Our clients, especially ones under $100 million revenue, processes, systems, metrics and reporting may have developed somewhat piecemeal. This becomes apparent as we examine Supply Chain and Logistics and the underperformance that results from this limited evolution. Large companies have the money and the inclination to bring in outside help and aim for ‘Best Practices.’ But Middle Market firms’ sweat and inspiration may no longer be enough to handle the size, complexity and requirements to be competitive and profitable.
Yet, the symptoms of a problem (e.g. credit default, losses, poor liquidity) present an opportunity to take a look at these needs and turnaround a business’ operations.
Our advisors have had Supply Chain roles for large organizations. And they have been the ones large firms have turned to for consulting advice around Best Practices, performance improvement, development of metrics, outsourcing, and other operations matters. Our clients and their interested parties know the guidance and implementation we provide is being done by seasoned experts who provide knowledge from multiple industries and have done the work before.
This touches on all aspects of a business but here we will consider all matters outside Finance as that is covered in the Financial Advisory section of Services.
A critical part of a successful turnaround is knowing that a client is selling the right product at the right price to the right customers. To get answers here requires reasonable reporting of customer and product profitability. This is simple to say but hard to produce and many firms don’t look at this well, at all, or don’t do anything about what the analysis suggests. This may mean saying goodbye to high revenue but low profit customers. And it can mean the discontinuation of certain items. We possess the mindset and skills to look at these key questions, act on the findings and get results.
Sales and Marketing are examined as well. What incentives exist? Do they promote the right behaviors? If not, what needs to change? Are we focused on margin or revenue? Do salespeople’s preferences (and management’s responses) lead to bad outcomes like SKU proliferation, excessive working capital investment, obsolescence and lower profits?
It may be necessary to exit a facility, line of business or shut down an entire company. The level of inventory, customer needs and their impact on Accounts Receivable collections, seasonal concerns, union or employee issues, creditor demands, etc. will all have a bearing on the process used to maximize the recovery to owners and creditors in a wind down.
We have run businesses before, conducted facility closures and collaborated with all interested parties to plan and execute complex wind down plans that maximize recoveries. Communication and budgeting is vital here to assure you have vendor support, material, people and the liquidity necessary to deliver optimal results under difficult conditions.
