Overview
Participants in the industrials services market are faced with a range of diverse issues in a rapidly changing environment. From underlying market growth challenges to evolving competitive landscapes to disruptive service offerings or technologies, industrial services players are being forced to evaluate their current market positions and strategies for positioning themselves in the future.
L.E.K. helps companies across industrial services end markets and across the value chain address these issues by delivering insightful and actionable recommendations with meaningful results. We are committed to client success by leveraging its service line and industry expertise.
How we help
We advise corporate and private equity clients on their value creation and strategy development, transaction support, and strategy activation needs across a wide spectrum of industrial services:
- Environmental services
- Equipment rental services
- Facilities services
- Maintenance, repair and overhaul services
- Testing, inspection and certification services
Examples of our work
We have helped a wide range of companies across service end markets address their most pressing strategic issues, drive profitable growth and realize outsized returns.
- Growth strategy and sales force effectiveness: A janitorial service provider sought L.E.K.’s help in evolving into an integrated facilities solutions provider and optimizing its sales force. As a result of our work, our client was able to quickly generate significant sales progress while setting the foundation for growth. Account managers sharpened their focus on finding new opportunities for core and ancillary services, leading to sales pipeline growth of more than 75% within three months of implementing changes. The project also led to increased senior management focus and improved sales discipline and coordination overall for the group.
- Post-merger integration and productivity improvement: L.E.K.’s client, a large industrial cleaning services company, sought to combine itself with a newly acquired competitor to create the top player in the North American market. We identified a range of synergies/cost savings of ~$4.7 million to $8.5 million. The client received a clear and detailed understanding of the productivity improvements, including an optimized field management organization that reduced resources, decreased nonlabor costs, and aligned the functional, geographical and end-customer needs of the company. We developed a detailed integration plan and timetable to execute and track the successful completion of these recommendations.
- Acquisition growth strategy: A leading environmental services and engineering firm hired L.E.K. to evaluate potential strategic acquisition opportunities. Our analysis clearly demonstrated that an acquisition was necessary for the client to maintain its relative competitive position in the marketplace, and we provided the advantages and disadvantages of the two most-promising acquisition candidates.
- Market opportunity assessment: On behalf of a private equity firm focused on distressed assets, L.E.K. evaluated the impact of the oil price drop on the crane rental market in the oil sands in Alberta, Canada. We assessed the change in utilization of cranes by production stage to date, as well as the market’s future expectations for crane utilization. In addition, market perspectives on trade-offs between crane ownership and rental in an environment of falling oil prices were also assessed. The client was able to make a well-informed decision regarding a potential investment based on our research and recommendation.
- Vendor due diligence: A leading global provider of testing, inspection and certification services was seeking a change in ownership. L.E.K. conducted a vendor due diligence ― assessing the market and competitive landscape ― and validated management’s business plan. Our work helped support a successful IPO for the client.
