From Stalled to Scaling: How One Uncomfortable Planning Session Unlocked a $200M Manufacturer's Growth
OVERVIEW
- Revenue: $200,000,000
- General Description: Manufacturing
- Geographic Location: United States
- Markets Served: Automotive
THE SITUATION
A long-standing, highly successful automotive supplier experienced stalled growth. Quoting volume was adequate, and they had plenty of capacity to serve customers, but new business was not being generated. The company called JACO Advisory Group to create a strategic growth plan.
While JACO brings a complete toolbox to each engagement, we always use different tools for different situations. In this case, many of the classic tools were used to begin planning (e.g., category and capability assessments). Then, when preparing for an on-site session, the President expressed concern that some team members were “stuck in their ways.”
To generate positive discomfort, JACO used the “Six Thinking Hats” framework from Edward de Bono’s book. This toolset mandates that leaders assume distinct roles to think about the challenge in parallel using different lenses.
In JACO’s experience, almost every company encourages its leaders to speak candidly, and, in fact, this occasionally happens. However, in the majority of instances, leaders hold back for various reasons (e.g., interpersonal relationships, past history, or not contradicting the boss). The six thinking hats tool can cut through these constraints by requiring that leaders assume different points of view based on their thinking role. After learning each leader’s personality, JACO was able to assign each leader a role to surface all issues for discussion.
THE SOLUTION
The company crafted a strategic growth plan that boiled down to 3 multi-year initiatives. Narrowing down to 3 initiatives was the result of a vigorous debate, along with combining smaller ideas into larger platforms.
Following this distillation, a champion was named for each initiative, and these champions were charged with developing growth charters for their initiatives. With so many competing priorities for resources, capital, floor space, etc., the rigor of the charter process fleshes out many future challenges during the initial planning stage.
For example, one initiative involved translating current products to a new market segment. The company’s chartered approach encompassed all functions, including purchasing new equipment, creating new messaging, and partnering with multiple companies to reach the ultimate customer. In this instance, JACO was fortunate to have business contacts in this new segment and was therefore able to make warm introductions to jump-start the process.
Implementing the plan is a multi-year journey. The company has generated initial closes with one target and has built promising new relationships with a second target. Trials have begun to earn this new business.
THE OUTCOME
After multiple years of stalled growth and idle capacity, the company has aligned its functions to offer a complete solution to their new targets. Beyond the additional volume from these new customers, driving growth in a parallel segment reduces enterprise risk while opening new doors for employees.
Often, JACO will continue working with the company to work through future issues and provide additional execution accountability. In this instance, the business wished to govern the process internally. JACO kept in touch with them and was pleased with their execution.
Your Capacity Is Ready. Is Your Strategy?
Stalled growth isn’t a market problem—it’s a strategy problem. JACO Advisory Group helps middle-market manufacturers identify what’s holding them back and build focused, executable plans to get moving again. If your team is stuck, we know how to change the conversation. Contact us today to get started.
