The interim manager was commissioned by a renowned private equity company as CEO and CRO to restructure an investment company in North Rhine-Westphalia with 180 employees and a start-up sales subsidiary in the USA on the basis of a restructuring report and to ensure the planned profitable market growth. After a few months as interim manager, the certified restructuring and reorganization consultant was taken on as an employee on a temporary basis.
Annual call-offs from A-customers secure financing for the investors
When the interim manager joined the company, the trust of customers and suppliers was exhausted. The order range was only a few weeks away. A significant part of the product range was no longer competitive, on the one hand "over-engineered", on the other hand not modernized and innovated in a market-oriented manner for years. The competition took advantage of the situation to make a profit.
The negotiations between the shareholders and the banking pool were deadlocked, the company was on short-time working and was burning money on a daily basis. The company was ready for insolvency.
At the very beginning of the mandate, the interim manager focused on expanding the order reach and stabilizing capacity utilization. Within a very short time, he was able to convince two A-customers to place binding annual orders. In this context, the interim manager was able to reach an agreement with the lenders and thus secure the overall financing of the group of companies.
Cost reductions create scope for strategic sales expansion
The interim manager recognized that the number and quality of managers in the company needed to be adjusted. The aim was to create more agile structures. Decision-making processes needed to be accelerated, transparency increased and the fixed cost structure significantly improved.
In consultation with the shareholders and the banking pool, the interim manager reduced the number of management positions beyond the measures planned in the restructuring report and also initiated an outsourcing program. Furthermore, employees with potential were entrusted with additional tasks, which the interim manager coached and developed.
In addition, the interim manager introduced cost reduction management in the area of material costs and reorganized supply chain management by setting up strategic purchasing and implementing product-related dispositive purchasing with operational availability management as part of the value chain.
Expansion in the USA and establishment of B2B direct sales in Europe
The interim manager very quickly realized that the originally planned dealer strategy would not be effective for the planned growth in the USA. Instead, he favored the American rental market for construction machinery, which offered significantly greater scaling opportunities. He therefore appointed a native manager from the future customer environment to the management of the US subsidiary. He also strengthened the service division in the US subsidiary.
In parallel, the interim manager built up direct sales in England, France and Scandinavia and expanded technical sales via dealers in Asia. He recruited sales staff in Europe through his own contacts as well as existing and future customers.
With the help of a new customer relations management system (CRM) initiated by the interim manager and improved marketing, the company was able to respond better and better to the market environment and further expand its service.
Product range comprehensively renewed, modularized and standardized
The interim manager established an international product development team. He also recruited new employees directly from the nearby market environment. The aim of product development was to rationalize and standardize the previously highly customized products and equip them with modular packages for sales at home and abroad. His aim was to profitably implement market-compliant premium solutions. In addition, market conditions, especially in the USA, demanded variants in safety elements, electronics and electrics in order to be successfully positioned. Large parts of the price-sensitive but strategically necessary product range were developed from scratch and strongly differentiated from the competition. This continued to secure the high-priced premium segment. One of the results was that the company was the first in the mobile working platform market to use electric and battery drives in addition to conventional drives.
The interim manager succeeded in rationalizing the entire product range, developing new products and eliminating previous loss-making variants from the range.
Some key suppliers were developed into development partners, while the company's own resources were focused exclusively on market-oriented innovations, electronics and control technology.
Improved competitiveness and customer satisfaction through lean management
The interim manager introduced modern assembly principles based on a "one piece flow" principle. The previous depth of added value was reduced through outsourcing and assembly was simplified and accelerated by supplying assemblies with few variants instead of the previous multi-layered components. As a result, the interim manager significantly reduced the amount of capital tied up and lead times were cut by up to six weeks.
He established a central KPI system that focused on quality, delivery reliability, productivity and supply chain management. Progress and production levels were tracked in a daily management process and subjected to a CIP process. Kanban processes controlled the planning supply chains. Quality management, cost management in SCM and assembly were tightly managed.
Revenue growth of 35% - EBITDA increases by EUR 4 million
The company is still benefiting greatly today from the successful establishment of the US site and the market strategy pursued by the interim manager. The same applies to the direct sales he introduced in Europe and the expanded dealer network. The initiated product innovations and the newly introduced lean management principles are still fundamental success factors and lived practice today.
The client and employees were very satisfied with the work of the interim manager. He was given a 10% share in the holding company in recognition of his work. At the end, the US subsidiary accounted for over 20% of the group's turnover. The company's turnover increased to just under € 28 million. The number of employees at the end of the assignment was 160.
