Case study: TIR
Crisis leadership case study: the TIR LED product recovery
This crisis leadership case study covers a new LED business unit at TIR. Approximately $3 million of LED product destined for client locations was failing, and installers refused to install it. My team completed the recovery in 30 days against a 45-day deadline.
On this page
- The challenge: failing LED product and a 45-day deadline
- The mission: turn the situation around on a compressed schedule
- The approach: six steps from scattered inventory to working sites
- The result: recovery in 30 days
- The business impact of the recovery
- From crisis to transformation: the BP contract and what followed
- What this crisis leadership case study demonstrates
- Where this work fits today
- Frequently asked questions
The challenge: failing LED product and a 45-day deadline
TIR was a well-established lighting company at an important moment in its history. The lighting industry was beginning to move from traditional lighting technologies to LED. The company was establishing a new business unit to pursue that market.
Then the company's largest opportunity became its biggest crisis. The company CEO had made an initial commitment to its biggest customer. After that, approximately $3 million worth of LED lighting products destined for client locations were failing. The installers refused to install the product.
The failed inventory was distributed across multiple warehouses throughout the United States. The team did not know exactly where all of it was. Nor did it know what was causing the failures or how to fix the product.
The customer commitment remained. The deadline was 45 days. The mandate was effectively this: Find it. Diagnose it. Fix it. Remanufacture it. Train the installers. Get it installed. Make it work.
The mission: turn the situation around on a compressed schedule
I was brought in as one of the leaders of the new business unit. My responsibility was helping turn the situation around.
The task spanned engineering, manufacturing, logistics and people. It required coordinating all of the following at the same time:
- Inventory recovery across multiple US locations
- Product failure analysis
- Engineering and product redesign
- Remanufacturing
- Quality control and testing
- Logistics and shipping
- Installer retraining
- Site identification and coordination
- Field installation
- Customer communication
- Team recruitment and deployment
- A highly compressed implementation schedule
The approach: six steps from scattered inventory to working sites
There was no time to build the perfect plan. We needed a plan that could work, and we needed to execute it immediately. Six steps carried the recovery.
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Find the product
The first challenge was establishing control over the inventory. Product was sitting in warehouses across the United States, which created a fragmented supply and logistics problem. We identified the inventory and established what was available and where it was located. We then began coordinating the movement of product into the recovery process.
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Understand why it was failing
New teams in engineering, operations and manufacturing had to work together to understand the failure. From there they decided what needed to change and developed a solution that could be implemented quickly. The product had to be reengineered for reliable field deployment.
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Reengineer and remanufacture
Once the failure was understood, the product was redesigned and moved through a rapid remanufacturing process. The challenge was to establish a repeatable process that could handle the volume while maintaining quality and consistency.
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Build the team
I hired over 30 people to support the operation. The team became an integrated execution unit. It spanned the activities needed to move product from recovery through manufacturing, testing, logistics and installation.
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Retrain the installers
The original product had created a serious confidence problem with the installation teams. The installers needed to understand the changes and have confidence that the new product would perform. We built installer retraining into the recovery plan.
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Get it installed
The final challenge was getting the redesigned product into the field. We identified 25 installation locations and coordinated the finished product, testing and shipping. We worked through the installation process until the sites were fully operational.
The result: recovery in 30 days
The original deadline was 45 days. We completed the entire recovery effort in 30 days.
The result turned what had begun as a potentially damaging product failure into a major business opportunity. Approximately $3 million of failed LED inventory was recovered and transformed into deployable product.
The team began without knowing where all the inventory was, why it was failing or how to fix it. The recovery closed that gap in 30 days. The product was found, diagnosed, reengineered and remanufactured. The installers were retrained, and the product was installed at 25 locations.
The business impact of the recovery
- 30 days to complete a recovery program originally given 45 days
- Over 30 people recruited to execute the program
- $30M contract subsequently secured with BP
- Approximately 5,000 sites deployed worldwide over the following three years
From crisis to transformation: the BP contract and what followed
The team's performance earned the company BP's Supplier of the Year award.
The most important outcome was not the successful recovery of the initial 25 sites. The project demonstrated that the company could design, manufacture, deploy and support LED lighting at scale. The BP engagement became a catalyst for the company's broader transition from traditional lighting into LED manufacturing.
Over the following three years, the operation expanded to approximately 5,000 installations worldwide.
The company's LED work also contributed to the development of dozens of patents. Ultimately it played a part in the company's acquisition by a major global lighting manufacturer / retailer. That work helped establish the technology foundation associated with the company's subsequent major retail LED lighting products.
What this crisis leadership case study demonstrates
This engagement represents the type of leadership I bring to organizations facing significant transformation or operational challenges. I don't approach transformation as a strategy exercise that ends with a report. I focus on turning the strategy into something the organization can actually execute.
This engagement required me to:
- Lead through a high-stakes operational crisis
- Help lead a new business unit
- Recruit and mobilize a team of over 30 people
- Coordinate engineering, manufacturing and operations
- Redesign a failing product
- Establish rapid production and quality processes
- Coordinate complex logistics across the United States
- Manage field deployment and installer relationships
- Deliver a recovery in 30 days against a 45-day deadline
- Convert a customer crisis into a major commercial opportunity
- Support the organization's transition into a new technology market
Where this work fits today
A crisis can leave no time for the perfect plan. The 90-Day Scale-Up Operating System moves a founder-led company through diagnosis, design and implementation. In the Fractional COO engagement, I work alongside the leadership team.
If everything comes back to you, the founder bottleneck page describes the symptoms and what fixing them takes.
The Odoo ERP transformation shows the same focus on execution applied to an operating model. The managed services business unit shows it applied to growth, from $0 to $850K in monthly recurring revenue. The wider set of case studies is collected in one place.
The about page covers my background across sectors. If your company faces a similar squeeze, you can start a conversation.
Frequently asked questions
What happened with the failing LED product at TIR?
The failing LED product at TIR was approximately $3 million worth of LED lighting products destined for client locations. Installers refused to install it. The failed inventory was spread across multiple warehouses in the United States. The customer commitment carried a 45-day deadline. The mandate covered finding the product, diagnosing it, fixing it, remanufacturing it, retraining installers and getting it installed. The aim was to make it work.
How was the recovery completed in 30 days?
The team completed the recovery in 30 days by working through six steps. It found the inventory, diagnosed why the product was failing, then reengineered and remanufactured it. I hired over 30 people, the installers were retrained, and the finished product was installed at 25 locations. With no time for a perfect plan, the team built one that could work and executed it immediately.
What was the result of the TIR LED recovery?
The TIR LED recovery finished in 30 days against a 45-day deadline. A $30 million contract with BP followed, and approximately 5,000 sites were deployed worldwide over the following three years. The team's performance earned the company BP's Supplier of the Year award. The company's LED work also contributed to the development of dozens of patents. Ultimately, it helped lead to the company's acquisition by a major global lighting manufacturer / retailer.
What was Wayne Fraser's role in the TIR LED recovery?
Wayne's role in the TIR LED recovery was Executive / Business Unit Leader in lighting manufacturing. He was brought in as one of the leaders of the new business unit. His responsibility was helping turn the situation around. The case study's focus areas were crisis leadership, business transformation, LED manufacturing, product engineering, operations, team building and global deployment.
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