Executive Search Success Story: Securing a VP of Manufacturing and Supply Chain to Fix Field Reliability and Scale Global Production for a Private-Equity-Backed Warehouse Robotics Company

How JRG Partners executed a confidential North American executive search that equipped a private-equity-backed warehouse robotics and automation company with the VP of Manufacturing and Supply Chain and quality leadership required to resolve field reliability failures, rebuild manufacturing quality and supplier controls, scale a global production footprint, and restore the customer confidence and margins the sponsor’s exit depended on.

The Challenge

A private-equity-backed warehouse robotics company had grown rapidly on the strength of large fulfillment center deployments, but field reliability had deteriorated as production volumes rose. Early-life failures of robots and automation subsystems were driving warranty costs, service escalations, and penalty exposure under customer uptime guarantees. Manufacturing quality controls had not scaled with volume, supplier quality was inconsistent across a global component base, and production was concentrated in a single facility while customers demanded regional supply. The sponsor’s exit timeline required a credible resolution. Executive leadership identified several critical vulnerabilities threatening the business:

• Early-life field failure rates more than triple the design target, driving warranty cost and uptime penalty exposure
• Two major fulfillment customers withholding new deployments pending reliability improvement
• Manufacturing quality and test systems built for low volume and not scaled with production
• Inconsistent supplier quality across a global base of motors, sensors, batteries, and controls
• A single production facility with no regional capacity to support international customers
• Sponsor exit preparation dependent on restored reliability, margins, and customer references

Recognizing that the turnaround required an executive who had scaled robotics manufacturing with quality intact, the CEO and sponsor engaged JRG Partners to recruit a VP of Manufacturing and Supply Chain, supported by a Director of Quality & Reliability Engineering and a Director of Global Supply Chain & Supplier Quality. The company required an executive search partner with deep robotics and automation expertise and access to leaders who had resolved field reliability crises and built global production footprints.

Why They Chose JRG Partners

Robotics and Automation Manufacturing Expertise

JRG Partners possesses deep recruiting expertise across robotics and automation OEMs, material handling and logistics automation companies, and electromechanical manufacturers with global footprints, including manufacturing, quality, reliability, and supply chain leadership. This domain knowledge ensured an immediate understanding of field reliability drivers, production test and quality at volume, and global supplier management for complex electromechanical systems.

Reliability Turnaround Experience

Our team specializes in identifying manufacturing leaders who have resolved field reliability failures through root-cause engineering, manufacturing and supplier quality rebuilds, and production process control, restoring customer confidence in installed-base businesses.

Private Equity Exit-Readiness Alignment

JRG Partners has extensive experience serving industrial and technology private equity sponsors, with a clear understanding of exit preparation, customer reference dependencies, and the urgency of manufacturing leadership placements ahead of a sale process.

Our Executive Search Strategy

Phase 1 — Reliability & Production Review

Our consultants partnered directly with the CEO, sponsor operating partners, head of engineering, and head of customer operations to review field failure data, warranty and penalty exposure, manufacturing quality controls, supplier performance, and regional capacity needs. This review defined a VP of Manufacturing and Supply Chain profile combining reliability remediation, quality system leadership, and global footprint scaling.

Phase 2 — Talent Identification & Mapping

Our research team performed an extensive talent mapping initiative targeting manufacturing leaders at robotics and automation OEMs, logistics automation companies, and global electromechanical manufacturers who had led documented reliability turnarounds and multi-region production builds. Over 275 executives were systematically assessed across these sectors.

Phase 3 — Candidate Engagement

Priority during outreach was given to leaders with a documented history of reducing early-life field failures, scaling manufacturing quality and production test with volume, implementing global supplier quality programs, establishing regional production, and restoring customer confidence under uptime guarantees. Only candidates meeting these strict performance baselines advanced.

Phase 4 — Selection Process

Finalists presented a reliability remediation and global production plan to the CEO and sponsor, completed structured leadership and technical assessments, and underwent reference verification focused on quantified reliability, quality, cost, and customer outcomes.

Key Outcomes

• 275+ robotics, automation, and electromechanical manufacturing leader profiles mapped across North America.
• Placed a VP of Manufacturing and Supply Chain with proven reliability turnaround experience in 47 days.
• Reduced early-life field failures by more than 70% within twelve months.
• Cut warranty cost as a percentage of revenue by more than half.
• Launched regional production capacity to serve international customers.
• Restored customer deployments and references, supporting a successful sponsor exit.