Case Studies | Dan Lawellin — Print Application & Growth Consulting

CASE STUDIES

Three ways growth became executable

Proof at the intersection
of strategy and doing.

Three problems that looked like different problems. Each one came down to the same thing: a good idea with no reliable path from possible to profitable.

Concept image of a team building a governed product operating model with stage cards and blue pebble markers

Portfolio governance + launch system

From regional instinct to a global product operating model.

8 launches · 30% faster

Customer / business problem

Product decisions were informal and regional. Good work could move for months without a business case, an owner, a launch-readiness check, or any shared logic about which markets mattered.

Technical / operating insight

The company did not need more process. It needed visible decisions—category strategy, structured customer voice, and one route from idea to commercial learning that every region could actually follow.

Launch path

Authored the board-approved global product-management strategy and built a ten-stage pipeline: 100+ defined questions and tasks, RACI ownership, gate reviews, launch readiness, mid-mortems, and closeout learning.

Commercial result

Eight products launched in 18 months at 30% faster concept-to-market. The portfolio was rebuilt into a good-better-best architecture and roughly 10% of SKUs were retired through a formal off-ramp—so the system now removes weight as reliably as it adds it.

Concept image of an integrated commercial operations system overlooking a modern print production facility

ERP + CRM transformation

A commercial system built to accept more growth.

300% more intake capacity

Customer / business problem

Disconnected commercial and operating workflows capped order-intake capacity, slowed customer response, and turned forecasting and handoffs into manual work that scaled badly.

Technical / operating insight

A system transformation creates value only when process, data, people, and customer experience are redesigned together. Installing software on a broken workflow buys you a faster broken workflow.

Launch path

Directed a global ERP and CRM implementation across the full raw-material-to-sale flow, aligning sales, operations, supply chain, forecasting, and commercial execution around one system of record.

Commercial result

Order-intake capacity increased 300%, with faster commercial response and forecast variance held within ±5% at customer, company, and product-line level.

Concept image of finished premium print applications produced on specialty synthetic substrates

Print application development

A substrate capability turned into a new growth engine.

$1.2M in year one

Customer / business problem

Printers needed differentiated synthetic films and papers that would perform across digital platforms, real production conditions, and final applications that punish a material months after it ships.

Technical / operating insight

There is no universal sheet. The answer was application-led selection—match the film, coating, press, ink, finishing path, durability requirement, and commercial use case, then sell the match rather than the roll.

Launch path

Led R&D and commercialization across labels, packaging, wide-format inkjet, and HP Indigo; founded a dedicated Cut Sheet Films Division and extended reach through a strategic 3M partnership and a new western distribution center.