Business Chief Magazine

HHH USA

EDITION

www.businesschief.com

JULY 2018

Double-digit growth through supply chain transformation

The College Board CONNECTING PROCUREMENT TO STUDENT SUCCESS

Rodan + Fields, the fastest-growing beauty and personal care brand in North America

T5 CONSTRUCTION SERVICES THE DATA CENTER EXPERTS

Top 10 LUXURY GOODS COMPANIES IN THE USA

FOREWORD

elcome to another bumper issue of the US edition of Business Chief.

In North America, the premium skincare market is set to reach $9.9bn by 2021, with the US accounting for 15% of global premium skincare sales alone. Founded by worldrenowned dermatologists, Dr. Katie Rodan and Dr. Kathy Fields, Rodan + Fields is a premium skincare brand built on a legacy of innovative dermatology-inspired skincare products backed by clinical results. We speak to Dr. Katie Rodan and Dr. Kathy Fields founded Rodan + Fields to uncover how they are supporting the growing gap for dermatological products within the adult skincare market.

This month’s issue also sees us talking cyber security with EQUIIS, which provided of end-to-end encrypted communications for business. We speak to CEO Derek Roga as well as partner company SaltDNA’s CEO Joe Boyle regarding the cost of cybercrime to business, estimated at $500bn in lost revenue (2016), and which is set to soar to over $2trn by 2019. Businesses, both public and private, are still struggling to implement secure communication and EQUIIS CEO Derek Roga is adamant more needs to be done to offer economical and intuitive solutions.

Elsewhere, we speak to business leaders at Cypress Creek Renewables, Kuhn Krause, New Horizon Academy, T5 Data Centres and The College Board. Our city in focus this month is Seattle and we also list the top 10 luxury brands in the United States right now.

Enjoy the issue!

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w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

03

CONTENTS

08 Roden + Fields Double-digit growth through supply chain transformation

24 The perfect fit – Leadership

what makes an ideal tech employee?

36

Technology

Cyber solutions to cybercrime

48 City Focus

60

CONTENTS

68 The College Board Procuring success for the student

84 Kuhn Krause Bringing agriculture into the digital age

94 T5 Data Centers T5 Construction Service is finding its turnkey offering in high demand

106 New Horizon Academy Holistic building with the community in mind

130

Kontron Canada

Inside Kontron Canada’s business model transformation

118 Cypress Creek Renewables Powering the US solar agenda

SECURING

double-digit GROWTH through supplyTRANSFORMATION chain The fastest growing beauty and personal care brand in North America in 2017 , Rodan + Fields remains committed to innovating within the premium skincare market WRITTEN BY

CATHERINE STURMAN PRODUCED BY

DENITRA PRICE

RODAN + FIELDS

S

kincare has become big business.

anti-aging, dry, sensitive, or oily

Looking and feeling good, both on

skin, Dr. Katie Rodan and Dr.

the inside and out has become a

Kathy Fields founded Rodan +

significant market and led companies to vie

Fields to support the growing

against one another to not only attract new

gap for dermatological products

customers, but also retain a solid customer

within the adult skincare market.

base in the process. In North America, the

With over 200,000 independent

premium skincare market is set to reach

consultants across the US, Can-

$9.9bn by 2021, with the US accounting for

ada and Australia, Rodan +

15% of global premium skincare sales alone.

Fields has gained over 2mn cus-

However, whilst the majority of adult skin-

tomers, and is projected to

care products focus on areas such as

continue to drive double-digital

10

J U LY 2 0 1 8

S U P P LY C H A I N

growth across its operations for thenext five years.

“This has been a great chal-

Disrupting traditional business models Originally selling the business to Estee

lenge for us,” explains Bryan

Lauder in 2003, the founders bought back

Wayda, Chief Supply and Ser-

the business upon witnessing a number of

vice Officer at Rodan + Fields.

areas converging together which provided

“When we’re growing at an aver-

a unique opportunity to further disrupt the

age of 60% or more over the

beauty market. The emergence of social

last 10 years, we have worked

media in the mid-2000s led companies to

closely with our supply base

look at transforming traditional business

to address this in a comprehen-

models and address the ongoing chal-

sive way.”

lenges within brick and mortar retail stores.

