Santa Monica Seafood is a successful family owned and run business that grew to become a significant player. But with growth comes complexity and eventually the business hit a wall, unable to see how to break through to the next level.
With the help of Proudfoot, in a matter of months this 80-year-old company was able to modernize its operations and transform entrenched behaviors to achieve record-breaking performance.
Prior to engaging Proudfoot, Santa Monica Seafood knew it wanted to double the size of its business and to do that it needed to transform business practices handed down over generations, implement new ways of working to enable rapid growth.
As chief executive Roger O’Brien explains, “Systems, processes, and management controls had not kept pace with growth. We tried adding more and more people, thinking that would be the solution but it wasn’t. We had to act fast and stop just ‘throwing bodies’ at our growth problem.”
Proudfoot used our Aerial Mapping™ process to look at the business from end-to-end, and examined all the interfaces of people, processes, and technology to pinpoint opportunities for improvement. Then, working with O’Brien and his senior leadership team, Proudfoot co-created and secured agreement for an action plan that would transform the business.
During the implementation, Proudfoot took great care and attention to bring people on board. “You can’t break through performance barriers without willing people. It’s not enough for them to see the change you want, they have to want the change you see,” explains the project’s engagement manager Julia Malasaga.
Proudfoot engaged the enthusiasm of Santa Monica’s managers and supervisors and showed them how to work smarter and achieve results they didn’t know they were capable of.
Improvements from the project far exceeded expectations. Productivity went up 25 percent, twice the level first forecast. Benefits across the rest of the organization were just as impressive:
|
|
“Wherever you look, the numbers are up and stable, whether it’s sales, margin, profitability… everywhere. Savings aside, we also improved culture and morale.” - CEO, Roger O’Brien
Within a matter of months, Santa Monica Seafood had caught up with growth instead of finding itself overwhelmed by it. The company is living proof of what can happen when people unite and rise to a latent transformation challenge.
Download the full Santa Monica Seafood Success Story to learn how Proudfoot helped this 80-year-old family-run food wholesaler transform their operations and achieve record-breaking performance.
