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Wave supports operational-excellence program at automobile manufacturer

10,000+

initiatives

200+

users

$3+

billion impact achieved

Challenge

Automobile manufacturer launched a company-wide operational-excellence program aimed at generating enough financial resources to sustain the next phase of investment for the future of the automotive industry—electric mobility.

The program looked at all functions’ profit-and-loss (P&L) items to identify short-term improvement and long-term transformation potential.

The McKinsey Wave team supported the central program-management office.

Approach

Prior to Wave, there was no general tracking tool in place to facilitate the management of a large transformation program (only a tool for technical material cost optimization).

Within Wave, the organization combined its major transformation program and yearly cost-optimization initiative with an overall target of $11.3+ billion in savings.

The board of directors realized that to achieve its goals it needed a tool that provided transparency to reflect the progress of each work stream while not being overly complex.

Wave gave the organization, a single platform, configured to consolidate its diverse set of initiatives across seven work streams, 27 sub–work streams, and all relevant P&L items:

  • Top-line initiatives in new markets
  • Material cost-optimization initiatives
  • R&D spending-optimization initiatives
  • Selling, general, and administrative optimization program initiatives

Results

To date, $3.0+ billion of impact has been achieved, forecasting $14.7+ billion to be achieved in 5 years.

3,600+ initiatives have reached L4 (realized).

Learn more about how Wave can help your organization.