Mackay Sposito

A Program of Continuous Improvement for a New ERP

Mackay Sposito provides planning and development services to the Energy, Public Works and Land Development markets. While the company collaborates seamlessly with clients, inefficiencies in its operations were growing as the firm increased in size and scale. Leadership determined it was time to move to a new ERP platform, but a successful technology transition and positive ROI required a deeper understanding of the organization’s core processes.

A System Scan
Mackay Sposito engaged Coraggio to guide the organization through its ERP preparation because of our extensive knowledge of lean techniques and our ability to meet the company’s aggressive timeline. The organization values honesty, dedication and relationships, and wanted to do right by its partners and employees by providing them with the best tools and resources available. To empower Mackay Sposito in this mission, we needed to accomplish several goals:

• Defining and documenting Mackay Sposito’s core processes
• Identifying process risks, process controls and opportunities for improvement
• Mapping the organization’s future state
• Instilling a culture of continuous improvement and lean strategy within the firm

From start to finish, we had a short eight weeks to complete these tasks.

Troubleshooting
Coraggio launched the project by conducting a meeting with Mackay Sposito employees from across the organization, allowing departments to interact and gain a more complete view of the company. The session served to educate employees on the lean philosophy that would prove vital to the success of our engagement.

We worked with cross-organizational teams to identify eight core processes within the organization. The evaluation brought to light inefficiencies ranging from redundant reports to slow approval processes. We recommended key tools and lean techniques to address these areas of concern and introduced a common language to produce a value stream map. With our prompting, the teams mapped current and future-state core processes and discussed options for continuous improvement activities.

Taking Ownership
By the end of the engagement, Mackay Sposito had identified its core business processes and had clear plans in place to manage each one.

The engagement unearthed a long list of opportunities, many of which could be owned by the process improvement teams. The management team decided to delay deployment of the new ERP system and take a slower, more intentional approach to system implementation. The deliberate pace allowed Mackay Sposito to address the identified process opportunities, which enhanced the technology’s ROI.

Though our support was instructional, we were careful to ensure that the Mackay Sposito team had a clear understanding and ownership of their processes. This high level of employee engagement translated into an approach that best fit the company’s culture and facilitated a clear, more successful drive toward the continuous improvement mindset and culture for the firm.

“ Coraggio introduced MacKay Sposito to a continuous improvement process by utilizing their lean expertise...What we discovered in our process with Coraggio was that many of our improvement opportunities were not software solutions but rather organizational culture and readiness. Coraggio coached us on how to map out our improvements and teach our team to own these changes so they remained alive within our organization. The Coraggio team combined an empathetic yet candid approach to help us navigate an overwhelming process by taking it one step at a time. ”

— Lisa Schauer, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer