Overachieving in Merger Integration – Accelerating Results by Managing the Critical Few Areas of the Combined Business BackgroundBackground Our client, the largest manufacture of specialty engineered cements in the world, services the building and construction trade with its superior quality product line. An opportunity to grow the business externally arose in 2000, with the acquisition of the assets of the world’s largest manufacture of floor and tile adhesives, and floor care products. This acquisition was based on the criteria that synergies in speed to market,manufacturing efficiency, distribution excellence, and an enhanced channel strategy could be devised to serve all potential customers – from the master craftsman to the do it yourself homeowner in the “big Box”. The acquisition was completed, with the composite enterprise over double the product line & manufacturing population, significant capacity increase, and a four fold increase in the size of the sales & marketing organization. SPG’s Consulting AssignmentSPG’s Consulting Assignment SPG was selected by the management to design and implement a program to accelerate the expected benefits of the union of these two great firms. We were selected because we brought a custom process, plan and solution set to the table; one which was deep in flexibility, yet rich in discipline and a track record of prior successes. Our charge was to integrate for the best solutions for customers, and build the base for the newly formed Leadership Team. SPG - Business Analysis FindingsSPG - Business Analysis Findings SPG Business Analysis defined opportunities to:  Increase sales revenues through enhanced channel strategies, distribution and incentives.  Increase operating margins through consolidation or elimination of services.  Improve overall business effectiveness by implementing a new organization governance and decision-making processes.  Improve the accuracy and speed of work provided by support functions; primarily the R&D Lab and Information Technology.  Reevaluate the vendor-supplier relationships and align with a new, go-to-market strategy.  Cross-train the entire sales team. Results and Quantitative BenefitsResults and Quantitative Benefits The combined efforts of SPG consultants and client professionals achieved:  97% retention of people across professional salaried and union affiliated  Exceeding the targeted sales revenue increase by 12%, with improvement in operating margins of almost 15%.  A new strategy – a fully integrated product and service offering that provides the complete “Flooring Solution”  Consolidation / elimination of redundant or duplication of services, with annualized savings of $3.1 M in direct and indirect costs  Record-setting volumes of both dry and liquid product shipped to distributors and end-use customers - market share beats expectations  A set of fully integrated and functional systems & business processes that address, for example:  Sales Forecasting and Reporting  Product Training & Certification  Incentives & Rebates  Distribution excellence  Customer Service performance  Technical Support  Schrudder Performance Group, LLC. Proprietary Information Benefits: Findings: Issues: $’s$’s