11

w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

RODAN + FIELDS

12

Diane Dietz, CEO

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S U P P LY C H A I N

“ We are continually looking at how to get to the market faster. We have relocated our distribution point from Dallas to Ohio to put us closer to our center of gravity for customers” — Bryan Wayda, Chief Supply Chain Service Officer at Rodan + Fields

“The founders saw an opportunity to look at the direct selling model in a very disruptive way, which broke some of the rules of traditional direct selling and created how we operate today with our consumer connected commerce model,” says Wayda.

“In a traditional direct selling model, the company would sell to a distributor, and the distributor would collect products, sell to

Break the Cycle of Acne UNBLEMISH Regimen Rodan + Fields

customers, collect the money and do the administrative work.

“Our model flipped it upside down, where we said, ‘why not let us do a direct to consumer shipment, order management and payment process’. This allows consultants to do what they do best, which is connect to their networks, identify new customers and provide a personalised customer experience by helping them find the right skincare products and grow their business.” w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

13

S U P P LY C H A I N

Product innovation By launching a multitude of regimen-based products, Rodan + Fields continues to focus on four key areas: lines and wrinkles, brown spots and discolouration, acne and sensitive

‘ The fastest growing beauty and personal care brand in North America in 2017’

skin. However, the so-called ‘Amazon effect’ has significantly impacted its supply chain capabilities and created ever-growing consumer expectations.

“We are continually looking at how to get to the market faster. We have relocated our distribution point from Dallas to Ohio to put us closer to our center of gravity for customers,” adds Wayda.

“Everybody expects everything faster than

15

they ever did before, and so we’ve made a strategic move to put a warehouse in the most strategic location to get products out faster.”

Responsible for Rodan + Fields’ end to end supply chain operations, dealing directly with consultants and customers, as well as the product management for new products, Wayda has streamlined the commercialisation and industrialisation of existing products whilst bringing new products to life.

“Our plan was to add one new product every couple of years in the first several years, so that we grew organically and both our consultant base, as well as our internal team, gained a good understanding of our

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S U P P LY C H A I N

core products. In the last couple of years,

Nonetheless, to enable further

however, we’ve accelerated this.

growth, it remains imperative

“Our products are fairly technical and highly

for the supply chain to work

effective with the types of ingredients and

with those who can support its

the formulas used. It’s been a change for our

ambitions to further scale.

organisation to introduce new products

“Many of our suppliers were

quickly, bring them to market and commer-

great suppliers when we were

cialise them in a strong way. It’s been part

a $100mn business. They fit us

of the culture shift of how we operate the

really well because they had

business.”

flexible batch sizes. In many cases, they offered opportuni-

Supplier drive

ties for us to do things that

Partnering with AT Kearney across its con-

were unique as a small player,

tract manufacturer rationalisation, Rodan +

but as we scaled, their fit

Fields has sought to follow a typical strategic

became better suited for play-

sourcing process; starting from a request for

ers who looked like what we

information (RFI), leading the way to award-

used to look like, so we had to

ing the business and transitioning for

make some tough decisions,”

technical transfer.

notes Wayda.

‘ In North America, the premium skincare market is set to reach $9.9bn by 2021, with the US accounting for 15% of global premium skincare sales’ Mircro-Dermabrasion Paste – Jar w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

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RODAN + FIELDS

“Through a seven-step process, we

use of technology has strongly

made some decisions to partner

underpinned Rodan + Fields’ sup-

tighter with some players because

ply chain operations. Upgrading its

they had scaled their business with

outdated enterprise resource plan-

us. It was a venture within contract

ning (ERP) system to SAP, the

manufacturing to find the right part-

company has also sought to partner

nerships to produce our product

with a number of new players to

and co-innovate with us for the

provide further visibility, lower costs

future.”

and guarantee high quality outcomes.

