OEM-Driven Growth & Operating Model Transformation
Company: Izrek Auto Labels
Role: Management Consultant (External)
Duration: 2 years
Context: Automotive supply chain serving OEM customers
Key Customers: Toyota Motor Corporation, Ford Motor Company, Hyundai Motor Company
Scope: ERP enablement, organisational redesign, productivity and quality improvement
Context
Izrek Auto Labels was operating in a high-pressure OEM environment, supplying automotive customers with strict requirements on quality, delivery reliability, and cost discipline.
The company was growing by acquiring new OEM customers, but growth was primarily absorbed through headcount expansion, increasing complexity and weakening operational control.
The risk was clear:
growth without an operating model would not be sustainable under OEM expectations.
The Real Problem
The visible challenge was “support growth.”
The underlying problems were structural:
- New customers triggered automatic hiring, not productivity improvement
- Financial performance was monitored, but business metrics were not embedded into daily management
- Order handling relied on 8 customer representatives, creating handoffs, miscommunication, and missed deliveries
- Quality issues were addressed reactively, without structured root-cause resolution
- Systems and organisation were not designed to scale under OEM discipline
In short: growth was outpacing the operating model.
My Mandate & Authority
I was engaged as an external management consultant to support OEM-driven growth by:
- Redesigning the operating model to scale without proportional headcount growth
- Implementing ERP as a business enabler, not an IT exercise
- Embedding EBITDA and productivity metrics into management routines
- Building internal problem-solving capability through Lean Six Sigma
I worked directly with company leadership, acting as a sparring partner on operational, organisational, and financial decisions.
What I Did
1. Introduced business-level performance discipline
- Implemented EBITDA summary as a central management metric
- Introduced Turnover per FTE and Net Profit per FTE
- Shifted leadership focus from volume growth to profitable, controlled growth
2. Changed the growth logic
- Introduced a headcount freeze, except for clearly justified critical roles
- Challenged the assumption that new customers required proportional hiring
- Redirected effort toward process clarity and productivity improvement
Growth moved from people-driven to system-driven.
3. Re-designed order handling
- Re-engineered the customer interface and order management model
- Reduced customer representatives from 8 to 2 (with 1 backup)
- Eliminated redundant communication loops and unclear ownership
Delivery reliability improved while organisational complexity dropped.
4. ERP as an operating model enabler
- Supported ERP implementation aligned with the redesigned organisation
- Ensured systems reflected how work should flow, not legacy habits
- Improved visibility, coordination, and execution discipline across functions
5. Lean Six Sigma capability building
- Delivered Lean Six Sigma Green Belt training to 6 employees
- Each trainee worked on a real operational problem
One Green Belt project focused on quality control process improvement, delivering measurable results.
Results & Impact
Hard outcomes
- Defect rate reduced from ~5% to ~2% through structured quality improvement
- Order handling stabilised with 75% fewer customer representatives
- Growth managed without proportional headcount increase
- Net profit per FTE increased by ~30%, reflecting productivity and cost discipline
- Improved delivery reliability to OEM customers
Structural outcomes
- EBITDA and productivity metrics embedded into management routines
- Operating model aligned with OEM expectations
- ERP used as a growth enabler, not an administrative tool
- Internal problem-solving capability established
Key Insight
OEM-driven growth does not fail because of demand.
It fails when productivity, organisation, and decision logic do not scale with customer expectations.
By shifting Izrek from headcount-led growth to metric-driven, system-based execution, performance and control improved together.
Öner TANK 