Operational Excellence

Operational Excellence.

Since 1993, the PIMS benchmarking programme has enabled over 250 LOBPs and GMPs worldwide to understand their true competitive position, pinpoint areas of improvement in their manufacturing supply chain, and become a global ’champion’ blending plant.

PIMS Lubricants and Greases Supply Chain Benchmarking

The PIMS^® Global Lubricants and Greases Supply Chain Benchmarking.

For over 30 years PIMS® has been benchmarking the supply chain of lubricants and greases plant operations. Currently our project covers over 50% of the global annual throughput. Hence it has become the industry standard for assisting companies in optimising their supply chain by learning from appropriate comparisons. To find out more about the project in detail, please have a look on our brochure.

average savings per plant

of the global annual throughput

years of experience in supply chain benchmarking

Use cases.

Blending and filling plant network optimisation

Set optimum manning levels, batch sizes, quality control
Reduce complexity by specialising plants by product group
Investigate mix of preventative vs reactive maintenance
Improve management of slops and losses.

Working capital and service levels

Find the right balance between lean inventory and rapid delivery promise
Measures to improve overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)
Investigate benefits of simplifying range of products/packs/raw materials
Reduce lead times and increase flexibility of production planning.

Out/insourcing non-core operations

Use of third-party facilities or contractors for tedious but straightforward tasks
Non-production activities: Catering, cleaning, security, routine manual tasks.
Complexity drivers: Small batches, unusual packs, remote warehouses.
Consider use of QC lab to test third-party items.

Objectives & Benefits

PIMS® provides effective and objective benchmarking, known for thorough data collection and validation, rigorous analysis, and insightful answers. The programme identifies:

Strengths and weaknesses versus strategic peers
Process optimisation opportunities
Portfolio optimisation opportunities

Performance and complexity drivers PIMS® provides a stimulus for change based on clear evidence versus real competitors (under strict confidentiality).

Science & Methods

PIMS® takes into account the scale, complexity, and configuration of a plant to formulate their:

Complexity profile and its impact on unit cost
Quartile position against regional and global peers
Performance against other plants with similar operational lay outs using look-alike peer analysis

Phases & Steps

Define key data, set time table.
Kick-off workshop.
Data assembly and validation.
Deep dive report preparation.
Results workshop and action planning.

PIMS benchmarking has greatly aided our continuous improvement. It guides us from our current status to our desired goals.

Supply Chain Manager, Independent manufacturer, Portugal

PIMS helps to bring about change by providing a common language between operating units, showing priority areas of focus, setting targets and surfacing ideas for improvement. PIMS facilitates an excellent benchmarking process and builds cost consciousness.

Global Manufacturing Excellence Manager, Independend Lubricant Manufacturer, Germany

PIMS is a critical enabler to highlighting areas of competitive advantage by site and operating area, making transparent our real performance against internal and external comparators.

Operational Excellence Lead, Global Major, USA

PIMS helps to bring about change by providing a common language between operating units, showing priority areas of focus, setting targets and surfacing ideas for improvement. PIMS facilitates an excellent benchmarking process and builds cost consciousness.

Global Manufacturing Excellence Manager, Global major, USA

Our repeated participation in the PIMS benchmarking study has been one of the most successful decisions we have taken.

Plant Manager, Independent Lubricant Manufacturer, Iberia

Our participation in the PIMS Benchmarking study has literally forced us to measure business areas that were previously overlooked, and has given a clear indication of the strengths and vulnerabilities in our operations. The study has provided our personnel with a deeper and stronger knowledge of their respective operations and made them more accountable over their own results.

Plant Manager, Independent Lubricant Manufacturer, South America

For the first time we have a clear picture of where our competitive position is on costs. This will lead to actions to improve our position.

Plant Manager, Independent Lubricant Manufacturer, Germany