Terry Keating faced a crossroads at
Accuride Corp. in 2004. He challenged the executive leadership team to blaze a new trail of growth.
The best method to achieve that growth
would be to move Accuride from a leader
in the commercial wheel industry to a
leader in the overall
commercial vehicle
industry. As a result,
the company acquired Transportation Technologies
Industries Inc. With
this single acquisition, Accuride’s work
force grew from 1,800 to 4,700, and its
product offering grew from one brand
name to six, all with leading market positions.
The acquisition transformed the company into the leading stand-alone supplier of commercial vehicle components
and has provided it with a solid platform
for future growth.
Under Keating’s leadership, the company has made an initial public offering of
its common stock. It has also improved
key metrics like safety, quality, equipment uptime and delivery performance.
Today, even with an impending industry
downturn, the company’s stock trades at
a 50 percent premium from the initial
public offering price.
Through it all, his strategy’s foundation
has remained virtually the same: Tie your
key metrics to your business plan, execute the plan in accordance to your metrics and focus all levels of the organization on the metrics. If you operate in this
manner, he says you will never have to
wait until the 15th of the following
month to understand your financials.
Keating says increased shareholder
value is realized when a company is
focused on growth, operational excellence, making the numbers and customer
satisfaction.
HOW TO REACH: Accuride Corp., (812) 962-5000 or www.accuridecorp.com