Restructuring Charges (Notes)

6 Months Ended

Feb. 28, 2025

Restructuring and Related Activities [Abstract]

Restructuring and Related Activities Disclosure [Text Block]

Note 4. Restructuring Charges

The Company undertook various restructuring initiatives, including workforce reductions, leadership changes, plant consolidations to reduce manufacturing overhead, satellite office closures, the continued movement of production and product sourcing to low-cost alternatives, and the centralization and standardization of certain administrative functions. Liabilities for severance are generally to be paid within twelve months.

On June 27, 2022, the Company approved a restructuring plan in connection with the initiatives identified as part of the ASCEND transformation program (see Note 3, “ASCEND Transformation Program”) to drive greater efficiency and productivity in global selling, general and administrative resources. The costs of this plan were predominately severance and other employee-related costs incurred as cash expenditures and impacting both IT&S and Corporate.

The Company recorded $0.4 million and $2.8 million of restructuring charges associated with the ASCEND transformation program in the three and six months ended February 29, 2024. No restructuring charges associated with the ASCEND transformation program were recorded in the three and six months ended February 28, 2025 as the ASCEND program ended at August 31, 2024 with a total restructuring charge of $18.6 million.

The following summarizes restructuring reserve activity for the IT&S segment and Corporate (in thousands):

	Six Months Ended February 28, 2025
	IT&S		Corporate
Balance as of August 31, 2024	$	3,527	$	197
Cash payments	(2,297)		(117)
Impact of changes in foreign currency rates	(41)		—
Balance as of February 28, 2025	$	1,189	$	80

	Six Months Ended February 29, 2024
	IT&S		Corporate
Balance as of August 31, 2023	$	2,238	$	74
Restructuring charges	2,588		211
Cash payments	(2,227)		(285)
Impact of changes in foreign currency rates	(5)		—
Balance as of February 29, 2024	$	2,594	$	—

Total restructuring charges (inclusive of the Other operating segment) were $0.4 million and $2.8 million in the three and six months ended February 29, 2024, being reported in "Restructuring charges." There were no restructuring charges in the three and six months ended February 28, 2025.

ASCEND Transformation Program

Note 3. ASCEND Transformation Program

In March 2022, the Company announced the start of its ASCEND transformation program. ASCEND's key initiatives included accelerating organic growth strategies, improving operational excellence and production efficiency by utilizing a Lean approach, and driving greater efficiency and productivity in selling, general and administrative ("SG&A") expense by better leveraging resources to create a more efficient and agile organization.

Total program expenses were approximately $2.0 million and $5.6 million in the three and six months ended February 29, 2024, respectively, with no expenses in the three and six months ended February 28, 2025, as the ASCEND program ended at August 31, 2024. Of the total ASCEND program expenses, $1.4 million and $2.5 million were recorded within SG&A expenses and approximately $0.2 million and $0.4 million were recorded within cost of goods sold for the three and six months ended February 29, 2024, respectively. Additionally, $0.4 million and $2.8 million of ASCEND expenses were recorded within restructuring expenses, (see Note 4, “Restructuring Charges”) for the for the three and six months ended February 29, 2024, respectively. The restructuring charges incurred were predominately severance and other employee-related costs. The ASCEND program was completed as of August 31, 2024, with total program costs of $74.7 million of which $18.6 million was restructuring charges.