Made State of the Art Transportation Information System Company More Profitable in 4 Months

The Challenge
A prominent Private Equity company wanted to reduce their reputable portfolio company's product cost quickly so it would improve the company's cash flow and profitability.

The Goal
  • Determine the most suitable manufacturer for their electronics products and negotiate the best terms with them to support the company's aggressive growth plans
  • Consolidate supplier base to optimize results
  • Improve EBITDA while reducing the business risk and tariff impact

The Approach
  • Identified the business opportunity and priorities
  • Built comprehensive true cost models where the company accurately identified savings potential with target pricing
  • Carefully classified and grouped technology products before determining the best "go-to-market" strategy
  • Conducted a series of RFPs and vendor negotiations for optimized procurement savings
  • Successfully transitioned the products after signing MoUs with new suppliers

The Results
  • Obtained 21-39% cost reductions on highly technical electronics products
  • Successfully consolidated suppliers to a manageable size to reduce the work load of Supply Chain organization
  • Reduced the business risk as well as tariff impact by moving production from China to Eastern Europe

Corporate turn-around with improved clinical outcomes & utilization at medical healthcare service provider within 9 months

The Challenge
One of our clients failed a Medicare audit, causing CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) to hold back payments, which led to a cash-strapped situation. The client was unable to pay employees and vendors, compromised employee morale, productivity and retention. The executive team was left with substantial patient data without a sound method to use it for clinical or business decisions. They also lost visibility into key financials due to inability to monitor utilization rate and patient outcomes. The result was an unbreakable cycle in which bankruptcy seemed unavoidable.

The Goal
  • Avoid bankruptcy and Chapter 11 filing and achieve sustainable top- and bottom-line growth
  • Track and improve medical outcomes against Medical guidelines to reduce and prevent penalties
  • Monitor and improve utilization
  • Accelerate response to patient and family needs
  • Improve overall productivity and cost efficiencies to improve margins

The Approach

Hired as turn-around CEO, James Stanford (The Stanford Group) implemented the following:
  • Rebranded client company for national recognition and assigned reputable board members, legal counsel and medical director
  • Renegotiated accounts payable at 43% discount with service providers
  • Reduced company burn rate by 44% and operation cost by 63% over nine months while replacing low performers with star delivery teams
  • Instituted automation for centralized, repeatable tasks and replaced server-based EMR system with cloud-based nimble solution
  • Moved from paper-based system to electronic processing while reducing forms needed for intake and operation
  • Improved employee morale through authentic servant leadership, implementing an Employee Wellness program with benefits
  • Brought Kaiser Permanente as strategic partner, tripling client's patient census and expanding the wound care program with Genadyne and IV infusion program with Coram

The Results
  • Successfully avoided bankruptcy with more capable executives in place for faster and sustainable growth
  • Enabled the company to grow and expand across California with strategic partners adding two added branches since the turn-around
  • Improved national ranking among CMS
  • Reduced re-hospitalization and re-admit rate
  • Passed Additional Development Review from Medicare releasing cash for the company
  • Owner, CFO and Clinicians started making business decisions by accessing real-time information with modern tools

Achieved Supply Chain Optimization by Installing Best Business Practices in A Leading Display Technology Company in 4 Months

The Challenge
Our client’s growth stalled despite their over 80 years of leadership in display technology. Following Private Equity ownership, the company decided to transition its business from a small and entrepreneurial to a mid-size yet scalable company with sustainable growth plans.

From the Private Equity’s perspective, their portfolio company needed to breakdown silos, drive collaboration, transform and improve their supply chain and operations organization to support sustainable growth while getting savings from procurement, logistics, field service and operations.

The Goal
  • Optimize EBITDA
  • Analyze, identify gaps and provide sustainable improvements across procurement, logistics, manufacturing operations and field service organizations
  • Implement and install Key Performance Index and Quarterly Business Reviews
  • Consolidate supplier base to optimize results
  • Improve productivity to support growth

The Approach
We analyzed the current business and built process maps with subject matter experts before simplifying the work-flow which helped streamline the manufacturing and field service operations and cutting cost. Our subject matter experts identified savings potentials across all product lines and categories while building true cost models before negotiating with suppliers. Where needed, we conducted RFQs with supplier conditioning for the best outcome for the client and its suppliers. Installed the best business practices and processes to exceed the promised results.
We also identified and resolved production bottlenecks while optimizing the manufacturing footprint.

The Results
  • Net positive impact to the EBITDA by 16% in four months
  • Transitioned products to higher-tier global manufacturers, producing better quality products at 25% lower cost
  • Improved in-house product manufacturing capacity to support over 20% revenue increase in core business and set-up foundation further growth opportunity to produce for other companies for incremental income
  • Delivered 21% savings on combined spend on procurement, logistics and service installation
  • Boosted product margins by 19%

Optimized Tier-1 Audio Product Manufacturing in 5 months

The Challenge
Private Equity firm who owned our client wanted us to improve new product introduction and product life cycle management while impacting EBITDA through improving the maturity of the supply chain at the shortest time possible.

