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Industrial growth audit · Automotive & aerospace components
Automotive & aerospace components

We detect where your company is leaking growth.

We audit the 9 phases of the commercial engine of B2B automotive manufacturers using the ARENA 414 methodology. In 15 minutes, receive a preliminary diagnosis and a first signal on your main growth leak.

Preliminary diagnosis at no cost → Industrial growth audit
15 questions Result in 15 minutes No cost
379
Manufacturers audited
12
Industrial sectors
9
Phases of the commercial engine
20
Detectable archetypes
The ARENA 414 model

Your commercial engine has three zones.
Growth leaks in one of them.

Industrial growth does not leak at random. ARENA 414 orders it across 9 phases and 3 zones: before, during and after conversion. BARRO audits all 9 to locate where the growth leaks are — in automotive, between supplier development and programme buyer.

BEFORE ZONE · 4 phases

Build judgement with supplier development.

F1. From ghost to visible
F2. When the pain stings
F3. Owner of the category
F4. When the project calls

Exist on supplier development's radar before the shortlist. Put a name to the technical problem (machining, technical plastics, aerostructure). Be a serious default option. Enter the RFQ before the spec freezes.

44%
of the impact
on the Score
CONVERSION ZONE · 1 phase

Close a healthy and executable yes.

F5. The battle of the yes

The moment when what was built before is confirmed or lost. If the yes is poorly closed (LTA without cover, unrecovered NRE, aggressive reductions), everything that follows gets complicated.

14%
of the impact
on the Score
AFTER ZONE · 4 phases

Capture the next programme and replication.

F6. The moment of truth
F7. From option to habit
F8. The expansion machine
F9. Evangelisation

PPM and OTD met from SOP. Programme as right to the next RFQ. Part replicated on another platform. Quality engineer who opens the next generation.

42%
of the impact
on the Score

A model in three layers of depth.

First, a no-cost preliminary diagnosis identifies the main leak signal in 15 minutes. Then, a 7-week Full ARENA Audit contrasts the diagnosis with management interviews, internal documentation, operational evidence and specialist auditors. Finally, the continuous audit turns the analysis into monthly governance: own platform, recurring opinion, dedicated auditor and growth plans.

Level 1 · First Reading
Score ARENA Express
15 minutes · Preliminary Diagnosis
  • Main growth leak signal identified
  • 15 questions calibrated by sector and revenue band
  • No integrations or prior documentation
  • Preliminary ARENA Score 0–100
  • Indicative structural archetype
Preliminary reading at no cost →
Level 2 · Growth Audit
ARENA 414 Audit
7 weeks · Specialist audit team
  • Three leaks validated with figures and closing plan
  • Full review of all 9 ARENA 414 phases
  • Interviews with management, sales, marketing and operations
  • External voices: clients, former clients and lost opportunities
  • Cross-referenced with CRM, GA4 and key internal sources
  • ARENA Score validated and signed by the audit team
  • Comparison against 379-manufacturer benchmark
  • Main restriction confirmed with documented evidence
  • 6-month roadmap with owners and timelines
Request a meeting →
Level 3 · Continuous Governance
Growth Governance

A monthly system to govern growth with the BARRO audit team working permanently alongside management and internal teams. Each month the Score is updated, a signed opinion is issued and active leaks, real progress, setbacks and pending decisions are reviewed.

The work converts each leak into an execution agenda: what needs correcting, who must do it, with what priority, what capability is missing and what evidence will demonstrate the gap is closing. When the company needs external support, BARRO activates, coordinates and supervises specialist partners to ensure the solution is executed with rigour.

The BARRO HUB platform supports the monitoring with monthly Score, sector benchmark, Client Voice, What If scenarios and a live roadmap. It is not a one-off recommendation or a recurring report: it is a governance cadence to measure, correct and accelerate growth every month.

Learn about CONTINUOUS GOVERNANCE →

How the Score ARENA Express works.

A first reading to orient growth priorities. In under 15 minutes, ARENA 414 calibrates responses by sector and revenue band to identify a first leak signal — no integrations, no meetings, no commitment.

01

Access the online questionnaire

No prior registration. Enter the company, select sector and revenue band, and start the 15 questions.

02

Responses calibrated by sector

Each answer feeds the ARENA 414 engine, calibrated by sector and revenue band. The system applies the same analytical framework as the Full Audit, in preliminary form.

03

Analysis and leak detection

The engine processes the answers against the ARENA model and generates scores per phase. It identifies the main leak, the structural archetype and the maturity level of the growth system.

04

Result in under 15 minutes

You receive your ARENA Score, the detected archetype and the main leak with a permanent URL. If it makes sense to continue, we propose the signed Full Audit with the 3 leaks and closing plan.

The ARENA 414 system.

ARENA 414 is BARRO's proprietary framework for auditing and governing industrial growth. It structures the commercial engine of B2B manufacturers across 9 phases in 3 zones, under a 4-1-4 logic: four phases before conversion, one conversion phase and four subsequent phases. It evaluates 45 sub-dimensions, identifies 20 leak archetypes and connects the diagnosis with over 700 prescriptive actions, calibrated against 379 manufacturers in 12 sectors. Each phase has its own scoring, sector threshold and specific battery of actions — in automotive and aerospace, calibrated to programme cycle and LTA pressure.

4-1-4
Structure of the model
45
Sub-dimensions evaluated
700+
Prescriptive actions
7
Interviews in full audit
Audited cases

Three CEOs who went from operating blind to operating with a monthly opinion.

Case 01 · Anonymised

Recovered life-of-program margin after detecting late entry into the OEM RFQ.

RFQ hit rate+24%
Annual reduction accepted−18%
Programmes with NRE covered+31%
Timeframe22 months
Case 02 · Anonymised

Reduced PPM incidents and lifted the nomination on the next programme of the same Tier 1.

PPM at customer−42%
OTD from plant+11%
Next-programme nominations+28%
Timeframe15 months
Case 03 · Anonymised

Replicated the part won onto a second platform and opened an aero-defence portfolio.

Active programmes per part+36%
Top-1 customer concentration−21%
Aerostructures backlog+44%
Timeframe20 months
For whom

Industry only.

BARRO is designed for B2B industrial manufacturers between 5 and 80 million euros. Only companies where growth depends on technical sales, industrial cycles and productive capacity.

01Automation and roboticsScope creep in integration projects: margin can drift from 47% initial to 18% final. 02Electrical material and constructionThe buyer often reaches the first meeting with much of the decision already made. 03Logistics and transportThe handoff between sales and operations often becomes the bottleneck blocking repeat business. 04Public works and miningThe tender is the finish line, not the start: the opportunity may be decided during engineering. 05HVAC and climate controlAftermarket often emerges as a second business: a margin engine many manufacturers fail to capture. 06Metal industryBids can be lost before price even comes up. Win rate often drops to ~20% without prior diagnosis. 07Plastic industrySilent churn: deterioration can accumulate for months before showing up in the report. 08PackagingMediocre technical content can weigh more than publishing nothing. Authority is often decided on the manufacturer's website. 09AgroindustrySmall retention points can be worth far more than large acquisition campaigns. The leak appears in repeat business, not new sales.
10Automotive and aviation componentsExtensive buying committee: the internal sponsor may decide before the technical evaluator.
11Windows and enclosuresA poor delivery can cost the next contract. After-sales acts as the new pre-sales. 12Food industryClosing discounts can cost several times more in EBIT than negotiating a non-price term.

Why BARRO and not a consultancy, an agency or a dashboard.

Consultancies leave with the PowerPoint.

They run a one-off project, present to the board, get paid and disappear. Two years later the problem is still there with no verification of whether the recommendations were executed.

Agencies optimise levers. Not the whole system.

