Bringing Discipline to Marketing Activities An Engine Business Unit Case Study

Bringing Discipline to Marketing Activities

An Engine Business Unit Case Study

Tracy KiserCummins Inc.September 2004

Copyright Cummins Inc. 2004

Cummins – Who We Are

Fortune 500 company Design, manufacture, distribute and service

engines and related technologies Sales of $6.3 billion in 2003 More than 24,000 employees worldwide Headquartered in Columbus, Indiana


Strong Global Position SupplyChain Operations ServiceDistribution

131 Countries

500 Distributor Locations

5,000 Independent Dealers

5,847 Service Locations

Operations

Components

Technical Centers

Regional Parts Distribution

Sales and Service

International Distributors


Four Complementary Business Units

Engine PowerGeneration

Filtration& Other

InternationalDistributor


Engine Business Case Study Opportunity - spend less time and less

money creating effective brochures, newsletters, and other marketing materials

Solution – use Six Sigma approach to process improvement

Six Sigma team included Cummins marketing process owners and representative from creative agency


Identifying Critical Process Inputs - DMAIC

Critical Input Variables

59 Inputs

4

2

2

Found Critical X’s

Controlling Critical X’s

8

All X’s

1st “Hit List”

Screened List

MEASURE

ANALYZE

IMPROVE

CONTROL

• Process Maps

• Failure Modes and Effects Analysis

• Multi-Vari Studies

• Design of Experiments (DOE)

• Control Plans

• C&E Matrix


Project Timeline

Define Measure Analyze Improve Control

MSA

C&E Matrix

Project Charter

Process Maps

Failure Modes & Effects Analysis

Multi-Vari (regression; main effects plot)

Decision to Implement Software

Interim Improvements (pre-software)

Revised FMEA

Software Configuration

Software Training / Rollout

Control Charts

Management Reports

Recognition of Best Practices

12-02 to 1-03 2-03 to 4-03 5-03 7-03 8-03 to Present


Measure Phase

Collected baseline data on project throughput (workdays), copy revisions, and layout revisions

Process Maps, Cause & Effect Matrix, and Failure Modes and Effects Analysis revealed key issues– Incomplete, premature communication of project

needs and objectives to creative agencies– Inconsistent, undisciplined content review

processes


Two-Step Cause and Effect Matrix

Step 1: Calculated C&E matrix score for each process step Step 2: For key process steps, assessed impact of each process input on

primary customer requirements– Quality,– Cost, and– Throughput


Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) Analyzed key process inputs identified in C&E matrix to determine:

– Potential failure mode– Potential failure effects– Potential causes, and– Current controls

Process input risk priority numbers (RPNs) calculated based on– Severity of failure mode effect,– Likelihood of failure mode occurring, and

– Current ability to detect the failure mode


Analyze Phase Copy revisions and layout revisions identified as significant contributors to project

throughput Main effects plot shows relationship between revisions and throughput

C+L GT4C & L GT2Layout Rev GCopy Rev GT

82

72

62

52

42

Elaps

ed

Work

Main Effects Plot - Data Means for Elapsed Work

Copy Revs > 2 Layout Revs > 2 Copy & Layt Revs > 2 Copy + Layt Revs > 4


Improve Phase Identified improvements fall into 2 areas:

– Improve initial communication of project objectives to vendor

– Increase the level of discipline and measurement throughout the process


Improve Phase Potential improvement tools:

– Word form to capture initial input– Lotus Notes database– MRM tool

Selection criteria:– Cost– Reporting and analysis capabilities– Ease of use; breadth of access


Improve Phase

Decision to implement web-based software system– Accessible to Cummins employees, distributors, and vendors– Reduce dependency on face-to-face meetings– Proposal templates and reviews

• Enable Cummins to “do its homework” before engaging creative vendors in billable work

– Disciplined online content reviews• Engage the right people at the right time• Change control capabilities

– Report and analyze results for continuous improvement Additional software benefits

– Better management of digital assets (product photos, logos, etc.)

– Comprehensive marketing calendar


Proposal Developed

Proposal

Concept Review

Proposal

Investment

Review

Calendar Updated; Tasks

Assigned

Add to Digita

l

Asset Library

Creative

Reviews of

Copy / Layout

Controlled Process

Production / Direct Marketing


Controlled Process

Proposal Developed

Proposal

Concept Review

Proposal

Investment

Review


Proposal (Creative Brief)

Project team (vendors, reviewers, project manager)

Key messages and objectives

Cost estimates High-level

project schedule

Details (format, quantity, reference materials)


Key Proposal Benefits

Cummins “does its homework” before engaging vendors

Reviews involve the right people at the right time Budget management (more complete and accurate

invoice estimates; accruals) Alignment of vendor output with project needs Ability to measure marketing resource allocation per

product, market, strategy Reusable best practice templates for each activity

type


Proposal Developed

Proposal

Concept Review

Proposal

Investment

Review


Assigned

Controlled Process


Key Task Management Benefits Best practice project schedules

– Estimated task durations– Task predecessor relationships– Description of task assignee– Project milestones

Multiple viewing formats: list view, calendar view, or Gantt chart view

Task notifications and reminders via email Task reporting capability


Task Calendar View


Proposal Developed

Proposal

Concept Review

Proposal

Investment

Review


Assigned

Creative

Reviews of

Copy / Layout

Controlled Process


Creative Review - Copy


Creative Review - Layout


Key Creative ReviewBenefits

More disciplined process reduces number of costly revisions

Reviews involve the right people at the right time Consistent, auditable process for communicating

change requests to vendors– Reviewers use Microsoft Word and Adobe

Acrobat markup tools to communicate feedback Opportunity to improve vendor confirmation of

changes


Proposal Developed

Proposal

Concept Review

Proposal

Investment

Review


Assigned

Add to Digita

l

Asset Library

Creative

Reviews of

Copy / Layout

Controlled Process

Production / Direct Marketing


Control Plan Results

Throughput: average work days between proposal review and production-ready art– Six Sigma target: 36% reduction vs. 2002-2003

baseline data– Q1 & Q2 2004 results: 61% reduction vs. 2002-2003

baseline data Revisions: average copy / layout revisions per project

– Six Sigma target: 62% reduction vs. 2002-2003 baseline data

– Q1 & Q2 2004 results: 78% reduction vs. 2002-2003 baseline data

Software usage to date: 92% of projects have a proposal


Sample Control Plan Report Shows project-level throughput and revision data

compared to Six Sigma targets


Successfully Controlling Change

Obtain support from and communicate expectations of senior management

Ongoing, visible measurement (control plan) Recognize participation in new processes and

usage of new tools Provide sufficient user training and ongoing

user support, all delivered by Cummins employees

Bringing Discipline to Marketing Activities

An Engine Business Unit Case Study

Tracy KiserCummins Inc.September 2004

Bringing Discipline to Marketing Activities An Engine Business Unit Case Study

Documents

process improvement

key process inputs

key process steps

process step step

layout revisions process

project timeline

project throughput workdays

project needs ability