Business Review Europe magazine - May 2016

May 2016 • w w w.bu sine s sreviewe urop e.e u

TRANSFORMED by technology RSA Group is restored as a major force in the global insurance industry G4S Realising the

value of procurement

SYNGENTA AG Seeds of change

4 WAYS CIOS CA NJ START T UMP HE DIGITA LISATIO N JOURN EY

FOCUSED. STRONGER. BETTER. RSA is one of the world’s longest standing general insurers, providing peace of mind to individuals and families, and protecting small businesses and large corporations from uncertainty for more than 305 years

For more information please visit our website: www.rsagroup.com

EDITOR’S COMMENT

IN THIS ISSUE

Going digital W E L C O M E T O M A Y ’ S E D I T I O N of

Business Review Europe. Digitisation is a key theme for our front of book features this issue, as we ask what this means for the print and paper world. We also have some useful advice for CIOs on how to jump start their company’s digitalisation process.

Nigel Shanahan, founder of the innovative Rant & Rave customer engagement platform, talks to us about his lightbulb moment in 2009 and how his business has thrived since.

The magazine is also packed full of company stories, with our cover feature looking at how technology has transformed insurers RSA Group.

As ever, please send any comments to us @BizReviewEurope

Enjoy the issue!

Lucy Dixon Managing Editor EMEA lucy.dixon@bizclikmedia.com 3

F E AT U R E S

INTERVIEW

Nigel Shanahan, founder of the innovative Rant & Rave

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TECHNOLOGY

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Document digitisation: The future of print

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Four ways: CIOs can jump start the digitalisation journey

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Company profiles

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G4S

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RSA Group

Syngenta AG

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Zinnovate

INTERVIEW

Rave reviews Business Review Europe talks to Nigel Shanahan, founder of the innovative Rant & Rave customer engagement platform WRIT TE N BY PIE RS FOR D

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April 2016

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INTERVIEW IT IS ONE thing to think you’ve spotted the missing link in customer engagement, and quite another to convince some of the world’s most recognised brands that their preoccupation with and investment in analytics isn’t necessarily telling them the whole story about what their customers really think.

But that’s what Nigel Shanahan, founder and chairman of Rant & Rave has done since the penny dropped for him during a fateful sales trip in 2009.

Since then, armed with their innovative customer engagement platform, he and his team have succeeded in capturing the imagination of half the FTSE, helping them to bridge the gap between delivering proactive customer communications and harnessing the power of real-time feedback.

The company’s original platform focused on push customer communications – multi-channel messages about products and services purchased, or the status of ‘click and collect’ deliveries, for example. Today, the communication circle has been completed by technology which allows businesses to capture, interpret and present customer reaction 8

May 2016

to their experience in real time.

Rant & Rave now works with more than 190 businesses and last year delivered 210 million interactions via SMS, MMS, email, voice, and web messages. Its customer base includes Vodafone, EasyJet, Debenhams, Sky and nPower, as well as numerous public sector organisations.

Shanahan’s moment of truth came during a dispiriting experience at a motorway café. The coffee was dreadful, the table was dirty and as his frustration mounted, he began to wonder why it wasn’t possible to convey his thoughts about the dismal service to the senior management of this well-known chain – rather than having to complete a survey (if one existed) and waiting until question 20 to make a point that was unlikely to register where it counted.

“I thought, if my feelings as a customer are to count for anything, they need to be captured in the moment,” Shanahan recalls. “I phoned my wife and said I had an idea, which fitted with everything we’d been doing since founding the business in 2001. If we could find a way to capture customer reaction in a timely and crystal-clear way, it

RAVE REVIEWS

“What makes us different to most sentiment engines, which tend to deal with averages in survey returns, is our ability to unpick the multiple elements of the customer’s response in their own words” – Nigel Shanahan, Founder and Chairman of Rant & Rave

would have a perfect synergy with our proactive messaging platform.”

Shanahan’s idea was based on the premise that the most valuable information about a customer’s experience is captured in the richness of the any-other-comments box at the end of a survey, rather than in the way they’ve ticked a generic set of boxes. And that information is only valuable if you can take the most important sentence verbatim, unpick the sentiment, analyse it and deliver a quick, intelligent response.

“It took us about 18 months to bring the platform to a sufficiently impressive level to show people,” 9

INTERVIEW says Shanahan. “We wanted to demonstrate that by enabling the client to have a sentiment-driven dialogue with the customer, capturing feedback as close to the experience as possible, we could cut through survey fatigue and get the story from the customer to the brand in real time.”

Shanahan admits that the challenge was tough. To begin with, even an existing customer base of well-known brands needed convincing that his vision of complete, transparent communication had something different to offer. Most companies were already deeply invested in surveys and analytic tools and didn’t have the budget to entertain a new approach.

“What makes us different to most sentiment engines, which tend to deal with averages in survey returns, is our ability to unpick the multiple elements of the customer’s response in their own words,” he says.

“If you capture the dialogue in the moment, you can immediately drill into the detail. I think I got it from the start – why would I answer a load of irrelevant questions when I could just tell you then and there why I wasn’t happy, in my own words?” says Shanahan.

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“But I did get frustrated. We had a refreshing and exciting proposition, and a great way to capture feedback.

We would have positive, evangelical meetings – then the let-down: they already had a long-term commitment to a survey provider, or they might consider a pilot project in a year or so.

“Now, things have really changed.

Everyone is aware of the value of the empowered customer, and I think we’re in much more of a sweet spot than we were three years ago. It’s taken quite a while and there are still doubters and nay-sayers. But

RAVE REVIEWS

the fact remains that CRM systems alone won’t tell you how a particular customer felt during the last five times they’ve interacted with your business – and wouldn’t it be great to know that, so you can make changes where they’ll make the most difference?”

As a platform, Rant & Rave is focused on the front-line of engagement between the customer and the employee – whether they are in a bar or restaurant, for example, or communicating via a call centre.

Shanahan says it creates a sense of excitement around being able

to deliver a proactive response to a customer comment. He offers Ovo Energy as an example of how a business is using Rant & Rave to drive engagement.

“They have a terrific, excitable call centre workforce, with real energy, so they have gamified the feedback, creating their own vernacular around the topics that are important to the customer,” he says.

“They even recognise the ‘Raver of the week’. Our outcomes are found among motivated employees, in the call centre wallboards, and the teams and league tables competing to provide the best customer experience.

A customer might find a call centre agent excellent but want to criticise a system or process. Rant & Rave allows the agent’s achievement to be recognised while the problem business process is addressed. It’s a customer-focused approach rather than one based on dry analytics.”

The gathering strength of this proposition can be measured in the company’s growth. It now employs nearly 70 staff – mostly at its Coventry headquarters but also an increasing number of remote employees around the country.

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INTERVIEW Shanahan says Rant & Rave has been profitable since it was established, and monthly software subscriptions are growing by 50 percent year-on-year.

The company is expanding internationally. It is currently rolling the platform out across Linde Group in 22 countries around the world, and it is working with Homeserve in the US – a relationship which, says Shanahan, is already opening up prospects across the Atlantic. It has also integrated its technology with Salesforce, creating an app which will bring rich sentiment right into context with other customer information – opening up a host of possibilities for the subscriber’s business.

“We live and breathe customer engagement, which we think begins with the first communication and comes full circle with their feedback,” he says. “If you can capture sentiment after any interaction by asking for feedback, you can begin to build a preemptive communication strategy which drives down the cost of service, stops unnecessary calls and improves the customer experience – and even identify a sentiment-driven sales opportunity.”