They optimise digital campaigns, set up a CRM, build a new site. In automotive and aerospace components, no one audits from outside the presence with supplier development, programme closing with a realistic LTA, or part replication to the next platform.

Dashboards give data without diagnosis.

Knowing the data is not knowing what to do with it. BARRO signs a monthly opinion with human interpretation by a senior auditor, not just another radar with metrics without reading.

What is worth clarifying before moving forward

How does the company enter the programme buyer's shortlist before the RFQ?
BARRO does not enter on behalf of the client: the audit identifies what is missing to enter. Phase 3 (category authority with supplier development) and phase 4 (entry into the shortlist before the RFQ arrives) explain 70% of the problem in automotive and aerospace components. The signed report identifies whether the brand is absent from the programme buyer's mind because of a lack of technical editorial presence, a gap in certified capabilities, or a PPM/OTD record that the quality engineer remembers in negative terms. Each hypothesis carries a different action library.
How do PPAP homologation and IATF 16949 weigh in the report?
Homologation is a necessary but never sufficient condition. The audit does not measure it: it incorporates it as a constraint. What is measured is what the commercial engine does between the moment the plant is homologated and the moment the next nomination is won. The difference between two plants with identical IATF 16949 certification sits in phase 3 (technical authority) and phase 4 (entry before specification freeze), not in the quality audit. In aerostructures and aerospace machining, the same principle applies with AS9100 and NADCAP.
What is needed from the team to start the free Score Express?
Four one-hour interviews with the chief executive, sales, marketing and operations. Minimal documentation of the commercial engine (team structure, parts range, profile of OEMs and Tier 1 customers served, active certifications, programmes in progress and recent nominations). No CRM connection or integration is needed. The whole exercise is organised in a single week.
How is annual price pressure (LTA) handled in the report?
The annual discount agreed in the LTA is not the leak: it is the symptom. The real leak sits in phase 5 (programme closing with a realistic LTA) and in phase 8 (replication of the part onto another platform to dilute concentration). If the commercial engine depends on 60-80% of one or two OEMs, annual price pressure is accepted with no alternative. The report measures the actual speed of portfolio diversification, not complaints about the LTA. The way out is never to renegotiate; the way out is the next part or the next platform.
How does the BEV transition affect the Score?
The BEV transition reorders the parts portfolio: thermal propulsion declines, embedded electronics and batteries rise, body and interiors are redistributed depending on the OEM. The Score reflects this in phase 8 (replication to new platforms) and in phase 1 (visibility for programmes that do not yet exist). The report identifies the share of backlog tied to programmes in declining phases and proposes the action library to enter RFQs of BEV platforms before a competitor sets the specification. Aero-defence acts as a natural hedge in many of the audited cases.
How is confidentiality handled with respect to other audited manufacturers in the same sector?
A confidentiality agreement is signed before the first interview. The company's information is never shared with third parties, not even in anonymised form except aggregated statistically for the sector benchmark (always with sample sizes large enough that no company is identifiable). Raw data does not leave the client's BARRO platform account. The same auditor does not audit two manufacturers competing directly for the same programme of the same OEM or Tier 1.
What weight does the report carry with a board, a bank or a prospective buyer under NDA?
The report is signed by the assigned senior auditor and backed by the ARENA 414 methodology. It serves as an independent document for board meetings, financing processes and data rooms in sale transactions. In automotive and aerospace components, where consolidation between Tier 1 and Tier 2 is active and cross-border technology transfer is rising, having continuous traceability over 12-24 months has a direct impact on valuation when due diligence by the strategic buyer arrives.
Start with your Score Express

Fifteen questions. Fifteen minutes.
No cost.
And you will have your main leak detected.

It is the fastest and most honest way to know where your commercial engine is leaking growth. If afterwards the full audit with the 3 leaks and closing plan makes sense, we talk. If not, you keep a useful Score.

Preliminary diagnosis at no cost. Industrial growth audit
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