A mid-market private equity firm creates value through operational excellence—but visibility into execution varied across companies. Multiple initiatives were underway, including decarbonization, safety, and operational improvements, but executive and board leadership didn’t have a consistent view of what was being implemented, where follow-through was stalling, or what progress meant for risk, performance, and exit readiness.
The aim was straightforward: establish a baseline for each initiative, home in on material priorities, trackable implementation, and maintain a portfolio-wide oversight that would stand up in IC discussions, diligence, and exits.
Tablecloth.io supported this firm-wide initiative by standardizing how portfolio teams and operating partners collected and reviewed key metrics, benchmarking performance against relevant standards, and connecting results to the operational actions behind them. By capturing initiative progress across functions and sites, they created an evidence trail of what changed, when, and why—so leaders could manage and communicate credible improvement.
Below are three examples of how this showed up in practice.
Case Study 1: A portfolio-wide baseline
The firm started by establishing a baseline to compare progress on initiatives, including rebuilding and reconciling prior-year data where needed. Tablecloth standardized workflows, definitions, and benchmarking so leaders could compare and contrast company initiatives with confidence. Performance changes became both visible and attributable.
With more consistent data and communication in place, board and executive leaders were able to spot productivity gains, avoidable costs, and risk signals earlier, allowing stakeholders to align on priorities. This all culminated in a stronger, evidence-backed story of business outcomes and improvements into diligence and exit conversations.
Case Study 2: Decarbonization progress tied to execution
One industrial/specialty manufacturing company built a measurable path to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions. The team executed efficiency upgrades, ran site-wide energy assessments, and planned and implemented supplier data collection to inform future Scope 3 decision-making.
Tablecloth supported the company with consistent measurement, target tracking, and roll-up across sites. Support to track decision points, drive change through clear ownership resulted in effective implementation and organizational progress.
The company achieved 9%+ year-over-year reductions in Scope 1 and 2 emissions and stayed ahead of its interim target—demonstrating credibility in their commitment to climate internally and externally.
Case Study 3: Safety improvements sustained across multiple sites
A multi-site packaging manufacturer aimed to improve safety on their factory floors. TIIR and DART were the metrics used to help them determine whether their safety efforts were resulting in change. After comparing their baseline to industry benchmarks, they realized they were falling behind.
The company strengthened EH&S leadership and implemented multiple new safety initiatives. They standardized incident reporting and conducted root-cause analysis on problem areas. They also improved return-to-work practices, including expanded light-duty options that resulted in cost savings.
Tablecloth worked with the company to centralize data allowing leadership to evaluate performance and make corrective action more quickly and effectively. The operational context behind improvements is critical—what changed on the floor, where interventions took hold, and where additional support was needed.
Over three years, TIIR improved from 14.87 to 7.26 and DART improved from 8.23 to 5.32, with performance moving well below industry benchmarks—reducing employee injuries, lowering insurance costs, and lowering employee turnover. A safer business is easier to sell.
From baseline to exit readiness
Using data to make businesses better is fundamental to value creation. LPs bet on GPs that can clearly articulate their value-add and prove it upon exit. Tablecloth is your trusted partner to standardize visibility into performance and document operational change in a way leaders can use.
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