Consulting Services

Low cost ways to add value and improve performance

TECHNOLOGY EVALUATION

How many engineers and scientists understand how to evaluate properly the value of technology?
How often does your company start a development process and then stop it because the sources of value or costs of development had not been fully explored?
How often do you let projects go on for too long because there was no formal review to say no, or because the quality of the review was inadequate?

There is nothing wrong with stopping projects. It is good to stop projects at key points if they will not generate the return needed but it is better to understand first the real sources of value either to avoid uneconomic projects getting off the ground or to ensure that projects are properly targeted in relation to the sources of value they aim to develop.

Hulatt Consulting can help your teams in the following key areas:

• provide input on team selection to ensure all relevant input,
• assist in establishing sources of value and ensuring thorough economic evaluation of the options including full cost to deliver,
• prepare a comprehensive business and technical statement of requirements against which the project would be judged,
• provide technical support and coaching to teams and help them achieve their goals,
• set up and run a peer review at key points to ensure critical input from outside parties.

TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

Is your development work focused on the real business needs and does it have fully integrated business support?
How do you make your teams think outside the box to deliver exceptional performance?
Do you prepare a Business Statement Of Requirements for all development projects at the very beginning?
Do your teams shy away from looking for the delivery of step out performance so that breaking the mould is impossible?
Do you often set targets which are not met because of inexperienced goal setting?

Hulatt Consulting can help your teams in the following key areas:

• put in place a step by step process to ensure timely review of projects.

Concept - what does this look like, what will it take, how much could we make out of this?
Feasibility - Demonstrate the key initial viability of the technical unknowns
Definition - Evaluate the process or product parameters for the full range of requirements,
Implement - launch the new product or process.

• ensure the key element of business integration needed for success,
• help the team prepare a Business and Technical Statement Of Requirements which ensure they are working on the right project elements with the right balance,
• can build a team which will embrace break through culture to deliver results outside the established norms.
• understand the barriers to success and establish what is needed to remove them.

CONCEPTUAL AND FEASIBILITY STUDIES IN TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT

Do you operate a step by step approach to technology development?
Do your conceptual studies cover a broad enough sweep of options to give successful technology development outcomes?
Are you effective in killing options at the Conceptual step so that focus can be given to developing further the options which will deliver the best business result?
Do development options chosen for the Feasibility step have a clear agreement of what level of development it would take to progress to the Definition step?
Do you apply this rigorously to manage cost growth?
Do your technology people have a rigorous approach to economic evaluation of outcomes to ensure that they understand fully sources of value and can target their developments to suit the business needs?
Do your teams always, without fail, produce a broad Business Statement Of Requirements for their technology projects?

Hulatt Consulting can;

• help your teams to understand and define clearly the objectives of the Conceptual and Feasibility steps of development projects, the resources (skills and money) and time needed to deliver,
• assist teams to shape what a successful project outcome would be, what it would take, how much could be made out of this?
• lead brainstorming to identify the broadest set of options at the Conceptual step,
• assist in team selection for Conceptual step development projects,
• work with the team to identify a broad Business Statement of Requirements even at this point,
• provide key input in translating laboratory work to manufacturing processes covering technical scale up and zero based flow sheet issues, operating cost, capital cost, and competitivity,
• help define the technical requirements for transfer from Technology Concept to Technology Feasibility and from to Technology Feasibility to Technology Definition or into a capital project if appropriate.

CAPITAL PROJECTS

How often do your capital projects fail to deliver what was needed or expected?
Do you have business managers saying "but that's not what we needed!"?
Especially in IT, do your IT staff really have the experience to deliver the projects you need or are they seduced by suppliers of technology into accepting fixed price quotes on poorly defined requirements?
Do you waste money on projects which spend too much before they are scrapped?
Do you have repeated poor outcomes because of inadequate definition?

       - Capital Project Conceptual Studies
The best project business outcome starts with a conceptual option study. This means a clear broadly written Business Statement Of Requirements and a comprehensive review of ways to achieve those requirements covering plant build, shared manufacturing, licensing and acquisition, etc. Having decided on a capital investment the conceptual study must then address all relevant factors such as location, technology selection, market analysis to name but a few.  Although a preliminary view of cost is important, this step involves no design work, only a review of the technical requirements. It does, however, need a preliminary study of all central and peripheral issues.

       - Capital Project Feasibility Studies
This phase is about doing enough design work to resolve the preferred project options but no more.  It is important for the whole team to understand the deliverables at this point.  This includes a more detailed assessment of the market as well as an improved evaluation and recommendation of final technical options before undertaking a full definition prior to sanction.

For IT projects many companies want to sell a solution to a problem based on a preliminary level of definition.  A more reliable outcome will be achieved by insisting on an improved level of definition from completing the next step before approving any projects.

       - Capital Project Definition
A comprehensive and appropriate level of definition and project planning is the key to successful project delivery. Different companies and contractors have different approaches but there are some key tenets with regard to definition and planning to be followed in order to minimise risk.

Hulatt Consulting can help improve the outcome of your capital projects by focusing on;

• the integration of business objectives into a clear Business Statement Of Requirements,
• the clear definition of the system to be used and clarity about what it takes to progress,
• the links to any unproven technology and the work needed to deliver developments into a capital project framework,
• appropriate coverage of non technical as well as technical issues at each step up to capital sanction,
• technology selection and licensing interfaces,
• team selection,
• contractor selection.

Hulatt Consulting can also provide an appropriate high level project system if you don't have one and can give the training and coaching your business and project teams need to give better project outcomes.