That rotten cup of coffee certainly turned out to have dregs of gold.

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TECHNOLOGY

Document digitisation:

the future of print Written by Tetsuya Kuri, Vice President of Marketing, OKI Europe Ltd

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TECHNOLOGY

TODAY, MOST BUSINESSES continue to use a combination of paper-based and digital documents in their day-to-day operations.

However, research by IDC shows that, despite the fact more and more businesses having increasingly data intensive processes, only a third of European companies are planning for a digital world. This leaves the remaining two thirds at risk of falling behind the competition and missing out on the potential to make important time and productivity savings as well as leaving them open to ever growing security concerns.

In facilitating the transition away from paper-based processes, smart multifunction printers (MFPs) will have an important role in helping firms towards collaborative, digitised processes that are key to more efficient working practices.

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In a recent white paper, ‘Are your business processes stifling your market opportunity? Cost-efficient print and document management through smart MFPs’, IDC points to the fact that many companies would like to digitise documents to reduce physical storage in premium office or offsite spaces.

Here, one of the key benefits of business process automation is in providing the ability to archive documents in one place. By providing access to scanning functionality, users can digitise information for searchable access and scan direct to a specific destination, eliminating the need for a paper trail.

Key features that a smart MFP brings to firms that are actively looking to increase document digitisation include the ability to scan direct to email, to a specified folder that may

ROAMING FREE

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TECHNOLOGY

THE FUTURE OF PRINT

be on a network or cloud-based for further utilisation or archival.

This makes the devices well-suited to the 66 percent of European companies which identify the ability to have archived documents in a single location as a key benefit of automating business processes.

Various document formats can also be scanned for output in PDF or PDF/A format. In this regard, smart MFPs also help meet longer-term, searchable digital archiving requirements.

Supporting the increasingly mobile workforce with ‘anytime, anywhere’ solutions Another key factor driving forward the digitisation agenda is the continued rise in workplace mobility, which was identified as an important trend in the IDC research. By 2018, the analyst firm has predicted that 75 percent of the

Western European workforce will be mobile and require access to accurate information in order to maintain and increase the productivity.

This follows an earlier 2014 study released by Atomik Research on behalf of OKI Europe, which pointed to an increase in the use of smart devices and flexible working among European SMBs. Here, the research showed that, as reliance on digital technology grows, the demand for printed documents is evolving, with nearly half of the businesses surveyed (45 percent) highlighting that they have staff with a requirement to print from a mobile device.

In direct response to market demand for digitisation, the rise in employee mobility and the desire for streamlined document workflows, smart MFPs are rising up the agenda and increasingly being viewed as an important

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TECHNOLOGY

workplace technology. Acting as ‘on ramps and off ramps to the cloud,’ IDC makes the case that they are much more powerful and capable than the printing devices of the past.

This extends the role of the smart MFP from printing and copying (or ‘dumb device’) to a customisable digital transformation tool, paving the way for offices that are less cluttered with filing cabinets and making organisations much better equipped to move towards more productive workflows and increased document digitisation.

The deployment of smart MFPs is transforming working practices for the better in many fields, including healthcare, education and retail.

In healthcare, hospitals, laboratories and pharmacies require integrated, patient-focused solutions to improve efficiency and overcome key challenges such as preserving data

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confidentiality. Smart MFPs enable simple search and secure sharing of patient data with relevant healthcare professionals, cutting out time wasted on paper-based processes and ensuring delivery is not hindered by poor quality printing of medical images, for example. In addition patients can avoid wasting time queuing to see a receptionist to obtain their medical test results, by printing them on demand, with complete confidentiality, using their patient number directly from a smart MFP. Like the healthcare sector, schools and universities face tough budget constraints. Yet they must also allow teachers and students to adopt new technology. Innovative smart MFP technology involving cloud and mobile solutions has a significant role to play here, enabling the use of costeffective digital printing and document management, while reducing carbon

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THE FUTURE OF PRINT

emissions. Studies have, for instance, shown that colour increases learning and participation. Furthermore, from an administrative perspective the use of OMR (Optical Mark Recognition) enables smart MFPs to process admissions or tests in batches, sharing the output or results directly with the student in the classroom.

For retailers, competition in the move to omnichannel is increasingly tough, requiring operators to constantly refresh and customise what they offer so they stand out from competitors and retain customers tempted by online alternatives.

Smart MFPs give retailers amazing flexibility, making high-impact, professional-quality promotional materials, banners, signage, price tags and other promotional items immediately available by printing on demand. Additionally templates can be created centrally and made available via the Smart MFPs

customisable user interface enabling retail outlets to render, download and print creative templates, quickly and on-brand, while encouraging digital interactions by drawing attention to QR codes driving customers into stores and into their database.

OKI Europe’s portfolio of smart MFPs combine sophisticated software with advanced technology. These in-built tools provide businesses with a range of capabilities needed improve the way that documents are handled, managed and processed through an organisation and support the growing requirement for space and time-saving document digitisation in busy businesses.

For further information and to receive a copy of a whitepaper and related infographic, visit the link: okieurope.com/smartmfps/digitalrevolution

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LIST

Four ways CIOs can jump start the digitalisation journey Written by Rich Hillebrecht, Chief Information Officer, Riverbed Technology

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DOING MORE WITH less is a constant challenge to IT organisations. There is continuous downward pressure on IT budgets, while expectations surrounding what can be achieved through transformational IT projects have increased significantly. CIOs are still expected to play a key role in driving the business forward by improving IT applications and infrastructure, efficiency and business processes. As a result, they are under pressure to repeatedly deploy the ‘next big thing’ to stay competitive, while still delivering maximum benefit and optimal value to the business.

With digital disruption already taking place today, many CIOs are preparing themselves to be thought leaders on the disruptive

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impacts of the digitalisation of industries. They are learning to anticipate and communicate the potential opportunities of being a disruptor and the risks of being disrupted, and are leading the dialogue around the implications and business imperatives with regard to the allocation of resources and funding levels for technology investment. However, while CIOs have jump started a digitalisation strategy and journey, the question remains: how can they balance the demand for cost savings with the need to keep the business relevant in a digital future?

I’ve identified four key opportunities for CIOs that can jump start their digitalisation journey.

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Optimise your network The growth of cloud-based services and applications has made controlling business IT more difficult. There are now more devices, applications and networks than ever before.

Bandwidth becomes an issue as each application also uses additional micro-services.

Visibility is also a problem – many applications are hosted in different public, private and hybrid cloud infrastructures using various types of connectivity – public internet or a private VPN/WAN, for example.

In these diverse environments, it’s not unusual for data to always use a different network

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path to reach the end-user.

This means that the IT department has to identify, analyse and solve problems in a diverse, ever changing environment. Having the right tools in place will enable CIOs to locate and understand network performance problems, optimise infrastructure and application performance, and increase network efficiency. Only when they achieve visibility, optimisation, and control across hybrid clouds and networks can CIOs ensure that on-premise, cloud, and SaaS applications perform to the service-level agreements determined by the business.

F O U R W AY S C I O S C A N J U M P S TA R T T H E D I G I TA L I S AT I O N J O U R N E Y

Take a new approach to branch office IT On average, 50 percent of an organisation’s employees work out of branch offices – which is also where much of a company’s valuable information is stored to provide local access. Nonetheless, many CIOs focus their data protection strategies solely on data centres, ignoring branch locations.

