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MARKETING

CASE STUDIES

CASE

STUDIES

Identified markets for entry with potential to generate
2X
current
annual revenue
Light Bulbs

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
Pipe Testing

Industry: Plastics

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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
​
Brown Leather Bag

Industry: Apparel

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Situation: Slowing sales growth required revival, but differing stakeholder opinions prevented internal agreement on action plan

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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
Flooring

Industry: Building Products

​

Situation: Company faced sales & margin loss from economic downturn, new low-cost foreign competition, and competition from distributors

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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
Metal Tubes

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
Forging Hot Iron

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
Child Feeding Calf

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
Man Preparing to Fly a Plane

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%

Reduced maintenance
service times by 
40%
​
Railway

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
Fruity Cocktails

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).

Increased throughput with 
EBITDA improvement of
680
basis points
​
unnamed.jpg

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

Oil-Platform
Improved
throughput by
>14%
in two consecutive quarters,
along with 15% GM increase
​

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

Seamless 
Day One with
zero
disruptions to
customer orders
Garage Design Consultation

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
Minimalist Staircase

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
Alloys

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
Steel Framing

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
Truck

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
Wooden Bedroom

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
Cherry Pie

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
Garage Design Consultation

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
Cardboard Boxes

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
Computer Circuit Board Macro

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
Man Welding

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

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