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Case Studies:

 

Improving Revenue and Profit in Commercial Electronic Products Market

The Challenge:

A $250M engineering and manufacturing company experienced a five-year decline in the revenue and profit from its largest product line while the market grew at double-digit rates each year. The vice presidents of marketing and R&D determined the large differences between industry growth and the company’s decline indicated an opportunity to improve performance if a clearly superior product could be implemented in record time.

 

How We Did It:
  • Identified key product performance differentiators through interviews, observations, quantitative and qualitative analysis.

  • Assessed competitors’ positioning and technical capabilities.

  • Selected an off-shore partner willing to meet aggressive schedules.

  • Implemented an array of sales and marketing activities, including training seminars, pricing approaches, cross product line selling improvements.

  • Reduced product line complexity by 80%.

  • Coached key leaders on the new product development team.

 
The Results:
  • Increased revenue 17% and gross margin by 1%, despite significant shortage of product and a weak performance by company as a whole.

  • Enhanced product development effectiveness and efficiency across all departments.

  • Improved supply chain efficiency.

 

 

 

Decrease Product Development Cost and Time

The Challenge:

A $50M product line of a Global 500 design and manufacturing organization required a complete overhaul to maintain competitiveness, regain lost market share, and to better support corporate strategic initiatives. Due to poor performance of the entire division, there existed large differences between product line needs and the budget available for product development. Also, the product line was at risk of becoming obsolete due to rapid changes in technology, so decreasing time-to-market was also a factor in future success.

 

How We Did It:
  • Interviewed suppliers to determine the greatest leverage point for rapid product development at reduced cost.

  • Assessed competitor positioning.

  • Created dynamic product line strategy to support new corporate initiatives.

 
The Results:
  • Reduced investment by 95%.

  • Developed new product in one-third typical cycle.

  • Decreased product cost by 50%.

  • Increased sales volume by 50%.

 

 

 

Improve Market Share and Reputation

The Challenge:

The largest, most profitable product line of a $150M division of a commercial electronics manufacturer suffered from a rapidly increasing decline in market share due to a lagging reputation because of product performance limitations.  The project was to improve the market share and reputation, and provide a long-term plan for growing and maintaining the company’s flagship, and most profitable, product line.

 

How We Did It:
  • Developed a comprehensive 2-year product portfolio strategy.

  • Aggressively promoted product performance enhancements as a key differentiator.

  • Identified technologies to invest in, and those to exit.

  • Dramatically improving support to customers and field sales staff.

 

The Results:
  • Returned product line to positive revenue growth for first time in five years.

  • Doubled product line volume.

  • Increased annual revenue 18%, with 20% per annum increase projected for another two years, with no new investment.

 

 

 

Create Dynamic Product Strategies

The Challenge:

A $550M division of a Fortune 500 automotive components engineering and manufacturing firm experienced a flattening in revenue and profit. The General Manager determined the company’s results indicated the need to expand into new, adjacent markets.

 

How We Did It:
  • Interviewed customers and determined the greatest opportunities for increasing our business with them was to offer high-quality, high-volume products they already purchased from other suppliers.

  • Assessed competitors positioning and programs. I realized our current sales & distribution model put us at a great advantage over their models.

  • I determined that product quality was the primary differentiator for this new market, I identified a driven, high-quality supplier who wanted to significantly grow their market share in North America.

  • When I realized the biggest challenge to winning-over the customer base was their concern over our technical experience, I created comprehensive technical, marketing, warranty, and pricing programs that enticed customers to use our program.

 

The Results:
  • Increased revenue and profit of business unit by 4% in first year–exceeding goals by 300%.

  • Provided the General Manager with a product portfolio which was independent of other divisions of the corporation.

  • Diversified division’s income stream and opened markets for similar products.

 

 

 

Reduce Risk

The Challenge:

An $11M communications equipment firm sold products that from a single off-shore manufacturer; compounding this was that the manufacturer, not the firm, owned the intellectual property to the products. Therefore, the company was at high risk of losing both margins, and the complete product line.

 

How We Did It:
  • When I realized the core attributes of the current products were insufficient to maintain competitiveness, I recommended product line enhancements for surpassing the competitors’ products.

  • I determined that the current design firm was not sufficient for the project and recommended searching for a new partner. I conducted the search and assisted in the evaluation and selection of the new engineering design firm.

The Results:
  • Developed two new product lines that increased revenue projections 30%.

  • Doubled the product income streams with new, advanced product lines.

  • Added a new engineering firm to the partner base that could be used for future development

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