Release working capital

Working capital represents the dollars businesses invest to satisfy customer demand.  Working capital needs to flow to assure a healthy recurrence of profitable revenue. At Supurna we “map the flow of money” and provide steps to reduce inventory and release needed bottleneck capacity.

Problems solved:

Reduced capital expenditure
Fortune 500 Client

Business challenge:

A Fortune-500 client was looking for opportunities to reduce its forecasted capital expenditure ($’00’s millions) by increasing utilization (OEE) of existing equipment.

Methodology

  • An international team of consultants conducted a 3-week diagnostic to understand the dynamics of the plant, including process times, queue times, bottleneck identification, and material flow issues
  • Following the diagnostic – four key opportunities were identified, ranging from the management of bottlenecks to the creating of pull systems
  • The opportunities were phased with ‘Quick Wins.’ The solutions were realized in 3 months and are successfully sustained today
  • Supurna team members worked very closely with the client project team to co-develop and implement solutions

Benefits realized

  • Cycle time was reduced by 20% from an original baseline figure that was already at world-class levels.
  • Knowledge transfer to the client included:
    • An alternative view and analysis of their existing data
    • Knowledge and solutions in analyzing and controlling WIP levels and cycle time variation

Freeing working capital from a claims process
A regional critical care access hospital

Business challenge:

How can a community hospital increase cash velocity and cut costs by diagnosing the revenue recognition process from service completion to issuing of a claim?

Methodology:

  • Working with hospital leaders, Supurna targeted the Discharge Not Final Billed (DNFB) process – days from service completion in the emergency room to the moment a claim was issued
  • Supurna mapped the process zone by zone, analyzing data on the flow, capacity, and dollars in the process. Speed, predictability, flexibility, and opportunities for leverage of people and capital in the process were all measured
  • Improvements were identified that would increase cash velocity and improve labor costs. A pilot plan for implementation was defined
  • Supurna facilitated a findings and action planning discussion with hospital leadership from both financial and clinical areas

Benefits realized:

  • Clinical and finance process actions were brought into alignment
  • By identifying actions that could  reduce handling and increase consistency and speed of claims, nearly 70% of the working capital in this DNFB process could be freed for other use