A manufacturer had entered into an extreme cash flow crisis.
Issues:
- Zero availability on their credit line.
- Management team could not see the “big picture”.
- A plan had not been determined to resolve the situation.
Actions taken:
- Acting as the interim CFO, a 13-week cash flow forecast was immediately put into place and managed.
- Acting as the interim COO, an assessment of personnel, IT systems, manufacturing workflow process, the competitors, the market, and vendors was performed.
- After the assessment was completed, a plan was implemented to address the following:
- Organizational Structure
- Manufacturing process
- Purchasing process
- Inventory levels
- Engineering design and personnel
- Pricing of Jobs to Improve Gross Margin
- Bank Relationship
Results:
- Successfully negotiated with the bank to be granted a seasonal overdraft.
- A Lean Manufacturing process was implemented.
- Inventory Levels were appropriately adjusted.
- The engineering department was upgraded.
- The pricing methods were changed and Gross Margin was improved by 20%.
- Communications were improved with the bank.
- The company survived its cash crisis and is prospering under a new business model.