The Goal
  • Optimize EBITDA at the shortest time possible
  • Transition products to more reliable Tier-1 global manufacturers while consolidating the supplier base
  • Improve product margins

The Approach
We analyzed the current business model and product strategies before simplifying the supply chain work-flow and implement the best business practices. We optimized the work by consolidating suppliers and transitioning labor intensive R&D work to tier-1 Electronic Manufacturing Services with control systems in place. We conducted several RFQs with supplier conditioning and negotiations to benefit client and suppliers before signing Master Service Agreement. Finally, we installed Quarterly Business Reviews with suppliers for continuous improvement and sustainable results.

The Results
  • Delivered 2x EBITDA in 7 months with 6 to 1 ROI (promise was 4:1 ROI)
  • Delivered $23M annualized savings over product and service procurement
  • Transitioned the most selling consumer audio products to Tier-1 EMS to produce them at better quality and 19% lower cost with 5% y-o-y cost reduction commitment over 3 years
  • Improved product life cycle management with vendor management process

Helped Logitech turning a deadly threat from a "mega brand" into a great commercial success

The Challenge
What would Logitech do when a “mega brand company” (prefer not to name it publicly) suddenly threatens Logitech revenues and market share by reducing prices below product cost?

The Goal
  • Immediately stabilize the situation, sustainably increase margin, revenue and volume
  • Design and produce product/product-lines that would serve channel partners and customers’ needs at the right price point without compromising from quality and usability
  • Create a new platform where cost reductions can be faster than the competition and market needs

The Approach
  • Immediately formulated highly sophisticated strategies and executed them
  • Simplified business processes and reduced product development cycles by 30%
  • Shifted the pricing responsibilities from sales department to product management taking control of price erosion by eliminating the "cost plus" mind-set
  • Re-negotiated key component pricing with vendors after sharing the strategy and implementation plan making it clear to them how they would benefit from our success
  • Created and enabled modularity on technology parts to take advantage of economies of scale
  • Improved the quality expectations on these products while creating detailed specs where PC-OEM companies would adopt as a new industry standard
  • Simplified product design to reduce cost taking advantage of the economies of scope
  • Introduced more flexibility towards cosmetic customization making products more attractive
  • Partnered our reputable Industrial Design team with customers directly engaging them from day 1 for a more attractive product ID and better usability to ensure customer buy in. 

The Results
  • Within 5 months, Logitech was in; the competition was out!  Logitech gained so much market share, the “mega brand company” pulled out of the OEM market
  • The new Logitech product became the most desired peripheral in the world selling over 160 million units
  • Logitech margins grew from 11% to 31% and stayed at 29% even during downturn of economy and product category ASPs declined 30% y-o-y
  • The product satisfied the needs of the market over 5 years.  Until this point, the product life cycles used to be under 2 years
  • Dell, HP, Lenovo started selling the product under their logo

Made Logitech commercialize the 1st in-the-world wireless dongle

The Challenge
Logitech had been challenged in meeting the navigation need of a mobile professionals around the globe. Receiver of "cordless" products actually came with a cord which has been in direct conflict of the wireless concept.

The Goal
  • Address the customer need by introducing a simple and true wireless solution
  • Lose the cord and shrink the size of a hand-size receiver to a USB dongle for the best usability
  • Create a new platform to allow further business growth via motherboard and keyboard integration

The Approach
We assessed the true market opportunity for wireless solutions. We’ve created the vision of USB wireless dongle and worked with the engineering team to take the challenge of developing this product. We made the commercialization of first wireless product possible with wireless dongle

The Results
  • Logitech became the first company in the market with wireless USB dongle bundling such modules with notebooks, AIO PCs and desktop systems from tier-1 players including SONY, NEC, Dell and Lenovo
  • Wireless mouse for notebooks gained momentum in retail market shortly after
  • Within months, Logitech captured a significant market share from competitors and maintained its leadership through both: B2C and B2B channels

License your IP or Commercialize it?

The Challenge
What does a small start-up with an exciting IP (Intellectual Property) do?  Create a niche product with it or license the IP?  How and which channels to sell it through if commercialize it?  Who to partner with if license it?

The Goal
Quickly identify the best opportunity based on ROI and ROA among a few business choices

The Approach
  • After thoroughly reviewing the company’s business plan, we suggested the executives not to commercialize the products but test the validity and value of the IP
  • We identified the two players in industry that would be the best fit for either licensing the IP or acquiring the company
  • We set-up meetings with leading company executives, engaged with both sides, introduced the technology and gauged the business potential with them.

The Results
The company got engaged with industry leaders giving clarity to the company for the best course of action within two months pulling their schedules by six months and saving over $1.5M.