Exceptional technologies Throughout its transformation, the

By partnering with DHL, Rodan + Fields has not only overhauled its

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S U P P LY C H A I N

contract manufacturing operations,

Fields to gain further expertise,

but also its distribution capabilities.

enhance its order management

“Our partners need to manage high

platform, add value and reduce the

volume of orders alongside our

risk for the business in developing a

ongoing growth. Our partner is DHL

system in house.

in the US, and we’ve also got part-

Additionally, by building effective

ners in Canada and Australia as

relationships with contact center

we’ve opened up those markets,”

providers, the company has

Wayda says.

enhanced its outsourcing pro-

Implementing a state-of-the-art warehouse management system (WMS) by DHL has allowed Rodan +

cesses and improved its customer and consultant support.

“We’ve also partnered with a new

19

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“Our partners need to manage high volume of orders alongside our ongoing growth. Our partner is DHL in the US, and we’ve also got partners in Canada and Australia as we’ve opened up those markets” — Bryan Wayda, Chief Supply Chain Service Officer at Rodan + Fields

J U LY 2 0 1 8

S U P P LY C H A I N

contact center outsource provider in the last year to make sure that we have someone who can scale with us and offer us global opportunities as we continue to grow, leveraging the knowledge and the input that we receive across multiple geographies,” adds Wayda.

Entrepreneurial spirit As Rodan + Fields continues to expand, the business will continue to explore further global opportunities in markets which fit its strategic skincare portfolio.

“The products are fantastic and remain core to our founder’s mission. Customers and consumers love our products, they’re highly

21

efficacious and serve the purpose they’re intended to serve,” acknowledges Wayda.

“The future is even more exciting when we think about the opportunity to transform the business to fit a truly global market place.

A global supply chain will be a really unique opportunity for our business to grow,” he concludes.

“It changes the dynamics of how we look at things when we think of scaling ourselves to be a business that can be double the size or even more than what we are today.

“One of our big opportunities to continue to transform the supply chain, which will help the business evolve in the next several years.”

w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

LEADERSHIP

24

J U LY 2 0 1 8

The perfect fit – what makes an ideal tech employee?

25

WITH DIGITIZATION CONSTANTLY MOVING THE GOALPOSTS IN THE WORKPLACE, TECHNOLOGY RECRUITMENT EXPERT SUNNY ACKERMAN EXPLAINS HOW COMPANIES CAN FIND THE RIGHT STAFF TO ADAPT TO A CHANGING WORLD WRITTEN BY

OLIVIA MINNOCK

w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

LEADERSHIP

A

s President of the Americas for technology recruitment firm Frank Recruitment Group, Sunny Ackerman is keenly aware of the changing

game that is recruitment, and the impact of technology on not only the skills employees must have, but on the process of finding them. Ackerman boasts over two decades of experience in the staffing industry, having worked as VP and General Manager of Manpower North America before moving to Frank Recruitment Group earlier this year.

Frank Recruitment Group enables technology companies to fill niche positions across the world. The group operates across nine brands dedicated to specific technologies across the US, Asia, Europe and Australia.

26

“We’ve established ourselves as a knowledgeable, reliable provider of outstanding talent,” says Ackerman, who puts the company’s success over the past decade down to the fact it provides services for positions clients would otherwise struggle to fill through a different agency.

Now, Ackerman is heading up the UK-born company’s expansion in the US. In 2010, Frank opened up in New York, then San Francisco and finally Philadelphia in 2016.

“Our US expansion has really picked up steam since then; last year we set up shop in Dallas, and we’ll be cutting the ribbon on our new Tampa site next month. Our strategy for US expansion is pretty straightforward: go where the talent is. Tampa’s tech workforce has grown massively in the last few years,” Ackerman explains.

This expansion has not been without challenges, but Frank Group is confident about its place in the market. “It’s always challenging to break into a new market, and getting J U LY 2 0 1 8

“WE QUICKLY BEGAN TO SEE THE BENEFITS OF COMMITTING TO DO JUST ONE THING, REALLY WELL, AND NICHE TECHNOLOGIES BECAME OUR POWER BASE” ­­­­ — SUNNY ACKERMAN, President, the Americas, Frank Recruitment Group

27

Sunny Ackerman

a foothold in a country with a complex mesh of individual markets is a massive undertaking, especially from starting out in a smaller market like the UK. We’ve worked to overcome these obstacles by bringing aboard people who have a lot of experience and a real in-depth appreciation of how business is done in the States.

