Mueller Water Products, Inc. recently announced its plan designed to strategically reorganise itself in order to accelerate product innovation and revenue growth while also reducing costs. The plan will reconfigure the firm’s divisional structure around products, along with five business teams that have line and cross functional responsibility for managing distinct product portfolios.
Under the new organisational structure, the departments of engineering, operations, sales and marketing, as well as other functions will be centralised in order to better align with the company’s business needs and generate greater efficiencies.
Due to the restructuring and reorganisation, Mueller expects a cost reduction of around US$7 million per year, which will include headcount reduction and lower professional fees and other expenses, and will also take hiring and the alignment of new administrative talent into account.
The company has already implemented its restructuring plans, and reorganisation is slated to be completed by the 1st of October. However, the firm will continue to report its financial performance based on two reportable segments – Infrastructure and Technologies. The components of these two segments have not changed.
Key steps the company has planned include reducing the headcount of the salaried and management workforce; appointing four new general managers as part of the formation of five value stream teams focused on driving profitability and growth in the firm’s businesses; and centralising key functions in Atlanta to better align with business needs as well as generate greater efficiencies.
Additiaonlly, Evan Hart, Senior Vice President and CFO, will retire as of the 31st of December, 2017.
“No one has been more involved in shaping the strong financial position of Mueller Water Products than Evan Hart. We are extremely grateful to Evan for his significant contributions over the last decade,” Scott Hall, President and CEO of Mueller Water Products, said, regarding Hart’s retirement. “I am excited about the new organisational changes and importantly the team that will be in place. They all possess a broad knowledge of our business, industry, and customers, and are committed to delivering superior customer service. Their leadership, capabilities, and enthusiasm for our business will all help to drive our future success.”
Marietta Edmunds Zakas, who is currently serving as Senior Vice President, Strategy, Corporate Development, HR and Communications, will assume the role of the organisation’s CFO immediately following Hart’s retirement.
“By restructuring the organisation around value streams, we intend to increase our customer focus, accelerate product innovation and become more efficient,” Hall added. “We strongly believe that de-layering the organisation with a new emphasis on product lifecycle management and profitability will streamline decision-making and promote collaboration throughout the organisation. With an even greater focus on our customers, we will be well positioned to improve execution, obtain greater efficiencies and achieve our planned business results.”
