The French DIAM Group creates, develops, produces and installs a wide range of merchandising solutions (POS) and sales solutions to enhance in-store products. For more than 40 years, the company has been supporting its customers around the world. To reduce delays from the start of the customers' project to delivery, DIAM has conducted many substantive actions and adopted the methodology of QRM (quick response manufacturing) to support these actions.
Customer demands, fast-evolving market
In the market of point-of-sale, speed is essential and projects are complex, as brands like to react quickly to the trends and innovations induced by the ever-changing consumer need. Due to this, retail needs to be increasingly more innovative. Marketing and merchandising often change their needs during projects and the products are never the same. No production in series, always development of specific products, labour-intensive and yet with a strong need for industrialisation because of economical reasons and speed. Customers need to adapt to a market that is changing very quickly and continuously, because the competition is tough. The best way to assist them is to help them to meet their deadlines and reduce deadline misses, for permanent materials as well as for ephemeral products.
The reduction of lead times, from the start of the client's project till delivery, is therefore a key issue for DIAM. Both to satisfy customers’ needs and to improve internal operations. Its 20 years of experience in the industry has proven that reducing lead times is also the best way to optimise performance.
Small series, multi-variant products
There are several ways to reduce delays. The QRM method is certainly the most suitable for DIAM's business of POS, as it allows to manufacture in small series and adapt to environments with no existing standard products. After the launch near the end of 2015, time reduction projects with a reduction target of more than 40 percent were met. The method proved to be very adaptable to the company's needs, to reduce lead time from order to delivery, whilst respecting the peculiarities of the market, i.e. complex projects and shorter deadlines. QRM has allowed DIAM to do better, satisfy its customers and accelerate the development of sales in a significant way. Whilst simultaneously simplifying DIAM’s organisation and thinning out the operations.
To succeed in lead time reduction projects, DIAM has mobilised key managers and operational staff on a project management perimeter from A to Z, from the expression of the client's brief to the delivery of the order. They started with simple diagnoses to measure the projects ‘Time of Passage’ (the projects flow of time in calendar days) and identifying ‘unnecessary time loss’ ('white areas'), seen from the client’s point of view. Over 70 percent was identified as ‘lost time’. As a result, ideas for reducing lead times have rocketed, with a strong mobilisation of transversal functions and great examples of teamwork. Accepting the questions asked of the current operation and daring to experiment with simpler and more fluid alternative operations has allowed the QRM methodology to readdress and resolve organisational issues.
Working faster, working better together
The implementation of the QRM approach has resulted in a significant delay reduction of more than 30 percent on average, in cases that last from 2 to 6 months and cost reductions around 10 percent. Beyond these convincing results, the QRM workshops and objectives made it possible to mobilise and work better together. This leads to strengthening collaborative work, improving communication between the teams and trusting each other on a case and above all, a better understanding of the issues involved. The customer needs are the collective approach of steering business milestones and reducing white areas. This leads to less disruption, simpler communication circuits and a better first shot of things. The time won can be reinvested in development and technical innovations. The QRM method has largely contributed to the recovery of customer satisfaction and DIAM’s results.
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Is your company too dealing with ever more personalised client demands and shorter lead times? Then the QRM method will be of interest to you!
On a regular basis Sirris organises information sessions on QRM, but also in-depth training that will teach you how to implement QRM in your organisation, with our without support by Sirris or another partner member of the QRM Institute. You can find the dates of the next sessions in our agenda.
