Challenge
The co-founders of a diversified holdings company needed a proven management system that they could use when acquiring companies. They wanted that system to be based on Lean tools & principles, but lacked the expertise to do so.
Opportunity
Having seen our proven approach and the Lean Focus Business System™ enable organizations across the globe achieve sustained profitable growth, we knew that we could craft a custom business system that would help the holding company successfully navigate mergers & acquisitions.
Our Response
The plan was to create a custom holistic business system that encompasses growth, leadership, foundational tools, and guiding principles. To create this system, we first conducted an end-to-end value-stream mapping activity to identify opportunities for improvement that existed in the new deal to acquisition value stream. Next, we engaged in a series of transactional process improvement Kaizens to reduce the time associated with dealmaking and improve the conversion rates at each step of the way. When it was time for the first acquisition, we performed the due diligence and searched for value creation opportunities. We also built out the 100-day Enterprise System Integration plan to realize value creation through Kaizen events and process installations for daily management, strategy deployment, and problem-solving.
Results
There has been a reduction in time for the end-to-end deal-to-acquisition value stream. This time savings also reduced the cost of acquisitions. The company forecasts are now more predictable. In addition to the development of standardized value creation roadmaps for new acquisitions, the company improved skills around problem-solving and other Lean tools, such as daily management, strategy deployment, value-stream mapping, transactional process improvement, and standard work. These transformations have resulted in $40 million in platform earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, and 3 portfolio acquisitions.
Key Outcomes
