Case #413

$60 million baby changing-station and playground-equipment manufacturer

This Midwest-based public company with six diverse subsidiaries manufactures baby changing stations, indoor and outdoor playgrounds, waterpark interactive equipment, foam objects and outdoor playground surface materials.

Morris-Anderson & Associates was brought into assess the problems, and we found plenty in this ill-conceived roll-up. Besides fighting a sharp sales decline, the company was dealing with insufficient capital, excess real estate and a poorly planned system implementation.

Our crew made multiple recommendations to management—we suggested a reorganization of the management team, divestiture of several divisions, consolidation and/or sale of selected real estate, and a simplification and consolidation of the computer systems.

The company has since implemented many of our recommendations on their own.