Start-up Transition to Sustaining Business

While the headlines may be full of news about downsizing and uncertainty for large manufacturing corporations, small business continues to demonstrate flexibility and innovation that is driving much of today's growth. Small manufacturing firms with less than 20 employees account for 70 percent of all US manufacturing, and there was a 67 percent increase in start-ups between 2000 and 2005. As these small technology-based companies grow and flourish, many find their business methods and controls cannot be scaled up, where just adding employees creates more problems than revenue. This expert associate not only implemented new internal systems to manage sharp increases in orders, but also retained the foundation of flexibility and innovation that propels a high-tech start-up to success. While many of the challenges were overcome through business process creation and optimization, the most difficult barriers tend to be that of employee culture being brought through the transition. It's often helpful to leverage outside expertise to help the organization focus on common goals and hear an objective viewpoint on change management.

This associate joined a start-up business unit of a major capital equipment producer that was focused on automation for the electronics industry. At the time, the group had 12 employees that performed minor customization of a standard product to suit specific customer needs. It quickly became apparent that the business model of a small, nimble business unit that was customer focused was at odds with the goals of the larger parent company that produced one solution for many customers. Being forced to use the business processes and systems of the standard business was the "ball and chain" that inhibited rapid growth of the start-up. This associate was put into several key roles in the organization to drive change that was lock-step with increases in growth to minimize risk. Some of the early changes included revising the documentation process for customized solutions, the creation of quotation tools and configurators, mapping out the quote-to-order process several times as the organization grew, building a knowledge database, dedicated project management, and gradually specializing job functions.

With the introduction of a new automation platform, the business unit soon took on a unique and positive identity within the larger company. This associate was the key knowledge expert to interface with outside groups and customers, while ensuring the organization processes were in-line with market growth and overall company objectives. With this highly-engineered technology business, growth was gaited by a few key people and their skills and knowledge. This expert consultant was able to diplomatically work with the key individuals and others to "spread the knowledge" while minimizing the cultural impact of change. Over the course of 10 years, the business unit grew to 48 people and had self-sustaining systems to handle further expansion.

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