Chief Financial Officer United States

The cost of making a narrower commitment

Annual group revenue: US$146m; Calendar 2025; technical textiles and process belts
Domestic plants: 3; Distinct weaving, finishing and conversion responsibilities
Finance colleagues: 31; Led through four managers

Decisions & consequences

Reviewing old fabric by its remaining use rather than its warehouse label

In 2021, a review identified 124 slow-moving fabric lots with a combined carrying value of US$2.8 million. Some had originally been made for customer specifications that had since changed. Others could still be used, but only after conversion or a fresh technical approval. The operations director wanted to retain the stock while the commercial team sought alternative buyers. A simple age-based disposal instruction would have ignored real possibilities, but leaving every lot at its existing value was equally difficult to support.

I asked product, quality and sales colleagues to classify the lots by a credible next use and the evidence required to establish it. Finance included conversion and selling costs where relevant and reviewed the proposed valuation with our advisers. The resulting US$1.1 million write-down acknowledged that the original carrying value was not recoverable on the evidence available. It did not dispose of the material or release US$1.1 million of cash. The remaining US$1.7 million carrying amount still required continuing review.

Over the following year, forty-seven lots were sold or converted for an approved use. Other material remained under examination or was removed through authorised disposal decisions. We reported the actual proceeds and costs separately rather than claim that every reclassified lot had become a successful sale. The review also changed purchasing discussions for products with a similarly narrow specification, where a long production run could leave the company holding the customer's future flexibility.

The decision reduced reported profit and challenged earlier production assumptions. I accepted that consequence because the board needed a current account of what the stock could do, not a defence of the original plan. I would have linked the review to customer specification changes sooner, before the material became old enough to attract attention through an ageing report alone. The most useful outcome was a better next commitment, not a flattering description of the adjustment.

Sharing the material commitment in a custom-fabric order

A 2023 customer programme was expected to generate US$6.2 million of sales over twenty months. It required US$620,000 of dedicated material at the outset, with limited alternative uses if the customer's final requirements changed. The sales team valued the programme as an entry into a promising application. The initial commercial proposal, however, treated the expected release schedule as if it were a firm commitment for the whole quantity. Technical qualification was still progressing for part of the range.

I worked with sales, operations and counsel to separate the approved products from those still being qualified. We examined which material purchases could be staged and which minimum quantities the supplier required. The revised agreement included an initial US$315,000 deposit and clearer commitments for the approved portion, with later purchases linked to defined releases. I made clear that the deposit did not cover the entire US$620,000 requirement and did not make completion of the projected US$6.2 million programme certain.

The customer accepted the revised arrangement but reduced the first release. We gave up part of the opening production volume and incurred additional setup work through the staged schedule. Operations would have preferred a longer initial run, and sales had to explain why the proposed terms differed from the first conversation. The technical team retained authority over qualification; finance did not accelerate approval to support the forecast.

The programme subsequently proceeded on a smaller scale than the original commercial expectation. The revised commitments helped us manage the dedicated material without treating forecast demand as an unconditional order. They did not remove every exposure or make the extra setup cost disappear. I would begin this discussion before quoting the production schedule next time, so the customer hears one coherent proposition about price, flexibility and commitment rather than a later financial qualification to an apparently settled offer.

Narrowing an inspection investment to the products the trial could support

In 2024, a proposal sought US$4.6 million for inspection equipment across two finishing lines. The financial case assumed that the rejection rate would fall from 2.4 per cent to 1.5 per cent and that the lines would operate at a higher average speed. A supplier demonstration supported interest in the equipment, but our product mix included finishes and widths that had not been tested under the proposed conditions. The plant team wanted to replace ageing inspection arrangements without another lengthy evaluation.

I asked engineering and quality to define what the trial had established and which products still needed examination. Finance separated the benefit of detecting a defect earlier from the different claim that the process would create fewer defects. We also included training and the cost of keeping the existing arrangement available during introduction. I did not challenge a technical acceptance decision from the finance chair; I asked that the investment model follow the evidence the technical team could stand behind.

The board approved a US$740,000 pilot and integration programme on one line, leaving the wider rollout for a later decision. The chosen route delayed some of the expected operating benefit and required staff to support two arrangements. The trial subsequently helped identify defects earlier for selected products, but it did not support the original uniform rejection-rate and speed assumptions across the whole range. The next proposal therefore used narrower product-specific benefits.

The US$3.86 million difference from the initial proposal was uncommitted expenditure, not a saving generated by the pilot. A larger purchase might eventually be justified, and the additional evaluation had a real cost. I would have asked for the product coverage of the demonstration before the first payback model was circulated. The decision was more useful once the board could distinguish an improvement in detection from a reduction in the underlying causes of defects.

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