Without qualified IT staff on site to manage servers, storage and backup at the branch, it can take days, weeks or even months to provision new services, resolve application performance issues and recover from outages, directly impacting business productivity

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and ultimately business results.

Instead, CIOs can turn to hyperconverged branch IT, where branch data is stored and managed in the data centre and users access it through applications running locally in the branch. This approach allows branches to consolidate servers, storage and network infrastructure into a single appliance, greatly simplifying the maintenance and delivery of critical resources.

More importantly, it maintains application performance levels, so user experience is not compromised, and enables CIOs to cut costs, consolidate operations, and boost security.

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Find long term technology partners Well architected platforms that provide businesses the flexibility to rapidly deploy services that link their digital business community are going to be key at all levels of the technology stack. Digitalisation is driving an explosion of data that needs to be turned into actionable information and managed by algorithms – CIOs need to find key partners who can help them exploit the opportunity to be the disruptor, rather than the disrupted.

Picking the right partners to assist is critical.

CIOs should look for those that demonstrate thought leadership in relevant domains and have ability to deliver value to their organisation. While technology products will change over time – and will morph in response to business demands and learning from early efforts – partners are vested in each other’s success over the long haul.

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Invest in innovation From a business perspective, formulating an approach to ‘innovation’ that is funded as part of a CIO’s investment portfolio can create a sustainable, balanced model, as can redirecting operational savings towards investments aimed at innovation. Additionally, to ensure they remain creative and cutting edge, CIOs can crowdsource innovation ideas from their teams, employees and customers – and fund the most supported ones all the way through their execution to a demonstrable level, considering minimal viable product or service efforts as a means to validate their impact and adoption.

From an IT perspective, investing in tools that clearly identify network and application performance problems, and give CIOs fluency in the complicated language of application-aware network performance management, is crucial to satisfying an organisation’s constantly-evolving needs.

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Realising

the value of procurement Written by Nye Longman Produced by Richard Durrant

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G4S

Following the introduction of its Group Procurement Team in 2014, G4S has been able to make savings and drive efficiencies across its operations

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hen he joined the company in 2014, Group Procurement Director Shaun Carroll faced a seemingly insurmountable challenge: nothing less than developing a group-wide transformation of the company’s procurement operations. Over the past two years, Carroll has brought about a sea-change in the ways that the business handles its procurement at all levels, which includes the adoption of new processes and technologies, as well as a plan to ensure that, in future, G4S has procurement at the centre of its thinking.

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Operations G4S is well-known for its role as one of the world’s leading integrated security companies. Specialising in providing a range of security products, solutions, and services to a variety of sectors, the company operates in 100 countries and employs over 610,000 people.

The procurement arm of G4S fulfils two key functions within the business, which involves operational support, alongside more strategic responsibilities. Operational support is delivered by working closely with a range of different departments which include warehousing,

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S U P P LY C H A I N

logistics and supply management, as well as supplier expediting. The company also aims to improve its commercial arrangements with its third-party suppliers; it combines strategic sourcing and procurement in order to achieve this.

“We also look at risk management and supplier relationship management. All of the areas around supplier collaboration and innovation, as well as ethically engaging our suppliers. Bearing in mind, from a procurement perspective, we’re like a start-up company here in procurement at G4S – it’s just a very, very big start-up,” adds Carroll.

Alongside its range of specialist outsourced services, G4S provides cash management and security solutions,

as well as services for both the care and justice sectors. Furthermore, the company also deploys the latest technological solutions across its security systems.

Supply chain management Carroll gives an insight into the size and complexity of the company’s supporting supply chain, saying: “We’ve got about a £1.6 billion spend. There are 65,000 suppliers in our supply chain and of that 65,000, the top 250 make up 50 percent of our supply spend. So we have a very long tail of small spend suppliers and that’s necessary because of the type of our business and how spread out we are. The top four percent of suppliers cover 80 percent of our spend.”

Annual revenue

£6.98 billion

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Having several high-spend suppliers places G4S in a position to form close working relationships – an advantage that has delivered real-world benefits to the business, in this case working with Telefonica (TEF) UK. Carroll explains: “One of our early successful category programs has been on Telco provision which was first implemented by the Global Category leader in the UK, we open market tested the relationship with Telefonica for the first time in over five years. This process came at a particularly hectic time in the relationship as various new agreements were being implemented across a number of regions forging whole new relationships. The UK process was complex and entailed consolidating several smaller relationships and also reviewing the current supply from Telefonica.

“Through clear commercial

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discussions and value engineering the specification with highly competent internal stakeholders, the Procurement team delivered considerable savings on the UK spend in Telco, improved the resilience and facilitated our move to a cloud based infrastructure.

The model for the process has now been rolled out in North America, Europe, Africa and LATAM with Asia following this year.

Telefonica has secured several of the contracts around the world.”

Operating across so many countries is complex and challenging, which is why the Procurement team is going to invest a substantial amount of time and effort rolling out a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.

Not only will this enable the G4S to simplify a great number of individual systems but will bring about a ripple-effect of benefits.

Deliver an enhanced customer experience We can support your business to simplify its IT infrastructure and achieve its strategic objectives on its digital transformation journey. More than 8 million businesses across 170 countries trust us to keep their business ahead of the curve. www.business-solutions.telefonica.com

G 4GS4 S

“We’ve got about a £1. spend. There are 65,00 in our supply chain and 65,000, the top 250 ma percent of our supply s

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Carroll explains: “There are several improvement projects that come out of implementing a single ERP process. We won’t need to engage a third party for our spend visibility programme which we do at the moment.

To be able to do that without an ERP, I - Shaun Carroll put in place a spend visibility programme with Spend360 where we went round and gathered the AP data from around 60 finance systems to pull in the data to know what we spend and who we spend it with.

“This was essential to prioritising the workload very early on and our partner Spend360 greatly helped with this programme. So the ERP will give us as close to single element of data truth as we can.”

“Procurement is not just about the price of goods and services delivered – it is also about the total cost of ownership. We have introduced several policies around the business to help us control demand. These cover property, travel, professional services and temporary labour – we are working with several global partners to help deliver the demand management programme, an important one being IQ Navigator who is helping us manage our temporary labour requirements and processes.”

.6 billion 00 suppliers d of that ake up 50 spend”

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The value of procurement Carroll explains that the G4S working culture – especially where its procurement operations are concerned – was one of collaboration and mutual respect.

It is little wonder, then, that the company has worked hard to ensure that this effective way of working is disseminated as far as possible in the form of its Supplier Code of Conduct.

Carroll says: “Our basic focus is keeping as much of the world as secure and as safe as possible and that brings us into conflict with some pretty difficult individuals.

Therefore, our supplier base also gets pulled into those issues. It’s important that we get the message out that respect for the

people that we’re dealing with when they’re in our custody or in our care.

Making sure that we do everything with integrity in terms of handling customers’ money, looking after our customers’ premises, transporting our customers’ goods around the world is extremely important to us.”

In order to ensure that these values are ingrained into the procurement ethos – and that operations in this regard are continuously improving – Carroll focused on three core initiatives during his initial months with the company. These consisted of rolling out procurement excellence, implementing a global category focus, led by worldleading industry experts, and by appointing regional procurement leaders.

Number of employees

610,000

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Shaun Carroll Group Procurement Director Shaun Carroll is Group Procurement Director (CPO) for G4S the global Outsourcing and Security Company, responsible for the company’s global supply chain; he is based in London, United Kingdom.

