Production is surrounded by support functions that allow it to deliver products or services under the best possible conditions and to achieve the best possible performance. The main support functions are:

• the design and production engineering offices that define the new products and operational procedures,
• procurement, which makes sure that the materials and components arrive at the production lines,
• quality, which defines the procedures required to achieve the required levels of product quality,
• maintenance, which makes sure that the means of production are permanently available,
• logistics, which coordinates the physical flows of materials, components and finished products,
• industrial management control, which produces and tracks the KPIs that reveal the points to be improved.

Global performance will only be achieved if each of the support functions executes its tasks efficiently. Therefore, it is important to:

• quantify and analyze in depth all the tasks and expenses of the corresponding departments,
• question the need and the value of the various tasks and activities for the in-house customer,
• assess the risks involved in eliminating certain tasks,
• set cost-cutting targets for management in order to facilitate the calling into question and change of behavior

Argon Consulting helps its customers in:

• the selection of the analysis units and the setting of cost-cutting targets,
• the identification of the tasks and associated costs by analysis unit,
• the analysis of performance and critical processes,
• customer mirror-type studies of activity in the analyzed functions,
• identification of levers and room for improvement (tasks with little added value, pointless costs, organizational breakdowns, benchmarks, etc.),
• assessment of the risks involved in eliminating certain tasks and/or expenses,
• the in-depth study of possible breakaways and the development of alternative target organization scenarios,
• the management of the complete analysis phase, the involvement of key players (heads of department, training, etc.) and the associated communications,
• the establishment and control of the implementation plan and the monitoring of gains.