BrazilMaine Pointe wins operations consulting projects in Italy and the UK
Maine Pointe has won two new engagements in Europe, including a project which the consultancy describes as the largest European engagement in its history.
With over 150 consultants, working from four offices in the US, Canada, Europe and Asia, Maine Pointe is a mid-sized international consulting firm that specialises in operations, process management, procurement and supply chain. The firm operates in 15 countries across Europe and more than thirty around the world.
The firm’s European office, based in Switzerland, supports companies and private equity firms across Europe with driving operational efficiency, mainly in the areas of procurement, logistics and operations. In the first of its latest two new European ‘wins’, the consultancy is helping an international family-owned player based in Italy with the transfer to private equity ownership.
“We staved off strong competition to win this engagement,” said Steven Bowen, Chairman and CEO of Maine Pointe. According to Bowen, the firm’s extensive track record in the private equity sector combined with its proprietary ‘Total Value Optimisation’ were instrumental in winning the deal. “Our hands-on implementation experts work with executives and their teams to rapidly break through functional silos and transform the buy-make-move-fulfill supply chain to deliver the greatest value to customers and investors at the lowest cost to business. We call this Total Value Optimisation (TVO). This approach helps us deliver between 4:1 to 8:1 ROI for our clients.”
As part of its mandate for the Italian client, Maine Pointe will lead the way in enhancing the effectiveness of procurement activities to deliver millions of euros in cost reductions. Also on the agenda will be decreasing the cost of outbound transportation, including ocean, long-haul and intra-country, and developing the skills and capabilities of its procurement and logistics departments. Maine Pointe’s consultants will also help the client with preparing its operations for potential future deals – under the wings of the new private equity owner, the company is embarking on a growth strategy. Bowen: “By allowing our client to absorb future acquisitions more effectively, we will deliver significant cost and service improvement benefits.”
The other announced European win sees Maine Pointe service a UK-based nanotechnology company which provides high-technology products to industrial companies and scientific research communities. “We are pleased to assist this client in carrying out its important work in increasing productivity and making new scientific discoveries," said Bowen. "Our goals will be to develop a more holistic approach to operational and procurement excellence in support of the client's innovation and growth agenda.”
Maine Pointe's responsibilities include achieving significant and sustainable benefits and reduction of working capital inventory, improving the maturity of core Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) processes, and embedding operational excellence.
Reflecting on the new projects, Bowen concluded, “We have in the past year been very successful in helping our European clients achieve their goals and transform their global supply chains, and as a result, our momentum and presence in Europe is growing exponentially.”
According to a recent study by the US-arm of Maine Pointe, private equity firms are falling short of their operational targets.
