Signatures Increases Sales and Jobs Following SCMEP’s Competitiveness Review

Company Overview

Located in Mauldin, South Carolina, since 1992, Signatures had established a competitive position in the corporate apparel and company logo embroidering industry. Since new ownership purchased the company in early 2016, however, the company’s processes, culture, and focus on service has transformed and they are quickly emerging as an industry leader. In doing so, the team has changed how corporate apparel programs function, and challenged the status-quo model that—for decades— kept the burden of apparel management on the client.

Situation

The new owner of Signatures was looking for strategic input on improvement plans in preparation for planned growth. The business was stable from a financial and sales perspective but needed to focus upon three identified internal and infrastructure related concerns constraining growth.

Solution

SCMEP was brought in to perform a Competitiveness Review/Discovery Assessment. To help clarify the strategic positioning of the company, a basic SWOT analysis was performed. Based on this analysis and observations and comments, four main recommendations were made. These recommendations included: Digital Systems Improvement, Sales and Marketing Boost, Organizational Structure/HR Review, and ISO Systems Development. Following the review, SCMEP provided the Sales and Marketing Boost Program modules one through three over the next four months which was very successful.

Results – September 2022 thru April 2023

Increased sales – $480,000
Retained sales – $2,000,000
Cost savings – $58,000
New investment (plant equipment) – $166,000
New investment (information systems or software) – $22,000
New investment (workforce practices) – $2,500
New investment (new products/processes) – $40,000
New investment (other areas of business) – $32,000
Increased jobs – 8