Carroll was appointed to the post in May 2014 and tasked with transforming and leading a department that had functioned primarily as a support to local operations in the 100 plus countries G4S operates. Since starting, the team has changed significantly and has been recognised as adding value internally and externally. He is also responsible for Group Property where he has implemented a successful property consolidation program releasing cash and improving costs.

Prior to this appointment Carroll held several roles in Johnson Controls Real Estate and FM business – Global Workplace Solutions primarily delivering

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global Supply Chain Solutions to external customers and fulfilling complex contractual obligations using suppliers to deliver value.

Prior to JCI Carroll held a variety of positions in construction, water and consultancy organisations focusing on the EPC (engineer, procure, construct) lifecycle of projects.

During his 30 years in industry Carroll has developed a pragmatic enthusiasm for transformation and change that builds on his engineering roots and cost leadership in supply chain management.

Carroll holds a Bachelor of Engineering Degree in Civil Engineering from Portsmouth, a Masters in Business Administration from London City University, he is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Chartered institute of Purchasing and Supply. He also a non-executive director of English shoemaker RE Tricker Ltd.

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Carroll explains: “I implemented a small, two person central procurement excellence team. I recruited them from the external marketplace and the value delivered by these roles is to have a consistent backbone of policies and processes around the world.

They all have the same look and feel but there are variations depending on the operating environment in different regions.

“Initially, my view was to have true category management led by global experts rolled out into each of the regions to leverage our spend in some key global categories. I recruited a mix of people into five global category roles and they covered our big spend areas.

“We changed our direction in response to the fact that our business struggles to globally consolidate around a single supplier

in any category due to the amount of change that that would need, and there are few suppliers that have our geographical spread.

“Where we have managed to consolidate on a single supplier is in our global fuel category, where we have partnered with Shell in all of the regions in which they operate. We took more of a supplierled reengagement/negotiations/ competition programme based around groups of categories.”

“The Regional Procurement teams have developed their integration with local businesses to the point where they are helping business development and sales teams to win new business. Not only are they working on new bids but they are also working with the sales teams to help them understand what procurement folks in their customers want and how those procurement teams think.”

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G4S

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S U P P LY C H A I N

People at the centre of the transformation When appointing the G4S procurement leaders, Carroll looked at industries that have a recognised reputation for excellence in procurement: “The security services industry is generally not recognised as a forerunner in procurement thought leadership – but manufacturing is, airlines are, and some of the more technologyfocused telco organisations are.

“I looked at the business challenges that we have and I looked at the type of industry that has resolved that issue and recruited from that area. Putting good people at the centre of the strategy is vital as they are essential for success.”

Coming from the Post Office in early 2015, Robert Copeland was appointed UK Procurement Director.

His skills are based in manufacturing but his operational experience is in this service-led industry which has a similar geographical footprint and service lines as the UK Procurement business. One of Copeland’s first priorities was to build confidence in the new procurement team to allow the market testing of key contracts.

Two of Copeland’s key projects have been the re-procurement of UK fleet where Hitachi Capital were the successful supplier, making a multi-million pound saving over the four year contract.

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Early on in his tenure, he renegotiated the BT Fleet contract for the company’s cash in transit fleet maintenance, delivering further multimillion pound savings.

Another example of diverse leadership is James Ratcliff, who was appointed from Kimberly Clark.

Ratcliff has held several global and pan-regional procurement leadership roles and brought thought leadership in the process and systems area.

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Carroll adds: “He was instrumental in developing the policies that the company has rolled out globally and has now taken on additional responsibility in managing the Europe region. “This demands a clear focus and direction from a procurement perspective because it is highly federated and geographically dispersed. This region has a great deal of opportunity for G4S in terms of

S U P P LY C H A I N

“Changing focus or adding a new layer of complexity to a business’ operations can be extremely difficult to implement. Given the scale, scope and size of G4S – not to mention the critical security role it plays on a daily basis – this achievement is particularly noteworthy” supplier consolidation and savings.

“The global team in G4S procurement has come together really well from its beginnings in late 2014 to now, we have a team with diverse, extensive and valuable experience delivering real value locally.”

Seven key principles Carroll and his team are in the second year of their mid-term plan: “We have seven key principles that we’re working on in our three to five year plan. The first one is around leadership and organisation and

interaction with business leadership.

We’ve got our procurement and sourcing strategies where we are developing and executing consistent policies and strategies at a global, local and regional level.

“We have our people strategy which is around attracting, developing and retaining the right talent base.

We have got our savings and consolidation process, delivering traceable savings to the P&L. Last year we delivered multi-million-pound savings that were signed off and audited by internal audit.

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“The next principle is around process and systems which is why we’re rolling out the ERP; another two concern vendor management which is all about the SRM and corporate social responsibility programme. The final principle is based around performance measurement and management; making sure that we measure what we do and report it and that we have a clear set of KPIs to report on.”

Changing focus or adding a new

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layer of complexity to a business’ operations can be extremely difficult to implement.

Given the scale, scope and size of G4S – not to mention the critical security role it plays on a daily basis – this achievement is particularly noteworthy.

While security companies are generally not recognised for their procurement achievements, G4S is certainly one to watch.

S U P P LY C H A I N

“The UK and Group team have been recognised internally with an award for improved productivity for placing procurement at the heart of the business�

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Transformed by technology Written by John O’Hanlon Produced by George Tweed

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RSA GROUP

Through radical restructuring RSA has been restored as a major force in the global insurance industry: to sustain it in a leading position it has more to do to cut cost and improve processes, something that is being delivered by its IT and procurement teams

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oday’s insurance market is a crowded place with a lot of upstarts jostling for attention online – still, of all businesses it is surely one of the most dependent on trust. Royal & Sun Alliance or RSA as it has been called since 2008 traces its heritage back to the founding of The Sun Fire Office in 1710 and is the most recognised brand in the UK market, where it is the second largest general insurer. In 2014 it appointed Stephen Hester, the man who oversaw the restructuring of RBS, as its Chief Executive: his task was to turn the over-stretched RSA group round, and judging from the

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recently announced 2015 results this has largely been achieved.

The company has enjoyed a 473 percent growth in underwriting profit, and a 221 percent growth in profits after tax.

The resurgence of the group is being achieved by a radical programme of restructuring that involved the disposal of businesses in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, India, Italy and Latin America and refocusing the group on the

profitable UK, Scandinavia and Canada markets. “We see 2016 as the last major restructuring year with disposals and balance sheet work completing and the heavy lifting of core business improvement and cost reduction action continuing,� said Hester, who now wants to place customer focus and competitiveness at the front of his agenda as he seeks to restore RSA as the leader of the insurance industry pack.

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RSA GROUP

The review and the tools At the heart of the strategy to drive continuing business improvement and cost reduction stands an IT transformation programme led

by CIO Darren Price. Focusing on people, partners and systems it was developed following an end-to-end strategic review of the IT function in 2014 that set the course for change.

“We looked at the whole spectrum of issues,” says RSA’s Chief Technology Officer Tim Skates, “including a broad analysis of our IT cost base but also ways in which we could obtain more from a reduced investment spend and at the same time meet some of the business challenges we are facing, and meet them more effectively.”

There has been a significant amount of investment in terms of collaboration and social collaboration tools, says Skates.

