Mission

The mission of S&V Management Consultants is:

• to achieve internal cost reduction and improve efficiency;
• to carry out soundly based studies and assist during implementation;
• to analyze the customer's business processes and activities from different angles: material flow, cost stream, information flow and organizational context;
• to share our know-how and service in a long-term partnership with our customers.

This mission contains the key elements of our consulting philosophy and is, we believe, the key to our success.

1. Provide management tools and advice to improve internal effectiveness and efficiency.

In order to build up expertise, one has to focus. We focus on the effectiveness and efficiency of manufacturing and logistics processes.

We focus in the first place on improving a company's business processes or operations. We look for both continuous improvements and breakthrough results. A strict methodology guarantees a sound outcome. A financial sampling gives insight into the costs and benefits involved. The definition of key performance indicators allows us to monitor the progress of change.

In many cases, however, such changes have major implications for the accounting and control systems. We therefore also advise our clients with regard to the use of appropriate concepts to control and measure the performance of their activities, products or business units.

The management tools and advice we offer our clients are based on our proven international experience as supply chain consultants for many clients in various industries. Our expertise is recognized by the organizations who invite us to teach in their advanced management programs, and by editors in specific areas inviting our contributions as (co-)authors of books and articles.

2. Consider the different dimensions of any business process in our advice.

As management consultants, we believe that the beginning of any solution lies in a thorough understanding of the different dimensions of a business process. We therefore carefully analyze the material flow, as well as the cost stream, the supporting information flow and the organizational context. Each of these dimensions requires its own in-depth expertise. But it is only the total overview and understanding that will offer the correct diagnosis.

Based on this analysis, we provide balanced advice, which constitutes the basis for a sound and long-lasting solution.

3. The solutions we offer must be well-founded.

We invest heavily in keeping the management tools and concepts we use up-to-date. To achieve this, we actively invest in management research on various manufacturing and logistics topics. We screen literature on an ongoing basis for new ideas and present papers at international congresses, where new ideas emerge and are discussed. We consolidate our research efforts and our business expertise to contribute to post-experience programs of leading Business Schools and participate in various seminars and round tables. Of course, our own contacts with companies where concepts are confronted with reality form an equally important source of information.

No one is more aware of the intricacies of his business than the customer. Any success is always the result of a joint effort between the customer's business experience and the consultant's expertise. It is for this reason that we insist on an ongoing collaboration with select key people within the customer's organization. This investment of time and people on both sides will give us a better understanding of specific aspects of the client's business environment.

This thorough understanding of the customer's business is a second condition of well-founded solutions: the customer's problem is therefore taken as a starting point. We offer tailor-made, not standard solutions.

4. The solutions we offer must be applicable in the customer's real-life environment.

We do not believe in concepts unless they have been proven to work. Based on our experience, we are convinced that the success of the implementation of a project depends heavily on the commitment of both parties. The customer should provide both a project leader and internal resources for this stage. We, as partners, will make a personal commitment and take responsibility for the results. As consultants we will focus on:

• Building a concrete implementation plan and setting up the appropriate organization and control tools.
• Accelerating the implementation and monitoring progress.
• Transferring know-how to facilitate customer learning.
• Facilitating implementation by building consensus and commitment.
• Executing specific tasks.