Indian automobile supplier enters new market by acquiring and integrating a German company

The „Telecommunications“ business unit of a German company turns a crisis into an opportunity

The telecommunications industry all over the world is undergoing radical changes: emerging innovative technologies, new competitors entering the market and dropping prices. The business unit of a large German company found itself facing exactly that situation. The unit had simply missed the boat of changing its strategic direction in time. As a result, they anticipated a drop in sales of about 30% within a year.

Nothing short of a comprehensive restructuring would save the company.
To that end, we had to accomplish three things:

1) discontinue complete product lines that would not be profitable in the future;

2) reduce staff and;

3) reduce overheads.

By changing its business model, a German automotive supplier exceeds all expectations

With a worldwide drop in sales and changing customer behaviour, the automobile sector is going through the most drastic changes in its history. Manufacturers and suppliers alike are suffering from the consequences of such changes with quite a number of suppliers dropping out of the race. A family-owned, medium-sized group of companies decided it did not want to miss out on the potential opportunities in international markets and to be an important factor in their customers’ growth. They turned crisis into opportunity by becoming a supplier of systems instead of just components. Their customer base responded positively to these new developments.

To begin with, we needed to define customer requirements in order to develop a corresponding business model in cooperation with the company’s management. We had to determine what needed to be done to meet the expectations of customers and shareholders alike. Secondly, we had to work with the departments involved to effectively implement the changes.

A German engineering firm acquires a foreign company – and doubles its sales

Cutting edge technology and a highly focused sales organisation guaranteed that orders were pouring in. Sales were expected to double within the next three years. There was only one problem: the company was lacking qualified staff to cope with the many projects this entailed. There was a severe shortage of qualified engineers on the domestic labor market and abroad. Their solution to the dilemma was to acquire a competitor to gain access to and retain local know-how.

Our mandate as interim managers was to make sure that the acquired organisation would quickly become operational and to ensure that new and existing teams would cooperate and integrate smoothly.

Reaching out to Europe, an American automotive supplier gains new customers

A US automotive supplier set out to penetrate the European market. To that end, it acquired a leading German company in the component sector. The family-owned company then had to be integrated and customer-oriented business lines had to be developed and marketed.

In supporting this challenge, we had to solve three problems:

1) the German management team had no international experience;

2) the American management team was not used to dealing with European customers; and

3) there was a general shortage of suitable management staff to lead German and American project teams smoothly and successfully through the integration period, keeping conflicts to a minimum.

Worked with a German automotive supplier to restructure his production processes and reduce lead times by 80 percent

The economic crises had taken a heavy toll on this medium-sized company. Its sales continued to dwindle, employees had to be made redundant and in short, they were fighting for survival. For a start, we had to determine which business unit provided the greatest potential to drive a recovery. It looked like the biggest benefits could be derived by focusing on the production of aluminum screws which up to this point were rarely used in automotive production although they are light weight and can withstand extreme wear and tear. Existing difficulties in the production process included: delays in moving work-in-progress among different work stations or departments, excessive inventories and a lead-time of up to 45 days.

We were tasked with optimizing processes, change-over times and material flows within production and to reduce lead times to just a few days. In addition, to ensure successful implementation, all employees had to be convinced of the necessity and benefits of the changes.

A US automotive supplier strengthens its international position in Europe and increases sales

An American automotive supply group wanted to strengthen its market position in Europe and to grow sales internationally for their product line of “complete automobile seats”. Together with its European subsidiary, the group acquired two medium-sized companies in Germany and England. However, the new management did not possess any experience in integrating medium-sized companies.

Our challenge was to help integrate both the cultures and the strengths of the acquired companies as quickly and as smoothly as possible into the group without losing sight of customers’ expectations and requirements.