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Now employees no longer have to grapple with Lotus Notes but have been given cloud based tools that they can use to communicate with customers and one another using their own choice of devices.

Migration to Outlook and SharePoint is now largely complete, as is Yammer, another Microsoft platform that works like a cross between Facebook and Twitter. Yammer has cut e-mail traffic dramatically, and increased the effectiveness of communication as employees translate the skills they use in their daily social media transactions into the business environment.

“It has been remarkable, and now we are engaging with our employees in a more effective way, and also starting to leverage the pockets of expertise we have across the group, whether in IT, underwriting, actuarial or finance. We have now

Tim Skates Group CTO Tim has over 25 years of experience in Financial Services, working across Life & Pensions and General Insurance for the Prudential, Legal & General and now RSA Insurance Group.

Tim is currently Group CTO at RSA having previously had responsibility for Strategy & Architecture in RSA’s UK business.

Through his career Tim has worked on many large transformation programmes ranging from Data Warehousing & Analytics, core Administration platform implementations and many e-Commerce deliveries including the first implementation of online Life underwriting in the industry.

Although having held positions in IT Advisory, Pharmaceuticals and Banking, his passion for balancing strategic thinking with the practical realities of delivering business value in the competitive Financial Services market has never been stronger or more relevant.

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Vodafone helps RSA Group be a Ready Business Find out more Vodafone.com/business

Vodafone

Power to you

RSA and Accenture: Building the leading customer-focused digital insurer RSA’s transformation agenda has a clear goal:

service, we’re helping the business drive value

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and successful insurance provider. Outstanding

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progress has already been made. And technology

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supplier for BPO services through to 2021. This

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company’s IT applications in the UK and Ireland.

of self-service, customer-centricity, risk

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As RSA looks to the future, it recognises

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its leadership will be built on enabling the

experience. Delivering the Digital Insurer Capabilities

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rightful position as the ‘leader of the pack’.

considered as part of the IS Roadmap building on the SME implementation in Ireland, giving RSA’s property and casualty operations the scalability and configurability they need to outperform.

But the Duck Creek implementation is just

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working on together are shaping RSA’s operating model for a new world. Bringing Accenture’s leading predictive analytics capabilities as-a-

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Visit us at www.accenture.com

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“We are looking to simplify both our business and our application estate, for two reasons: one it helps with our cost efficiencies and two it is really a key enabler for digitising our business” - Tim Skates provided them with a toolset which makes it much easier to collaborate across organisational boundaries,” says Tim Skates.

The point is that this new community is group wide, he continues. “For example we have now a global claims community that are sharing insights round claims best practice. Where we have global clients we are really starting to build some global communities of expertise, and they are starting to share best practice,

information, analytics with one another. The same is true within IT. I have a matrix team across the globe and we are sharing IT knowledge and expertise, making sure that we are implementing new solutions the right way and that these solutions are consistent wherever possible.” It saves a lot of duplicated effort too, as best practice is shared and refined collaboratively rather than trying to reinvent the wheel constantly.

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At the heart of your business Innovation is at the heart of your business – and ours.

For fresh ideas on how to stay at the centre of technology innovation visit www.deloitte.co.uk/technology

© 2016 Deloitte LLP. All rights reserved.

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Doing more with less One of RSA’s historic problems was that maintaining its infrastructure environment was taking a long time and costing a lot of money.

Accretional growth had left the company, a common problem in large organisations, with an unplanned legacy base that was expensive and unwieldy to service.

The IT department started to look at how that might be addressed, bringing in new providers where appropriate.

“When you have a number of core administration platforms it is quite difficult not only to extract management information across different platforms, is it also quite difficult to digitise them as well,” explains Skates. “We are looking to simplify both our business and our application estate, for two reasons: one it helps with our cost

efficiencies and two it is really a key enabler for digitising our business.”

A good example of that simplification is the introduction in the Canada business of a new claims platform from Guidewire, a claims management system that supports all lines of personal, commercial, and workers’ compensation insurance.

It is one of the tools and digital processes that provide simpler, faster and more consistent service to RSA’s customers and brokers.

Additionally it’s expected to achieve significant loss control, indemnity benefits, and operational efficiency and above all create a solid and consistent operating platform to leverage future technologies.

A further simplication and consolidation example can be seen in UK Mobile, back office and contact centre infrastructure services. Vodafone partnership with

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Darren Price Group CIO Darren was appointed Group Chief Information Officer in June 2013 and joined the Executive Committee in May 2014. Having joined RSA in 2007 as Chief Information Officer for the Group’s Baltic operations, he went on to lead IT and Operations in RSA’s Central and Eastern Europe region and, subsequently, its Emerging Markets business. Prior to RSA, Darren held roles at Compaq, Unilever, GE Commercial Finance and GE Capital Solutions.

RSA was extended in 2015 with a focus on delivering operational agility, cost savings and enhanced customer experience. The new contact centre and back office voice platforms will help RSA adapt to new market trends faster which is why Vodafone consider RSA a ‘Ready Business’.

This last point is important: technology is moving so fast

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that constant upgrading and reassessment is needed. The Guidewire implementation is being done with the assistance of EY, and in the UK RSA has now renewed its association with the consulting group Accenture to deliver new platforms, like the insurance industry specific software Duck Creek that is scalable and configurable.

“We are starting to invest in some

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major new insurance applications and getting those put into our main regions,” Skates affirms. “In Scandinavia we are implementing a product called TIA, this time with assistance from Deloitte, yet another instance of the simplification of our business and application estate using market leading platforms.”

Some of the legacy systems they were working with across the Group were more than 30 years old with skills and experience in diminishing supply. Simple pricing changes could take many months to complete due to complex code, in excess of a million lines, and complex testing. RSA’s new platforms allow rating factors to be changed daily if required.

Digital wins IT is continuing to support RSA’s business in all things digital. “In certain parts of our business we

tend to work through brokers, especially in places like Canada,” says Skates, “while we have more direct-to-consumer business in the UK for example. We are improving our digital presence by allowing our customers and brokers to buy new products, and in the medium term to service those products themselves.

It’s a key part of our strategy to provide digital tools for our brokers to use. Being able to provide them a digital portal they can access as well as providing tools and management information is invaluable.”

Of course insurance is a people business and many customers will always prefer to discuss and purchase their insurance, or make claims, face to face. There will always be a multi-channel approach, Tim Skates promises, but digital tools running in the background will make even this interface more effective and quicker. So

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“The more cost we take out of operations the more profitable it becomes for us to write business that otherwise would have been marginal for us�

- Andrew Cameron

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simplification equates to better customer service. The really big procurement story relates to RSA’s rationalisation of its global infrastructure and its data centre estate, and who better to explain that than Chief Procurement Officer Andrew Cameron.

“We are moving to best of breed applications. A high proportion of our expense base was fixed.

Our ability to take expense out of the operational base was limited by some of the agreements we had in place. At the beginning of the strategy work we went through a process of mapping our IT spend and comparing it to industry benchmarks, and infrastructure was one area that was a real outlier for us.”

The on-demand model 20 original bidders to take on RSA’s future infrastructure requirements

were whittled down over ten months before finally a Global IT company Wipro was chosen to run RSA’s data centres, cloud, and end-user services, plus provide a multi-lingual service desk for the UK, Ireland and Scandinavia. CGI will be retained in Canada. At the same time the data centre estate has been cut to a single production location in each of the UK, Scandinavia and Ireland – Canada will continue to operate three, but then Canada is nearly six thousand miles across.

