We believe that if manufacturing companies focus on two pillars – Sales and Profits, then everything else falls into place. In the 2-Pillar model of a Manufacturing business, you have a matrix of 4 states:
Clearly, you want to get to the ideal state (State 4) as quickly as possible.
Small mid-sized fabricating, manufacturing companies do focus on these two pillars!! However, companies flounder and tend to fail because they try to get to State 4 (High Sales – High Profits) through the emphasis on High Profits. As soon as they have some decent revenues, they start to focus on profits. They tend to focus on Profits first, rather than building a strong revenue base first.
With the Clarity in ManufacturingTM (CIM) Program, we recommend a 2-phase approach. Not Profit First, but Sales-First!
Build up a strong, stable revenue base. Build up your reputation. Be the most competitive and preferred supplier of choice for your customers. Take care of them at all costs. Then focus on profits.
Think of the Amazon-model. Amazon did not make profits for 10 years! Look at where they are now.
If you want to learn more about the Clarity in Manufacturing Program and its two phases, click here for a free initial consultation, with no strings attached.
The very first step in achieving Clarity in ManufacturingTM is by benchmarking your performance with your companies’ peer group. We have been using benchmarking for midsized manufacturing companies for the past 10 – 15 years with some great results.
We have developed a benchmarking app (CLIMB tool), which will show you how you are doing compared to other companies in your peer group. Green if you are way better than your peer group; yellow – if you are average; or red if your performance is well below average.
As the essential first step of building your revenue base, we find that winning more bids by being more competitive is crucial. Approximately 50% of companies’ revenue is spent on purchasing materials for finished goods, including maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) items.
If this procurement expenditure happens without a comprehensive strategic plan, then the revenue generation efforts are like trying to fill a bucket with many leaks. You can’t effectively fight a fire with a leaky bucket. Besides, if you have a lot of firefighting going on, then “leaks” play havoc with your bottom-line.
A sound, strategic sourcing, and procurement program is usually the first area, with the biggest immediate impact, to address to help you win more bids and boost revenues.
Significant technological advances are being made in manufacturing operations, whether shop floor automation or office process automation and artificial intelligence. Our job is to stay ahead of that knowledge curve and bring the benefits of these to you, only when they make economic sense. Our job is to stay ahead of that knowledge curve and bring these benefits to you, only when they make economic sense.
Don’t face tomorrow’s challenges with yesterday’s tools!
We help you solve your challenges, using the most cost-effective tools, in a way best suited to your company. We help you improve and strengthen your internal processes to face external challenges.
The events of 2020 have made it very clear that Enterprise Risk Management is not a buzzword for large corporations. Risk is real! Risk is unpredictable! Risk needs to be factored into all plans!
Not planning for risks, no matter how remote the possibility, can be devastating, especially for small companies! Don’t leave your customers with bare shelves. The procurement solution platforms that we use are ranked highly in the supplier risk and performance management market.
Manufacturing companies should develop sound strategic sourcing strategies to determine the robustness of their supply chains. This should be done prior to any surprises resulting from the failure of the weakest link causing disruptions. We can guide you through the use of new tools, platforms, and apps that have emerged in the Supply Chain Management sphere.
Supply Chain Stress Testing, compliance, blockchain applications, data gathering, and analysis for supply market intelligence are all new approaches that can help you into a stronger position when risk strikes.
Small, mid-sized manufacturing companies often have historically resorted to home-grown, custom spreadsheets, or databases to analyze and act on their spend data. Doing anything different, such as an additional ERP module or add-on, proved to be cost-prohibitive with unjustifiable ROI. With technological advances and SaaS models, the spreadsheet-based approach, while perceived to be effective, is probably costing a company more in time and lost savings realization.
We introduce you to top-ranked solutions for spend analytics, should-cost price analysis, etc. so that you can make data-driven, effective decisions. The data for these decisions can be generated at the click of a button, typically directly from your ERP system, rather than wait for spreadsheet data to be compiled. We help you implement and systemize them in your operations.
Insignificant changes in product design or processes on the supplier end or at your facility could lead to significant price reductions and increased efficiencies. Robotic Process Automation (RPA), often called software robotics, can help you achieve these efficiencies and free up a considerable amount of time, and, probably more importantly reduce human errors.
Vision without execution is just hallucination. You may have a clear vision about where you want your company’s profitability figures but lack the resources to get there. We provide the platform, inputs, and resources to transform your procurement data into a visible, actionable, big-picture-view of your spending categories, suppliers, demand, and opportunities.
Inventories of finished goods are probably the biggest asset sitting needlessly on your balance sheet with a negative impact on your income statement and profitability. We have proven Lean/Six Sigma techniques to help you increase your inventory turns as well as manage Global Supply Chains effectively, without the need of carrying buffer stock.
Technology and IoT applications have also made all of this much easier to manage and implement.
Sourcing and procurement strategies have evolved radically from a “procurement pit bull” style, decision matrix model-driven approach that focuses entirely on the buyers’ leverage and power position. Anyone who has employed these tactics knows how ineffective they are in today’s volatile, uncertain, and complex world.
More nuanced, collaborative, trust, and relationship-based procurement strategies supported by true win-win economics lead to wins for both buyers and sellers. Developing and sustaining such vested relationships require a reliable Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) system.
We help you achieve a single source for that information that makes it easy to analyze and monitor Suppliers at various stages. Whether a supplier is at the initial approval, vetting, or ongoing supply stage in the relationship, the SRM will provide full visibility into supplier development and performance.
