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Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)

A Strategic Plan to Revive Fuller Industries

With the help of: Kansas Manufacturing Solutions

About

Fuller Industries is a trusted 113-year-old manufacturer located in Great Bend, Kansas. The company manufactures a wide range of industrial, institutional and consumer chemical, plastic, and brush products. Fuller's customers achieve excellent product return on investment through labor savings, quality, and durability. 
 
Fuller Industries has four brands that represent their high-quality cost-effective cleaning products. The company has a 600,000 square foot manufacturing facility and employs 125 people that produce, sell, and distribute the finished products.  

The Challenge

Fuller Industries had executive turnover a few years ago, and a forward-thinking CEO was brought into assume the leadership role. However, the company was in financial distress, employee fraud existed, the company could not articulate a value proposition to their client base and prospects, and had a misaligned organizational structure. As the new CEO put it, the company was in a slow, but consistent, death spiral. For help, Fuller turned to Kansas Manufacturing Solutions (KMS), part of the MEP National Network™.

KMS was able to take a very complex set of challenges facing Fuller Industries and strategically and methodically create a plan that is understandable, measurable, prioritized, and ready to implement. The tactically driven plan provides Fuller Industries a roadmap to move from death spiral towards healthy, profitable, and sustainable growth.
— Mark Chalfant, CEO

MEP's Role

KMS conducted a thorough business viability review accessing their current state of business and a path to achieve an achievable future state, providing Fuller with a broad strategic plan. The definitive strategic planning process and methodology produced a three-year strategic plan for a return to health and profitability that was developed, presented, and approved by the Fuller Industries leadership and board.   Recommendations to recapitalize the company were accepted. A new mission and vision statement were developed. An organizational redesign was implemented, and the salesforce was rehabilitated. Fuller emerged from this project out of a death spiral with a plan and path for sustainable growth and success.
Created January 26, 2021, Updated July 12, 2021