Case Studies
Industry: Chemicals
Primary Services: Manufacturing
We were engaged by a privately held North American manufacturer of copolymers and plastic resins to serve as interim general manager to turnaround the US business after a poorly executed integration of their two US manufacturing plants.
The Company has been in business for over forty years with three manufacturing locations in the Northeast and South United States, as well as in Canada. The decision was made to close the manufacturing plant in the Northeast and integrate the operations into the plant in the South. To facilitate the move, the Company expanded the plant in the South with new building construction and equipment.
The integration added a high level of complexity to the plant in the South, including new manufacturing lines, new customers, and new custom chemical formulations. The volume of transactions coming into the newly combined plant increased tenfold, without any change in the plant’s past processes or people. The plant was unprepared for this sudden change and the past due orders grew, leading to a rapid decline in product quality. Further, the growing backlog of orders created a cash flow constraint for the Company.
As interim general manager, we created a leadership team with the appropriate skills to handle the increased complexity in the business and to ensure a high-quality product was produced.
Our experts developed backlog and past due charts, managed cash flow, reviewed all customer complaints, and mapped the order flow process in the plant. In addition, we identified several necessary capital projects to improve the operations in the new building.
With strong on-site leadership, past due orders dropped by 90% within the first month. We helped to fill key leadership positions in manufacturing, customer service, and logistics with individuals with more extensive experience. Further, production operators responsible for producing poor quality product were replaced with more experienced operators and a new training lead was appointed.
Joe Nappi, CTP
Senior Managing Director
Strategic Advisory Practice
+1 617 600 3602
[email protected]
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