This reflects the increasing use of cloud capacity, a new model of provision, says Cameron. “We are moving towards a model where we only pay for the capacity we use.

One of our issues was our high fixed cost base. Now it is an ondemand model, so we are realising not only cost and flexibility benefits but also speeding up our ability to provide computing capacity for

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RSA GROUP

Andrew Cameron Group Chief Procurement Officer Andrew is responsible for all procurement activities within the RSA Group. Based in London, he oversees RSA procurement operations in Scandinavia, Canada, UK and Latin America. These teams cover all spend categories, covering all aspects of corporate and insurance related expenditure.

Andrew joined RSA in 2008, initially leading a programme of IS cost reduction within the UK business removing 40 percent of IS run spend, before being promoted into the Group CPO role in 2015. Prior to his work with RSA, Andrew has held a number of senior procurement roles spanning the financial services, retail and automotive industries.

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13,500

Number of employees at RSA Group

our various businesses as well.

We may be working with different European and Canadian providers but we are moving toward a similar model of on-demand capacity.”

Transition for UK and Ireland will complete this summer and in Canada the new on-demand contract will be fully operational by the end of 2016. It’s been a fast changeover made possible by doing a lot of the due diligence ahead of contract signing, explains Andrew Cameron. “Another reason we have been able to deliver this change quickly in the UK is that we are locating into an existing data centre facility, so it does not involve major relocation.”

Though there are costs involved in coming out of existing agreements, the business case for the change

was compelling, he adds. Going forward, the cost of doing business will come down considerably, and that will drive business growth. “The more cost we take out of operations the more profitable it becomes for us to write business that otherwise would have been marginal. New agreements are being put in place on more appropriate commercial terms; for example our relationship with Accenture in the UK dates back to 2003. The requirements have changed out of recognition since then. It is worth resetting the relationship and seeing that it works for both parties into the future.”

The need for a service organisation like RSA to retain a human face while embracing automation should create no conflict – quite the reverse. As

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“ Now we are engaging with our employees in a more effective way, and also starting to leverage the pockets of expertise we have have across the group” - Tim Skates Tim Skates puts it, the investment benefits brokers, individual customers and employees alike.

“We are increasingly using digital approaches to improve our own internal employees’ experience.

A good example is that there was a lot of re-keying between systems. If you have a customer with a motor policy and a home policy, changing an address across those systems would have been a manual activity but we can now deploy robotics technologies to capture the change once.

“It refocusses our employees’ day job and ensures we get it right first time for the customer.

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We use robotic technologies like Blue Prism to automate manual processes: it enables employees to focus on higher-value work while autonomous multi-skilled software robots tirelessly perform error-free, rules based admin transactions.”

At the end of this transformation process, if it can be said to have an end point, Stephen Hester wants to see RSA back in its historic position as the most trusted and most successful insurance provider – the leader of the pack as he put it. Ultimately that success will depend on the skills of its underwriters but the key enabling factor will have been IT.

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Co m pany log o g oe s he re

Seeds of change Written by Nell Walker Produced by Richard Durrant

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Syngenta’s Marion Matthewman and Alexandre Leopoldes tell us how a world-leading agrochemical company developed an innovative logistics operating model with highly valued partners

H

eadquartered in Basel, successful in achieving sustained Switzerland, Syngenta is a growth since its creation in 2000, leading agriculture company supported by our supply strategy helping to improve global food which focusses on innovation, security by enabling millions of leverage, agility and customer farmers to make better use of experience. Logistics is critical to available resources. Through world the effective delivery of agility and class science and innovative crop customer experience; it became solutions, its 28,000 staff in over 90 clear that our current logistics countries are working operating model would not be fit to transform how for purpose to drive value and crops are grown. operational resilience.

Head of Global “One of the critical Operations, Mark questions was whether Peacock explains: we could or should “Syngenta invest in building Mark Peacock Head of Global Operations has been very internal capability

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S U P P LY C H A I N

and technology to achieve and sustain the performance that we target, or whether professional logistics providers could do this more effectively. The answer was clear – specialised logistics providers were better equipped to assure service and leverage, and technology was available to enable a seamless integration with our ERP systems and we could establish the governance required for a beneficial partnership and the achievement of our targets. And so, our logistics journey started.”

Head of Global Supply, Mike Hollands, adds: “We have a history of contracting with many third party logistics providers across the globe, and felt that consolidation would allow us to further professionalise and automate our logistics function. Of course logistics can have a real impact on our customer experience and is highly integrated with our planning and commercial teams, so we needed to manage this risk and find partners that understood what we were trying to achieve. I am very proud of our logistics team and their ability to balance delivery agility and cost savings in our very seasonal business.”

Mike Hollands Head of Global Supply

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Marion Matthewman Head of Global Logistics

Marion has been with Syngenta and legacy companies since 1991. With a degree in Business & Finance, Marion’s career started as the Quality & Compliance Manager for UK Manufacturing Sites (then AstraZeneca), relocating to Basel as Head of Risk Management, following a short spell as the Global Head of Trade Affairs. Marion has been the Global Head of Logistics for Syngenta for three years.

Leading a strong logistics, intercompany order management, and duties community for Syngenta, Marion is responsible for developing and implementing the Logistics Strategy, with focus on driving value, simplification and standardisation, and creating a professional environment for the community to reach its potential.

Head of Logistics Marion Matthewman and Global Logistics Capacity Alexandre Leopoldes explain the story of how Syngenta implemented this change, the launch of the Global Logistics Optimisation (GLO) program, how it started, what the challenges were, and what solutions they chose to apply.

“Once we had made the decision to leverage specialised logistics

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providers,” Matthewman explains, “we elected to focus on creating an operating model fit for our business, understand what kind of information and transparency we wanted to manage, and what kind of technology we needed. We created a compelling story that proved to the business the benefits and future value creation as a result of implementing this change.”

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Syngenta Logistics Operating Model

The Integrator

Alexandre joined Syngenta in early 2012 as EAME Logistics and Order management Head and now serves as Global Logistics Capacity Manager. In his role, Alexandre owns the strategic end-to-end logistics process elements and drives standardisation within the Logistics Function in building partnerships with Logistics Service Providers. Alexandre now drives Syngenta’s Logistics Operations transformation Program named the 4PL Target Operating Model.

Alexandre has over 15 years’ experience in managerial and leading roles, working in the Operations and Supply Chain arena of Multinational Corporations active in the development, manufacturing and distribution of specialty chemicals, agro-chemicals & seeds, as well as life-science (biotech and generics).

Alexandre Leopoldes Global Logistics Capacity Manager

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A new model

Matthewman explains: “With support from Accenture, Syngenta developed a logistics strategy which will be enabled through a new operating model. The model is structured around the use of an externalised central operating desk, facilitated by fourth party logistics providers (4PL) that specialise in logistics execution. This is along with a decision to invest in a cloudbased supply chain collaboration platform provider, to enable a digital logistics solution that would deliver the desired transparency.”

Matthewman continues: “Logistics strategic direction, budget visibility and key performance tracking is directed by myself as the Global Head of Logistics. The logistics team is responsible for the deployment of the strategy in the relevant regions, territories and

countries. I have global visibility of the cost of logistics for Syngenta, which is an important enabler to support the implementation of our logistics strategy.”

