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Precision Manufacturing · PE Portfolio
An 8-Area Operational Reset for a Declining PE Portfolio Company
When declining EBITDA and a growing sales backlog put this portfolio company on the sponsor's radar, the question wasn't whether the plant had a labor problem — it was where, and how much it was costing.
Client: PE-Backed Precision Manufacturer · name withheld
8
Departments restructured with new crewing models & KPIs
17
Related portfolio companies engaged since
Situation
- Declining EBITDA and a widening sales backlog triggered the engagement, sponsored by the PE portfolio operations team.
- Eight operational areas were in scope: Saw Cutting, Shipping, Deburr, Tooling, Matsuura, Makino, Quality, and organizational structure.
- Saw Cutting was running at just 23% machine utilization, with three staff covering what data showed was 1.6 FTE of actual work.
- The Quality department carried 14 inspectors, with rework constantly interrupting flow and no KPIs in place to manage it.
Approach
- Conducted 10–20 direct observations per activity over six weeks, setting rate expectations from observed best practice rather than assumption.
- Built volume-based crewing models and KPIs for all eight areas, giving management a repeatable way to size labor to demand.
- Re-engineered processes through structured whiteboarding sessions — improvements that required no capital investment.
- Restructured supervisor accountability and span of control across every department in scope.
Results
- Right-sized crewing across the plant: Saw Cutting 3→2, Shipping 5→3, Deburr 13→10, Tooling 7.5→4.5, Matsuura 19→16, Makino 37→31, Quality 14→11.
- KPIs designed and installed across all eight departments, giving management ongoing visibility the plant never had before.
- A full impact roadmap delivered with annualized benefit estimates, giving the PE sponsor a clear, quantified path forward.
- Part of a broader sponsor relationship that has since engaged Trigaja across 17 portfolio companies.
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