咨询公司面试案例咨询入门系列咨询案例分析a

集团档案编码：[YTTR-YTPT28-YTNTL98-UYTYNN08]咨询公司面试案例咨询入门系列咨询案例 分析 定性数据统计分析pdf销售业绩分析模板建筑结构震害分析销售进度分析表京东商城竞争战略分析 aFirm:.KearneyCaseNumber:Casesetup(factsofferedbyinterviewer):Yourclientisa.basedoilrefineryTherefineryhasasinglelocationandisasmalltomedium-sizedrefineryYourclient,althoughprofitable,believesitislaggingbehindthecompetitionandcouldimproveYouarebroughtinaspartofajointconsultant-clientteamthatwillreviewoveralloperationsandmakerecommendationsonwaystoimprovethebottomlineYouhavebeenassignedtoworkwiththemaintenancedivisionThemaintenancedepartment’sprimaryobjectiveistopreventequipmentfailureandtorepairequipmentwhenitdoesfailUnderstandingofitsorganizationisimportant.Itconsistsofthreeprimaryareas:nineassetsareas,onecentralmaintenanceareaandonegroupofcontractors.Thefirsttwoareasareemployeesoftheclient,thethirdanexternalsourceoflabor.Anassetisaphysicalareaoftheplantthatcontainsvariouspiecesofequipment(pumps,heatexchangers,etc.).Therearenineassets.EachassethasaMaintenanceSupervisorwhoisresponsibleforallmaintenancetobeperformedinhis/herasset.WorkingfortheMaintenanceSupervisorineachassetis,onaverage,eleven“craftsmen”.Thecraftsmenaretheactualworkersthatperformthemaintenance.Thecraftsmenareunionizedanddivideintotwelvedifferentcraftdesignations.electricians,pipefitters,welders,etc.).Eachcraftdesignationhasadefinedsetofskillstheyarequalifiedtoperform.Theyarenotallowedtoperformskillsoutsideoftheirdefinedcraft,orhelpintheperformanceofactivitiesinvolvingskillsbeyondtheircraft.Collectivelythetwelvedifferentcraftscanperformanymaintenancejobthatmightariseattherefinery.Themaintenancesupervisorandhis/herassignedcraftsmenare“hardwired”totheirasset.Thatis,theyworkonlyonequipmentintheirgivenasset.CentralmaintenanceisacentralizedpoolofMaintenanceSupervisorsandCraftsmen,whoaredispatchedtosupportthedifferentassetsduringtimesofhighworkload.TheyareemployeesofyourclientandfitthedescriptioncontainedintheaboveAssetexplanation.Theonlydifferenceisthattheymayworkinanyofthedifferentassetsasdeterminedbyworkload.Thereareatotalof11MaintenanceSupervisorsand100CraftsmenthatcompriseCentralMaintenanceContractorsareagroupofoutsideSupervisorsandCraftsmenwhosupportyourclientduringtimesofhighworkload.Theyalsoarecapableofperforminganymaintenancejobthatmayarise,butdifferfromyourclient’sCraftsmeninthattheydividethecollectiveskillsrequiredintofivedesignationsratherthantwelve.Thus,thecraftsmenofthecontractorarecapableofperformingabroadersetofskills.They,likeyourclient’scraftsmen,don’tperformskillsoutsideoftheirdefinedcraftbutdoallowdifferentcraftdesignationstohelpeachother.Thereareanaverageof7contractorMaintenanceSupervisorsand140contractorCraftsmenattherefineryonanygivenday.Question:WhatopportunitiesexisttoincreaseprofitsWhatrecommendationscanyoumaketocapturesavingsrelatedtotheidentifiedopportunitiesWhatarethecostsavingsassociatedwithyourrecommendationsSuggestedsolutions:Thefirstquestioninvolvesidentifyingopportunitiestoimproveprofits.Thecandidatemuststartwitheitherrevenuesorcosts.Althoughonecouldmaketheargumentthatmaintenancesupportsrevenuebymaximizingtheoperatingtimeoftherefineryequipment,maintenanceshouldbeseentobeasupportfunction.Thus,itismoreappropriatetofocusoncostsandcostreduction.Thefollowingquestionswillhelpthecandidategaininsightintocostreductionopportunities.HowdoesthemaintenancedepartmenttrackitscostsIfthecandidatephrasesthequestionaboutmaterialoroverheadcosts,theinterviewerwouldinformthecandidatethatdetailedreviewedshowednomajoropportunities.Thecandidatewouldbesteeredtowardlaborcostsandgiventhefollowingtablesregardingmaintenancelaborcostsforthepastyear.Tosupportunderstandingofthefollowingtables,Turnaroundworkislongtermpreventivemaintenance.completerebuildingofaboiler)thatmaybeperformedonceeveryfewyears.Allotherwork(shorttermemergencyrepairs,smallscalepreventivemaintenance,otherroutinework,etc.)fitsintothecategoryofDailyworkCraftsmenDailyworkTurnaroundTotalClient$8MM$2MM$10MMContractor$5MM$9MM$14MMTotal$13MM$11MM$24MMSupervisorTotalClient$1MMContractor$Total$SincetheCraftsmentablerepresentsalargerdollaramountthantheSupervisortable,itislogicaltopursuecostsavingsopportunitiesinthisareafirst.WhatistheutilizationofCraftsmenintheassetsIncentralmaintenanceAndforcontractorsAssumeeachareaisutilized100%ofthetime,50weeksperyear,40hoursperweek.Howdoesthelaborcostofcraftsmen($24MM)onarefinery-sizedbasis.,$cost/perbarrelofcrudeoilprocessed)comparewithindustryaveragesConsultingyourindustrydatabaseshowsthatcostsappeartobeabout20%abovetheaverageofpeerrefineries.Thisisanimportantquestiontodetermineifthereisaproblemwithcosts(don’tassumethereis,theclientmaybeperformingbetterthanindustryaverage!)IsthereanyparticularreasonwhyturnaroundworkissoheavilyskewedtowardcontractorsTurnaroundworktendstobemorecyclical.Anexternalworkforceisusedtoabsorbsomeofthisadditionalwork.KeepinmindthatbothclientandcontractorCraftsmenarecapableofperforminganymaintenancejobattheplant.Afterfurtheranalysisofthetablesthekeyfactthatshouldbecomeappearoddisthelargedifferenceinthecostperunitoflaborbetweenyourclient’sCraftsmenandtheoutsidecontractor’sCraftsmen.Oftencandidateswillaskforthehourlywageratesofthesetwogroups.Thereissufficientdatatocalculatethesenumbers.Thecalculationis:Annualcostofclientcraftsmen=$10MM/(11Craftsmen/assetx9assets+100CraftsmeninCentralmaintenance)=$50,000/yearAnnualcostofcontractorcraftsmen=$14MM/140contractorCraftsmen=$100,000/yearAgain,thisdifferenceshouldprovokeaseriesofquestionstounderstandthedifference.IsthereanydifferenceintheworkperformedbytheclientandcontractorcraftsmenNo,otherthanthedifferentlevelsofTurnaroundworkvs.Dailyworkperformedasnotedintheprevioustable.Bothgroupsarecapableofdoinganyjobwithroughlyequallevelsofquality.IsthereanydifferenceinefficiencybetweenthetwogroupsofCraftsmenThecandidatewouldatthispointbeaskedhowtheywouldmeasurethis.Afterreachinganunderstandingofthedifficultyinvolvedinmeasuringtheefficiencyofaworkforce(especiallyaunionizedworkforce),thecandidatewouldbetoldthatthroughaseriesofinterviewswithmaintenancesupervisors,thereisaconsensusthatcontractorCraftsmenareroughlytwiceasproductiveasclientcraftsmen.Thisisacriticalpointinthecase.Thecandidatemustrecognizethatinthepresentenvironmenttheclientislargelyindifferentaboutunitsoflabor.Youcanhaveaclientworkerwhoishalfasefficientoracontractorworkerwhoistwiceasexpensive.Thekeynowistodetermineiftherearewaystocreateanopportunitywheretheclientwouldnolongerbeindifferent.Whatiscausingtheinefficienciesassociatedwiththeclient’slaborAgain,thecandidatewouldbeencouragedtooffertheirownideas.AftersomediscussionthecandidatewouldbetoldthatmanyoftheMaintenanceSupervisorscomplainendlesslyaboutrestrictionsplacedonthembytheexistingunionlaborcontractandthetightnessofcraftdesignations.Theinterviewerwouldprobetoensurethecandidateunderstandswhythepresentcraftdesignationcreatetheinefficiencies.Essentiallyworkistoofinelydivided.Itmakesplanningandsupervisionextremelycumbersome.Asanexample,ifoneofsixcraftsrequiredtoperformajobisabsentorlate,theentirejobmustshutdown,ascraftdesignationsarenotallowedtosupportothercraftdesignations.IsitpossibletochangetheexistingunioncontractThepresentlaborcontractisathreeyearcontractthatisduetoberenegotiated/renewedinsixmonths.WilltheunionresistchangestotheexistingcontractIndeed!!Atthispoint,thecandidateshouldrecognizeamajor(albeightdifficult)opportunitytoreducelaborcosts.Theclientwouldessentiallyliketohaveitsownemployeeslookandfunctionlikeitscontractors,butcontinuetogetpaidatpresentrates.Inreality,managementwillneedtomakewageconcessionsinordertochangepresentworkpractices.However,throughplannednegotiationsascenariocanbecreatedwhichpresentsafavorableopportunityforyourclienttobegintoreplaceoutsidecontractorswithitsownCraftsmen.Thereareseveralwaystoaddressthethirdquestionofthecase,theactualsavingsthatmightbeachieved.Onequickmethodistoassumethatthesechangeswouldbringmaintenancecostsbackinlinewithindustryaverage.Utilizingthecostbenchmarkmentionedearlier,onecouldassumecostscouldbereducedto$24MM/=$20MM,a$4MMsavings.Asecond,andmoredetailed,methodwouldbetotaketheextremescenariowheretheclient’sCraftsmenispaiditspresentrate,butismadeasefficientasthecontractor’sCraftsmen.Inthiscase,youbeginwiththepresentlevelof200clientcraftsmenwhoarefunctioningas100equivalentcontractorCraftsmen(they’reone-halfasefficient).Byimprovingtheirefficiency,youareeffectively“creating”100equivalentcontractors.Thus,youareimmediatelyabletoreplace100contractorsandsave$10MM.Thiscouldbetakenonestepfurtherbyassumingyouwouldwanttoreplaceallcontractors.Thiswouldsaveanadditional$($4MMexistingcontractorexpense-$2MMrequiredtohireadditionalclientcraftsmen+$incontractorsupervisors).Asnotedearlier,inreality,thisapproachwouldrequirewageconcessionstotheunion,soactualsavingsmaybesomethingsignificantlyless.Keytakeaways:Thiscaserequiresthecandidatetoquicklydigestalargeamountoforganizationalissuesandthenquicklychecksomeratiostouncoverthebasicproblem(theclientworkforceisinefficient).Creativitymustthenbeusedtostructurearecommendationthatwouldcreateamorefavorablesituationfortheclient.Asinothercases,acceptablesolutionsneednotfollowtheexactmethodabovenorcoveralloftheabovepoints.