Driving change with senior level leadership
Case Studies
Commodity Lines Manufacturer – Turnaround, Re-Positioning and Growth
A $32 million closely held manufacturer of non-ferrous castings was nearly insolvent and bleeding cash. Its product line was undifferentiated from commodity competitors, and the company did not understand the root causes nor have a strategy in place to remedy the situation. Customer relationships and market reputation had deteriorated. The company was in default of loan covenants.
Our executive joined as President & CEO and quickly eliminated costs by reducing headcount and production losses. After stabilizing cash flow and renegotiating bank financing, a growth plan was created around a congruent marketing, operations and technology strategy moving the firm into specific value added, defendable niches. The management team was reorganized and substantially replaced. Fundamental capability issues at the root of the operating problems were resolved, new technology acquired, and new product innovations introduced to the market. Global reach was achieved through marketing, manufacturing and technology partnerships in Europe and India.
Our CEO successfully:
- Stopped losses. Grew annual sales to $75 million and 32% ROE.
- Reconfigured plants using lean practices. Transformed the culture to focus on throughput, quality and continuous improvement with performance based group incentives. Sales per employee increased to 140% of the industry average.
- Created a product launch methodology which became the industry model and engine for growth.
- Developed, purchased and combined technologies creating four new-to-the-market product lines, totaling one-half of annual sales.
- Created and guided three international partnerships in Europe (technology development) and India (low cost manufacturing).
The company was positioned for sale.
Copyright 2008. The Verona Group, Inc. d/b/a C-Level Interim Executives. All Rights Reserved.
