Recovering 6.2 points of gross margin across 14 plants
Process mining across four ERPs found $31m of recoverable margin that plant-level reporting had been netting out.
- Gross margin recovered
- 6.2 pts
- Annualised value
- $31m
- Changeover time reduction
- 34%
- Off-contract spend
- 22% → 6%
The challenge
Harrow had grown by acquisition to 14 plants on four different ERP instances. Group gross margin had fallen 6.8 points in three years, but no two plants defined cost of goods the same way, so the board could not tell whether the problem was pricing, mix, yield or procurement. Plant managers each had a credible explanation and none of them agreed.
Our solution
We built a common cost model and pulled 26 months of transaction-level data out of all four ERPs into a single warehouse with plant-level reconciliation to the statutory accounts. Process mining on production and procurement events isolated the actual drivers: unplanned changeovers accounted for 2.9 points, off-contract spot purchasing 1.8, and scrap concentrated in three product families a further 1.5. We then ran a 16-week improvement programme on the top three drivers with plant teams owning the interventions.
The results
6.2 of the 6.8 lost margin points recovered within four quarters — $31m annualised. Changeover time down 34% through scheduling changes alone, with no capital spend. Off-contract spend reduced from 22% to 6% of category value. The cost model and warehouse remain in use as the group's monthly reporting spine.
Other engagements
- InsuranceCutting claims cycle time by 41% at a regional insurerA 90-year-old claims operation replaced its mainframe workflow without a single day of processing downtime.
- HealthcareAutomating prior authorisation for a 22-hospital health systemA document AI pipeline cut prior-authorisation turnaround from 4.5 days to under 6 hours, with clinician review preserved.
Could this be your programme?
We will tell you where the analogy holds and where it does not — before you spend anything.
Or call +971 58 6044 510