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Cayenne Consulting helped identify the areas where focus would allow HKX to increase its share of an expanding market. We needed the discipline of planning Cayenne Consulting provides to do this."

John Elley, President
HKX
Seattle, WA

Manufacturing, Industrial & Aerospace Business Plan Development

Our experience with manufacturing and industrial ventures spans the following areas:

    
  • Manufacturing Facilities
  • Scientific Instrumentation
  • Aerospace
  • Enterprise Resource Planning
  • Supply Chain Management
  • Transportation & Logistics
  • Industrial Equipment Manufacturing
  • Paints & Coatings
  • Automation & Robotics
  • Construction & Building Materials
  • Mining
  • Oil & Gas Exploration / Extraction
  • Forestry & Agribusiness
  • Municipal Wastewater Treatment
  • Energy Production
  • Vehicle Production
  • Recycling Facilities

Manufacturing & Industrial Sector Consultants

Our team of manufacturing and industrial specialists includes the following consultants:

  Tom Dykstra, MBA, CFPIM - Principal Consultant

Tom has over thirty years of business experience in strategy development, software design, engineering management, sales, marketing, channel creation, consulting, business modeling, decision analysis, capital acquisition, and new venture start-ups.

He is the co-founder of two ERP software companies: Effective Management Systems (ERP for discrete manufacturers) and EMS Solutions (ERP for automatic merchandising companies). Effective Management Systems appeared on the Inc 500 twice (28 and 37), acquired venture funding, and was taken public.

Before founding Effective Management Systems, he was with the Data Systems Division of AO Smith Corporation, a Fortune 500 diversified manufacturer. He was responsible for all financial and HR systems used by the corporation and the service bureau customers. He also founded the firm's small business computer line of business and the IT consulting practice.

He currently serves on the board of directors of Synergex International, a software firm.

As an adjunct faculty member at Grand Canyon University and Arizona State University, he has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in strategy, supply chain / operations management, project management, information systems, statistics, business modeling, and decision analysis.

Tom has an MBA from the University of Chicago and a BA in Mathematics from Hope College. He is also a Certified Fellow of the American Production and Inventory Control Society.

  Jenifer Grant, MBA - Principal Consultant

Jenifer has been involved with finance, strategy, and marketing in a wide variety of roles and industries for over 15 years. In addition to third-party clients, she developed plans and implemented strategies for internal new businesses within IT and investment banking during the corporate phase of her career. Jenifer’s clients range from start-up through high middle market companies in fields including IT, software, green tech / renewable energy, telecom services, wireless, financial services, Internet/e-commerce, media/entertainment, healthcare products and wellness, consumer and industrial products, retail, mining and commodities, energy and tourism.

Prior to working as an independent consultant, Jenifer structured and managed transactions in global merchant banking and derivatives, and held strategic planning and management positions within investment banking and IT functions at Bankers Trust Company. Earlier, she worked in credit corporate finance at Manufacturers Hanover and portfolio strategy, equity and fixed income research at Kidder Peabody.

Jenifer has an MBA in Finance from Wharton and a BA in Economics from Columbia.

  Charles Krakoff, MBA - Principal Consultant

Charles brings over 20 years of experience in financial and strategic consulting, private equity, investment banking, privatization, market research and investment and trade strategy. His industry expertise includes internet/e-commerce, media, telecommunications, agribusiness, security services, industrial parks and energy. He has been an executive in and fund-raiser for several start-up companies, and has worked with over 20 other established and start-up businesses to develop business and revenue models, prepare business plans and investment memorandums, conduct valuations, carry out due diligence, and raise debt and equity finance.

Much of Charles’s career has focused on emerging markets in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Before joining Cayenne Consulting he worked for a $150-million Africa-focused private equity fund, managed a financial consulting and advisory unit for Standard Corporate & Merchant Bank in Johannesburg, and worked for six years as a senior associate with Abt Associates, a leading U.S. research and consulting firm. He has also worked for the World Bank as an advisor to national governments on business and investment climate issues, and has advised numerous U.S., European and South African corporations on cross-border investments and market entry and expansion strategies.

