A national provider of propane whose vision is to provide customers with the safest,
most reliable and most responsive propane service in the nation. The company uses the size of
its organization to the customer’s advantage every day, while staying true to its grass roots
by offering the friendly smiles and personal attention found only at local family businesses.
ECS successfully completed a Fresh Eyes diagnostic to define, measure and analyze
the supply and logistics support operation, which was experiencing difficulties in meeting
client and organizational productivity requirements during peak season.
The breakdown affected internal and external customer satisfaction, created financial
compliance risk, and had a negative impact on morale and productivity.
ECS & Client team – development of a project charter to ensure alignment of objectives, goals, timelines, constraints and success metrics of project, as well as key client stakeholder(s) groups.
ECS conducted a Fresh Eyes Diagnostic review of the entire work team which included process mapping and evaluation, internal and external site surveys, review of SOPs, and an organizational dynamics assessment.
Through this process, ECS identified four key areas at the root of the performance issues:
resource constraints, staffing model, process deficiencies, and accountability.
Key Stakeholder Value Stream Mapping session – focused on the inventory process (propane) identified, time, motion, pain points, root causes and recommended solutions for improvement.
ECS developed a revised staffing plan, a process improvement road map, and a comprehensive communication strategy to improve performance. The project required aligning Supply and Logistics with corporate functional support resources to assist in creating solutions that were effective and met existing organizational platform requirements.
The revised staffing model and process improvements reduced waste and produced a measurable ROI. Process errors were reduced by 74%, which in turn, decreased the financial compliance risk to well within acceptable threshold standards. The creation of standard operating procedures and detailed user guides, supported by formalized training and development activities, improved performance and accountability. An enhanced communication strategy positively impacted individual and team morale, and improved employee engagement scores.
