A while ago, we had the opportunity to welcome Bart Tourné – a finance interim manager with more than 18 years of experience in Controlling and Finance management – for an introductory training in Industrial Controlling.
He shared 4 key priorities for a successful career in Industrial Controlling:
1. have your feet on the floor
This is where the magic happens and absolute priority n° 1. As an Industrial Controller it is key to go at least once a week on the shop floor. It is the best way to make the link between your numbers and what is happening in reality.
2. define the standard cost price
The standard cost price is essential to build the industrial P&L so one of the responsibilities of an Industrial Controller is to define it.
First you will need variable costs which consists of material & labour costs. Material Costs are defined by the price per material and the Bill of Material, including loss percentages and this for the different steps in the production process. Direct Labour Costs are mainly defined by the speed of the line, the number of people on the line, the efficiency of the production line and the set-up time between change-overs.
Next you will also need the fixed costs (=production overhead).
3. measure the (in)efficiency of a production facility
Once the standard price defined we are able to measure the (in)efficiencies of the production facility by calculating the variances versus the standard cost price.
On materials we have: Volume, Mix, BOM change, Yield and Price variances and on direct labour we have Volume, Mix, Productivity and Hourly Rate variances
4. be a business partner for production
When working in a production company, it’s all about the people. Pay attention to speak production language with financial knowledge. Don't speak finance language with production knowledge.
About Bart
Bart started his career 18 years ago at JDE PEET’s where he had the opportunity to grow from production controller in the factory to financial manager in the B2B sales unit. In this position, Bart had the opportunity to handle different functions on an interim basis such as Operations Manager and General Manager. In 2019, he made the decision to officially become a freelancer and is now available for different assignments in controlling and financial management. As of this year, Bart can also be consulted for training sessions about these topics.
