--- title: Case Study SCMaaS description: How a multinational company closed its China office eliminating annual overhead and reducing an overstaffed team by 40% without disrupting operations. --- [![The ABC Group — Asian Business Consultants](https://theabcgroupem.com/hubfs/abc-logo-light-bg.svg)](https://theabcgroupem.com/?hsLang=en) - [The Third Path](https://theabcgroupem.com/the-third-path?hsLang=en) - Solutions · - [For Private Equity](https://theabcgroupem.com/for-private-equity?hsLang=en) - [For Large Enterprises](https://theabcgroupem.com/for-large-enterprises?hsLang=en) - [Diversification](https://theabcgroupem.com/diversification?hsLang=en) - [Foreign Office Transition](https://theabcgroupem.com/foreign-office-transition?hsLang=en) - [Capabilities](https://theabcgroupem.com/capabilities?hsLang=en) - Markets · - [Markets Overview](https://theabcgroupem.com/markets?hsLang=en) - [China](https://theabcgroupem.com/markets/china?hsLang=en) - [India](https://theabcgroupem.com/markets/india?hsLang=en) - [Vietnam](https://theabcgroupem.com/markets/emerging?hsLang=en) - [Thailand](https://theabcgroupem.com/markets/emerging?hsLang=en) - [Cambodia](https://theabcgroupem.com/markets/emerging?hsLang=en) - [Malaysia](https://theabcgroupem.com/markets/emerging?hsLang=en) - [Insights](https://theabcgroupem.com/insights?hsLang=en) [Let's Talk](https://theabcgroupem.com/contact?hsLang=en) - [The Third Path](https://theabcgroupem.com/the-third-path?hsLang=en) - Solutions ▾ - [For Private Equity](https://theabcgroupem.com/for-private-equity?hsLang=en) - [For Large Enterprises](https://theabcgroupem.com/for-large-enterprises?hsLang=en) - [Diversification](https://theabcgroupem.com/diversification?hsLang=en) - [Foreign Office Transition](https://theabcgroupem.com/foreign-office-transition?hsLang=en) - [Capabilities](https://theabcgroupem.com/capabilities?hsLang=en) - Markets ▾ - [Markets Overview](https://theabcgroupem.com/markets?hsLang=en) - [China](https://theabcgroupem.com/markets/china?hsLang=en) - [India](https://theabcgroupem.com/markets/india?hsLang=en) - [Vietnam](https://theabcgroupem.com/markets/emerging?hsLang=en) - [Thailand](https://theabcgroupem.com/markets/emerging?hsLang=en) - [Cambodia](https://theabcgroupem.com/markets/emerging?hsLang=en) - [Malaysia](https://theabcgroupem.com/markets/emerging?hsLang=en) - [Insights](https://theabcgroupem.com/insights?hsLang=en) - [Let's Talk](https://theabcgroupem.com/contact?hsLang=en) [Insights](https://theabcgroupem.com/insights?hsLang=en)›[Case Studies](https://theabcgroupem.com/insights/case-studies?hsLang=en)›Cost Reduction with SCMaaS Case Study · Cost Reduction with SCMaaS # From a 25-Person Foreign Office to *Asset-Light SCMaaS* How a multinational consumer goods company closed its China foreign office in six months — eliminating $250K in annual overhead, reducing an overstaffed team by 40%, and maintaining continuous operations across 75 suppliers throughout the transition. Industry Consumer Goods Client Size 5,000+ employees Region Mainland China Supplier Base ~75 suppliers Engagement 6-month transition $250K Annual foreign office overhead eliminated 40% Staff reduction without Level-of-Service impact 4 mo. Time to positive ROI on the transition 0 Client operations disrupted during transition THE CHALLENGE ## A mature supply chain. A foreign office that *wouldn't scale down.* A multinational consumer goods company sought to close a foreign office in Mainland China — both to minimize single-country risk and to redirect resources toward new emerging markets including India — while retaining key operational capabilities in the region. The office housed **25 legacy staff members** overseeing a supply chain of nearly **75 suppliers** across multiple commodities, with some supplier relationships extending back over two decades. Despite a tenured staff and a mature supply chain, the client was experiencing significant supply chain underperformance and rising management costs. Adding to the complexity, the client faced **limited visibility into the foreign office's internal processes and staff-level KPIs** — making it difficult to determine the optimal staff size after years of suspected over-hiring. After evaluating various options, the client asked The ABC Group to draft a proposed transition strategy. The strategy needed to account for local labor laws and the operational requirements necessary to successfully shift supply chain responsibilities to ABC. Given the client's objective to preserve operational capabilities while eliminating its formal presence in the region, the client was a strong candidate for ABC's Asset-Light Supply Chain Management service — a **Supply Chain Management as a Service (SCMaaS)** model that provides clients a pathway to transition existing staff to ABC and/or tap into a broad base of shared staffing resources already in-region, without requiring a foreign office. THE APPROACH ## Six months. Three workstreams. *Trust at every layer.