A globally active European group of companies had taken over a company in the USA that was not developing as desired. After a short time, there were quality problems, customers dropped out and the once profitable company was in the red. Long-standing employees left the company. Multiple management changes did not improve the situation.
After 4 years of negative operating results, the group hired the interim manager to turn the company around.
Comprehensive concept developed for restructuring the site
The interim manager with US experience quickly identified a whole series of fundamental weaknesses. For example, the Group had acquired the US site in order to manufacture a range of innovative products for major customers in the USA and had installed special machines for this purpose. At the same time, however, the plant was producing the old product portfolio. This led to numerous frictional losses. It also became apparent that some managers were not up to their tasks and that the level of qualification in large parts of the workforce did not meet the requirements. There was also a lack of an effective sales department. In order to eliminate these and other weaknesses, the interim manager developed a comprehensive restructuring concept.
Management team reorganized and qualifications in production improved
In a first step, the interim manager put together a new management team under the leadership of a new general manager. Some department heads were replaced. Above all, however, the interim manager filled positions that had been vacant for some time. He also set up a new marketing and sales team and hired an HSE manager to ensure that the highest safety and hygiene standards were observed in all measures.
In order to get the quality and efficiency problems in production under control, the interim manager brought specialists from other Group locations to the USA. He made sure that the foreign employees always came to the USA for longer periods of time. Their job was not only to repair the machines, but also to provide their American colleagues with long-term training, particularly on the new systems.
Team building was at the forefront of this. In team meetings, he addressed the differences between the various cultures, particularly with regard to working methods and expectations. This enabled him to quickly uncover misunderstandings and immediately reduce the resulting tensions. Colleagues were now working together and no longer side by side.
The sustainability of this approach became apparent quickly after the departure of the foreign employees.
Reorganization of processes according to Hoshin Kanri and lean management
Parallel to the training courses, the interim manager had initiated numerous maintenance measures. On the one hand, the European specialists were able to help with the installations and, on the other, train their American colleagues, particularly on the special machines, so that they could carry out some maintenance work themselves in future.
The interim manager instructed the site's process engineers to review the guidelines for all processes, revise them if necessary or create new ones. He had them supported by a Six Sigma Green Belt from the group.
He made sure that the entire range of Hoshin Kanri and lean management tools was used not only in production, but in all areas of the company. In this way, the interim manager ensured that all areas were involved in the change process, from the development department to sales, purchasing, production and accounting.
Key performance indicators defined and regularly reviewed
In order to further increase efficiency, he commissioned a team to standardize the product portfolio to a greater extent. The aim was to remove at least 25% of the products from the range without losing customers. He also had stock levels reduced by 50% through a series of measures. The interim manager used monthly physical inventories to ensure that storage costs remained under control in the future.
In order to monitor the impact of all measures, he defined key performance indicators that were regularly reviewed in team meetings.
First quarter with positive results after 12 months | production at full capacity
The changes brought positive results step by step. After 12 months of intensive work, the full success was reflected in significantly improved earnings figures, shorter machine downtimes, high delivery reliability, minimal complaints and considerably fewer staff changes. Production was running at full capacity and EBITDA was positive again in the last three months for the first time in a long time. The turnaround was achieved.
