The High Cost of Delay: How a Manufacturer Lost $2.3M Because They Delayed Crisis Planning
Discover how Crisis IQ Partners assisted a manufacturer in mitigating a significant financial loss stemming from delayed crisis planning, preventing a $2.3M hit to their bottom line.
The challenge: A ticking time bomb
A 350-employee industrial manufacturer postponed crisis readiness for two years because the COO believed, “We need to wait until budgets open up.” They had no tested continuity plan beyond IT backups.
The Crisis Event
A fire in an adjacent warehouse caused smoke damage to their facility, leading the fire marshal to mandate temporary closure. Information was chaotic:
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Employees didn’t know whether to report to work
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Supervisors improvised instructions
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Customers received contradictory updates
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Production halted for five days
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OSHA requested documentation that didn’t exist
Financial Impact:
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$1.4M lost revenue
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$600K expedited shipping costs
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$300K client attrition
Total: $2.3 million avoidable loss
When interviewed, the COO said the revelation hit hard:
“I realized we were trying to save $30K… and it cost us 70 times that.”
What Crisis IQ Provided Afterward
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A full crisis playbook with our First-60 protocol
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Communication templates covering employees, regulators, and customers
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A defined cross-functional Crisis Command Team
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A 90-day resilience roadmap
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Annual simulation plan
Six months later, when a power-grid failure shut down their region, the company executed the Crisis IQ plan flawlessly:
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Operations resumed within hours
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Customers received consistent updates
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No revenue was lost
Key takeaway: A robust crisis plan is your best insurance against unforeseen disasters
Crisis can strike any organization, regardless of size or industry. Crisis planning isn’t an expense; it’s a cost avoidance strategy. You either invest a little now—or pay exponentially more later.
Contact us today to learn how Crisis IQ Partners can help you build a resilient crisis strategy.