Charles earned his MBA in finance and international business from Columbia University and his BA in Anthropology from Reed College. He is fluent in French.

  Jimmy Lewin - Principal Consultant

Jimmy's background includes over 35 years in international, commercial and investment banking, and nearly a decade as the principal shareholder and CEO of a rapidly growing manufacturing and distribution business in California. Today, Jimmy splits his time between working with early stage technology entrepreneurs including National Science Foundation grantees and advising and consulting entrepreneurs on matters related to business planning, as well as capital markets and funding strategies.

During his 20 years at Security Pacific Bank, Jimmy served in a number of senior management positions in the U.S. and internationally. Applicable assignments included responsibility for the funding of all of the institution’s subsidiaries and affiliates domiciled outside of the U.S., general management of two overseas affiliates and general management of the bank’s California staff departments.

For two years, he served as President, Director and CEO of Guardian Bancorporation, Los Angeles, California. Jimmy has extensive senior management and Board of Director experience. He is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati where he earned a B.A. in Political Science.

  Malcolm McLelland, Ph.D. - Principal Consultant

Malcolm has over 24 years experience in financial modeling and econometric analysis gained in public accounting, commercial lending, and academic institutions. He has been engaged in such matters by firms in the manufacturing, processing, technology, real estate, and financial services industries, as well as by financial institutions and their regulatory agencies. His financial models have been used in financial planning and performance measurement, development of corporate governance and management control systems, merger and acquisition analysis and structuring, negotiating private debt and equity placements, capital (re)structuring and reorganization, business valuation, and commercial damages litigation consulting.

Malcolm's academic research focuses on how accounting information is used in equity markets, how managers make optimal financial reporting decisions, and how professional labor markets in accounting, finance, and information systems work. His research has been published in Review of Accounting & Finance and Managerial Finance, and he has written a number of monographs and articles included in professional publications and periodicals. Malcolm has taught a wide range of courses including financial accounting and analysis, managerial accounting and decision-making, corporate governance, asset pricing theory and business valuation at Michigan State University, University of Illinois at Chicago, Purdue University, and most recently at Indiana University.

Malcolm was graduated from Indiana University with a B.S. in 1981, and from Michigan State University with a Ph.D. in 1999.

  Harry Phillips, J.D. - Principal Consultant

Since 2004, Harry Phillips has worked closely with companies spanning the start-up through middle market stages in sectors including healthcare and medical devices, consumer products and services, high tech, financial services, energy, industrial products, telecommunications, retail, and automotive. With his assistance, his early stage clients have raised over $65 million in start-up and growth capital.

Before that, he developed business plans, financial models and investor presentations as a member of a team of leveraged buyout specialists at a $1.2 billion private equity firm. He played a key role in 20 transactions through which $9.5 billion in financing was raised to create a portfolio of companies whose aggregate annual sales exceeded $10 billion. He has worked closely with CEOs and CFOs of Fortune 500 companies, and played a significant role in managing a $4 billion a year, publicly traded auto parts manufacturer.

Previously, Harry was involved with investor relations, business development, marketing, finance and operations in a broad range of industries. His corporate management experience includes financial analysis, strategic planning, budgeting, marketing, and corporate communications.

Harry earned a B.A. from Harvard University and a J.D. from Pace University School of Law.

  Jim Pinyan, MBA - Principal Consultant

Jim brings over 25 years of general management, marketing, business development, and program management experience to Cayenne Consulting. He has hands on experience running start up companies and working with boards and investors on strategic planning and corporate development, as well as implementing operating plans. Prior to joining Cayenne, Jim was an operations consultant for a solar engineering company where he developed a new business plan focusing on strategic sourcing partnerships and customer diversification. He was the President and co-founder of Valutrax, a system integrator of wireless solutions for improving asset utilization of large defense contractors. He has held COO and VP of Sales and Marketing positions with Lightcross and InLight, two high-tech start-ups where he was responsible for quickly assessing the companies and establishing and implementing a new business direction.

