Client Successes

Penray Cos., Inc., The

Center Name:

Chicago Manufacturing Center

Story Title:

New Marketing Strategy Pays Off for Penray

Client Profile:

The Penray Companies manufacture liquid and aerosol products for the heavy-duty and automotive chemical industry. Founded in 1950, Penray is recognized as a pioneer in the development of cooling system cleaning products. Penray's Power Fleet division markets the Pencool® brand of engine coolant products, including antifreeze inhibitors, supplemental coolant additives, diesel fuel additives, and the advanced Need-Release® extended service interval coolant filters. The automotive division manufactures products for professional maintenance and repair technicians as well as the do-it-yourself customer, under the Penray and Super-X® brands. The company exports to 44 countries and offers foreign language labels and catalogs for both the automotive and heavy-duty products. Penray employs 90 people at its plant in Wheeling, Illinois.

Situation:

Penray had experienced several years of sluggish growth and eroding profits in spite of having an established brand and advanced technology. President Rod McKenzie was confident that Penray had room to grow. He brought Chicago Manufacturing Center's (CMC), a NIST MEP network affiliate, Chief Operating Officer, Larry Gess, in to help his team develop and implement a strategic marketing plan.

Solution:

CMC facilitated an executive management team session that produced a strategic marketing plan to guide activities and goals. The plan focused Penray resources on six specific initiatives with metrics for improvements in sales and profits. Each initiative was assigned a leader with support teams that spanned sales, marketing, research, manufacturing, and finance. Gess participated in monthly meetings with the Penray leadership team, advising them on tools and techniques to improve their marketing tactics, and making sure that the team kept to the implementation plan. An important part of this work was connecting the marketing plan to the company's financial metrics. "Having clear targets for each initiative allowed the impact to be seen on the P&L statement," Gess explained. "For example, the 80-20 product line consolidation efforts quantified each monthly improvement in inventory reduction of the slow-moving and discontinued products."

The STARR® Solution (Structured Solutions, Trustworthy Professional, Actionable Plans and Reports, Results, Return) developed by CMC helped Penray's management team stay focused on the primary goal of incremental revenue growth. As a result of these efforts, Penray gained new market intelligence, identified its competitive position, improved its market penetration, adjusted its pricing strategy to capture value, and developed new marketing channels.

Results:

* Realized $350,000 in cost savings.
* Invested $500,000 in plant and research and development.
* Created 5 new jobs.

Testimonial:

""The Chicago Manufacturing Center (CMC) has made a significant impact on Penray's growth through its programs, guidance, and dedicated staff. CMC's Larry Gess holds an integral position at Penray, providing valuable industry insight and expansive external resources that guide our success.""

Howard Laga, Vice President and General Manager

Activity Period:

2007-4