Those of us involved in the broad range of manufacturing companies recognize manufacturing is intensive and complex. Many industries focus on the development of a relatively few products or services (software companies, professional services, young R&D and biotech companies). To be successful, manufacturing companies which produce hundreds, maybe thousands, of distinct products must control the product development, planning, supply, production, control, costing, packaging, pricing, marketing, sales and delivery of each of those products. All those products require several different raw materials and production processes. It is not an arena for amateurs.

Fortunately, software systems specifically designed to treat the complexities of manufacturing process control and reporting have grown stronger and more efficient. Major technology improvements now address the many demands the manufacturing environment places on a growing business. That simplifies the process and makes it more efficient. Still, the demands are considerable and require forethought about how best to include assemblies and formulations with appropriate inventory and work-in-process crossover points in the production flow.

Certain decisions, made when a system is first implemented, are mission-critical and irrevocable or difficult to modify, such as the choice of costing methods (FIFO, average cost, specific identification, LIFO, etc.), lot tracking, master budgeting systems and standard costing formulae. It is imperative to employ an experienced professional to review and assess your processes, then recommend the best practices to meet the company’s requirements, and, perhaps, assist in installation.

Do your systems address these critical processes?

We help evaluate and upgrade methods for the key processes in your operations, including:

  • System Setup
  • Country of Origin Tracing
  • Lean Manufacturing
  • Lot Tracking
  • Process / Workflow
  • Recall Procedures & Capabilities
  • Materials Requirement Planning (MRP)
  • Physical Unit Control and Validation
  • Cost Capture
  • Activity-Based Costing & Budgeting
  • Materials
  • Shrinkage
  • Labor
  • Overhead
  • Shipment and Receiving
  • Obsolescence / Slow-Moving Stock
  • Job vs. Process Costing
  • Personnel Assessment
  • Lower of Cost or Market (LCM) valuation
  • Warranty Reserves

Our Manufacturing Practice Group leaders bring decades of experience in a wide range of industries to assist you in meeting the demands of your industry.

img

WHO WE SERVE

Startups

img

Manufacturing companies that are just starting out. What software do I use? What personnel do I need? Do I start simple and become more complex over time? Or, better yet, do I start with a scalable system?

Experienced companies with needs not being met

img

Are there breakdowns in meeting any of the critical processes in the bullet points mentioned above? Is the system producing accurate information? Are reports timely and actionable by management? Are my people qualified to produce the results I need to manage my business?

Rapidly-growing companies

img

Needs change with time. What once served a small company in one location with a single production-line falls short of delivering the information needed to manage a multi-national, widely distributed, multi-functional workflow environment

CAPABILITIES

We support clients based on their needs. Examples include:

  • System selection, design and implementation
  • Assessment of existing processes and personnel
  • Transition from less sophisticated to more sophisticated systems
  • MRP Planning
  • Facilitating business strategic planning sessions
  • Physical inventory control
  • Cost accounting on either a job costing or process costing basis
  • Evaluation of slow-moving, obsolete inventory, LCM valuation, and warranty reserves
  • Lean manufacturing
  • Management Reporting
  • Control systems allowing for lot tracking and minimum cost recalls

SUCCESSFUL CLIENT ENGAGEMENTS

Examples of our work include:

  • Implemented a POS system and developed a related, home-grown production management system for a quick-serve specialty restaurant covering hundreds of ingredients, with multiple units of measure and more than a hundred menu items, allowing management to quickly cost, price, and change recipes in real time in order to establish and maintain margins in a highly competitive market.

  • Performed a detailed assessment of operations for a growing specialty defense manufacturer, allowing them to speed financial closing in a “Quick Turn” business environment, gain confidence in their numbers, employ systems and processes that will grow and scale with the growth in revenue, and position the company for a strategic sale in a 3 – 5 year timeframe.

  • Currently consulting on the installation of Oracle products into a $200MM consumer-oriented distribution company handling millions of transactions per month.

  • Rationalized QuickBooks into factory floor COGS control and reporting systems for such companies as Monterey Bay Chocolate Company, Peachtree into Hooper’s Confections, MAS 90 into a meat processing plant, and Sage 50 into an expanding California Snack exporter.

  • Built forecasting models to assist a local food distributor to profitably manage warehouseman, drivers, purchasing, and cashflow through a highly seasonal business.

  • Established a cost-control production system with lot tracking in conjunction with Quickbooks for this newly formed, limited line, domestic food processing operation of an international parent, allowing them to begin operations in a fraction of the time a full-blown ERP implementation would take.

We are grateful for what our clients have to say.

“Our Consulting CFO developed an outstanding, SQL-based system for tracking inventory and costing our products, which when used with our POS system allowed us to determine our daily profitability, an essential goal in the nimble restaurant industry.” Cherie Ann Eubanks, Executive VP of Juste le Debut, LLC

PRACTICE LEADER