A company in the automotive sector had become insolvent. The interim manager was appointed as head of materials management on behalf of the insolvency administrator in order to restructure the department within the legal framework of insolvency law. The entire department was to be reorganized - embedded in the reorganization of the company. The general conditions for purchasing were very poor. Insurance companies were already no longer willing to issue commercial credit insurance for goods and services.
Purchasing team motivated and qualified in a difficult situation
During the course of the insolvency, it was not clear whether there would be a prospective buyer or whether the company would be closed down for good. The uncertainty in the team was correspondingly high. Therefore, one of the interim manager's tasks was to motivate and stabilize the staff. The interim manager achieved this by communicating openly and transparently with the team members and always showing the prospect of success. He also trained the employees on the job. As a result, there were no resignations.
Luckily, the terminated purchasing manager had still passed on the most important information to the interim manager. This kept the loss of information in Purchasing to a minimum. The interim manager first reorganized the management of the three locations to enable smoother work between the sites.
Restructuring supplier management and optimizing inventories
To restructure supplier management, he agreed new standard payment terms with the suppliers - moving away from prepayment. In the next step, the interim manager searched for and found new suppliers. The new main suppliers ensured a stable supply of materials at more favorable conditions so that there were no delivery disruptions with the end customers. At the same time, the interim manager optimized the inventories to reduce excess stock and long-stored goods and avoid them in the future.
Certification achieved - restructuring enables sale to an investor
At the end of the mandate, the interim manager had reorganized the materials management and trained the staff in close cooperation with the insolvency administration. The new processes enabled the company to achieve certification (automotive standard). The reorganization of the supplier market resulted in significant savings. With these restructuring successes, the interim manager made a significant contribution to the successful sale of the insolvent company to an investor.