Jim's public company experience includes key management positions at Raychem Corporation and Tyco Electronics in the areas of domestic and international marketing and engineering program management. He has successfully led joint venture projects and delivered rapid growth products in multiple business categories. He has operational experience with both in-house and outsourced manufacturing models. Jim began his career as an engineer with Bell Labs and has compiled 10 patents while working as an engineer and technical manager.

Jim earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, and an M.B.A. from Pepperdine University.

  Scott Pollov - Principal Consultant

Scott brings over 15 years of experience in planning, developing, financing, marketing, and managing entrepreneurial and real estate based ventures, both as a principal and as a consultant. He has managed several hundred strategic consulting engagements for companies in nearly every industry and stage of development. Before joining Cayenne, Scott was the co-founder and managing partner of BizPlanIt, a management consulting and capital advisory firm that assisted clients through the process of creating, financing, growing, and sustaining their business. Scott focused on pre-financing transaction preparation and positioning services, including market and competitive research, business planning services, strategic and growth planning, financial analysis and projections, investor presentation materials, recommendations on value enhancement, presentation coaching, advisory board membership, and the identification and development of strategic, marketing, and technology partners.

Scott has focused extensively on serving companies in the real estate development and finance industries, including master planned community, residential, and commercial developers; multifamily and commercial property investment companies; real estate private equity funds; and commercial and residential mortgage brokers/lenders. Scott has been active as a principal in a real estate investment firm, as well as in the funding of private money and commercial mortgage transactions.

Earlier, Scott worked at at McGladrey & Pullen, a national public accounting firm, where he specialized in financial statement audits for middle market manufacturing, distribution, and medical services companies. Scott holds a B.S. in Accounting and Entrepreneurship from the University of Arizona, and is an inductee in the University's Berger Entrepreneurship Program Hall of Fame for his role in developing BizPlanIt.

  Rick Tifone, MBA, CExP - Principal Consultant

Rick brings over 25 years of executive management, marketing, sales, consulting, and exit planning experience to Cayenne Consulting. He has hands-on experience running startup companies and working with CEOs on strategic planning, performance improvement, and process improvement. In addition to working on business plans, Rick works with the owners of B2B companies to help them increase the value of their business and plan for the single, most critically important financial event of their lives -- the transition out of their business. He has been working with companies involved with software development, IT services, real estate brokerage, commercial and residential real estate, executive recruiting, medical equipment, construction, manufacturing, and government sourcing.

As founder and CEO of Danet, Inc., a consulting and systems integration company providing solutions for the telecommunications industry, Rick managed the profitable growth of the company from one employee to over one hundred. He was recognized by the Pittsburgh Technology Council as the CEO of the fastest growing company in the $10M to $25M range. During his nine years at Danet, Rick guided the company through dramatic telecommunications market changes and a transition from a software company to a systems integration and consulting company. Rick conducted business throughout the U.S. and Canada, South America, Europe, and the Middle East.

Rick's previous public company experience includes positions at General Dynamics, Alcoa, Wang Laboratories, and Tandem Computers. Rick has also operated a residential real estate investment company. He brings a unique perspective from being both a professionally trained business coach and an experienced business leader who has started and grown successful businesses.

Rick's formal education includes a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science from the State University of New York at Potsdam and an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh’s Katz School of Business. Rick also holds a BEI Certified Exit Planner Designation.

  Principal Consultant, MBA

Our San Francisco consultant has over twenty years of experience as a management consultant. He specializes in working with San Francisco Bay Area / Silicon Valley companies seeking venture capital. He is the author of numerous business plans leading to successful multi-million dollar investments. His plans have been used to raise capital, to solve critical business problems, and to persuade investors, boards, and senior management to take action. His plans are effective because they are based upon thorough qualitative and quantitative analysis, yet are able to communicate complex ideas in a simple straightforward manner.