This transformation is managed under the banner of the Global Logistics Optimisation Program (GLO). “The program’s intention is not only designed to manage Syngenta’s growing supply chain demands and complexities, but aims to leverage innovative thinking in logistics through working closely with our partners, so that we can bring agility, scale and simplification,” says Matthewman.

Leopoldes adds: “Syngenta has elected to go for an operating model that is structured around Partnership, Lead Logistics and Continuous improvement. Our 4PL model, as we call it, concentrates on governance logistics rather than managing the transactional side.

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“ Global Logistics Optimisation is not only designed to manage Syngenta’s growing supply chain demands and complexities, our aim is to leverage innovative thinking in logistics through working closely with our partners, so that we can bring agility, scale and simplification ” The 4PL actually embraces four key processes on behalf of Syngenta: sourcing the 3PL, executing the operations, monitoring the proper execution of logistics operations, and eventually delivering continuous improvement and productivity gain.”

Syngenta has elected to manage its operations using a cloud-based solution in order to connect systems, ERP’s, and other elements of the 4PL strategy to ensure ownership of data, “which is the backbone and intelligent side of the operation,” Leopoldes says. “It offers a single point of truth on a global scale looking after various metrics that

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are embedded into GT Nexus.”

Any large logistical operation requires a great deal of IT infrastructure planning, and a company with a true global footprint like Syngenta requires high levels of technical organisation more than most.

“We started having more and more discussions around IT integration as GLO developed.

We have a multi-dimensional culture because we span regions.

In areas where many companies are struggling with data and systems, Syngenta found a way to basically harvest all data which is logistics-relevant in a single cloud.

From there you can drive the next logistics structure forward.”

S U P P LY C H A I N

„Landscape with 4 PL & GT Nexus“

Syngenta OM / CS

gSAP

nSAP

ERP

lSAP*

FOU

Connectivity & Visibility Web Platform

4PL

Supplier

Toller

4PL

WH(s)

Carriers

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Working in partnership

While developing the 4PL model, Syngenta enlisted the expertise of Accenture to help develop and support the project delivery; Michael Dittrich, Strategy Supply Chain Manager at Accenture, describes the relationship: “Accenture has supported Syngenta on its journey towards a digitally-enabled logistics operating model by providing end-to-end consulting services,” Dittrich says, “starting with strategic conceptual design and finishing with implementation of the cloudbased multi-4PL solution. We’ve achieved excellent work with Syngenta. The project team has been able to deliver the leading edge solution in a very efficient and effective manner. We’ve built a longlasting relationship with Syngenta and would be happy to support them with other digitallydriven supply chain opportunities in the future.”

GT Nexus has also been a key player in Syngenta’s technological advancements, as its Executive Vice President Global Sales Mac McGary explains: “We connect Syngenta to their global partners enabling them to collect, centralize, and analyse all information around shipments, inventory, and trading partners.

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“We collect data and turn it into actionable intelligence and at the same time automate process. Syngenta will use business rules to accelerate decisions. Visibility improves both the accuracy and velocity of decisions as well as it improves the collaboration between partners.”

“GT Nexus is committed to the Life Science and Chemical verticals; Syngenta is a prestigious brand to join our network. Our partnership with Syngenta is about transparency – between each other and how the platform will provide transparency to their network. It’s mutually beneficial and we challenge each other. It is long term and strategic. We align on an ambitious vision to achieve inside three years, but we are determined to solve real and immediate challenges – to provide measureable results within a year.”

Once Syngenta’s logistics vision was formalised in September 2014, the

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Syngenta is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland

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2000 The year Syngenta was founded

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executive board of the company gave its approval to move into the model in early 2015.

Leopoldes says: “The design and delivery of the first deployments were conducted over the course of 2015 in record time covering both Europe and Northern America.

“In October of that year, Syngenta went live with two 4PL’s – one in north America (XPO Logistics) and one in EAME (DHL LLP) for the seeds business. Since then we’re operationally live in those regions and we have approval for the next waves

involving various dimensions over 2016. Our NA and EAME-nominated 4PLs are preparing to orchestrate across the other core business unit of Syngenta – crop protection – and on the other hand, we are accelerating our global deployment with the launch of a third 4PL partnership (Damco) for the inter-regional air and sea operations.”

Three of Syngenta’s Lead Logistics partners – Damco, XPO, and DHL – comment on the importance of their relationships with Syngenta: “We’ve been working with Syngenta

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since 2010 on a number of supply chain areas in Asia and Europe, which has progressively grown to recently agreeing with the company to be part of its global 4PL pool,” says Anthony Elwine, Global Head of Chemical Vertical at Damco. “It’s a journey of innovation to optimise the supply chain. Syngenta is a great company to work with; it’s very openminded, and they, like us, aspire to achieve win-win results. They’re very engaged in terms of what is best practice, how they can adopt best practice, and what other practices could be applicable to their business.

There’s a spirit of understanding between us. We’re working on this journey together, and how to make sure we deliver on it.”

These sentiments are shared

by XPO’s SVP of Business

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Development, Marty Smith: “The biggest advantage for both companies is partnering together to be able to centralise the day-to-day decision making for transportation planning,” he says. “We have a holistic view of the Syngenta network; you can see where trucks are unloading, where the same carrier can be used again and how we can optimise the networks.

Syngenta will look to us as being almost their own in-house transportation providers. Our people are essentially Syngenta employees.

We do their carrier bids, we’re looking at new capacity to bring into the network, and we’ll always look for ways to lower costs so that our partners can benefit from the savings. This is something we – with Syngenta – drive together as a team.”

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Thomas Weins, Head of LLP and MD Agheera GmbH at DHL DE, adds: “We want a relationship with the customer which is strategic and not just a standard service. Our logistical operations are much more than just A to B. Our relationship with Syngenta goes beyond a business relationship; it’s a true partnership and I see and feel from both sides that people are aware it’s not a normal connection; it’s more about working together, not as a customer and a service provider.

We have only just begun with Syngenta. None of our 4PL customers have short-term relationships with us, and I see a long future with Syngenta.

Strategically, we’re a good fit.”

DHL’s implementation reaped benefits early on, say Syngenta’s Julie Tempesta, EAME Logistics

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Manager, and Paul Lidbetter, Head EAME Logistics: “DHL has worked with Syngenta Seeds to clarify and improve our logistics processes.

We are working together to identify KPI’s and further supply chain improvement opportunities. DHL is very focused on delivering a solution that is fully aligned to the customer needs.”

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Scott Kincaid, Syngenta’s 4PL Implementation Manager within the North American Logistics Team comments on the advantage of having so many logistics partners: “The goal of this project has been to leverage the tools and resources of our 4PL to reduce empty miles and other waste, while maintaining or improving the delivery experience for our customers. Historically our

shipping sites have worked hard to maximise truckloads and avoid empty backhauls, but visibility to those opportunities was limited. This year we have been excited to see routes which connect multiple shipping locations on the same equipment with less empty miles. Such network connectivity has not been possible before and the outsourcing to our 4PL has been a great success.”

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Green thinking

As an agriculture-based company, sustainability is important to Syngenta.

The Good Growth Plan initiative, launched in 2013, aims to improve fertility and biodiversity of land. This means keeping a closer eye on the carbon footprint produced through logistics operations, Leopoldes explains: “What we did was fairly simple, but we wanted to be able to measure the carbon footprint directly at the source of our operational setup and execution. With GT Nexus, we have developed a way to measure the footprint by considering what we move from a volume standpoint, what we move by distance from A to B, and how we move it – whatever transport we use, we have a matrix. GT Nexus technology means we can create an automatic calculation of our carbon footprint taking those transactional elements into consideration.”

