Project Context and Environment
In a fast-paced, high-volume sales environment dependent on imported items and raw materials with fluctuating market prices, our organization relied on an outdated Excel macro connected to a database to generate item data for sales quotes. This tool was meant to collect information on stock availability, item cost, and pricing. However, the macro was prone to frequent breakdowns due to high demand and constant price changes, leading to critical issues including:
Misaligned or missing data
Process delays and quote errors
Interdepartmental friction
Repetitive manual work
Customer dissatisfaction due to late or incorrect quotes
These problems frequently resulted in lost sales opportunities, reduced profit margins, and strained relationships between sales and purchasing teams.
My Role as the Scrum Master and Team Leader
As the Project Lead for Process Improvement and Data Analytics, I took ownership of:
Diagnosing and resolving the bottlenecks and process inconsistencies across both departments.
Standardizing operations to ensure accuracy, efficiency, and data reliability.
Designing and implementing a robust digital solution to replace manual processes.
Restoring team alignment and reducing rework, delays, and miscommunication.
Execution Strategy
To address the root causes and reengineer the Request for Quote (RFQ) process:
I led a full-process audit involving both sales and purchasing departments, uncovering:
Multiple informal approaches to the same task.
The SOP was outdated and did not reflect current needs.
Duplicated efforts and fragmented communication.
Facilitated workshops and conflict resolution sessions to build cross-functional consensus on goals, process pain points, and desired future state.
Used BPM software to map the current state and co-design an optimized end-to-end process.
Eliminated manual quoting steps by:
Developing functional requirements for a new quoting system integrated with the ERP.
Identifying and vetting software development partners.
Leading the implementation alongside the dev team and internal stakeholders.
Standardized the workflow, ensuring each quote was traceable, consistent, and based on real-time data for pricing, stock, and cost.
Results and Impact
Lead time reduced by 87%, accelerating the RFQ cycle from days to hours.
62% of non-value-added tasks eliminated, freeing team capacity for strategic work.
100% accuracy in item descriptions and pricing for finalized quotes.
Significant drop in quote errors, directly improving profit margins.
Enhanced interdepartmental collaboration, with clearly defined ownership and accountability.
Improved customer satisfaction due to faster, more reliable quote delivery.
Project Statement
As the leader of the Process Improvement and Data Analytics team, I spearheaded a transformative reengineering process initiative that resolved longstanding inefficiencies in the RFQ workflow between sales and purchasing. By eliminating 62% of non-value-added tasks and reducing lead times by 87%, we replaced a fragile Excel-based quoting process with a scalable, ERP-integrated software solution. The result was a more accurate, standardized, and collaborative system that improved profit margins and client satisfaction while aligning internal teams toward shared performance goals.