ROI Management Consulting, a German consulting firm with five offices in Europe, has merged into Efeso Consulting. The joining of forces adds 120 consultants and staff to Efeso Consulting, taking the total headcount of the private equity back group to over 500 across 30 locations globally.
Founded in 1999 in Munich, ROI Management Consulting specialises in operations consultancy, supporting its clients with topics such as lean manufacturing, R&D optimisation, supply chain and manufacturing excellence and Industry 4.0. Since its inception, the consultancy has completed more than 3,000 projects in the space. Outside of Europe, ROI also has an office in China, which was established seven years ago.
“ROI is one of the most renowned operational excellence consultancies in Europe,” said Luca Lecchi, the Italian co-CEO of Efeso Consulting. “They add extensive expertise manufacturing and Industry 4.0 to our footprint.”
Clients of ROI Management Consulting are mainly corporations and mid-sized companies in the industrial domain. For an automotive group, the firm helped implement a new system that enables manufacturing plans to connect through a standardised, comparable data model. Leveraging Internet of Things (IoT) technology, plants are now able to make better manufacturing decisions, including those that require alignment across sites. Meanwhile, the group can more effectively roll-out performance improvement initiatives across its manufacturing hubs.
For a supplier to the automotive industry, ROI Management Consulting designed a manufacturing process to support a new offering aimed at electric vehicles. With the help of the consulting firm, which spanned operations, delivery and change management, the client managed to successfully expand its core competency to include a line for the fast growing electric vehicles segment.
In addition, clients in among others the aerospace, chemicals, machinery, high tech and pharmaceuticals sectors are advised on topics such as predictive maintenance, digital twinning of supply chain/IT infrastructures to optimise strategic planning, smart factory implementation and the deployment of robotisation. Technology is often at the heart of ROI’s solutions, as highlighted by Lecchi – “ROI will contribute a strong technological expertise.”
A leader in its space
While less well-known outside of Germany, in its home-country and the wider German-speaking region of Austria and Switzerland, ROI Management Consulting is a leading firm in its segment. In a 2018 study conducted by German business magazine Capital, in collaboration with WGMB (known as ‘Hidden Champions of the consulting market’), the Munich-headquartered consultancy ranked first for “Engineering & Production” services, ahead of the likes of international giants such as McKinsey, BCG or Deloitte, but also local players such as Q_Perior or Porsche Consulting. The firm’s list of industry recognitions also spans being named a top consulting firm in Germany by brand eins and WirtschaftsWoche, two of the country’s most read business magazines.
Not surprising therefore is that Bruno Machiels, a Belgian who serves as the other co-CEO of Efeso Consulting (the firm was established following the merger between France’s Solving and Italy’s Efeso), is delighted with the joining of forces. He further pointed at the two firm’s “shared values and shared vision for the future.”
For ROI Management Consulting, this vision was clear, explained Hans-Georg Scheibe, a Managing Partner at ROI. “The questions of our customers around operational excellence have become more and more complex over the years. In order to continue to serve them and solve their problems, we felt the need for a more global expertise and overall industry approach. Joining Efeso Consulting will bring all of that.” Fellow Managing Partner Michael Jung added: “By working together with Efeso Consulting we will be able to develop a real international network for our clients and increase our power in operational excellence and Industry 4.0.”
“The association with Efeso opens a new chapter in the history of ROI and an exciting long-term perspective for customers, employees and shareholders of both companies.”
– Hans-Georg Scheibe, CEO of ROI Management Consulting
As part of the deal, Scheibe and Jung have become members of the Executive Committee of Efeso Consulting. All of the firm’s roughly 120 employees across offices in Munich, Stuttgart, Vienna, Zurich, Prague and Beijing will transition to the French-Italian consulting firm. The ROI Management Consulting brand will be retained.
Efeso’s growth ambition
At Efeso’s side of the table, alongside deeper capabilities, scale and a larger international footprint were an important deal driver. “This marks an important step in the international expansion strategy of the group,” said Lecchi. “It significantly boosts our presence in the important DACH region (an industry valued at over €40 billion, with Germany alone at €34 billion) and expands our presence in Eastern Europe and China.”
The acquisition comes on the back of six previous acquisitions in the past six years, deals which allowed the group to solidify its market presence in Italy, the Netherlands, Egypt, India, Belgium, Ireland and the UK (where supply chain consultancy Hughenden was bolted-on). In the long run, Efeso Consulting aims to become a leading operations consulting player at a truly global level. The firm is backed by French private equity firm Eurazeo, which bought a majority stake in the consultancy at the start of this year from counterpart Argos Wityu.
Sourced from Consultancy.eu