making a difference
MARKETING
CASE STUDIES
CASE
STUDIES
Identified markets for entry with potential to generate
2X
current
annual revenue
Industry: LED Lighting
Situation: PE firm expressed desire to increase sales revenue by 167% in five years
Impact: Determined two markets for entry with potential to help double company's current annual revenue in PE firm's desired five year timeline
Increased
sales by
24%
with key account
management strategy
Industry: Plastics
Situation: Highly concentrated customer base was underserved and all accounts were treated the same regardless of potential value
Impact: Keystone implemented Key Account Management strategy, resulting in sales growth of 24% for those customers and overall margin improvement of 4.2%
Achieved targeted five-year
sales goals by year
three
Industry: Apparel
Situation: Slowing sales growth required revival, but differing stakeholder opinions prevented internal agreement on action plan
Impact: Keystone worked closely with management to implement market development and process improvement initiatives, generating desired five-year sales in three years
Increased
revenue by
15%
by shifting to direct-to-consumer model
Industry: Building Products
Situation: Company faced sales & margin loss from economic downturn, new low-cost foreign competition, and competition from distributors
Impact: Keystone shifted the company to a direct to consumer model, resulting in revenue increase of 15% and improved margins
Discovered
four
potential markets
suitable for acquisition
Industry: Steel
Situation: Industry-wide market diversification prompted the company to hire Keystone to identify additional revenue streams
Impact: Four potential markets and target companies within each were identified for a potential acquisition, providing the company options on where to take the business
CASE
STUDIES
Cut setup
times in
half
increasing productive
time by one full crew
Industry: Forging
Situation: The business shifted from high volume/low variety to low volume/high variety, revealing setup time issues
Impact: Setup times decreased by ~50%, increasing productive time by the equivalent to one full crew; and union/management relationships improved as well
Rationalized
29%
of SKUs to improve margins in price sensitive environment
Industry: Agricultural Products
Situation: Freight costs (as a percentage of sales) were rising as new customers came from parts of country far removed from facilities
Impact: Keystone determined location for new facility, rationalized 29% of SKUs, and increased margins by 1.5% in price sensitive market
Restored service
levels to
95%
by successfully
decreasing lead times
Industry: Electronic Toys
Situation: Service levels dropped to 83% and management sought to implement supply chain improvement initiatives
Impact: Service levels were restored to 95%, SKUs were rationalized by 25%, value stream mapping led to lead time reduction, and inventory decreased by 12%
Increased throughput with
EBITDA improvement of
680
basis points
Industry: Medical Devices
Situation: Gross margin decline of 8.4 pts led management to seek a facility assessment to drive key improvement initiatives
Impact: Developed scheduling tool to optimize job sequencing / reduce setup times, increased throughput by organizing workflow around value streams, created make-to-stock program that reduced batch size and number of setups
Reduced maintenance
service times by
40%
Industry: Industrial Equipment
Situation: Accelerated company growth placed pressure on repairs & maintenance operation to reduce shop turn time
Impact: Improved quality and time-to-completion of critical shop instructions led to 40% decrease to turn times
Reduced annual
costs by
$2.5M
through 1% yield
improvement
Industry: Beverage
Situation: Company-wide waste reduction effort included identifying sources of liquid loss in production
Impact: Keystone outlined recommendations for improving bottle sampling, decreasing likelihood of large-scale losses, and three other yield improvement initiatives; 1% of total product was recuperated (worth $2.5M in sales).
Industry: Oil Field Equipment
Situation: Throughput decline, lost sales, and high manufacturing variances prompted management to seek help in achieving operational improvements
Impact: Implemented Lean Manufacturing techniques to level-load facility / increase throughput, re-engineered processes to reduce bottlenecks, improved scheduling system to increase batch sizes and reduce setup time
Improved
throughput by
>14%
in two consecutive quarters,
along with 15% GM increase
Seamless
Day One with
zero
disruptions to
customer orders
Industry: Garage Doors
Situation: Company sought to achieve top line strategic objective through acquisition, engaging Keystone for integration help and synergy capture
Impact: Integration went flawlessly; no disruption to order processing, synergies were captured/exceeded on schedule, no unplanned turnover
CASE
STUDIES
Generated
2.75x
projected liquidation value through company sale
Industry: Stone
Situation: Quality issues led to customer discounts and worsening EBITDA / cash flow for an already highly levered company
Impact: Keystone managed cash until bankruptcy sale, the sale generated 2.75x the projected liquidation value, and the bank fully recovered its outstanding debt
Reached
breakeven within
four
months of implementing turnaround initiatives
Industry: Automotive
Situation: Sales had decreased by over 30% in three years; the company was in default of its loan covenants and was expected to run out of cash in 60 days
Impact: Company reached breakeven within four months of beginning to implement turnaround initiatives
Increased cash
availability
8x
as interim
CFO and COO
Industry: Steel
Situation: An inventory adjustment exposed need for EBITDA improvements and cash forecasting
Impact: Keystone took on roles of Interim CFO and COO, availability increased by 8x, direct labor efficiency increased by 12%, DIOH decreased 17%, and management relations stabilized
Realized operational
cost reductions
25%
greater than
expectation
Industry: Trucking
Situation: Increased leverage and economic slowdown prevented the company from generating sufficient EBITDAR to cover debt service
Impact: Reduced operating costs by 25% more than originally expected and achieved various favorable changes to credit agreements
Reduced
inventory by
60%
to improve
working capital
Industry: Furniture
Situation: Margins and profit had been eroded by a bloated product portfolio, high overhead costs, and growing inventory levels
Impact: Product planning led to rationalization of 35% of SKUs and implementing a robust S&OP process reduced inventory by 60%
CASE
STUDIES
Created integration
playbook for merging
three
companies
simultaneously
Industry: Food
Situation: PE firm was evaluating two companies for acquisition and combination with a third (already owned) company
Impact: Provided the PE firm with a template for assessing production capacities and evaluating synergies / one-time costs for this deal and upcoming deals
Seamless
Day One with
zero
disruptions to
customer orders
Industry: Garage Doors
Situation: Company sought to achieve top line strategic objective through acquisition, engaging Keystone for integration help and synergy capture
Impact: Integration went flawlessly; no disruption to order processing, synergies were captured/exceeded on schedule, no unplanned turnover
Identified procurement synergy opportunities
4x
greater than
initial targets
Industry: Packaging
Situation: The company expanded operations to the West by acquiring a business in that region, seeking to generate synergies post-close
Impact: Analyzing A/P and PO data, Keystone identified procurement synergy opportunities 4x greater than initial targets
Improved facility
utilization by
25%
through footprint consolidation
Industry: Electronics
Situation: Numerous acquisitions left the company with a sub-optimal collection of facilities and redundant capabilities
Impact: Shrinking of footprint through plant reconfiguration and facility sales led to facility utilization improvement of 25% and decreased annual operating costs
Delivered
2.7x
Year One
synergy target
Industry: Steel
Situation: Tubular Division acquired a competitor to diversify into other markets, engaging Keystone for a fair value assessment, operation continuity, and synergy capture
Impact: Synergy targets were exceeded, Day One operations ensued with no disruptions, and key resources were retained
