Industrial Machinery & Supplies & Components
Case studies in industrial machinery & supplies & components.
3D Systems: Where Should the Next Incremental Dollar Go?
On August 4, 3D Systems announced that CEO Jeffrey Graves would leave the company and retire from its board when a successor was hired. Graves remained CEO during the search, and the company expected to name a successor later in 2026. The successor was not identified. The announcement did not specify a change in strategy. Read case
Dover Corporation — Choosing the Next Moves Across a Diverse Portfolio
Imagine joining Dover’s corporate strategy team on March 1, 2024. For the next planning cycle, you are asked to recommend how the company should evaluate and sequence proposals across its five businesses. The assignment is to define the next steps and the evidence each step should require—not to divide a disclosed pool of money. Read case
Fortive: Has the Spin-Off Made the Portfolio More Focused?
Fortive Corporation develops and sells industrial instrumentation, software and services, as well as healthcare workflow products. On June 28, 2025, it separated its Precision Technologies businesses into Ralliant Corporation and distributed Ralliant shares to Fortive shareholders. Read case
IDEX: Can a Portfolio of Niches Compound Through an AI Cycle?
On July 29, 2026, IDEX Corporation reported record quarterly orders and raised its full-year outlook. The industrial manufacturer’s Health & Science Technologies segment (HST) was growing quickly, with management citing demand tied to data-center power, semiconductors, and space and defense. Read case
Illinois Tool Works: Scaling Customer-Back Innovation
Illinois Tool Works (ITW) has spent years using its 80/20 Front-to-Back approach to simplify product lines and focus on important customers and products. The company’s current Enterprise Strategy places greater emphasis on organic growth and Customer-Back Innovation (CBI): identifying customers’ important problems and developing solutions starting from those needs. Read case
Ingersoll Rand — How Should Lone Star Be Integrated?
Ingersoll Rand has added Lone Star Blower, doing business as Lone Star Turbo, to its Industrial Technologies and Services (IT&S) segment. The two businesses have complementary-looking products and services: Lone Star makes engineered blower and compressor systems and controls, and has application-engineering, service, and rental capabilities. Read case
JBT Marel: Where Should Integration Attention Go?
On 18 August 2026, JBT Marel's leadership team faced a resource-allocation problem that the headline synergy target could not answer by itself. The company had combined JBT and Marel to offer customers a wider set of food-processing technologies and to capture cost savings. Read case
Nordson Corporation: How Much Integration Should ARAG Have?
Nordson had completed a major acquisition nine months earlier. ARAG, an Italian supplier of precision controls and smart fluid components for agricultural spraying, now sat within Nordson’s Industrial Precision Solutions (IPS) segment. The acquisition added a distinct product portfolio and agricultural customer base. Read case
Otis Worldwide: Where Should the Next Increment of Capacity Go?
At a midyear strategy review, Otis Worldwide's leadership team must decide where to place its next increment of commercial and operating capacity. Should it support modernization growth, protect and expand the maintenance portfolio, or stage capacity across both? Read case
Parker-Hannifin: Where Should the Next Increment of Capacity Go?
Parker-Hannifin closed fiscal 2024 with record sales, higher reported segment margins, and a portfolio reshaped by the 2022 acquisition of Meggitt. Its two reporting segments were sending different signals. Aerospace Systems had higher sales, margin, orders, and backlog. Read case
Pentair: Growth after the Pool reset
On October 1, 2026, Pentair completed its acquisition of Taco Group Holdings for approximately $1.4 billion, subject to customary adjustments. The deal expands Pentair’s Water Solutions segment with a business focused on hydronic and water-based HVAC products, including pumps, tanks, heat exchangers and controls. Read case
Snap-on — Building the Independent-Shop Diagnostics Proposition
On February 12, 2026, Snap-on filed its FY2025 Form 10-K. A hypothetical executive team is deciding how to prioritize the next two to three years of product, software, support, and channel resources for professional diagnostics used by U.S. independent repair shops. Read case
Stanley Black & Decker: funding the next phase
Assume SWK’s executive team meets on October 2 to decide how to govern the next dollars available for discretionary use. Consolidated Aerospace Manufacturing (CAM) has been sold. A definitive agreement to sell Excel Industries has been signed, but the deal has not closed. SWK has reduced debt and repurchased shares while announcing a multiyear U.S. investment plan. Read case
Xylem — How Fast Should the Evoqua Integration Go?
Xylem completed its all-stock combination with Evoqua on 24 May 2023. At Xylem’s October 2024 Q3 results, management said integration was ahead of schedule and expected to exit 2024 with a $130 million annualized cost-synergy run rate. Read case