Management consultants...

[EnderJE]

...I find them absolutely amazing. FUCKING AMAZING. From what I've seen, I consider them a triumph of style over substance.

I spent the better part of the week in a variety of meetings with a few of them. I couldn't help but think to myself that they're just peddling common sense and was just AMAZED on how my management staff just ate it up.

At it's heart, self improvement is define current metrics, measure current state, make plans to improve, execute plans, and measure again.

That one line took two days to drill into some members of the management team.

I'm clearly in the wrong business. Or I need WIFI so I can start surfing EF from my PDA while in these meetings.

 

[Lestat]

management consulting is a great racket!

 

[pintoca]

been there done that, 2 years with Ernst Young

I was sold as an "Strategic System Planner" even though I was fresh out of college and only did a 2 weeks training on the topic... right off the bat I was the Project Manager of that one... never have I pulled so much shit off my ass

 

[Longhorn85]

Nice to hear you can succeed in that field with little experience. That could be my post-military future.

 

[Lestat]

Project Management pays big bucks and ultimately its skills that a lot of people have, they just have to harness. People skills, follow through, attention to detail, etc. There is usually a lot of room for error on any given project and plenty of people to take the fall if it fails.

 

[javaguru]

In my last position, one of my roles was that of "process consultant", it's amazing how "common sense" impresses management.

 

[Longhorn85]

I think I'm going to enjoy civilian life as a change of pace.

One of my friends retired from the Army after 20 years and now works as an exec for Target. When I asked him what he does he started talking to me about "360 degree feedback" and that he "develops leaders in an environment rich with feedback". I am still not sure what he does, but it pays good and he likes it.

 

[sawastea]

Currently doing that with another Big 4 accounting firm.

 

[javaguru]

I think I'm going to enjoy civilian life as a change of pace.

One of my friends retired from the Army after 20 years and now works as an exec for Target. When I asked him what he does he started talking to me about "360 degree feedback" and that he "develops leaders in an environment rich with feedback". I am still not sure what he does, but it pays good and he likes it.

I think management in most big corporations spend most of their day in meetings and thinking up catch phrases that justify their existance.

 

[harmonica]

Meetings are cool lol. Pick and choose yer moments of impressment and try to shut up most of the time. Consultants = glorified sales job most of the time although a good one can really be helpful. Pay is good though.

 

[javaguru]

Meetings are cool lol. Pick and choose yer moments of impressment and try to shut up most of the time. Consultants = glorified sales job most of the time although a good one can really be helpful. Pay is good though.

I hate meetings, I was always a "working manager" which meant I couldn't do my job while I was in a meeting. My primary project management tool was an Excel spreadsheet containing the status of all issues, which I could e-mail to anyone who was interested.

As far as consulting, we had a fortune 1000 client who had a manufacturing facility "lose" half a million dollars in a quarter. It turns out they were letting a supplier use their facility as a warehouse and they hadn't exercised inventory control (they were leaving it up to line managers). I gave them three options, stop doing it and have receiving enter shipments into the ERP like any other supplier, control access and assign an employee to enter each transfer to the production line or we could develop a solution for the people assigned to transfer parts to the line. We utilized a wireless barcode reader solution with a customized application that was quick and cheap .The hardware with backups cost less than $2,000.00 and we charged $5,000.00 for the software. I was actually surprised nobody had considered the problems of inventory control when they agreed to warehouse parts.

 

[Dial_tone]

I think I'm going to enjoy civilian life as a change of pace.

One of my friends retired from the Army after 20 years and now works as an exec for Target. When I asked him what he does he started talking to me about "360 degree feedback" and that he "develops leaders in an environment rich with feedback". I am still not sure what he does, but it pays good and he likes it.

I hate when people talk like that. Speak English for chrissakes.

 

[chewyxrage]

Management major here. My classes are stupid. Buzz words anyone?

 

[EnderJE]

I was actually surprised nobody had considered the problems of inventory control when they agreed to warehouse parts.

Yep, I've seen that before. I'm also a big fan of RFID and voice directed picking; but people around here like paper.

 

[-SD-]

http://www.huhcorp.com/
All you need to know about the consulting bullshit.

 

[javaguru]

Yep, I've seen that before. I'm also a big fan of RFID and voice directed picking; but people around here like paper.

Luckily, 90% of our clients were in the auto industry and they're very progressive when it comes to accepting technology. However, they're still tier two and three suppliers, so they're cheap as hell. The first people the big three squeeze when times get tough are the suppliers because they know they need the contracts to stay in business.

 

[Scotsman]

Watch Office Space and management consultants are covered.

Cheers,
Scotsman

 

[EnderJE]

Luckily, 90% of our clients were in the auto industry and they're very progressive when it comes to accepting technology. However, they're still tier two and three suppliers, so they're cheap as hell. The first people the big three squeeze when times get tough are the suppliers because they know they need the contracts to stay in business.

I've worked in that industry before and I'm amazing on how they accept tech vs others.

 

[javaguru]

I've worked in that industry before and I'm amazing on how they accept tech vs others.

We did an implementation for an MRI manufacturer and they were resistant to many of our suggestions when it came to automation of processes. Maybe it stems from a corporate culture that implemented the assembly line or the fact they deal with unions and need to squeeze out every dime since they have wage inflated workers?