“It’s always exciting to plant your flag in a new place; a new location represents so many possibilities. Recruitment isn’t always a breeze, but we’re proud to have developed training and support systems that allow us to offer a great path to anyone who has the drive.” w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

LEADERSHIP

28

Frank Recruitment Group works

respective community. “We’re con-

across a number of brands, all dedi-

stantly finding new ways to contribute to

cated to a specific niche and its staffing

their markets. Without distinct brands,

requirements. “Each niche we work in

we wouldn’t be able to maintain that

has a unique culture and community

level of intimate engagement with these

attached to it. The Salesforce Ohana,

niche channels.”

the Microsoft MVP community… they all have different values and interests.

BRAND FOCUS

Part of the reason our brands are so

Nigel Frank, the group’s first brand,

successful is they they’re part of their

began in the UK in 2006 and quickly

technology’s ecosystem,” says Acker-

found that focusing on one particular

man. Frank Group maintains visibility at

technology was the answer. In 2006,

events and support groups to ensure

the firm decided to work exclusively

each brand is part of the fabric of its

with the then-new Microsoft Dynamics

J U LY 2 0 1 8

“ WE WON’T PUSH A CANDIDATE INTO A ROLE THAT’S NOT REALLY WHAT THEY WANT – WE KNOW THERE’LL BE SOMETHING BETTER AROUND THE CORNER FOR THEM” — SUNNY ACKERMAN, President, the Americas, Frank Recruitment Group

technology. “Nigel Frank developed the right skills to be able to specialize in the Dynamics market, and we came into the world at around the same time as this fantastic technology.

We quickly began to see the benefits of committing to do just one thing, really well, and niche technologies became our power base,” Ackerman explains.

“I think the benefit of a niche ecosystem is that you can devote yourself to the technology and the community in a way that you just can’t do if you have your fingers in a lot of pies. All our consultants are dedicated to one technology, and in many cases one geographical area. w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

LEADERSHIP

30

J U LY 2 0 1 8

“Having a singular focus allows us to develop a deep appreciation of the skills and proficiencies valued both in the community and the wider market. This means we can find talented people and great opportunities that other agencies just don’t have access to.”

Since developing these brands and gaining footholds in new markets, Frank Recruitment Group has been recognized for its own wellrecruited and managed workforce, as well as its commitment to diversity. “We’re really proud of the fun, ambitious and inclusive culture we’ve built here,” says Ackerman. Some of Frank Group’s accolades include winning

“BEING ADAPTABLE IS MASSIVELY IMPORTANT FOR IT PROFESSIONALS TODAY. A COMMITMENT TO LEARNING NEW THINGS AND KEEPING YOUR SKILLS UP TO DATE IS PROBABLY THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO FOR YOUR IT CAREER” ­­ — SUNNY ACKERMAN, President, the Americas, Frank Recruitment Group

‘Best and Brightest Companies to Work for San Francisco’ and ‘Best and Brightest Dallas and Fort Worth’ as well as being top listed in 2016 for ‘Best Companies to Work for NYC’.

“I was also thrilled that our Diversity in Dynamics returnship program was recognized by this year’s Women in IT awards in their ‘E-skills Initiative’ category. Supporting the communities we operate in is a big part of what we do, so to have our work supporting new talent and alternative hiring strategies acknowledged was pretty special.”

SKILLS FOR THE FUTURE In finding the right staff for its clients as well as itself, Frank Group emphasizes that attitudes and ‘soft skills’ are just as important w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

31

LEADERSHIP

as technical knowhow, if not more so.

Ensuring the right fit for both employer and employee is no mean feat, and Ackerman acknowledges it’s important not to get too caught up with immediate targets. “It can be difficult to meet and exceed the needs of both parties, but compromising on delivery at either end is not an option. You need to think about longevity. A good recruiter builds a long-term relationship with both clients and candidates, and to do that you need to earn trust.