He has client experience in high tech, green tech / alternative energy, commercial real estate, construction materials, financial services, biotech, aerospace, manufacturing, hospitality, and service industries.

He earned his MBA from Harvard University and his BA in Biochemistry from Brown University.

  Vic Singh, MBA - Principal Consultant

Vic is a co-founder and VP of business development at a mobile software startup. He brings over ten years of experience in the software sector as a consultant, investor and manager. His areas of expertise include business development, product and project management, marketing, strategy, sales, financial planning and capital raising for technology startups.

Previously, Vic was a venture capitalist with RRE Ventures, an early stage venture firm with $850MM under management. At RRE, he focused on investments in cleantech, consumer internet, digital media and mobility. He led the firm's investment in Adaptive Blue, a semantic web startup and closed several deals including Clear, Flipswap, M-Via, Mobo, Payfone and Tendril.

Before RRE, Vic was a software consultant at Andersen and PwC and helped launch a business at Unisys that grew from a cost center to $70MM by selling and implementing ocean cargo tracking systems leveraging telecom infrastructure. He has implemented software solutions for major corporations including Bose, MetLife, LG, Sara Lee and Unilever and has provided guidance to several startups including Hopstop, Exergen, Organic Motion and Remote Reality. He also served as a product manager for Metiom, a venture backed provider of e-marketplaces.

Vic holds a BSE in Mechanical Engineering with minors in Economics and Mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania where he was awarded the National Science Foundation Fellowship and an MBA from Columbia Business School where he was a Robert Toigo Foundation Fellow, an InSITE Fellow and Co-President of the Venture Capital and Private Equity Club.

Manufacturing & Industrial Sector Experience

Our experience in various manufacturing and industrial-related fields, either as consultants, entrepreneurs, or employees in the industry, includes the following:

