Navigating 2023: DPO&Co's 2023 Journey in Ops Excellence, BPO Agility, and Portfolio Advancements

In 2023, DPO&Co completed 39 projects with 25 PE clients, with ops improvement and buyside search carrying more weight than previous years. Our Business Process Outsourcing team is growing by leaps and bounds. And we celebrated the 1st anniversaries of Sanitary Solutions and Argo EMS ownership.

We invested significantly in our team to bolster capabilities and capacity, and we anticipate we will have a greater ability to take on more client work and accelerate critical growth levers in our own portfolio. Despite macroeconomic headwinds leading to a significant decrease in deal volumes, we flexed our agility and shifted our focus to post-close strategy and operational improvement projects. Our recruitment process for Analyst positions in 2024 attracted 164 applicants, and we will bring in 4 new Analysts over the course of the year in addition to summer interns. The investment in our new office space is already paying dividends, and we’d love to host you for a working session (or just a cup of coffee to say hello) next time you are in Chicago!

Our BPO teams in Asia and Colombia continued to demonstrate a diverse range of capabilities in financial and back-office-related support for our clients. We performed various tasks from performing cash proof analysis and bank reconciliation, optimizing AP/AR collections, developing lease price calculators, and managing listing and sale on eCommerce platforms.

In our investment portfolio, we celebrated the 1st?anniversaries of Sanitary Solutions and Argo EMS ownership. We made significant strides in building infrastructure; we’re currently implementing two ERP systems and planning a 3rd?. We moved into a new DC and are continuing to expand footprint, with one deal under LOI in our portfolio.

Select Q4 Projects Completed

Commercial Due Diligence and Voice of Customer (VoC) Studies

• F&B manufacturer of branded and private label desserts
• Full-service construction company
• Aftermarket truck & trailer parts manufacturer
• IT service & consulting company
• Traffic services business

Operational?Improvement Projects

• Prioritized strategic initiatives for large financial services company, evaluating multiple business models and operational processes
• Acted as Chief of Staff to the President of an industrial automation firm, working to drive strategic initiatives and optimize processes to build operations strategy
• Conducted financial analysis for a retail POP display provider to consider major strategic shift, delivering cost assessments and strategic recommendations
• Performed TAM analysis & developed organic growth strategies in 36 markets, while also re-negotiating purchasing terms with two major distributors for a security system integrator

Buyside Search

• Led add-on search process for an industrial automation company – performed customer and project diligence, and conducted VoC interviews for 2 targets
• Compiled a list of 92 potential targets in 8 key states for a utility contractor looking for add-ons with electrical & telecom service offerings
• Compiled a list of ~31k potential subcontractors and acquisition targets in the licensed security and fire alarm installation space for a security system integrator

• Developed a lease price calculator for a cleaning company, showing customizable lease options with gross profit and estimated breakeven points for each option
• Constructed 2024 Budget and Actuals report across 8 departments for a market research company
• Conducted financial analysis for a commercial cleaning company, which included AR/AP aging analysis and sales analysis by customer concentration
• Collaborated with CFO to develop a 13-week cash flow model and implement AR collection changes, resulting in 60% reduction in invoices >90 days within 7 months
• Resolved a 10-month bank reconciliation backlog for a PE-backed logistics company
• Performed cash proof analysis as a part of financial diligence on an industrial automation add-on to validate the cash recording process for the past 2 years
• Supported an HVAC distributor in managing a recently launched eCommerce channel, encompassing tasks such as platform setup, product listing, order processing, and customer support

• Celebrated first anniversary of ownership of Argo EMS on October 14th, Sanitary Solutions on November 17th, 2nd?anniversary of CCK on December 22nd
• Made several new hires for CCK Automations including VP of Ops, Director of Supply Chain, and VP of HR
• Relocated HQ and exited two facilities at Surplus City
• Relocated HQ and appointed new Head of Warehouse for Sanitary Solutions
• Continued to collaborate with the Strategy Consulting and BPO team to execute initiatives aimed at driving EBITDA for Portcos:

1. CCK Automations: implemented predictive tools and buying safeguards to reduce RM inventory, cleaned shop floor jobs to match customer orders to maintain go-forward ops hygiene, identified E&O inventory and developed preliminary plan for disposal
2. Surplus City: supported several initiatives such as buying opportunity grading, revenue forecast analysis, and building a proprietary model to identify a product’s technical specs based on its unique manufacturing code
3. Sanitary Solutions: initiated plans to expand to BPE products by hiring an SME and sourcing supplier quotes, optimized shipment processes by sourcing LTL integration partner for the new ERP system, started due diligence for a potential new distribution center in the Northeast

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