Recent Projects

Sales Strategy | Top-line projects

Moving the needle on China | Cornerstone was hired by a top-tier manufacturer of residential water softener and purification equipment to research, analyze, and make recommendations on the market for their products in China. The client had been selling in China via a couple distributors for years, but management sensed they were missing opportunities. Our research proved them right. Not only was their distributor not capturing the booming demand for PoE and PoU equipment in China, but they weren’t even focusing on the right cities. China is comprised of many sub-markets, each unique from another. While Shanghai and Beijing might be the largest single markets, hyper-competition has dragged prices down to levels only the Chinese manufacturers can successfully compete in. Over the course of a 3 phase project in 2011-12, Cornerstone’s impact is tangible. Our value: Now our client is plugged into the right distributor in the right cities, and top-line growth is better than anticipated. The client is available as a reference.

Trending towards imported solutions | Cornerstone was hired by a manufacturer of UV disinfection systems to conduct due diligence on domestic and international UV competition in China. The client was already selling in China, but sales were sluggish. Based on our research, our client was competing head to head with low-cost Chinese made UV solutions. Armed with enhanced visibility in to competitors’ products, pricing, distribution, and after-sales service, our client executed Cornerstone’s recommendations to target the higher-end market. Our value: Sales are now growing, and our client has a defensible market position. The client is available as a reference.

Go vs. No-go | Cornerstone was hired by a manufacturer of gear-drive mechanisms used to turn circular clarifier tanks to determine if the China market was worth pursuing. Our “go-no-go” methodology relies on primary and secondary sources to gather market intelligence and evaluate the risk-adjusted return on penetrating the China market. Our value: Saving time and money; the client decided to hold off on a China sales program until conditions become more favorable. The client is available as a reference.

Sourcing Strategy | Margin-improvement projects

Can we do better than our current supplier? | Cornerstone assisted a US manufacturer of water purification equipment answer this question. The methodology we employed consisted of interviewing, due diligence, and inspections of 12 prequalified suppliers, only 3 of which achieved a high-enough ‘score’ to warrant a visit from our client. It turned out, our client was able to ‘do better’ in terms of cost per unit, and quality. Our value: The client is saving tens of thousands of US$ per order, seeing a much lower defect rate, and their customers have noticed the higher quality. The client is available as a reference.

China’s low labor costs can be a mirage | Cornerstone was hired by a manufacturer of wastewater treatment equipment to model 5 different scenarios relating to sourcing parts from China, Mexico, the US, and a couple hybrid scenarios. Despite China’s labor costs being 1/8th of the US, and 1/3 Mexico, after all logistics, duties, and insurance were calculated, not to mention the cost of defects and downtime figuring out what when wrong, the China sourcing option wound up being the least competitive. Our value: The client has increased US sourcing, and is phasing out China suppliers over the next few years. The client is available as a reference.

Manufacturing Strategy | Site-selection projects

Finding the optimal location in China | Cornerstone was hired by a wastewater-related chemicals manufacturer to support their factory redeployment from Taiwan to Mainland China. After extensive review of 15 economic zones, we ultimately entered final negotiations with 3, and signed an MOU with a zone in Jiangsu. Our value: The client recognizes that they are now in the ‘best-fit’ location in China for their business. The client is available as a reference.

Latin America Footprint Analysis | Cornerstone was hired by an equipment manufacturer to review their status quo manufacturing, R&D, and sales footprint in Latin America and provide rationale for retaining, revamping, or divesting of certain locations. Cornerstone’s scope of research included customer trends, real estate, labor, logistics, supply chain, and other financial and nonfinancial factors. Our deliverable was included into the client’s long-term planning for the region. Our value: Enhanced visibility into scenarios reduces risk and identifies near-term and long-term opportunities. The client is available as a reference.

Although we know the municipal, industrial, irrigation, and residential

water/wastewater technologies and market applications, Cornerstone International offers clients

a scope of capabilities designed to support international decision-making.