Valent Group Inc.

Essential Strategies for High-Variety Manufacturing

Value Chains

I am pleased to announce the launch of AlignExcel™, a new program directed at high-variety and high-tech manufacturers.  The program, a joint venture between Valent Group and Stonegate Growth Strategies, is focused on showing companies where their greatest internal capabilities exist in order to prevent unnecessary costs and increase profitability without increasing prices. 

AlignExcel™ prepares management to resolve conflicts and break down barriers within their own value chains.

“Best-in-Class Strategies are focusing on business alignment. This pertains to the ability to tie operational activity and performance to the successful attainment of corporate goals. This single strategy is more than twice as likely than any other to be at the topmost of executives minds as they address their operational performance initiatives.”

 - Aberdeen Group, August 2008

Results from the program include:

· More accurate estimates

· Less guesswork around material specifications

· Far fewer cost overruns

· Shortened fulfillment times

Special Launch Offer:  We are offering the 90-minute Executive Briefing, the first step of the program, at no charge for a limited period of time.

Information about AlignExcel is available at www.AlignExcel.com.  You may also contact services@valent-group.com.

October 2008

High-Variety Manufacturing Professional Community — Resource Library

A resource library for high-variety manufacturers is now available on the High-Variety Manufacturing Professional Community.  The library, located in the “Notes” section, contains links to resource sites, citations for key reference materials, links to white papers, links to resource sites.  Examples include the JSLEAN Resource Center for Job Shops,  white papers from Cincom Systems and Exact Software, and SuperFactory. 

Membership in the Community is free and open to all.  To become a member, sign-up at http://highvarietymfg.ning.com.  A LinkedIn Group is also available at http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/51133. 

Questions or comment?  Email us at:  services@valent-group.com

Copyright © 2008, Valent Group Inc.  All rights reserved.

Valent Group, www.valent-group.com, a management consulting firm with an international clientele, works with high-variety manufacturers to maximize the competitive advantage and profitability available in the operations value chain.  To address the complexity of the high-variety manufacturing value chain, which mirrors the variety and variability of the products, Valent Group uses a structured approach to develop the essential strategies and tactics. 

Unleashing Competitive Advantage