Case Studies

Addressing sales losses in a major manufacturer The Situation A Tier 2 company specialising in gearbox components fell into a significant sales decrease during the financial crises of 2008. The challenging situation affected the mother company and a recovery was needed. The Solution Our client appointed a WIL Group member partner as the CFO. A financial diagnosis was made that identified clear weaknesses and a recovery plan was implemented which included treasury stabilisation, working capital optimisation levers and improved reporting. The Result Short term treasury stabilisation was achieved Implementation of new financial processes

Improving operations and profitability in an automotive manufacturer The Situation A US based aftermarket parts company for high quality brake systems and components was facing increased competition from low cost Chinese manufacturers, increased internal salaries and freight costs. The company needed to reduce cost and improve the operation and profitability. The Solution A team of three Interim Managers from a WIL Group company including Head of Supply Chain, Financial and Sales & Marketing assessed the situation and implemented actions to improve the operation. The Result Freight cost were reduced by 40% Headcount was reduced by 20% Financial reporting was improved Low volume and low margin items were eliminated The company has re-emphasized their high quality products and value added positioning The company has returned to profitability and is now in a growth mode again.

Plant management in south-east asia The Situation The key issue was that they needed a strong Plant Manager with experience of operating in this region, a track record of successful business reorganisation and the people skills to achieve the desired result in a challenging cultural environment, while at the same time maintaining customer service. The Solution The WIL Group had to draw on its worldwide resources to deliver on this assignment. The client was headquartered in Northern Europe. The mission was initiated and coordinated by the Paris office. An Interim Plant Manager who met all the requirements was sourced in UK. The implementation was supervised and managed by WIL Group in Singapore. The Result The WIL Group candidate was quickly accepted and appointed by the client. He had an immediate impact on the project. He achieved all the milestones and exceeded expectations, such that the contract was extended to allow him to deal with the implementation phase. This could not have been achieved without the cross-border resources within the WIL Group.

Turning around a Nordic medical devices company The Situation The Nordic Medical Device company had been one of the most successful companies in the industry for over 10 years, both from a top line and bottom line perspective with growth from 30 MEuro to 120 MEuro in ten years. During 2008, 2009 and 2010 the industry changed dramatically with respect to price pressure. More sophisticated customers with less sales built on relations with increased competition from low cost countries During this period, the weaknesses in the company were identified as the CEO and other staff who had been in the company for a long period of time who seemed unable to adapt to the new market conditions. The Solution A WIL Group member provided an Interim CEO with the mission to turn the company around. The Result A cost reduction was defined and executed A Group strategy and plan was defined and executed with the company returning to its core business A new organisation and governance was put in place Selling part of the company was initiated.

Creating an HR platform for a Scandinavian healthcare company The Situation The company is the leading supplier of consumables to the healthcare industry in the Nordic countries. It provides its customers – both in the public and private sectors – with reliable and efficient solutions to meet their needs for supplies, support systems and other services. The market dynamics in the Healthcare industry changed dramatically 2008 and 2009 which had consequences on the company’s performance (top line and bottom line). In order to secure future success the company needed to take measures which needed a strong central HR function which they did not have. The Solution WIL Group provided the customer with a hands-on as well as strategic HR Director with expertise from similar industries who reports directly to the CEO of the company. The Result Handling of none-performing people Alignment of HR process, policies and tools Support to build high performing teamwork Downsizing where needed

Reorgnising distribution in the wake of SAP implementation The Situation Following the runaway implementation of SAP e-WM resulting in increased costs and decreased delivery performance, the company decided to redress the situation by attracting a strong supply chain director with specific expertise in the healthcare distribution A one year period was put forward to redress the situation The Solution A member of the WIL Group put forward an Interim Manager with all-around experience in healthcare supply chain management The priority list of actions consisted of: To reduce the backlog to zero, at all costs To simplify the complex procedures as implemented in SAP e-WM To re-structure the warehouse and distribution organisation   The Result The backlog was reduced to zero within a few months, but with a major increase in personnel costs to get the orders out to the customers. Next, the ways of working in the distribution warehouse were simplified again, and simultaneously implemented in SAP, resulting in a drastic reduction of the direct headcount. A new organisation chart was designed and completed with the right people in the right places and new people were hired with the right competences wherever there was a need. The assignment is still on-going and is focused on the continuous improvement of the ways of working in order to further reduce the costs. Investments are only approved with a RIO of less than one year.

Responding to price pressures in medical technology The Situation Following the global crisis of 2008, many European countries reduced their healthcare budgets. In consequence the medical devices sector was confronted with severe pressure on their market prices. The procurement director of a Nordic company active in this sector decided to set up a war room in their Dutch subsidiary in order to determine which actions could be set up to identify cost saving opportunities. The Solution Given the lack of procurement maturity within the company, a WIL Group member provided them with an experienced purchase manager in order to coordinate the different initiativesThe expert was responsible for: Enhancing the overall efficiency of the procurement departments Re-negotiating the conditions with several part manufacturers around the globe The Result The Interim Manager realised important cost savings with several part manufacturers. He also implemented new procurement procedures within several plants of the group.

Addressing organisational issues folloing IT change The Situation The Belgian manufacturing plant of a Japanese pharmaceutical company was facing supply chain organisational problems after the global implementation of SAP/APOThe company needed to attract SAP/APO expertise in order to improve the organisation of the production planning The Solution A supply chain specialist with extensive SAP/APO/PPDS experience in healthcare was put in place by a WIL Group memberThe expert was responsible for: The day to day production planning The streamlining of the supply chain processes The coaching and training of the supply chain team members The Result The in-house expertise of the PPDS module was brought up to speed. The streamlining of the processes resulted in: A significant decrease in inventory levels Optimisation of batch sizes and lead times Better utilisation of the existing plant capacity

Implementing a global procurement system The Situation The procurement system was piloted through a live test in the USA, and a decision was taken to deploy it a worldwide basis In order to respect the timeline, the client needed additional management forces. The Solution A WIL Group member put in place a seasoned Interim Manager with strong expertise in purchasing Ability to manage a large purchasing organization Strong leadership The manager built a “Deployment kit” to be used in each country. He designed the plan and distributed the tasks between his team. He exercised a tight control in order recover immediately in case of deviation. The Result The system was installed in the countries assigned to the manager according to plan The timing objectives where achieved and the deployment approach/process was later used for other areas.

Restructuring an acquired company for a global diagnostics company The Situation A French diagnostics company has acquired the Dutch subsidiary of an US Group. A rationalization program has to be conducted between three sites in Holland, France and China – the closure of the Dutch factory was scheduled at the end of this rationalization program (in two to three years’ time). The Solution The client asked a WIL Group member to put in place a Dutch senior Interim Manager, mainly to: Be the General Manager of the subsidiary and impulse a strong management to improve quality and productivity Head the project team in charge of the technical rationalization Prepare and negotiate the closure in medium term Manage the various transfer operations The Result Over 12 months, the first phase of the mission was conducted and the plan defined and negotiated. Implementation could be managed during the second year.