Case Study: Strategic Cost Transformation for a European Chemical Site

The Challenge
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A major European plastics facility was underperforming financially, with its return on capital falling significantly below corporate expectations.Benchmarking revealed that its cost base was substantially higher than its leading competitor, threatening long-term viability.

Our Approach
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Cameron Consultants applied our proprietary COGENT methodology — a structured approach to identifying and eliminating cost generators embedded in operational complexity. Through deep analysis of product, process, customer, and material-handling variables, we uncovered that 69% of the site’s so-called“fixed” costs were driven by just ten key cost generators.

In parallel, we conducted a strategic profitability analysis— revealing that more than half of the company’s product lines were, in fact, being sold at a loss. This finding sharply contradicted the internal reporting systems, which masked the true economic performance of the product portfolio.

The Solution
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Working closely with the leadership team, we recommended a series of targeted interventions, including:

Outsourcing selected low-margin product lines
Repricing to reflect actual profitability and market positioning
Enhancing competitiveness of high-value products
Restructuring manufacturing to consolidate volumes and reduce complexity-driven costs

These measures enabled a significant rationalisation of operations, including the closure of a satellite site.

The Outcome
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The project unlocked $4.3 million per annum in sustainable profit improvement.

“This engagement transformed our understanding of where costs were really coming from — and showed us how to address them without damaging capability.”
— Client feedback (name available on request)

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