Technology has been a big game-changer for procurement. We help you with setting up workflow
automation so that you have real-time access to your procurement processes and supply chain bottlenecks.
e-RFP’s, online bidding portals, and other such digital solutions called software robotics (or RPA) are
becoming increasingly commonplace and more importantly reliable.
Companies can save hundreds, if not thousands of hours and greatly reduce costly errors, through the implementation of such solutions.
We have valuable manufacturing expertise and resources that we can share with you to simplify your challenges. Whether it is helping you through make-vs-buy decisions, determine the true cost of outsourcing or help you negotiate supplier contracts, we can be your resource for analysis, advice, and support in executing the plans.
The increasing skills-gap and the impending shortage of workers with trade skills (e.g. welding, etc.) make it all the more urgent to look at manufacturing process automation. We have helped design and implement affordable automation systems. We also help in engineering services procurement, such as 3D CAD modeling, 2D drawing generation, Engineering Analysis, and so on.
If we cannot solve any of your challenges, because it is outside our area of expertise, then we will find a trusted partner that can.
We have specialized in helping small, mid-sized manufacturing companies boost revenues and profits for 25+ years, with honesty, integrity, and simplicity. We don’t claim to know more about your processes than you.
We help you gain Clarity in ManufacturingTM to “see” the opportunities for increasing revenues and profits.
You may miss these opportunities, not for the lack of knowledge, but for the distractions of the daily operational churn you encounter.
I have known Rahul for more than 20 years. Since his younger days, he has always been entrepreneurial in nature, goal oriented, intelligent, hard working, and extremely resourceful. He is the kind of person that I would love as a business partner.
We used Rahul to source proprietary products from India. Rahul found suppliers who provided a quality product within the promised lead time. This was no easy task as our product was complicated and there were many manufacturing practices which had to be learned and taught to his team.Rahul was always available and he was very diligent at getting things done.
Rahul is very experienced in global businesses. He is ambitious and persistent in achieving his goals. He is a learner, always keeping himself up to date with the latest information.
Rahul has successfully started new ventures and is always looking for business expansion opportunities. He is full of ideas, a serial risk taker and proven entreprenuer.
Rahul’s comprehensive knowledge of Lean Practices and quality systems allowed him to play a pivotal role in our pilot Lean transformation process. He personally created and taught class curricula introducing the principals of Lean to six groups of employees and one consisting of managers. Rahul is highly analytical in his approach to solving problems and is driven by data. His math skills and command of statistical methods are very impressive and helped measurably in getting to the root cause of problems.
India is a big country with many manufacturers, and trying to find the ones who have good processes, systems in place at competitive prices is a challenge. Having “Feet on the Ground” in India is paramount. So many buyers now try and do what I call “Internet Buying”, but unless you spend time and money visiting facilities in India, China, or even the United States for that matter, you do not know what you are truly getting yourself into, and if you may have been deceived. As a Purchasing and Sales Professional, I am not willing to jeopardize my reputation and career over someone I find on the Internet. I understand the vital role and value Rahul provides.
Rahul is one of those rare individuals that possess analytical intelligence as well as the tenacity to chase his dreams. He is always looking for the next big idea and does not stop until he accomplishes his goal. He is a very inspirational person and I am better in my career because of him.
I have known Rahul for a number of years and worked with him on a number of projects. He is well-connected, knowledgeable, polished, energetic, diligent, and resourceful. Rahul works tirelessly to attain, goals, and is very passionate about achieving results. He is also a very savvy businessman.
I had the pleasure of working with the Chiketa team for almost a year while at Blount International. We utilized the team, based in the NCR of India, as our feet on the ground for supplier quality. The team was actively involved in troubleshooting, always open to complete the necessary tasks, and always willing to go above and beyond. The quality of work was above what is typical in India. Bharat and Rahul were actively engaged as the local Management to ensure support.
During a business mission in India in May 2012, I had the pleasure of working with Rahul who revealed himself to be a resourceful person, having been a very precious help to me, as a newbie. In fact, Rahul helped me all summer before and during my trip. All that with a gracious air, which is a rare thing in our current world.
In the professional domain, he has demonstrated the relevance of the services which he offers with his company Chiketa. I have also had the occasion to meet his team in India and I am able to assure you that Rahul and his team are confident, professional, and competent people. I am of the opinion that his company has a bright future, and has dignified people, whom I know for
certain that I can count on one day in the future when I have need of performing business in India.
Besides providing such quality help, Rahul has demonstrated great human qualities, having the sense to look toward the long view. I sincerely hope to have the opportunity of collaborating again with Rahul because it was a real pleasure and a grand honor for me.
Our association with Chiketa has lasted for more than 6 years now and we couldn’t be happier with their high level of Quality, Reliability and Service. They are truly a World Class organization in every sense of the word. Chiketa provided us with ready expertise that we could not have easily developed ourselves. The Chiketa team are Professionals who will provide any company
what is needed to “get the job done
It has been my pleasure to work with Rahul Sarkar. He is a brilliant engineer and manager of the difficult interface between India and western manufacturing. He has been instrumental in helping the Evluma Areamax become a world-leading product in both quality and pricing.
Rahul and I worked closely together in Vasai, India to help build up a factory to the point where it could accommodate the needs of the highly successful Evluma Areamax. I witnessed an 800- ton aluminum casting machine is brought to the factory just for the Evluma product. At any point where timeline management, creative problem solving, or smart judgment were required;
Rahul and his entire team could be counted on.
I highly recommend Rahul and the Chiketa team for manufacturing in India and engineering expertise with aluminum castings, sheet metal, powder coating and any other manufacturing process that India has to offer.
