EMS subcontractor · PCB assembly and box build for industrial customers · 1 site, 3 SMT lines · 180 employeesThis War Map shows how we turn an operational review into an implementation plan. The dates show a possible sequence; the scope and schedule of a real engagement are agreed with you.
Findings
Where work gets held up, who has to step in, and what it costs in this example.
Slow quotes lose business
9 days on average to answer an RFQ. Quotes sent within 5 days win more than twice as often as those sent after 10.
Shortages handled line by line
85 open lines checked by hand every week. 23% of jobs start with an incomplete kit, and €640K of kits and WIP waits on missing parts.
Obsolescence found late
31 end-of-life or not-recommended parts sit on active boards with no approved alternate. Customer sign-off on an alternate takes 34 days.
Returns analysed without history
Test results for 2 of 5 benches are not linked to serial numbers. The same failure at two customers went unconnected for five weeks.
Illustrative time allocation for 11 interview roles
- Searching and re-keying component data
- 29%
- Engineering and costing work
- 24%
- Chasing suppliers and customers
- 21%
- Replanning and partial-kit work
- 14%
- Decisions
- 12%
These scenario percentages total 100%. They describe the 11 interview roles only and are not extrapolated to the 180 employees.
64% of the time goes to component data, chasing and replanning. 36% remains for engineering, costing judgement and decisions.
SOP vs. Reality
Every RFQ starts with a BOM in a different format. Mathieu cleans it, matches the parts, then prices each line on distributor sites for three quantities. Labour comes from his memory of similar jobs. The quote leaves after 9 days on average, and the reason for a loss is rarely recorded.
The shortage list is rebuilt every Monday from a Sage X3 export and a tour of distributor sites. Confirmed dates live in Excel, so the ERP plans on old dates. When a part is short, the line often starts anyway, and the missing parts are fitted by hand after reflow.
Notices arrive in a shared mailbox and are sorted by hand. The where-used search only works on manufacturer part numbers, so parts stored under distributor references are missed. The alternate is often ready in days; the customer's engineering approval takes over a month.
The analysis itself is skilled work. The delay comes before it: finding the test log on the right bench, then pulling traceability from the MES. Each return is closed on its own, so patterns across customers stay hidden.
Work that needs attention
Risk Register
Strategy Session · 30 min
A real engagement is scoped in the Strategy Session and may begin with a War Map or a bounded Feasibility Sprint.