HOMEPAGE NEWS INSPIRING STORIES
18 Mar 19

Interview with Mr. Gianfranco Minutolo, founder of Corporate Consulting srl, a partner company in the generation of profit margins via company operating cost efficiency.

What does ‘healthy EBITDA bringer’ mean?

Corporate Consulting’s business model is based on forming an actual partnership with the Client. We identify and achieve on average 16% effective, long-lasting savings on operating costs, and our recompense is financed by the savings that we ourselves generate. It’s a ‘success fee’ model that has a positive impact on the company’s EBITDA: no savings - no cost for the client. We focus on cost management with a very sophisticated level of detail, through the know-how of our experts and by being present in the company until the proposed savings come to fruition. This way we can create measurable added value over time, by becoming operational partners who are directly involved in the cost management project and not just consultants with a guaranteed fee.

What are the main drivers of operational efficiency that you work with?

30, 60 and 70 are three important numbers for us. We focus on making the most of the value creation levers related to operational costs, ensuring the quality remains the same and improving it, where possible. We deal with around 30 categories of operating expenses, representing 60% of the total business costs, including logistics, packaging, car fleet, energy and cleaning costs, to name just a few. In 70% of cases we keep the pre-existing suppliers, which minimises process changes within the company. Our strategy is to improve contractual conditions, technical specifications and purchasing conditions that are not individually negotiable, and eliminate waste. We identify the best supplier for the client’s actual needs.

This way, they are guaranteed to keep the quality of their products and services the same, but have the advantage of two years’ support from a materially motivated partner who guarantees the projected savings.

How do companies benefit most from your support (business changes, restructuring, growth etc.)? What types of resistance and difficulties do you most often come up against?

Sound cost management is essential at every stage of the company’s life; not only when restructuring, but also (and above all) when the business is growing and needs to focus on new strategies. Through efficient cost management we help companies to acquire resources that can be redirected towards more strategic opportunities. All our clients are well-structured and competent, but they are also aware that they do not have the necessary technical skills internally to analyse all the cost categories.

Sometimes we encounter some initial resistance when the departments we work with have long experience in the company. Fortunately, many purchasing directors realise they need expert consultants to support them in the complex, continuous business efficiency project, to identify the cost drivers, i.e. the parameters of quality control and timing and the processes and actions to be taken for improvement. In cost management projects, Corporate Consulting assumes an important role as a partner to help raise the profile of the purchasing director as an important generator of efficiency and business margins, and no longer just a cost manager.

How do you contribute to training in organisations?

In-company training must be timely and constant. Lifelong learning is continuous and inescapable. Purchasing offices manage over 30 cost categories and therefore live in a complex and constantly changing technological environment. In the cost management project, training is an integral part of our consulting activity, and our professionals work alongside company teams to transfer skills to them. The collaboration is carried out taking the company personnel involved fully into account on the basis of ’scheduled invasiveness‘, minimising the internal effort and focusing on the transfer of know-how.

What support do you offer companies that take the export and internationalisation path?

An important challenge for Italian companies is competitiveness in an increasingly integrated and global world. Being able to obtain maximum efficiency from operating costs is a critical driver for Italian companies, which are often disadvantaged by higher cost levels compared to competitors from other countries. We are used to working with international suppliers and multinational customers with centralised purchase control, but still able to achieve considerable savings.

In conclusion, what is the distinctive feature of Corporate Consulting for the Elite project?

Elite companies are all distinguished by great dynamism and a desire to improve, and they find in Corporate Consulting an ideal operating partner that proposes and develops solutions, supporting the company over a two-year period, and guaranteeing that the promised savings come to fruition. This is backed up with 250 successful projects over the last 20 years, in all production sectors. We also complement the work of other Elite partners, working alongside banks and finance companies in constantly improving company EBITDA.

In the image above:

Gianfranco Minutolo Founder &  Consultant

Dr Walter Bellantonio, President and Managing Director

Prof. Giuseppe Stabilini, Consultant

D.ssa Alida Carcano, Consultant

Dr. Andrea Costantini, Consultant

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