Our client is a globally active medical technology company with multiple production sites and a central unit for plant and mechanical engineering. This organization develops production equipment for various business areas and is crucial for the industrialization of new products. With increasing pressure for innovation, rising costs, and growing digitalization, it became clear: the existing structure could no longer meet strategic requirements.
Historically Grown – Strategically Misaligned
Equipment development had grown organically over the years. Responsibilities had evolved along sites and individual solutions, not along clearly defined value streams or core competencies. This led to duplication of effort, heterogeneous standards, and opaque decision-making processes. Moreover, the organization’s role was not clearly positioned. Operationally, it acted as an internal supplier. Strategically, however, it was expected to set global standards and drive innovation. This contradiction resulted in inefficiencies and limited scalability.
The goal was therefore clear: to develop a future-proof operating model that creates end-to-end responsibility, bundles competencies, and positions the organization as a global innovation driver.
Structure Follows Value Creation
3DSE started with a clear strategic alignment. Together with the leadership team, the future role of equipment development within the global production network was defined. These guidelines formed the reference framework for all subsequent decisions.
In the next step, transparency was created: roles, processes, interfaces, and competencies were systematically analyzed. Only on this basis was the target organization developed – consistently along value streams and future core competencies, rather than along historical line structures.
The resulting operating model:
- clearly defined end-to-end responsibilities,
- bundled strategic competencies
- global and established transparent governance logic
Several organizational options were jointly evaluated and gradually condensed into a viable solution.
Implementation was prepared in parallel. New role profiles, transition phases, and communication formats were developed in such a way that the organization could not only be structurally changed but also effectively repositioned for action.
More Than a New Organizational Chart
With the new organizational setup, equipment development can now scale internationally, establish standards faster, and consistently drive digital initiatives. Duplication of effort is reduced, decision-making paths are clearer, and responsibilities are unambiguously assigned.
Above all, however, the unit’s role has changed: from a reactive internal service provider to a strategic partner actively shaping innovation and industrialization. A key success factor was the consistent involvement of executives in the central design workshops. This not only created professional clarity but also a viable leadership coalition with a common direction and aligned vision. This unified stance within the leadership team was crucial to effectively anchor the transformation and guide the organization through the change.
