Eric Hillenbrand is a Managing Director with AlixPartners' Enterprise Improvement Practice. He has over 25 years of experience in operations consulting and in line management, and has lead major programs to turnaround global operational performance, integrate acquisitions, create new ventures, and transform the performance of manufacturing, supply chain and procurement organizations.  He has extensive experience in the process, consumer products, and life sciences industries, and leads Practice efforts in the Energy and Chemicals sectors. 

At AlixPartners, Eric has:
 

• Led operational turnarounds at companies in the chemicals, consumer products and automotive industries, including the recent operational turnaround of a top 5 global petrochemicals company, which reduced the client’s fixed cost structure by over $700 MM in 18 months.
• Directed merger planning and integration programs for clients in the chemicals, industrial and consumer products industries, including the recent $16 B acquisition of a global specialty chemicals company.
• Advised Private Equity firms on potential acquisitions, conducted operational due diligence assessments and worked with portfolio companies to improve EBITDA performance.  On a recent assignment, Eric and his team increased EBITDA of a PE-owned consumer products company by 22% in 5 months.
• Conducted manufacturing footprint optimization, asset effectiveness and operational cost reduction programs for companies in the automotive, consumer products and chemicals industries, including a program that generated $120 MM in realized cost reductions for an automotive supplier in 12 months.
• Led transformational programs in global sourcing and supply chain management for clients in retail, consumer products, chemicals and other industries.

Prior to joining AlixPartners, Eric held line management positions at DuPont, where he was a Vice President, and at Fluor Corporation, where he was Vice President/General Manager of Fluor Global Sourcing and Supply. 

At DuPont, Eric was responsible for growing DuPont’s service-related revenues, expanding DuPont’s portfolio of third-party services, and advising businesses across DuPont on the development of new service concepts.  Service businesses now contribute over $200 MM in revenue to DuPont and enhance DuPont’s customer relationships in many businesses.

At Fluor, Eric was a founder and developer of TradeMC (now Fluor Global Sourcing and Supply), a venture of Fluor Corporation that provides global sourcing and logistics services for major construction projects worldwide.  Eric held operating roles as Vice President for Sourcing and Supplier Management, Vice President for Sales and Marketing, and General Manager, during the formation and growth of TradeMC to over $400 MM in annual trading volume.

Before TradeMC, Eric was a Vice President/Partner in A.T. Kearney's Operations Consulting Practice, with leadership roles in the firm’s practices in strategic sourcing and manufacturing operations improvement.  A sample of Eric's consulting engagements includes:
 

• Conducting a company-wide labor cost reduction program for an integrated steel manufacturer, identifying over $130 MM in annual labor cost savings and negotiating these improvements with the United Steel Workers.
• Leading a major strategic sourcing engagement addressing $800 million in raw material purchases for an integrated steel manufacturer, achieving $70 million in annual cost savings.
• Conducting a supply chain restructuring project for a high tech equipment manufacturer to outsource non-core manufacturing processes, reduce costs, improve customer responsiveness and reduce operating assets.
• Defining growth opportunities and priorities for a major chemicals manufacturer through value chain and service-based extensions and chemical operations outsourcing.

Prior to joining A.T. Kearney, Eric directed the environment, health and safety management consulting practice of Ernst & Young, advising major corporations on management of their global environmental programs, on transactions, and on related financial matters.  In addition, he has worked for Sobotka & Company, an economics and public policy consultancy, and for Science Applications, Inc. (SAIC), providing advisory services to the EPA, DOE and DOD on the development and implementation of major environmental programs under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

Eric received a Bachelor of Arts in biology, cum laude, from Princeton University and a Master of Science in environmental engineering from The George Washington University.