“We engage Compello Partners for diligence and post-close integrations. They understand the PE playbook and focus early on the critical areas that impact investment decisions.”
Partner, Mid-Market Private Equity Firm ($1B AUM)
Private EquityWe find the fastest EBITDA and cash levers in a portfolio company, then stay on the floor to capture them, from Lean and sourcing to inventory and footprint, all on a 100-day plan.
Private equity operations consulting improves how a portfolio company buys, makes, stores and ships, so the value creation plan shows up as EBITDA and cash. We baseline how process and data really flow, size the value and risk in each workstream, and go after the fastest levers first.
Starting EBITDA
Procurement
Process efficiency
Quality
Footprint and capacity
Logistics and freight
Target EBITDA
Cash released
Inventory and working capital
Six practices that drive operational value creation in private equity portfolio companies. Each one starts from a baseline of how the business really runs and ends with gains the team can keep.
We map how work actually flows, strip out the waste and variation, and give every process a clear owner. Then we coach the team to keep improving after we leave.
Process and workflow mapping
Labor variability and cost standards
Quality: scrap, yield, returns and warranty
We put spend back under control: competitive RFPs, renegotiated agreements, make-or-buy decisions and an end to maverick spend, including sourcing changes when tariffs move.
Supplier RFPs and agreements
Make-or-buy analysis
Maverick spend and category standardization
Before new capex goes out the door, we find the capacity already in the plant: utilization, downtime and maintenance reliability. Then we consolidate sites where it makes room for growth and add-ons.
Utilization, downtime and uptime
Capex and maintenance reliability
Facility consolidation and moves
We design the network and the planning process around the investment thesis: where to source, make and stock, and an S&OP rhythm that keeps demand, supply and finance on one plan.
Network and footprint design
S&OP and SIOP planning
Tariff and supplier risk mitigation
Inventory is one of the quickest sources of cash in a portfolio company. We segment it, set turns and service-level targets and fix reserves, releasing cash without hurting deliveries.
Turns and segmentation
Reserves and service levels
Demand forecasting and planning
We tune the warehouse network, product placement and freight, and bring in the systems that make it run, from warehouse management rollouts to automated back-office flows.
Network, footprint and placement
Freight and logistics cost
WMS implementation and automation
Every engagement runs the same six steps. We start from how work really flows today, design a simpler way with clear owners, then scale it with a 100-day execution plan and make sure it holds.
Baseline how process and data really flow, and size value and risk by workstream.
Design improvements with the people who do the work, built for adoption.
Rank the levers by value, speed and risk, fastest EBITDA and cash first.
A 100-day execution plan with an owner and a measure for every action.
Senior operators on the floor alongside your team, not a report on a shelf.
Owners, standards and a continuous improvement routine your team runs.
Order
Plan
Make
Ship
Invoice
Illustrative view
Most operations work starts with a specific moment in the hold. Pick the one in front of you, and we’ll size the levers behind it.
“Where is the operational upside, and what’s at risk?”
We review the supply chain, inventory, sourcing and Lean maturity of the target and size the levers by workstream, so the deal team can price the upside and the plan starts on Day 1.
Supply chain, Lean maturity and SIOP review
Inventory, COGS and sourcing baseline
Value and risk sized by workstream
“How do we combine sites, teams and suppliers without losing customers?”
We plan and run the operational side of the integration: facility moves, shared services and TSA planning, with every workstream governed toward the synergy case.
Facility moves and site consolidation
Shared services and supplier consolidation
An integration office across every workstream
“How much of this cost increase can we take back?”
We rework the sourcing plan: alternative suppliers and countries, renegotiated agreements and make-or-buy decisions, so a cost shock doesn’t become the new baseline.
Tariff exposure mapped across suppliers
Supplier RFPs and renegotiation
Make-or-buy and maverick spend review
“Why are we carrying this much stock?”
We segment inventory, reset reserves and service levels, and fix the planning process behind them, releasing cash without hurting deliveries.
Inventory segmentation and turns targets
S&OP and SIOP planning cadence
Reserves and service-level reset
“Do we need a new building, or a better one?”
Before new capex, we find the capacity already there in utilization, downtime and flow, then consolidate the footprint where it makes room for growth and add-ons.
