Case Study
$3B Private Equity-Owned Aerospace Supplier Stands Up a Recent Acquisition and More Than Doubles Operating Income in Year One of Its Three-Year Plan
16%
Operating Income Margin Achieved in Year One
Strategic Imperative
To accelerate operating income from the low single digits to 25% by creating an organization with consistent and reliable processes, management behaviors, and integrated business decision-making
Client Background
- $3B Global aerospace supplier operating 64 locations worldwide to design, engineer, and manufacture systems and components for the aviation industry
- Engagement centered on a recently acquired U.S. facility with significant growth potential across aerospace final-assembly operations
- Facility performance depended on coordinated engineering, production scheduling, capacity planning, quality, customer delivery, and sales execution
- Deteriorating costs, customer service, and quality jeopardized future orders and new business growth opportunities
- Executive leadership required rapid year-one progress against a three-year plan targeting 25% operating income
- Operating income margin stood at 7%, on-time delivery remained below 50%, and prior corporate corrective efforts had failed
Key Issues & Barriers
- Plant management relied on reactive firefighting, limiting proactive problem-solving and consistent execution against operating priorities
- Attitudinal and behavioral issues weakened accountability, teamwork, and adoption of reliable management practices
- Skills and training gaps reduced workforce capability to meet production, quality, and customer delivery expectations
- Communication breakdowns disrupted integrated business decision-making and cross-functional coordination across plant operations
- Poor process controls weakened production scheduling, capacity planning, throughput performance, and reliable on-time customer delivery
- Prior corporate corrective efforts failed to establish the consistent processes and management behaviors required for sustained recovery
Key Implementation Components
- Translated and aligned SMART goals across organizational levels to connect enterprise priorities with plant execution
- Upgraded the full complement of human capital management elements, including role clarity, skills, training, accountability, and performance expectations
- Developed and implemented a comprehensive, proactive System for Managing to replace reactive firefighting with disciplined performance control
- Embedded a SIOP process and capacity-planning routines within the System for Managing to improve throughput and delivery reliability
- Established a goal-achievement review process linked to the System for Managing to track performance and reinforce accountability
- Enhanced the sales process through market segmentation to support business-plan realization and market-share growth
Benefits & Results
16%
Operating Income Margin Achieved in Year One
51%
Market Share Increase
48%
Throughput Increase
25%
Past-Due Backlog Reduction