My experience with Cogent Analytics began with the Discovery process, it was a huge shock to me. I learned a lot of things that I didn’t know, but he also pointed out things I knew were a problem, but didn’t know where to start. We had no tools to track our work, no accountability, and distrust among our leaders. We had our highest revenue year ever with little to show for it. Rumors and misinformation were circling through the shop; some believed our main customer was very angry with us and we were on the verge of bankruptcy. The negative aspects of our management weren’t all that discovery revealed, but a lot of positive things as well. Our employees like working here; they like the culture that exists, the family environment, and they believe that the owners genuinely care about their lives, family, and struggles.

When the project started, I was encouraged by the positivity and competence of our project director (Kris McCarty) and the rest of the supporting team. I quickly went from feeling that our problems were insurmountable to being confident that we can set the ship right in very short order. After implementing just a few KPIs, I noticed employees tightening up work almost overnight, and after a few focused meetings, our leadership team showed signs of turning a corner as well. One of the things I struggled with when I was presented with the CEO position is how to have oversight of accounting without poring over spreadsheets, and Cogent provided an easy-to-understand dashboard that monitors all the company’s KPIs so I can know where we are at all times.

The service that Cogent provides is an expensive one, but they have worked with our limited cash flow at the time of the project. I firmly believe that we will see a substantial return on our investment in our company from the valuable tools that Cogent implemented. As we head into the Lifecycle part of the project, it is all in our hands now, but Kris will be checking in with us weekly and attending our managers’ meeting via teleconference. Going forward, I’m sure we will rely on her assistance. I am convinced this company made the right decision to have Cogent set us on a path of continued growth.
Kind regards

Tim Mathisen
CEO
Daytona Glass Works