This system is not wildly different to that of other systems on the market, but it allows Syngenta to calculate its environmental impact on an individual level.

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CONTACT US

Syngenta Crop Protection AG Schwarzwaldallee 215 P O Box CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland www.syngenta.com

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Now that Syngenta has started operating in the 4PL environment, it is ready to take the next step in improving its operations: “The way we have conceptualised our model is that the 4PL partners are compensated on an incentive based element, if and when they deliver continuous improvement and productivity, they get a share of the value created,” Leopoldes says.

“We use GT Nexus to reflect on our various logistics execution elements such as from a load factor and financial standpoint, and together with our 4PL we look into areas of opportunity to improve. If we are able to optimise

load factors, to maximise load-bytransport distance coverage, and to drive price reductions, we have leverage to motivate continuous improvement.”

Matthewman concludes: “By leveraging and working with strategic partners in this way, we can reduce logistics costs for Syngenta, gain full transparency of logistics operations around the world, and help us to understand and manage our impact on the environment.

Finally, as Syngenta continues to grow in the future, I can be assured that the logistics operations with our chosen partners will be ready to respond as needed”.

“My thanks to the exemplary efforts and commitment given by the logistics community both Syngenta and our partners in delivering an exciting and innovative solution” – Marion Matthewman

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Custo the fu

Written by Nell Walker Pro

omising uture

oduced by James Pepper

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Zinnovate’s CEO Håkan Nilsson describes how a tiny IT services company has become so enormously successful and well-trusted in its industry

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ince 2013, Zinnovate has provided management, consultancy and IT services with a particular focus on the global transport and logistics industry, allowing businesses to fulfil the potential of their IT portfolios. The company’s Founder, Owner and CEO Håkan Nilsson has utilised his 23 years of experience as a CIO in the global forwarding industry to become a trusted strategic advisor to a number of other companies in the business.

“Particularly I’m involved when companies are going through some sort of change,” Nilsson explains. “Or rather when the

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change is of such a magnitude that it’s not simply called change – it’s called transformation, and it cuts across systems, processes and organisations. Many global transport and logistics companies go through changes that weren’t intended to be transformations, but it turns out to be the vehicle for changing their systems and processes for the better.”

Zinnovate has the competence to support such large transformations in a technology-focussed way, it is able to deal with infrastructure and systems applications, software elements, core structures, and more. It also concentrates intensely

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on integration and business intelligence, believing that even if companies are buying the best standard package available, they require a level of customisation in these two areas especially.

“Whatever the system, it’s not an island – it needs to interact with other systems either in the company’s internal landscape or externally with customers, vendors, carriers, and legal authorities. That’s where

we can help with building those interfaces in the area,” Nilsson says.

Zinnovate prides itself on its level of customisation and, as Nilsson explains, it is a vastly important fraction of the bigger picture: “Customisation is such a small part of the total application.

It might amount to five percent on top of a standard system, but the value of that five percent has the potential to be quite dramatic.

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WE DELIVER There are many challenges in IT. We promise no miracle cure, but we do believe in the power of hard work. Our philosophy is simple: the more responsibility we take, the greater our ability to deliver. In projects, development, operation, and training.

cag se

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It needs to be structured in that business intelligence layer.” accordance with the needs Zinnovate knows that customers of the customer. have their own preferences and “Our customers are so important should have perfect visibility to us. If you are a logistics provider of their processes. Whether and you have a system in place, producing status event messages, that system is there to freight documents, deliver value to your orders, or invoices, customers. Sizeable customisation is customers will important. Nilsson have some says that the pretty strong small but valuable customisation degree of system requirements. customisation Annual So even if you Zinnovate provides revenue have a system that raises customer is producing a lot of appreciation by 100 reports, for instance, if percent, and has led the you don’t customise that report, company to achieve some very the customer will be unhappy. forward-thinking customers: That’s one thing we do, meaning “We start by giving advice,” we can help the logistics provider he says. “We conduct customer give a much better information meetings, they pick my brain, service to its customer by creating and it’s a fantastic opportunity

4 Million euros

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Hükan Nilsson - CEO Nilsson’s unique IT expertise stems from more than three decades of IT focus with senior management roles in three different industries: Manufacturing, Finance and for the last 26 years, Transport & Logistics.

He is devoted to building and delivering Customer Value and Shareholder Value through Innovation and Optimization of processes and system solutions.

Nilsson is instrumental in creating a world-leading global operator in the freight forwarding industry through mergers and acquisitions, and by delivering cutting edge IT solutions and processes.

He introduced and led the global deployment of an industry-changing global freight forwarding system based on single-file concept and end-to-end network process.

This has resulted in impressive productivity improvements whilst replacing a myriad of legacy systems.

Nilsson is a renowned and sought-after speaker at international conferences on the subjects of IT, Processes, Change and Logistics.

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Julia Dunder - PA to CEO and Sales Manager Dunder is results-orientated with a can-do attitude.

She is service-minded with a willingness to go the extra mile when supporting customers.

for me to do the same to them.

“Recently I was in Amsterdam where 45 of the top IT managers from all over the world were gathered, and I was the only external guy there as a speaker.

I was there to share my views on the future and for them to ask me questions, but of course I learned a lot from them too. Things like this are our biggest force for ensuring we stay ahead.

“We look at the opportunities technology provides, but if you

don’t have a solid understanding of the underlying business, you’ll waste your time on technologies that are great, but not specific for your company or industry.

That’s an area on which we pride ourselves. We have very good technical people who have a solid background in the transport and logistics industry, and that combination is important.”

Nilsson says that the entire reason the company began was due to his annoyance regarding the IT services available at the time.

He decided that being irritated was not productive, and chose to

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do something about the situation.

“If you believe you can do better, do it yourself,” he says. “Many other companies aren’t so flexible or customer-centric, but we’re able to be flexible thanks in part to our small team. We only have four members of staff and some very closelyconnected subcontractors and partners. A big factor in this is building layers of partnerships in a win-win way.

“I’ve developed a lot of contacts in 23 years, and I approached the ones I thought to be the best, which are now my partners in Zinnovate.

WiseTech Global in Australia is a successful provider of software, and partnering with it allows me to tap into a big global customer base.

They have an extreme focus on product development, but how could customers make use of it? That’s where we can come in and close that gap with a level of customisation and support that actually makes best use

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Raffael Dessi - System development consultant Dessi is a highly resourceful, innovative and competent senior consultant with over a decade’s experience from the IT field in a number of different roles spanning from programmer, system architect, technical project leader, team leader and BI developer. He possesses excellent technical skills in .NET, database technology, business intelligence and system integration, coupled with in-depth global forwarding know-how.

of the system from WiseTech Global.”

All of Zinnovate’s growth is thanks to its reputation. The company only accepts projects where it believes it can make an impressive difference for customers, and where it will have a successful outcome. It makes choices strategically, and expects customers to do the same.

Zinnovate’s highly personalised brand of conducting business has allowed it to develop at an astonishing rate for its size, and Nilsson insists

that his company does not simply offer IT and business transformations for the sake of throwing out an old system: “It is usually a major change from local optimisation to global optimisation,” he concludes. “We’re selling an end-to-end service so we need to address all elements of a system process, people, and organisation. The industry is slowly changing, but people are still not looking holistically at transformations.

That’s where we can help.”

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