StarAnchor

Typical Clients

White Papers

Testimonials


		*StarAnchor* encounters certain situations with high frequency. In these circumstances, we produce a White Paper on the topic that provides greater detail about our observations, strategy, and approach. The White Papers are available upon request through e-mail. Outsourcing Management. Outsourcing is a growing trend, and it's been recognized as the wave of the future by authorities as respected as The Drucker Foundation and The Conference Board. Nonetheless, outsourcing initiatives are met with mixed results and fail in either of two modes: dissatisfaction with the outcomes, or decisions not even to proceed due to skepticism about the likely benefits. Consulting firms who specialize in managing these processes contribute to the problems. Because they operate on billable hour models, it's in the interest of these firms to make the process as complex and resource-intensive as possible. One such firm regularly represents that a meaningful outsourcing can take up to 24 months and a multi-million dollar resource commitment. Our strategy - developed over a period of 15 years -- is much simpler, faster, and more successful. We have applied our principles to achieve successful results in an outsourcing of multi-billion dollar functions, less than 90 days, with a team of five people, only one of which was experienced in the function in question.

Performance-Based Contracting. Performance-based contracting goes hand in glove with our approach to outsourcing management. Once the outsourcing is complete, it's important to have a relationship, and agreement, that delivers on the anticipated benefits. We have studied numerous outsourcing initiatives that failed to deliver on these benefits, and found that the nature of the agreement forced the parties into adversarial positions. With a different structure, proprietary to *StarAnchor* and developed over 15 years, the relationship succeeds. Interests are aligned and motivation to achieve continuous improvement drives ever-increasing advantages without a corresponding resource commitment for contract management and conflict resolution.

Fractal Pareto Analysis. Often, problems seem daunting due to their sheer scope. Using an application of Pareto Analysis (the "80/20 rule") *StarAnchor* is able to help clients focus on the meaningful few and ignore the trivial many. This analysis goes beyond the 1st tier application of the tool, however, and generates powerful results in the 4th tier and beyond. A manufacturer about to embark on a major consulting initiative to restructure its production to address an explosive proliferation of SKU's used this tool and found a valid strategy in less than one day. Using this tool, distributors are consistently able to reduce inventories by more than 50% and simultaneously increase both fill rates and profits.

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