How do leading consultancies in DACH differ in operations consulting, particularly in product strategy, product development, and innovation?

Hi, I’d separate the market into a few “types” of firms rather than rank them.

MBB are strongest when the question is still very strategic: portfolio choices, technology bets, innovation strategy, future product roadmap, make/buy/partner, investment prioritization. You’ll get strong strategy exposure, but usually less technical depth unless you join a dedicated practice.

Roland Berger is very strong in DACH for industrials, automotive, engineering, product cost, innovation and operations. It often sits quite naturally between strategy and technical/industrial depth. For someone with an engineering background, it can be a very good fit. RB explicitly positions its operations work around innovation, engineering and product, including engineering excellence and product cost/value optimization. 

Kearney has a strong operations heritage and is credible in innovation, R&D, product development, supply chain and industrial goods. It can be a good choice if you want strategy, but with a pragmatic operations angle. Kearney describes its work around helping clients improve innovation and develop profitable products, features and technologies.

Porsche Consulting is probably one of the most distinctive options if you want something closer to product development, industrial excellence and implementation. Strong brand in DACH, especially automotive/industrial. More hands-on, more “make it work,” less pure boardroom strategy. Their Development & Technology practice is explicitly focused on innovation and transformation, and they also have strong operational excellence positioning. 

Specialized engineering consultancies can give you the deepest technical exposure, especially in R&D, product architecture, systems engineering, cost engineering, manufacturing and innovation processes. The trade-off is usually less C-level strategy exposure and sometimes narrower exit options compared with MBB / RB / Kearney.

So, if your priority is:

Strategic exposure / brand: MBB
Industrial strategy + engineering depth: Roland Berger / Kearney
Hands-on product and operational transformation: Porsche Consulting
Deep technical product development: engineering boutiques

For an engineering background, I’d personally look very closely at Roland Berger, Kearney and Porsche Consulting, not only MBB. The “best” option depends on whether you want to become a strategy consultant with technical credibility, or a product/engineering transformation expert with consulting skills.

Hi, I'd join the answer from Mauro - MBB and RB/Kearney currently still try to separate themselves in the offering towards more strategic projects, thus, offering higher daily rates. 

Porsche Consulting and others are using this as an opportunity to get into ops consulting (especially implementation of larger transformation programs) as a step towards larger strategic projects.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to the daily rates - the pricing competition is fierce currently

Hope it helps!

hi! 

In DACH, the differences are mainly about how close each firm gets to real engineering versus how high they sit on the strategy level. McKinsey and BCG are strongest on portfolio choices, product strategy, R&D operating models, and innovation systems; you work more with top management and see broader cross‑functional topics, but you’re less deep in the technical product. Roland Berger and Kearney are very strong in industrials, automotive, and machinery; their product and innovation work is closer to engineering, with themes like modularization, complexity reduction, tech roadmaps, and R&D efficiency. Porsche Consulting and engineering boutiques sit closest to the actual product and development process; they do hands‑on product work, PLM, development processes, and concrete concept work. For an engineer, the trade‑off is simple: McK/BCG give you broader strategy exposure and a generalist career path, RB/Kearney give you industrial depth and credibility with technical clients, and Porsche/engineering firms give you the most tangible product and R&D exposure.

Alessa

McKinsey and BCG are strongest for upstream product strategy and CEO-level work. Premium brand, more generalist career path early on.

Roland Berger is the DACH industrial favourite. Deep credibility with German Mittelstand and industrial clients. Really strong in product cost engineering and value engineering, and you get faster industry specialism than at MBB.

Kearney has operations and procurement DNA. More practical execution focus, less upstream strategy work.

Porsche Consulting is the lean product development and operations transformation specialist. Engineering-heavy, they actually hire engineers directly. Less strategy breadth but real operational depth.

For an engineer, Roland Berger gives you the best mix of strategy and engineering grounding. Porsche Consulting is the best pick if you want pure operations and product development depth. MBB if brand and breadth matter most to you.

Apply to 3 or 4 in parallel. They're different enough that you'll know which fits once you go through the processes.

Good luck.