1. www.SupplyChainGroup.org Rapid Blueprint Assessment Page 1
Rapid Assessment To Establish Your Way Forward
- By: Jonathan Kates and Jeff Kazanow – Partners, SupplyChainGroup LLC
Costs have increased, competitors are making inroads, suppliers continue to be late, and your team cannot find a
clear way forward. Is it time to reexamine some of the ways you are doing business? There are truths in what the
team is saying but separating Music from Noise is not an easy task. If you are considering business or technology
initiatives, need to improve your cost structure, or have had a significant change in business dynamics we can
help with a Rapid Blueprint Assessment. As an objective third party who brings tools and quantified best
practices to the analysis we are better than internal conference room decisions and biased solution vendors.
Working with you we leave few stones unturned in assessing and defining rational ways to drive rapid savings
and service improvements.
To get jump started, we can focus our assessments around a set of your questions. Some past questions we
have answered include:
 Are our cost structures in line; either indirect or direct categories? How can they be better?
 How can we have both too much inventory and stock outs at the same time?
 How can we react quickly and cost effectively to new product sources?
 Are there barriers and bottlenecks in the planning, manufacturing, warehousing, and delivery
processes that are impacting our ability to meet our marketing strategies?
 Why has the recent ERP/WMS/TMS or other IT Projects not achieved the desired results?
 How can we reduce costs and improve service with our legacy SCM applications?
 How can we take time out of the cash to cash cycle or the end to end supply chain?
 Do we have the right team skills in the right places on both the business and technology sides?
 Should we consider outsourcing aspects of our supply chain operations?
Recently, in a four week project we were asked to review the possibility of stretching current supply chain
practices to support an emerging market with new delivery needs. In this assessment it became clear that a
technology initiative was required to gain near real time visibility for taking corrective action. The good news was
that with short term changes the client was able to eliminate 38% of the visibility issues early in the process. This
made the project self-funding while a better defined technology project got underway. The key was identifying
“low hanging”, mid, and longer term initiatives with a Blueprint/Roadmap for implementation.
Assessment Methodology –
Our assessment methodology leverages tools and lessons learned from numerous successful client
engagements. We work with your team to identify, define, and quantify potential changes and business cases are
developed. Those initiatives with merit are woven into a blueprint and roadmap
Initiatives are only practical if, in real life,
they are achievable and after
implementation deliver planned benefits
consistently …
Are you on the right path?
Project Insights–Rapid Supply Chain Assessment

2. www.SupplyChainGroup.org Rapid Blueprint Assessment Page 2
STEP 1
Initiate
w/ Business Case
STEP 4
Create
Bus. Case
Model
STEP 2
Analyze
Current
State
STEP 3
Specify &
Evaluate
Initiatives
STEP 5
Quantify
Initiative
Benefits
STEP 6
Blueprint
& Roadmap
Defined Implementation
Proven Six Step Methodology:
1. Initiate The Project: Set up
Teams start data collection,
interview key stakeholders,
define best practices
2. Analyze Current State:
Synthesis of collected data,
workshops, observations,
and analyses
3. Specify and Evaluate
Initiatives: Identify gaps
business requirements;
formulate initiatives.
4. Create Business Case Models: Activity based cost models with best practices and
benchmarks
5. Quantify Initiative Benefits: Define initiative ROI’s, Prioritize through stakeholder workshops.
6. Blueprint and Roadmap: Creation of implementation plans for the initiative with business process,
functional, technical, and data needs identified as well as timing and resource requirements
Using the above approach creates a comprehensive fact base that will assist you in identifying, driving and
delivering a measurable return on investments from business processes and technology initiatives.
Lesson’s Learned
In supporting our clients’ migration to effective operations, we have addressed the many different pitfalls that
occur during organizational change. Some common ones include:
Pitfall Discussion Solution
Deep
Complexity
Client team lacks the vision to see how
the interdependent business sub-
functions, technologies, and master data
could operate better. This vision may
exceed the teams managerial mandates
Through best practices, visioning sessions, company
visits, and carefully selected workshops, we have been
able to broaden the thinking of the teams to envision
faster and leaner operations and supporting
technology.
Groupthink The best answer from the group is based
more on consensus than company
benefit. In this situation initiatives are
picked without regard to ROI.
An outsider willing to challenge the group and a careful
focus on initiative benefits and costs helps to identify
clear winners and losers in the context of corporate
reality.
Reluctance to
Change
Change is uncomfortable and difficult;
Inertia is a powerful force, acting against
your goals. Employees and processes
that are not vested in the change may
work to oppose it, or sit by to watch it fail.
Organization Transformation requires a plan that
works within your culture. Change management must
be put into effect, from initiation and scope, through
implementation. Our Blueprint and project
management defines and manages change
We welcome the opportunity to work with you. To reach us, please call.
About SupplyChainGroup LLC:
The SupplyChainGroup’s consulting focus is directly on end to end
supply chain improvement. Our staff works with clients performing
Supply Chain Strategy, Operations & Technology Assessments,
Sourcing, M & A, IT Strategy, Analysis, Design and Implementation
support. In our focus areas we bring benchmarks, best practice
tools, proven methods, and deep staff experience for your projects.
We deliver great client work at very competitive rates.
Contact Us:
Jeff Kazanow, Partner
M: 678-640-6199
Email: jeff.kazanow@supplychaingroup.org
Jonathan Kates, Partner
M: 303-746-2648
Email: jonathan.kates@supplychaingroup.org