Data-driven commodities digital transformation IN ASSOCIATION WITH
CRU GROUP
DIGITAL REPORT 2020
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Data-driven commodities digital transformation
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CRU GROUP
Will Blake, Director of Technology & Analytics at CRU Group, discusses how data and data analytics is driving change in commodities
T
he digital transformation of every industry sector means that an immeasurable amount of data is being generated by
businesses, industries and consumers worldwide every day. The effective harnessing and analysis of that data can generate significant value to companies through the greater understanding and insight 04
of trends, and better prediction and forecasting that allows robust strategies to be delivered. The latter is where CRU comes in. The Londonheadquartered company uses data to offer unrivalled business intelligence on the global metals, mining and fertiliser industries through market analysis, pricing assessments and consultancy services. The content and insight provided by CRU gives a complete view of the commodity market, enabling operators and industry participants to make critical business decisions. Understandably, delivering such a comprehensive suite of services requires a robust and innovative technology and analytics strategy. Will Blake is responsible for driving this strategy. Will is a highly experienced technology leader, having spent
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CRU GROUP
“ Companies are producing reams of data and, at the same time, using a lot more to improve their operations” — Will Blake, Director of Technology & Analytics, CRU Group
that exploited the value of data in this way, so that experience has certainly given me a greater understanding of
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more than 15 years at CRU and, pre-
the challenges around information and
viously, close to two years working as
data, as well as how we can effectively
a geophysicist in a seismic exploration
solve the issues our customers face.”
team. Data has been an overarching
During his 15 years at CRU, Will has
theme throughout his career, as he
witnessed data, and the effective
explains: “Geophysics is a data inten-
analysis of that data, play an increas-
sive role that requires the handling
ingly important role in the business
of large volumes of information – the
strategies of customers. “It’s been
oil industry was really one of the first
a huge transformation,” he notes. “Generally speaking, data is a lot more prevalent and is consumed from a host of different and new sources, such as increased automation and so on. Volume-wise, we’re dealing with so much more information that we analyse, so it’s a significant change.
CRU’s strategy on data gathering CLICK TO WATCH
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2:14
07 “Take the mining industry as an exam-
can they improve production rates and
ple,” Will continues. “Companies are
safety, but provide greater availability
producing reams of data and, at the
of data and information to analyse.”
same time, using a lot more to improve
CRU has been operational for just
their operations. There’s a big increase
over 50 years. And while the company
in IoT devices at mining sites and satel-
has always been at the forefront of
lite geospatial analysis for monitoring
primary research and analysis, Will
purposes, for example, which help to
explains that the exponential growth
boost productivity, eliminate unnec-
of data and innovative technology
essary costs and allow for the move
has led to the company’s own digital
towards predictive maintenance. At
transformation journey. “We started
the same time, we’re seeing an accel-
as a paper-based publisher that would
eration in the drive towards automated
publish thousands of industry reports
mining and self-driving vehicles, which
each year. And, because we have clients
can operate around the clock. Not only
in 90 countries worldwide, we’d have w w w.c rugro u p . com
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CRU GROUP
10 to transport that information to them
information easily elsewhere. To be
by courier. Similarly, the data collec-
successful, we have to add value and
tion was also quite a manual process.
interpretation on top of that informa-
“What’s really changed is the acces-
tion, which CRU is very good at.”
sibility of data,” he continues. “Clients
To manage this transformation
used to be happy receiving a report
and add value, Will explains that CRU
once a year, or once a quarter, but now
“pulled back to the information and the
we’re no longer willing to wait for that
content, rather than focus around the
information – technology makes eve-
technology, which people do have
rything instantaneous, so our whole
a tendency to do. The latest tools don’t
cycle has had to change in terms of
necessarily matter that much, for us
what we produce and how we produce
the focus has always been the acces-
it. It’s no longer about pulling informa-
sibility of data and information,
tion together and presenting it to the
the understanding of what our custom-
customer, people can often find that
ers need to help them make effective
business decisions, and how often and
any investment. Similarly, Will
in what format do they need it. Only
notes that the business has focused
once we have the answer to those
on building on its core in-house
questions do we consider the technol-
technical and data skill sets in order
ogy necessary to deliver on them.”
to deliver effectively to custom-
One essential implementation was
ers. “Data is pivotal, so we keep that
a cloud-first strategy, he explains.