* With only a six-month timeframe to develop, refine, and implement a transition strategy before the scheduled closure of the foreign office, ABC acted promptly. We engaged with global contacts at the client on a near-daily basis to identify potential risks and challenges to the transition process, allowing for proactive troubleshooting. > A shift to an asset-light supply chain management model is not to be taken lightly. Trust has to be built — with key stakeholders, with global supply chain staff, and with suppliers — at every stage of the process. After securing approval from the client's executive team for a comprehensive transition strategy and its corresponding performance toll gates, ABC proceeded to analyze all available historic data related to the client's foreign supply chain and thoroughly examined internal working documents and key business processes to determine optimal staffing levels. With a strong understanding of the foreign office's operations, ABC's lead personnel in Mainland China underwent the client's formal staff training program and shadowed existing team members onsite at suppliers — gaining practical knowledge of the client's products, suppliers, and supply chain team. Following the training program, ABC's project leads conducted **confidential staff interviews** to identify candidates who were underutilized or aware of organizational inefficiencies being overlooked. Armed with this knowledge, ABC was able to optimize staffing levels by introducing new supply chain policies. These policies better defined acceptable use of the client's staff onsite at suppliers — **shifting accountability back to suppliers** — and enabled new tracking documents to measure workforce efficiency. At this point, ABC was fully prepared to assume operational responsibilities, and drafted labor contracts one month prior to the scheduled transition. Having determined appropriate staffing levels using qualitative metrics, identified high-quality legacy staff members, and implemented real-time workforce tracking capabilities, ABC **completed the formal transition on time and without any impact on client operations.** VALUE CREATED ## Hard savings. *Soft ROI.* Strategic capacity freed up. By transitioning to an Asset-Light Supply Chain Management model, the client captured significant financial and operational benefits. First and foremost, the client successfully divested from the foreign office — **eliminating costly overhead amounting to nearly $250,000 per year** while also reducing general exposure to a market facing rising geopolitical risks. Additionally, by combining new supply chain policies with real-time workforce KPIs created by ABC, the client realized further savings by **shrinking an overstaffed team by nearly 40%** without negatively impacting Level of Service within the organization or at suppliers. Financial Outcome Collectively, these financial benefits resulted in a **positive ROI within four months** and paved a pathway for further organizational improvements that extended beyond this transition. Beyond the financial benefits, soft ROI also showed up in improved supply chain visibility and increased supplier accountability — the kinds of operational improvements that compound over time rather than appearing as a single line item on a P&L. > With the transition complete, the client was left with a lean, more cost-effective foreign team — and the ability to redirect strategic focus toward new emerging markets and other organizational priorities. The transition demonstrated something the client had not been able to access under the legacy foreign office model: **operational capability without the structural overhead that had constrained how the supply chain could be redeployed.** Capability stays. Cost structure flexes. Strategic capacity is freed up for the work that matters most. PDF Download the formal case study Cost Reduction with SCMaaS · Multinational Consumer Goods [Download PDF](https://theabcgroupem.com/hubfs/The%20ABC%20Group-Case%20Study%20on%20Cost%20Savings%20with%20SCMaaS.pdf?hsLang=en) ## Carrying a foreign office that no longer pencils? *Let's talk specifics.* A 30-minute working session with one of our principals. Bring your current foreign office footprint — headcount, supplier base, overhead — and we'll give you an honest read on what an asset-light transition would actually look like for your organization. Including how long it would take, what stays, and what changes. No RFP process required. [Schedule a Working Session](https://theabcgroupem.com/contact?hsLang=en) [See our transition approach](https://theabcgroupem.com/foreign-office-transition?hsLang=en) Other case studies ### [Case Study · Diversification Market Diversification Ex-China: Two New Markets Without Cap-Ex PE-owned consumer goods company concentrated in China across two dozen product categories activates qualified suppliers in Vietnam and India — without capital expenditure or new foreign offices. Read the case study →](https://theabcgroupem.com/insights/case-studies/market-diversification-ex-china?hsLang=en) ### [Case Study · Resourcing From Black Box to Direct Access: Achieving Market Pricing and Tariff Resilience Publicly traded medical products manufacturer replaces a decade-long single-trading-company relationship with direct supplier access across China and India in four months — 9.5× year-one ROI, 200+ suppliers under direct management. Read the case study →](https://theabcgroupem.com/insights/case-studies/black-box-to-direct-access?hsLang=en) ### [Case Study · Quality In-Market Quality Control for a Regulated Industry Publicly traded transportation manufacturer establishes direct supplier relationships in China without opening a foreign office — sustained 98%+ PPAP success rate and 15× SKU growth over an eight-year engagement. Read the case study →](https://theabcgroupem.com/insights/case-studies/in-market-quality-control?hsLang=en) [![The ABC Group — Asian Business Consultants](https://theabcgroupem.com/hubfs/abc-logo-dark-bg.svg)](https://theabcgroupem.com/?hsLang=en) Supply Chain Management as a Service. The Third Path to global supply chain performance — same control as in-house, none of the overhead. 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