Challenge

Download the PDF.

 

A global cable systems manufacturer was struggling to translate a surge in customer orders into profitable growth. Supply chain disruptions and raw material shortages were contributing to manufacturing bottlenecks, resulting in long lead times and a 6–9 month order backlog.

These capacity constraints were limiting the company’s ability to take advantage of sustained industry tailwinds. As pressure grew, leaders lacked clarity on which products to prioritize and how to price them. The organization needed a comprehensive approach to bring lead times down while translating growth into profitability.

 

Discovery

We began with a rapid assessment to pinpoint the most significant value levers, evaluating pricing strategies as well as inventory and operations to unlock manufacturing capacity. Using our proprietary Square Root Costing to assess product portfolio complexity, the team identified unprofitable SKUs and evaluated pricing opportunities across customers and products, with input from the sales team.

Within the production system, we applied our Optimal Batch Size Equation to determine where longer runs and fewer setups would unlock capacity, partnering with schedulers and plant personnel to redesign production sequencing. The assessment included inventory diagnostics to quantify the impact of material shortages, analysis of operating data to identify bottlenecks across production lines, and shadowing supervisors to assess operator capabilities and identify root causes of production challenges.

 

Impact

We worked with plant and commercial teams to execute a robust profitability and throughput roadmap. This included identifying 540 unprofitable SKUs and developing pricing tools to help sales set margin-accretive prices by customer segment and anticipated demand. In parallel, we implemented the Optimal Batch Sizing tool to free up 1,800 production hours and created a new sequencing tool to reduce planned setup times. Industry best practices guided new inventory targets that improved material availability, while focused Kaizen events increased uptime across bottlenecked production lines. A strengthened system for management improved operator engagement and supervisory effectiveness.

Together, these changes delivered significant performance gains:

  • Production setup times fell by 68%.
  • Throughput increased by as much as 50% across production lines.
  • Monthly bookings doubled with 10% higher margins.
  • Annual EBITDA run rate increased by 12x.

 

 

Contact Our Experts

Stephen Wilson is a Managing Director at Innosight based in Dallas. swilson@innosight.com

 

 

Andrei Perumal is a Managing Director at Innosight based in Dallas. aperumal@innosight.com

 

 

Ernie Spence is a Managing Director at Innosight based in Dallas. espence@innosight.com