  • Hydraulic Systems: Developed a business plan for HKX, the leading provider of hydraulic system kits for the installation and use of attachments on excavators. As a follow-on project, developed a marketing plan and provided advisory services in support of the company's mergers and acquisitions strategy. "Cayenne Consulting helped identify the areas where focus would allow HKX to increase its share of an expanding market," said John Elley, President of HKX. "We needed the discipline of planning Cayenne Consulting provides to do this."
  • Data Storage Devices: Prepared a business plan and three-year financial projection for a leading provider of data storage products and services. The Company serves high-growth storage segments such as iSCSI, Storage Area Network (SAN), Network-Attached Storage (NAS), Direct Access Storage (DAS) and Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID). Their services include installation, capacity planning, disaster recovery and data migration.
  • Steel Fabricator: Developed a business plan and financial model used by a group of investors to raise more than $4,500,000 in debt and equity to purchase a wire mill in Butler PA. The president of the company wrote "Our team hired [Cayenne] to guide us through the process of purchasing a large manufacturing facility. Specifically, [the consultant] developed the financial model and business plan, worked with banks and the SBA to secure debt financing, negotiated with the seller, lead and managed the due diligence process and guided us through the twists and turns that happen in a deal as complex as this one. [He] played a major role in the success of our acquisition and I would highly recommend him to anyone looking to start a business or make a major acquisition."
  • Air Cargo Container Manufacturer: Developed the business plan, financial forecast, and investor presentation for Airtek Plastics, a manufacturer of high strength, low cost air cargo containers. The plan was selected as Business Plan of the Month by the Los Angeles Venture Association (LAVA). With the CEO, presented the plan at the LAVA meeting to venture capital groups and angel investors.
  • Pay Telephone Manufacturer: Developed the business plan and financial forecast for Universal Pay Phones, which owned and operated a chain of pay telephones throughout southern California and Nevada. Brian Strikell, CEO, remarked "I originally hired [consultant] to develop a business plan so I could sell the business. In the course of learning our business, he identified an accounting weakness. I then hired him to oversee development of an automated revenue verification system that led to our improving net income by over 20 percent. This helped me get a much better price for the company."
  • Aviation Electronics: Provided strategic planning facilitation and ongoing executive coaching to the management team of Alto Aviation, the leading provider of audio entertainment systems for private aircraft. "In the time we have worked together, our business has grown and evolved and the number of topics that [the consultant] has coached us on is too long to enumerate," said Don Hamilton, President. "Our weekly phone meetings have helped us grow as leaders and have improved our performance. We have benefited greatly from the advice and feedback he provides. Most importantly, he challenges us to look at things differently which has helped spur our growth."
  • Automated Teller Machine Manufacturer: Created business plan and financial model for NRS Financial Systems, whose automated financial system performs several financial services, including check cashing, deposits, withdrawals, and overseas transfers, and also dispenses money orders and stamps. Mike Marcinko, CEO, stated that "[consultant] got up to speed on our industry very quickly and helped us develop the tools and documents we needed to present ourselves effectively to investors."
  • Computer Manufacturing: Created a business plan for a computer manufacturing and hardware/software company providing low-cost computers to communities that cannot afford conventional computer brands.
  • Metal Conduit Fabricator: Developed a financial model and executive summary for an Arizona-based metal fabricator that services electrical distributors and contractors in the Southwest.
  • Textile Industry Information Services: Developed the business plan, financial forecast, and investor presentation for a B2B startup focused on becoming the "trusted source" in the textile industry. The company provided innovative services including a physical swatch escrow and certified textile analyses.
  • Electronics Manufacturer: Facilitated the development of a strategic plan and coached the business owners through the implementation of the plan. Cayenne also developed an investor presentation used to solicit private investors and is currently coaching the management through a period of rapid growth.
  • Parcel Delivery Equipment: Prepared a business plan and investor presentation for eShip-4u, an Israel-based developer of parcel delivery equipment. eShip's Automatic Delivery Machine (ADM) network is a groundbreaking solution for managing the parcel delivery supply chain in the last mile, translating into increased efficiency and profits for global shipping vendors and greater convenience for their residential customers. eShip, one of Cayenne's several repeat clients, was acquired by Siemens. "Thanks for the quick response!" said Nir Kinory, COO and Executive Vice President. "You keep breaking your own records!"
  • Aerospace: Held positions of General Manager and Business Development Director for a firm providing leading-edge testing and engineering services. Led key DoD pursuit capture effort for advanced satellite threat simulation system.
  • Manufacturing ERP System: Led the development of an enterprise planning and management system used by over 1,000 manufacturing firms. This system consistently delivered increased plant throughput and reduced lead times.
  • Petroleum Distribution: Conducted operational and financial due diligence of the Mongolian national oil distribution company, and prepared a restructuring plan and investment memorandum for sale of the company through open international tender.
  • Rail & Shipping Infrastructure: Developed a restructuring strategy and business plans for divestment of non-core operations for CFM, the Mozambique national railway and ports company.
  • Mining: Advised a major U.S. fund management company on investment opportunities and risk mitigation strategies in the mining industry in Indonesia.
  • Equipment Manufacturing: Developed an Indian market expansion and acquisition strategy for a U.S. industrial equipment manufacturing company.
  • IT Equipment: Created a new marketing and sales strategy in Saudi Arabia for a large U.S. vendor of IT equipment and services.
  • Fluid Power Components: Prepared a Southeast Asian regional marketing strategy for a large U.S. producer of fluid power components.
  • Cement Production: Carried out a market feasibility study and led investment development efforts for a $700 million greenfield cement project in Taiwan.

Note: Some of the activities noted on these pages may reflect experience gained by a consultant prior to his or her association with Cayenne Consulting LLC. Cayenne Consulting does not offer any services that require licensing or registration with the NASD or other federal or state authorities.

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