Good team too needs an extra player – How Kala konsalting helped Bambi to reduce stock by one third?

When the business starts, people rely on their intuition and many of them are successful at it. However, the moment comes when intuition is not sufficient. It usually happens when a company starts growing rapidly. That is the right moment for implementation of serious management measures, Zoran Djurdjevic, a director and owner of Kala konsalting, says for eKapija.

The business consulting agency has existed for nine years so that customers can rely on it in these kinds of situations. Kala provides services in consulting, ERP software implementation and business education. Last year the company had a couple of large projects.

- We had plenty of work in 2013 but I would set aside three projects which are specific. Bambi concern is definitely the biggest one. Bambi asked for Forecast Pro sales forecast software implementation. I was surprised when they told me they were looking for a consultant for years buy it became clear when they asked which indicators will be a parameter for project success and which values we can guarantee with the project. We are not looking for software implementation but results. It was a challenge which one does not refuse. We started cooperation with Sales planning, it continued with Stock planning and now we are implementing the third project stage – Production planning.

Results speak for themselves.

- The basic task set in early 2013 was to decrease two levels of finished products stock for 20%. Last year, in its annual statement of account, Bambi had a total of RSD 240 mil of finished goods while this year it decreased to RSD 160 mil. It is in fact stock decrease of 33,33%. Still, I do not want to say that the result is our contribution: consultants are as sports coaches who are saying what should be done and everything depends on players, on Bambi in this case.

What Kala is currently doing at this confectionary is definitely their biggest undertaking so far.

- This is the third project stage. Production planning. For the needs of this project, we did not succeed in finding an adequate tool so we developed a completely new software, Production Master which completely covers SOP (sales and operations planning) processes in production companies. It starts with sales forecast integrated Forecast Pro tools and is connected to sales planning, stock, production and procurement annually, monthly and daily, a collocutor of eKapija says.

Calculations and optimizations RCCP –Rugh Cut Capacity Planning, CRP (Capacity Requirements Planning), MRP (Material Requirements Planning), through terming, i.e. setting up optimal distribution of work tasks based on multi criteria principles have been installed in the software. This year they are planning to end the procurement and distribution optimization.

Zoran Djurdjevic underlines also projects in Temerin-based Elmed and J&J metal industry from Novi Sad.

- Elmed deals with industrial printers and we had a task to implement ERP system there. It appears to be a common task but only if you do not know company structure. Namely, Elmed has a company in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Macedonia. The task was to connect all these companies into a unique system regardless of languages, legislation and telecommunications infrastructure – Djurdjevic says.

(at one of the workshops)

- The third big task was the implementation of SAP in Novi Sad-based J&J metal industry owned by French LPP. The unusual thing is that SAP B1 software has not been localized for the Serbian market which meant it should have been connected with some local software and we chose Pantheon for that. However, this is not the end. Their production is so specific that they use PPS software for that which is the third thing in a chain which should be connected – our collocutor explains.

Simple is the most important

Kala consulting is known for its business education where it trains participants for production management, stock, projects and supply chains then costs calculations, planning and sales forecast, business analysis, etc. A few hundred of people attended their programs which have been organized in Belgrade, Novi Sad and Kragujevac as well as in Macedonia and Croatia.

Our collocutor says that the most important thing is to be simple.

- We keep in touch with most of the participants and there are many companies we have been cooperating for years. We do not discuss abstract examples as during the training but we solve specific problems – director of Kala consulting says.

The key is, as our collocutor explains, that we do not provide lectures and then run away from a user leaving him all by himself.

Do not miss the moment

At the end of an interview we asked where do companies make the most common mistakes when they want to develop their business. Our collocutor says that the crucial moment is the one he was talking about at the beginning.

- When the moment comes to implement managerial measures, most of the companies miss it unfortunately because they are self-satisfied with the results they achieved. They remember it is necessary to change something only when a problem emerges and it is usually the moment when the problems have already become serious so you do not know where to start solving first. You cannot relax in business, everybody has to be aware of that – in order to keep the position, you must run.

Cooperation with EBRD

For three years Kala has been successfully cooperating with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Their cooperation started with the BAS program for SMEs so that the bank could improve its business operations through consulting. They are now implementing the third project, Activity Based Costing in Andric company. However, this is not where it ends. More than a year ago, Zoran Djurdjevic became EGP (Enterprise Growth Program) consultant which is a rare case in our region. EGP is similar to BAS program but it is about larger projects totaling up to EUR 40.000.

M.S.