Financial Services Case Study

Case #4912: Cycle Time and Service Improvement in Marketing and Communications

The Marketing and Communications Department of a start-up division of a major insurance company was missing deadlines, failing to fulfill client requests, and, generally, 'at war' with the Product Groups. The situation had deteriorated to the point where company management directed those leading the division to fix the problem fast.

The new vice president in charge of the organization engaged us to help. Two main problems were apparent: 1) Limited systems or processes in place forcing a response to Product Group requests on an ASAP basis. 2) Job-tracking and inventory controls were lacking so status information was absent, as was the ability to forecast need based on use-up or expiration data.

We worked out a 17-point program for resolving the various issues involved and secured agreement to the program from the parties involved. By the end of the engagement, a system for tracking projects and inventory and a strategic template to manage Product Group expectations and improve on-time delivery were implemented.