Operational Improvements

Even established industrial plants can sometimes face technical and operational issues. This is where FEC can help. Our specialists have experience in a wide range of industry sectors and plants around the world, which means we will be familiar with your production processes and your relevant market segments. We can understand your operations quickly and analyse your plant both from a technical and commercial perspective to identify areas where improvements and cost savings can be made, recommend the methodology for implementing the improvements and provide an independent assessment of the results obtained.

Our services include:

• Process and performance reviews
• Operational risk assessments
• Operational assistance
• Organisational planning, development and training
• Process yield and energy audits
• Specific troubleshooting
• Plant condition surveys and audits.

Here are some of the ways FEC can help deliver operational improvements to your business:

Your operating costs are high compared to your competitors

FEC has the relevant operational expertise as well the commercial acumen to help. We will start with carrying out a detailed evaluation of your existing operations covering areas such as production processes, equipment condition, production yields, energy consumption, productivity levels, organisation and skills. This will give us the information we need to compare your operations against industry best practice and world-class standards, taking into consideration the specific equipment you are using. We will then identify and recommend opportunities where you can improve productivity levels, yield and product quality. Once we have discussed and agreed the operational improvements to be implemented, we can produce a defined operational improvements plan and help you implement it.

You are having productivity and quality issues

Our extensive expertise across production operations means that we can quickly analyse your existing operations, identify potential causes of the productivity and quality issues and put together a plan to resolve them. We can also help you train your plant personnel so that they fully understand the causes of the product issues and are able prevent similar issues from recurring.

You want to improve your operations and reach world-class operating standards

If your existing plant operators have limited technical and operational expertise, we can provide the training necessary to improve your plant operations. Our training and advisory solutions are tailored to your specific requirements, so we will work closely with you to identify knowledge gaps and develop a training programme to suit your needs.

You want to invest in your plant and need to determine how you can get the best value from your investment

If you are considering a further investment in your business, either to expand your product range or to modernise your existing plant and equipment, we can advise you on the investment strategy that will deliver the highest return for your capital. FEC has the required technical expertise as well as the market and commercial knowledge to help you determine which investments are likely to be of the highest importance and the most profitable, based on your existing operations. For modernisations, we can carry out a review of your operations and plant condition, identify areas that are in need of modernising or upgrade, develop estimates of how much it will cost and prepare a business case. If you are looking to diversify, we can carry out a market survey to determine additional product ranges you could target while maximising synergies, such as equipment, know-how and personnel with your existing operations, identify any additional plant and equipment required and develop a business case.

You want to develop your business into higher value added markets

With our experienced staff who have operated in the sophisticated European market we can, through operational, process and technical improvements (sometimes supported by the specification of new equipment), help develop your product offering into higher value added markets. Whilst the higher prices available for these products can appear attractive, they are often accompanied by increased operational challenges/costs, we can where required develop the business case to support such strategic developments.

You know which investments you want to make but need to demonstrate the business case

With our technical and commercial expertise, we can develop estimates of how much it will cost to implement, operate and maintain the investments you are considering. We can then create a customised financial model that demonstrates the financial returns of those investments while also carrying out sensitivity analysis which allows a range of scenarios to be tested. We provide comprehensive business case modelling services including developing a robust financial model and scenario analysis that will evaluate the returns from your investment and which can also be used to help obtain financing for your investments.