Each day, industrial machinery and capital goods executives face mounting challenges in markets around the world—challenges posed by continuing globalization and by lower-cost competitors with strong relationships in the emerging economies that are so critical for profitable growth.

Over the last five years, regulatory compliance for emission control has increased the cost and complexity of bringing new products to market. Proposed new regulations have the potential to change this but would mean significant shifts in roles for OEMs, suppliers and customers—and therefore new opportunities to “win” or “lose.” Future product and technology innovations, such as hybridization and electrification, also pose a potentially disruptive opportunity and challenge to both incumbents and new players. And these challenges are further compounded by the volatility in product demand driven by the key driver of machinery buying - the commodity markets.

To drive continued profitable growth, industrial machinery and capital goods companies must take action now. Companies must balance the drive to reduce product costs through global platforms with the need to develop unique product designs that can penetrate local markets and meet varying quality expectations and standards. Management must look to emerging markets for attractive customer/product segments, adjacencies and expansions, identify new sources of cost advantage and innovation, and find new ways to extract more value from operations. And all this must be done without disrupting service and delivery to customers. This requires a comprehensive strategy, with approaches that can be adapted to have impact in all geographies served.

AlixPartners — when it really matters

AlixPartners is ideally suited to serve the needs of the players in this industry – both manufacturers and suppliers. Our portfolio of services is tightly aligned with the current industry issues that need to be addressed:

• ROIC business improvement on global products or on business units
• Aftermarket EBITDA improvement programs
• Logistics and distribution cost reduction
• Manufacturing footprint optimization
• Four walls manufacturing and operational efficiency
• Warranty and quality management
• Product development optimization and technical cost reduction
• Global sourcing and category management
• Procurement capability development
• S&OP and working capital
• Growth and innovation strategy
• Pricing and sales force effectiveness
• Warranty optimization
• M&A post-merger integration
• Acquisition due diligence and business planning
• SG&A reduction/organizational streamlining programs
• IT effectiveness improvement