including:
01.
Establishing nine levels of estimate complexity and requiring assignment within 24 hours of receipt.
02.
Defining standard lead times for each type of estimate to accelerate turnaround.
03.
Improving job review and assignment processes, significantly reducing time from arrival to assignment.
04.
Identifying unprofitable job types or customer segments and choosing not to pursue them.
05.
Launching a dashboard to track key metrics, such as lead time to assign, time to build a quote, and win/loss ratios.
06.
Developing a standardized loss reason list to guide strategic decision-making.
Results: The transformation of the estimating and sales processes yielded powerful outcomes:
Improved efficiency and effectiveness, with faster quoting and more consistent estimates.
Stronger decision-making enabled by real-time data from dashboards.
Higher profitability through disciplined pricing: sales teams were given predefined quote adjustment ranges, or “rails,” with executive approval required for exceptions.
Increased ROA, directly linked to the improved alignment and control of the estimating and sales functions.
Key Takeaway
This case study highlights how structured process improvement and resource
discipline can drive profitability. By standardizing workflows, empowering informed
decisions, and enabling strategic pricing oversight, the company not only streamlined
operations but also strengthened its financial performance and long-term competitiveness.