expertise within the business. We
CRU consumes content from a mul-
partner with other companies on
titude of locations globally, and by
things that we don’t see as core to
working in the cloud the business
our direct business, so networking
is able to achieve the flexibility and
communications, front-end website
technical delivery to maximise on
development,” he adds. 11
E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E :
Will Blake Title: Director of Technology & Analytics Industry: Commodities research and analysis
Location: London
Will has over 12 years of experience in technology across a range of disciplines including data analytics, cybersecurity, digital product development and cloud infrastructure. He is currently Director of Technology & Analytics at CRU and has responsibility for digital development initiatives and global technology services. He is also a member of the CRU executive team and has wider responsibilities across the business including product development and compliance. Prior to CRU, he worked as a geophysicist for a seismic exploration company in the oil industry. He holds a MSc in Geophysics from Durham University and a BSc in Geology from Bristol University. w w w.c rugro u p . com
CRU GROUP
An insight into how CRU gathers content for its consumers CLICK TO WATCH
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2:23
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“ For us the focus has always been the accessibility of data and information” — Will Blake, Director of Technology & Analytics, CRU Group
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CRU GROUP
CRU specialises in market-leading research built on robust and transpar-
els that inform CRU’s forecasting
ent methodologies. Regardless of
under the strapline of ‘where com-
specific sector or operation, its cus-
modities meet economics’.
tomers typically use the content and
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is also used to build proprietary mod-
Information provided by CRU helps
information provided to inform critical
organisations navigate challenging
business decisions such as whether
market conditions. This has been
to enter a certain commodity mar-
evidenced most recently in the compa-
ket, for example. It also offers price
ny’s work during the global COVID-19
assessments from a team of specialists
pandemic. Like all companies, CRU
in London, Beijing, Mumbai, Pittsburgh,
faced the challenge of shifting to a
Shanghai, Singapore and Santiago.
remote working business model. “It’s
Will explains that primary research in
been very challenging,” Will highlights,
these areas covers supply, demand,
“but as we have offices in Beijing and
price and costs analysis; the content
Shanghai, which both enforced home
An insight into how CRU efficiently dealt with the global pandemic CLICK TO WATCH
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2:42
“ We’re also looking to drive a lot of automation and to improve our range of data sources, including satellite analytics” — Will Blake, Director of Technology & Analytics, CRU Group
service, which has been embedded in our existing products. Our economics team has been closely analysing the impact of this disruption on global GDP and other economic indicators as our outlook shifts from what’s happening now to what the future looks like for our customers.” As to that future, Will describes a rapidly changing market that is showing the first signs of stability.
working in January, we were better
Forecasting, he notes, always has
placed to plan for any potential disrup-
a degree of flexibility, but CRU is
tion. On 23 March we moved the whole
experiencing commodities custom-
global business – around 300 people
ers seeking answers to longer term
– to home working and it’s worked
questions, which demonstrates the
remarkably well. Our cloud strategy
response to COVID shifting from
proved to be very resilient and was
a survival mentality to one of strategi-
a key enabler in allowing business
cally planning for the future.
to carry on effectively.” The company has also been engaged in dedicated COVID-19 analysis to better understand how the virus is impacting commodities. “Disruption to supply chains has been significant,” Will states, “as well as short-term demand reduction. Alongside this, we’ve been tracking operational status of mines, smelters and refineries with our dedicated disruption tracker
DI D YO U K N OW?
• CRU sets and publishes over 500 commodity prices each week • CRU has 300 employees spread over 8 offices on 5 continents • CRU analyses over 40 different commodities
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For CRU, future plans revolve around continuing to develop core services and the implementation of new technologies, says Will. “We still have work to do to harness the volumes of data we need and make it more accessible – it’s a never ending evolution in that respect. We have just purchased a new data platform that will drive this growth and offer
“ Our cloud strategy proved to be very resilient and was a key enabler in allowing business to carry on effectively” — Will Blake, Director of Technology & Analytics, CRU Group
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a greater range of analysis. We’re also
of power generation, and carbon emis-
looking to drive a lot of automation and
sions and environmental sustainability.
to improve our range of data sources.
Both will contribute hugely to how our
The latter includes satellite analytics,
customers operate and they’ll form a
which provides an enormous wealth
key strategic area for us to move into.”
of information at a global scale.” “In terms of our business, there are two big trends that will drive what we do: increasing electrification of transport and the changing structure w w w.c rugro u p . com
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