Services

Testimonials

pictureWe were making the wrong decisions based on assumptions that we had held to be true. The PTAI analysis revealed that we were not as competitive as we had believed. Our performance paradigms clearly had to be changed at the top and throughout the organization.”

CEO

“We did not fully understand how the margins on various product lines could be optimized. When we were able to see our costs in a true competitive context for the first time, we made some dramatic changes in our sales strategies that almost immediately improved our gross margins.” 
SVP, Sales and Marketing

“We realized that our sales incentives did not fit our competitive strategy.”
Director of Sales


“Our competitive position had changed, but we were able to learn why and how to change course with reliable information. The type of benchmarking cleared our vision and gave us the facts to act.”
COO

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The Global Leader in Industry Benchmarking

Phillip Townsend Associates provides a complete range of benchmarking services across a wide range of industries to companies around the world. Our extensive range of experience with designing and executing industry benchmarking programs has resulted in deep insights into business performance for our clients. We augment that with a suite of analytical services and capabilities where clients want to more detailed insights into specific areas. These services include:

- In-depth Benchmark Data Analysis Surveys
- Modeling Surveys
- Performance Improvement Workshops
- Business Model Evaluations

Depending on the objective we often apply two or more of these techniques to provide a complete analysis of an area. For example a staffing analysis might involve benchmark data analysis, modeling and a site survey to provide a complete understanding of the issue.

 

In-Depth Benchmark Data Analysis Surveys

All of our benchmarking programs provide extensive information on relative performance. However, the results often lead to more specific questions related to how and why these results occur. In these cases Phillip Townsend Associates can work with your organization to provide more in-depth analysis, such as:

Cost Driver Analysis
Often times benchmarking results will show a significant gap between plants on a given metric - e.g., maintenance cost per ton of output. And this can lead to incorrect conclusions about what can and should be done. However it is also possible in many cases to identify factors related to cost that are predictive of spending - cost drivers. These can be used to quantify how much extra spending is incurred in the industry as one or more key factors increase. In maintenance for example things such as replacement cost and numbers of pieces of equipment are significant. In R&D things such as the number of technology platforms and the number of commercial end products supported may help quantify how much extra cost might be expected.

Business Model Analysis
Analysis of business model relationships can be evaluated extensively. Examples of this include examinations of the:

- Relationship of research spending on business margins
- Relationship of margin to low cost versus high revenue strategies

We are able to give you the objective perspectives and assessment that you need to help identify areas for improvement and solutions for continuing business success.

Modeling Surveys

Often companies are faced with trying to evaluate future situations without enough information to make good decisions. Often the problem is compounded by the fact that multiple factors are involved and the inter-relationships are not well understood. And often companies want to test out a variety of what-if questions. Some examples of these situations include:

- Adding a new production line
- Building a new plant in a different geography
- Evaluating changes in business strategy

In these cases it can be possible to use existing benchmarking information to structure a set of parameters that are representative of the area in question. Then various scale, staffing and cost scenarios can be examined in meaningful ways.

Performance Improvement Workshops

Performance Improvement Workshops (PIW) are offered as a follow-up activity to industry Benchmarking studies. A key goal of Phillip Townsend Associates's Benchmarking programs is to identify and quantify the gaps of individual producers. These studies provide producers with a thorough evaluation of their business strengths and weaknesses compared to their peers. The next step is to act on these gaps.

The Performance Improvement Workshop advances the process from gap identification to action. We supply an experienced group of facilitators for the Workshop. They work with your business team to:

- Validate the issues that have been identified by the benchmark
- Prioritize the gap areas to work on based on criteria established in the workshop cost reduction, quality improvement, etc.
- Identify and evaluate options for undertaking improvement initiatives
- Establish reasonable goals for the business
- Develop a plan to move forward on the key gaps in cost and performance
- Monitoring of the plan's progress and impact can be conducted by the business supporting the project or jointly with Phillip Townsend Associates


At the end of the process, your organization has a coherent and clearly defined plan and an assigned set of responsibilities for improving your cost position and performance.

Business Model Evaluation

A complete assessment of your business model will provide you with a documented report of your company's strategic objectives, organizational framework and key staff support. Learning more about the strengths and weaknesses of your business operations will help you overcome your current challenges and stay true to your objectives.

Analysis of business model relationships can be evaluated extensively. Examples of this include examinations of the:

Relationship of research spending on business margins
Relationship of margin to low cost versus high revenue strategies

Phillip Townsend Associates is able to give you the objective perspectives and assessment that you need to help identify areas for improvement and solutions for continuing business success.

 


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