Utilization and downtime analysis
Lean flow and layout redesign
Footprint consolidation and facility moves
“Will buyers believe the margin improvement?”
We make the gains visible and defensible: documented processes, a continuous improvement routine the team runs itself, and the numbers behind every improvement.
Pre-exit operations review
Lean continuous improvement program
Evidence behind every margin claim
“We engage Compello Partners for diligence and post-close integrations. They understand the PE playbook and focus early on the critical areas that impact investment decisions.”
Partner, Mid-Market Private Equity Firm ($1B AUM)
Private Equity“Compello isn’t a typical consulting group. They take the ‘Partner’ title seriously… they position us for our best future.”
CFO, $250M PE-Backed Financial Services Firm
Financial Services“Since partnering with Compello, I don’t hear about IT problems anymore. Their approach has streamlined our operations, saving us time and money.”
CFO, Healthcare Provider
Healthcare
Sourcing, supply chain and Lean work for a sporting goods manufacturer: global sourcing across nine sites, throughput cut to 3–5 days and a facility consolidation that added 40% capacity.
Read the case study →
Diligence also found a path to double inventory turns, from 6 to 12. We also led the client’s post-acquisition integration: 27 teams on a $21M program to bring in a $250M division.
Read the case study →
A new warehouse management system went live in three months for an aftermarket distributor, and Microsoft 365 automation cut the AP and AR workload by about 80%.
Read the case study →Something we haven’t covered? A partner can answer it on a short call.
Private equity operations consulting improves how a portfolio company buys, makes, stores and ships what it sells, so the value creation plan shows up in EBITDA and cash. It covers Lean process improvement, supply chain and S&OP, sourcing and procurement, inventory, manufacturing footprint, and warehouse and logistics.
What sets PE work apart is the clock. The work starts from a baseline with value and risk sized by workstream, runs on a 100-day plan, and is reported in the terms a sponsor uses: margin, working capital and the exit story.
Strategy consulting decides where a company should compete. Operations consulting changes how it runs day to day: the process on the shop floor, the supplier contract, the inventory policy, the warehouse layout.
Our team is made up of senior operators who stay through execution. We don’t hand over a deck and leave; we work alongside management until each improvement is in place and measured.
We implement. Every engagement runs from Assess, Ideate, Prioritize and Plan through to Execute and Sustain, and most of the effort goes into the last two steps.
For a sporting goods manufacturer, that meant running the Lean transformation that cut throughput to 3–5 days and released about $2.6M of inventory in five months, alongside the sourcing and footprint work.
Sustain is a step of its own. Each improved process gets a clear owner, documented standards and simple measures the team reviews, and we build a continuous improvement routine your people run themselves.
If the company needs an operations leader in the seat while the work lands, a fractional VP Ops can step in. Gains that are documented and measured also hold up better in a buyer’s diligence at exit.
Many operational fixes depend on systems: a warehouse management system, inventory controls in the ERP, automated payables. Because we also run ERP, AI and IT work for portfolio companies, the process and the system are designed together rather than handed between vendors.
For one aftermarket distributor, a new WMS went live in three months and cut shipping errors by 34%, and Microsoft 365 automation took about 80% of the manual work out of AP and AR. See our ERP services and AI consulting.
Before close, operations due diligence answers the deal team’s questions: is the supply chain efficient, are inventory and COGS optimized, and where can automation and AI cut cost? It’s one of the four lenses in our M&A IT due diligence.
After close, those findings become the baseline for the improvement work. In one diligence, the operations review identified about $19.8M in staff savings and a path to double inventory turns, and we went on to lead the post-acquisition integration.
Everything your private equity firm needs to create value with IT, from diligence to exit.
IT due diligence, carve-outs and TSAs, merger and add-on integration, and the PMO to run it.
Fractional and interim CIO, CTO, CISO and VP Ops.
Managed cybersecurity (MDR, SOC and vCISO), pen testing and compliance readiness.
Lean, supply chain and sourcing work that lifts EBITDA.
Bring Shadow AI under control with portfolio-wide policy, then build the AI use cases that pay off.
Help desk, NOC and Microsoft 365 on one portfolio standard.
NetSuite implementation, managed support and health checks.
Start with an operations assessment: a senior-led baseline of process and data flow, with value and risk sized by workstream and a 100-day plan to capture it.
