Operations

Transforming operations strategy into lasting success

Now, more than ever, businesses need radical Change that Matters. Companies that use operations to move fast and build new capabilities at scale will gain a competitive advantage. McKinsey’s Operations Practice sits at the intersection of strategy, technology, and transformation. We connect boardroom strategies to the frontline, infusing technology where and when it matters, and rapidly delivering lasting transformations enabled by capability building.

How we help clients

Capital Excellence
Helping organizations achieve higher and faster returns by deploying best-in-class thinking across the capital projects portfolio and project delivery value chain

Operations Transformation
Unlocking the full potential of operations

Service Operations
Transforming customer experience, and enterprise efficiency and effectiveness

Manufacturing & Supply Chain
Creating a lasting impact in global manufacturing and supply-chain operations

Product Development & Procurement
Product and service design and transformation to capture the full value in your portfolio

Featured Content

The Next Normal Demands Resilience

McKinsey recently partnered with CNBC and several business leaders to discuss how to build a business that’s ready for tomorrow.
Reimagining the way businesses operate
Article

Jump-starting resilient and reimagined operations
– COVID-19 has created an imperative for companies to reconfigure their operations, and an opportunity to transform them.
Blog Post

Katy George: How organizations can build a resilient business for the next normal
– We spoke to the co-leader of our global Operations Practice about what resilience means today and how organizations can protect themselves against risk.

Resilience & Reimagination
Maximizing resilience and reimagining operations in the next normal through productivity, flexibility, and speed.

Our Approach

We identify and capture growth opportunities for your organization by reallocating resources to free up capital for investment, finding new sources of competitive advantage, or fully optimizing your portfolio of products and services. Through the thoughtful application of new technologies and capabilities, we’ll help you build resilience and reimagine the operational value chain, defining an operating model that will sustain your organization.

Working on a global level, we apply an outstanding depth of expertise on an exceptional scale. Our experts draw upon knowledge, research, proprietary tools, and thought leadership across categories and industries.

Your business is our priority, no matter the challenge ahead. Our work anchors in your strategy, carefully understanding your organization and culture to deliver tangible results fast through practical, hands-on partnership. We focus on building your internal capabilities so that as well as unlocking new value today, you have the agility, processes, and skills you need to flourish in the future.

>900+

Operations partners worldwide

>7,500+

Operations consultants

14,000

operations projects in the last 5 years

Environmentally Sustainable Operations
Helping companies optimize operations for improved environmental sustainability

Resilience & Reimagination
Maximizing operational resilience through productivity, flexibility, and speed.

Featured Capabilities

McKinsey Capability Center
Our Experience and Capability Centers for advanced operations can help your company advance to the forefront of operational excellence.

Go & See
The McKinsey Go & See program creates opportunities for organizations considering a large-scale transformation program to learn from peers at other organizations who have undertaken a similar journey. These visits may focus on topics such as embarking on a new digital strategy, agile at scale, data and analytics, and reimagining customer journeys, among others.

Featured Insights

Article

Jump-starting resilient and reimagined operations
– COVID-19 has created an imperative for companies to reconfigure their operations, and an opportunity to transform them.
Article

Supply-chain recovery in coronavirus times—plan for now and the future
– Actions taken now to mitigate impacts on supply chains from coronavirus can also build resilience against future shocks.
Collection

Zero-based productivity
ZBP aligns resources where they will matter the most and creates a culture of cost management to sustain the change over time.
See all insights

Featured blog

Operations Blog

Short, sharp insights on all aspects of operations

Impact stories

A transformative experience for leading a transformation
– Giving senior leaders hands-on, digitally enhanced experience with lean management helps kick-start a transformation.

Working across functions, a company redesigns and improves a medical device
When colleagues from purchasing, marketing, engineering, and sales came together to see how their product stacked up against four... rivals, they were inspired to explore a number of innovations.

With design-to-value process, company innovates products, reduces costs
By redesigning a forklift truck, an equipment company reduces both manufacturing costs and the cost of operation, adding to customer... satisfaction.

Design-to-value exercise helps company innovate products, compete more effectively
An appliance company researched customer preferences related to household fans. They also conducted product teardowns of both... their own and competitors' products. Both exercises resulted in new fan designs that were less expensive and more appealing to customers.

By rethinking packaging, a company reduces production costs while enhancing brand
By analyzing the labeling, use of recycled materials and the shape of the bottle, a consumer goods company reduced the cost of... shampoo packaging while maintaining the brand image.

Our People

Katy George
Senior Partner, New Jersey
Leads client transformation and research around technology-enabled operations and manufacturing. Is a member of McKinsey’s Shareholders...
Axel Karlsson
Senior Partner, Stockholm
Leads the Operations Practice in Europe and is a co-convener of the practice globally, drawing on his expertise in technology,...
Karel Eloot
Senior Partner, Shanghai
Focuses on industrial Internet of Things and digital transformation in the industrial sectors, particularly for companies in China
Dieuwert Inia
Senior Partner, Amsterdam
Holds the role of Managing Partner for McKinsey in the Netherlands. He helps companies to define strategies, deliver digital and...
Philipp Radtke
Senior Partner, Munich
Advises automotive manufacturers and suppliers, construction equipment makers, and other industrial producers as they improve...
Anna Herlt
Partner, Munich
Advises companies as they seek to optimize the value of their research and development investments, particularly within the automotive...
Joseph Tesvic
Senior Partner, Sydney
Leads McKinsey’s Asia-Pacific Operations Practice, working across industries and helping clients achieve results through operational,...
Xavier Costantini
Senior Partner, Santiago
Helps companies in highly complex industries achieve successful operational transformation, instilling lean methodologies and...
Dr. Ruth Heuss
Senior Partner, Berlin
As global leader of McKinsey Sustainability, serves companies in the automotive and machinery industries on future mobility, decarbonization...
More people

Careers

Interested in a career in Operations?

A career within our Operations Practice offers the opportunity to work with the biggest companies in the world, on projects that transform their core business and build resilience for the future. We are continuously seeking the best talent at all levels and for all types of roles, and are particularly keen to talk to experienced professionals looking for their next challenge.
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Operations Excellence Program

To build the expertise of our own teams and to better support our clients, we established a competence center: the Operations Excellence Program (OEP), designed to build the expertise of new joiners and those in the early stages of their careers.
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#explore McKinsey Operations

The #explore program gives students and professionals across Europe unparalleled access to McKinsey's Operations Practice and the opportunity to build a network of other passionate future leaders in operations.
Learn more

About Us

Change that Matters

At McKinsey we’re driven to create Change that Matters. Learn what it means for you, and meet the people who create it.

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