A leading designer and manufacturer of essential devices for power, sensing, and control in building automation systems – enabling smarter, more energy-efficient buildings – and is well-known for its high-quality Relay-in-Box (“RIB”) branded products
Headquarters:
Sharpsville, IN
Business Type:
Manufacturer
End Markets Served:
Building and Lighting Control
HVAC
Energy Management
Wireless Industries
Website:
FunctionalDevices.com
Investment Dates:
January 2019 – February 2026
Primary Contact:
Dave Hawkins
Building businesses others want to own
- Leverage the Company’s brand equity and leading market share to expand its addressable market through developing new products
- Execute acquisitions to add adjacent product categories and customers
- Strengthen new product development capabilities
- Drive best-in-class operational processes, including lean initiatives and working capital optimization
- Institutionalize IT/accounting systems and business intelligence tools
- Invest in human capital, including in finance, HR, sales, and marketing
The Company was sold to another private equity fund in February 2026.
HUMAN CAPITAL
- Built the senior management team to include all key functional areas through internal promotions and external hires
- Implemented compensation strategies to ensure market wages, benefits, and bonus programs aligned with company strategies
- Established formal training programs across multiple levels of the organization to improve workforce skills
- Enhanced company culture through improved communication programs, engagement surveys, and community volunteer days culminating in the company being named a “Best Place to Work in Manufacturing” in Indiana multiple years in a row
PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT
- Implemented Entrepreneurial Operating System (“EOS”)
- Improved manufacturing efficiency by installing a new production scheduling tool, pre-production staging, and production automation to reduce repetitive tasks
- Implemented PowerBI utilizing Microsoft Fabric to drive real-time data for better decision making
- Attained ISO 9001:2015
- Revised pick, pack, and ship operations to double shipping capacity
STRATEGIC GROWTH
- Appointed internal candidate to sales leadership position
- Developed sales strategy roadmap to professionalize the selling function
- Hired new product development manager to decrease the time to develop new products and improve the chances of success on launch
- Installed a new pricing strategy
- Implemented an inside sales function to target underserved and dormant customers
- Upgraded sales operations functions including the implementation of Salesforce CRM
CAPITAL MARKETS
- Managed leverage to moderate levels to focus on strategy deployment
- Completed two dividends that returned all shareholder capital years before the full exit
“Shorehill Capital was able to invest money, training, and the same personal attention a business needs in order to grow and prosper away from the nest. They also offered ownership opportunities. For the last seven years, as a minority owner, I have been lucky enough to benefit from, and be a part of, the professionalism and polish that has been instilled into my father’s company. Shorehill Capital has succeeded at providing what Functional Devices’ management team always wanted which was opportunity, growth, financial gain, and a chance to succeed at flying away from the nest. It has been fruitful for everyone involved.”
– Ken Rittmann
Board Member and Former President and Owner of Functional Devices, Inc.
Want to Learn More About Functional Devices?
Case studies are provided solely for illustrative and discussion purposes and there are no guarantees regarding the future performance of the companies presented. The case study discussed herein represents one investment made by Shorehill Capital LLC (“Shorehill”) and the Shorehill investment team and does not represent a complete list of the Shorehill investment team’s performance. The case studies presented were selected for inclusion on the basis of being representative of Shorehill’s investment strategy. There is no guarantee that Shorehill will be able to effect similar changes or improvements in the business and operations of any future investments. The investment performance that occurred was done so during different economic cycles and included opportunities, resources and experiences different than those that may be available to Shorehill in the future. Shorehill will deploy a different asset management approach for each portfolio company and the approaches described herein may or may not be used in the future. No assurances are given that any specific asset management approach will be used by Shorehill in the future or will achieve any particular result. Please see Shorehill Portfolio for a complete list of investments managed by the Shorehill Team.
