Facing high business costs, strong competition, and surrounded by multiple challenges, many businesses saw slower growth than expected. To achieve full potential and sustain competitive advantage over other players in the industry, Thaifoods Further Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Thai Foods Group Plc. in frozen food production and distribution, cooperated with a business consulting expert, LiB Consulting, to develop new solutions for cost reduction and smart & lean organization. Within the first 3 months, the company succeeded in reducing costs by over 30% and witnessed visible results in personnel development.
Situation of Thaifoods Further prior to cooperating with LiB
High competition in frozen ready-to-eat food market makes it difficult for many enterprises to succeed and achieve their growth target. Mr. Winai Teawsomboonkij, CEO of Thai Foods Group Plc., and other high-level executives wanted the company to develop a complete and integrated business management process. To make the vision possible, Mr. Panya Sakunchot, Assistant Vice President Further Factory, accelerated the improvement and development of management guidelines to achieve a fast and coordinated transition, especially in human resources department, whereby both managers and team members need to learn new skills in alignment with the new corporate strategies and management policies. However, it may take years to develop ideal qualities in the workforce, and in the meantime the company would also have to endure higher business costs. As a result, it was a big challenge for Thaifoods Further, a new player in the segment.
Results of the cooperation with LiB Consulting
Mr. Panya stated that working with LiB Consulting's has improved the efficiency of Thaifoods Further's strategies. Prior to the project, the company's strategies covered only fundamentals with no specific practical details, which could take a long time during the post-implementation to see the results. LiB Consulting provided new perspectives in strategy implementation and allowed the company to choose the most suitable strategy for each situation. Within 3 months, the company noticed apparent business results, and reduced the cost by millions of baht per year, to around 30% of the targeted costs. LiB Consulting helped Thaifoods Further reduce the required lead time to achieve success and provided shortcuts to reach higher potential.
Several months after the implementation, Thaifoods Further perceived considerable positive changes not only in the cost reduction impact on human resources and procurement, but also other indirect benefits. For example, the personnel received a new set of skills and knowledge to improve planning and operation process. They were also inspired to develop their potential in order to drive sustainability and efficiency of the organization, making the company's management system more agile.
Special strategies behind the success of the company
Thaifoods Further and LiB Consulting worked together to develop plans and guidelines throughout the company's structure - from the procurement system to the production process - to improve efficiency, reduce workforce costs, and simultaneously nurture personnel. LiB Consulting's team consists of experts from the new generation with a professional and agile approach to the working process; therefore, their suggestions are precisely up-to-date for the emerging challenges of the modern era.
"LiB Consulting implemented the international best practice of OpX diagnosis at Thaifoods Further, and the action reflects their high capability, potential, and professionalism," said Mr. Panya. OpX diagnosis is the international standard criteria for operation diagnosis and improvement used in many world-leading companies. This tool aims to identify problems which can affect the business growth and develop guidelines as well as solutions to solve the problems step by step, thus, LiB Consulting's OpX diagnosis is a unique tool. Aside from looking for possible development and guidelines for the production process, the tool provides a 360-degree in-depth analysis in every working process of the company ranging from procurement, storage management, and delivery, providing customers with a comprehensive understanding of the problems. Customers can then apply the know-how and techniques of many successful companies across the world to develop systematic business transformation guidelines. LiB Consulting's team monitors the progress and offers consultations to customers at every step to help initiate a seamless transformation with minimum time and maximum benefits, reducing business costs for customers and developing their workforce simultaneously.
Moreover, LiB Consulting indicated that improving the efficiency of the management team will help the company reduce human resources costs. During the cooperation, LiB Consulting's team shared new skills and knowledge from international best practices by hosting workshops and providing management team with beneficial suggestions on human resources management according to the nature of business. LiB Consulting also urged the factory management team to share ideas to improve the efficiency. As a result, the management team learned how to increase productivity and reduce the company's costs at the same time.
Impression of cooperating with LiB Consulting
As an advisor of Thaifoods Further, LiB Consulting did not initiate abrupt changes to the business. Instead, the team took gradual steps to generate positive changes. Thaifoods Further successfully addressed several pain points, and attempted to reduce the impact progressively. Hence, the productivity increased to a satisfactory level, enabling the Thaifoods Further to reach its goal faster than expected.
"Professional, honest, and attentive are the values we clearly felt during our cooperation with LiB Consulting. From their suggestions, we know that they always aim for the highest possible results for our company. One of the significant impressions was when LiB Consulting helped us solve the issue with the costs of our factory supplies. Not only they analyzed and identified the issue, but LiB Consulting also helped us manage the costs. Moreover, LiB also followed up on the progress and results of their advice, urging us to be active and ready for changes constantly. These are our impressions of working with LiB Consulting," Mr. Panya concluded.