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

Technology transfer can cover licensing-in technology, licensing-out technology or no fee technology exchange.

       - Licensing-in.
Teams are much more used to specifying their requirements in a capital project than they are when either buying or exchanging technology.  Buying can be easy but it is not easy to ensure the best price with the necessary guarantees, or with the latest technology included.  There is always a need to have a multidisciplinary team with strong technical and commercial membership.

Hulatt Consulting can provide;

• general assistance in preparing for and participating in licensing negotiations focusing on price, technical content and deliverable content,
• specific technical support to polymer licensing (polyethylene - high density polyethylene, low density polyethylene, linear low density polyethylene -, polystyrene, expandable polystyrene) plus styrene and ethyl benzene.

    - Licensing-out.
Initially, licensing technology may seem like an easy option to generate cash but it can be time consuming, draw resources from core business activities and generate difficulties in technology protection and infringement.  Long term returns may be less than expected unless it is run so as to minimise costs of development, sales and ongoing support. Individual licence negotiations can be time consuming if you do not have the resources available.

Hulatt Consulting can assist;

• in setting up a licensing programme for the first time to maximise external involvement and minimise internal expenditure and exposure,
• avoiding committing significant internal resources,
• in providing additional resource to support your licensing team as needed for any licensing project.

    - Technology Exchange
Exchanging technology can be an extremely cost effective way of improving process or product know-how with minimum cost and time.  If you have competitors in a different geographic region who have technology in which you are interested, and if you have something equivalent to offer, a technology exchange can be an extremely profitable and simple way of improving the value of both businesses quickly and cheaply.  However, it does need good relationship management to be successful.

Hulatt Consulting can maximise benefit and minimise risk for you by:

• providing impartial management of such processes,
• ensuring good relationships are maintained on both sides,
• arbitrating as necessary to ensure openness,
• working to avoid inappropriate exchanges.

TECHNOLOGY FIREWALLS

The evaluation of technology in disputes for patent resolution, technology valuation or licensing enquiry can pose problems when exposure to the technology in question exposes a company unnecessarily or prematurely to a competitive technology.  For such occasions, external independent consultants can ask and can evaluate the answers to your questions without your company being exposed to the confidential information in question.

Hulatt Consulting, with wide global experience of technology evaluation and technology transfer, is ideally experienced to take on this role.

BENCHMARKING FOR PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT

Do you really understand the competitive position of either your processes, products or your capital investment projects? 
Do you see competitors delivering better return on sales and return on capital? 
Teams who have run out of ideas to improve all too often assume this is because they have achieved the best possible.  Even for top performers no one is ever the best at everything they do.  The leader can improve in many ways and it is crucial that he continues to understand his areas of weakness as the competition is always looking to catch up and surpass as quickly as possible.  The only viable way is to benchmark performance in as much detail as possible and to use this information to establish objectives for performance improvement teams.

Hulatt Consulting can;

• work on your behalf with benchmarking companies,
• provide independent analysis of the results,
• work with teams to establish performance improvement programmes, and
• help over the period of denial which always follows such exercises.

Hulatt Consulting can also;

• lead or participate in teams working on performance improvement of all chemical, polymer and extrusion plants,
• clarify the Statement of Requirements,
• ensure a structured program of assessment, evaluation and action.

TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY

Many companies employ clever people in their Research and Technology Development departments but they so often fail to deliver value for money. The most common problem is misdirection of activity in such a way that resources are not focused to meet the business requirements with incorrect allocation of resource between short and long term, strategic and service support, discovery and delivery.  A technology strategy clearly aligned with the business strategy and broken down into manageable prioritised projects is the key to successful delivery.

Hulatt Consulting can lead or support teams in the preparation of a technology strategy which:

• reflects an articulated business strategy,
• covers both short term and long term business issues,
• looks at competitive performance of processes and products,
• assesses existing, emerging and future technologies,
• reviews planning, benefit, resources (both in total and in specific skill sets available and needed) and cost,
• results in clearly structured and balanced technology goals.

POLYMER TECHNOLOGY

Are you looking at licensing technology for high density polyethylene (HDPE) (slurry or gas phase), low density / high pressure polyethylene (LDPE), linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), polystyrene (PS) or expandable polystyrene (EPS)? 
Do you have the expertise you need for the evaluation and negotiation of technology licences? 

Do you need an external look at your process development programmes to instill more challenge?

Are you currently achieving all you can from your chemical plants?

Hulatt Consulting can provide support to;

• the evaluation of polymer technologies,
• licensing negotiations to ensure pitfalls are covered by guarantees and risks understood as well as possible,
• process development to reduce cost and to increase capacity or flexibility.
• give a more challenging approach to target setting,
• the evaluation and implementation of benchmarking results from third parties.

DUE DILIGENCE

A critical element of successful due diligence processes is to have a multidisciplinary team with the right skills to make a comprehensive review of what is being acquired. 

If you are looking at acquiring chemical plant and especially polymer plants, Hulatt Consulting can support you in your activity. Extracting all the people you need to do a full due diligence process is difficult with the lean organisations of today.  Hulatt Consulting can help bridge that gap and contribute to the success of your team.

FACILITATED WORKSHOPS

Hulatt Consulting can organise and run for you workshops to help your teams achieve improved performance in their technology development or capital projects covering the following;

• peer reviews to bring together assorted parties, outside the immediate project team, to review and advise or assist the project team in how to deliver the objectives,
• cross party or single party team building sessions to identify barriers to delivery of projects and generate common programmes for the achievement of high performance,
• risk workshops to identify and evaluate risks to project delivery and put in place a clear action programme to manage them.