As 1995 began, the CEO of Etec Systems had a goal: cut new-product cycle time in half so that the company could go public in the fall of 1995. But it didn’t look promising. Orders were backing up. Machines were being delivered with major subsystems "dead on arrival." Parts were in short supply, which was delaying both production and fields service. Steve knew something fundamental had to be done to get his company working right.

Etec was generating $80 million in annual revenue, owned 65% of it market and was the world leader in mask-writing technology, but had not been profitable since its founding in 1970. Steve Cooper had become CEO in 1993, and had accomplished a lot during his first two years. Revenue was up – it was $56 million when he took over – but drastic efforts to reduce costs, including lay-offs, salary reductions, plant closings, had left the organization frayed and demoralized.

In July of 1995, he called ACT, a consulting firm known for helping large organizations achieve executive mandates. For over a year, he had been hearing about the kinds of “miracles” ACT had been consistently delivering.

Steve started right at the top. He asked the consultants to work with his executive team. ACT outlined the practices the executives would implement to allow the company to get back on track. They provided tools that would ensure success.

The results were outstanding. The executives began communicating in new ways. Resources were re-allocated to meet the total company objectives. Things started getting back on track.

Once's Steve's executives were modeling the practices, he commissioned ACT to work with his Vice President of Operations. The simple, basic management practices were implemented, spreading the easily understood messages through many levels of the organization, and allowing the executive team to have a clear view of every aspect of the company.

Miracle did seem to happen. Etec's product design team and manufacturing groups began to make progress against their objectives. Hard issues were confronted, good decisions were made, and what were once seen as lofty, unattainable goals started becoming operational reality. The end result: Manufacturing time was cut from 52 weeks to 26 weeks.

Cooper was exuberant, “The accomplishments have been nothing short of spectacular, including market share of greater than 75%, and a compound annual growth rate of 40% and an 18 months technology lead.” With revenues on the rise, the company went public, as planned.

In 1998, Etec's annual revenue had more than tripled to $288 million and in 2000 it was acquired by Applied Materials, the world leader in semiconductor equipment manufacturing.