Post-merger integration, stabilization and organizational structure
Focus areas: Post-merger integration as well as stabilization and organizational development
Company:
- Industrial electronics, € 100 million turnover, 180 employees
- HMIs, single-board computers and automatic control systems
Responsibility:
- COO with responsibility for 120 employees at two locations
- Internal sales, production planning, materials management, purchasing, industrial engineering, production and logistics
- 100 million € turnover and 50 million € purchasing volume
Initial situation:
Two companies were optimized under a private equity with a short-term focus, sold to a listed Italian SME in the same sector and merged to form a joint German subsidiary.
The two company founders, who were still responsible for operations, ended their activities with the sale to the Italian company.
While sales had risen by 20% in recent months, staffing levels in order processing and supply chain management had fallen by an unplanned 50%. The HR department was understaffed. The salary structure throughout the company had grown historically and there had been no salary increase in the last two years. Further dismissals of qualified employees were threatened. Even unskilled employees in production left the company.
At the time the mandate was assumed, inventories were drastically reduced despite the allocation for electronic components and overdue orders had not been placed. Customer orders and call-offs were no longer confirmed for capacity reasons, resulting in production stoppages at almost all key accounts.
Measures:
- Introduction of regular daily meetings with prioritization and targeted allocation of scarce resources
- Creation of transparency for the Italian parent company in order to obtain budget for personnel expansion
- Supporting the HR department in setting up a structured shadow remuneration system
- Production and delivery planning adapted to the unstable supply of electronic components in order to enable OEM customers to plan production realistically again in the short and medium term
- Establishment of a purchasing cooperation with the Italian parent company
- Negotiations with key accounts at top management level, both on the customer and supplier side
Result:
- Stabilizing the supply chain and restoring customer confidence in the ability to deliver
- Stabilizing the personnel situation and rebuilding the organization in production and supply chain management
- Transparency at parent companies for further necessary measures