32

“ DIGITIZATION OF RECRUITMENT IS ONLY GOING TO CONTINUE, SO IF RECRUITERS WANT TO REMAIN RELEVANT TO THEIR CLIENTS, THEY NEED TO BE OFFERING REAL VALUE” ­­— SUNNY ACKERMAN, President, the Americas, Frank Recruitment Group

“The key is having scope. Though we work in niche markets which are often candidate-scarce, we work hard to stay informed and maintain relationships with candidates and clients so we always

skills up to date is probably the best

have a healthy and varied pipeline of

thing you can do for your IT career.

options available. We won’t push a can-

A willingness to grow and embrace

didate into a role that’s not really what

change is just as important to employ-

they want – we know there’ll be some-

ers as a niche set of skills, because you

thing better around the corner for them.”

never know when those skills are going

In addition, measuring more than onpaper qualifications is a must since

to be outmoded.”

It’s especially important to compa-

each year more jobs come into play that

nies nowadays that, with so many

were not in existence previously. “Being

skilled candidates to choose from,

adaptable is massively important for IT

potential staff show they understand

professionals today. A commitment to

and support a company’s vision.

learning new things and keeping your

“Today’s professionals are looking for

J U LY 2 0 1 8

vision, or the rest of your team.”

Technology brings up new challenges in this regard, as personality is one thing that cannot be measured solely from a LinkedIn profile. “In the digital age, it’s easier than ever for clients to find candidates themselves, but much more difficult to qualify those candidates,” Ackerman explains, illustrating that Frank’s key role is helping clients know what qualities they are looking for in the first place, and then identifying them within candidates.

“Digitization of recruitment is only going to continue, so if recruiters want to remain relevant to their clients, they need to be offering real value.

This means being experts in their a sense of purpose,” Ackerman explains.

field, knowing where to find candi-

“Whether or not they find that purpose

dates that clients can’t reach on their

depends on how well their values align

own, and having an eye for potential

with those of their employers. On the

that will help bridge skills gaps.”

company side, employee engagement

Digitization, then, has not negated

and retention are becoming more

the need for recruiters, but has made

important. Hiring managers value

the market more competitive, and

employees that can not only do the job,

agencies should look to niche organi-

but love the job, and are productive,

zations like Frank Group when learning

innovative and long-lasting. You don’t

how to find their feet again in this

want to have to go back to the drawing

changing landscape.

board after a year because your talented candidate didn’t gel with your w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

33

VISIT OUR WEBSITE

R E A D T H E L AT E S T I S S U E

TECHNOLOGY

36

Cyber solutions WRIT TEN BY

OLIVIA MINNOCK

to cybercrime

With data breaches highly publicised and ransomware threats on the up, Business Chief caught up with software company EQUIIS to find the solution

J U LY 2 0 1 8

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w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

TECHNOLOGY

W

ith the cost of cybercrime to business in 2016 estimated at $500bn in lost revenue, and this figure

expected to increase by over $2trn by 2019, businesses both public and private are still struggling to implement secure communication. EQUIIS CEO Derek Roga is adamant more needs to be done to offer economical and intuitive solutions.

EQUIIS provides enterprises with a range of secure communications solutions so that from oil and gas companies to law firms, businesses can communicate securely and efficiently with each other and with clients, 38

protected against the ever-increasing

“The idea was dangers of cybercrime and ransomware. to provide an With a recent report from NTT Security having revealed one third of global business decieasy-to-integrate sion makers prefer to risk ransomware platform that demands rather than investing in cybersecucould provide rity, despite attacks having increased by the enterprise 350% in 2017 alone, it’s no surprise there are with a tool to so many issues with keeping data secure and communicate that EQUIIS is growing exponentially in a presecurely” viously neglected space.

— Derek Roga, CEO EQUIIS

Derek Roga, a tech entrepreneur with 25

years’ experience, previously worked in the telecom software space, working with Blackberry before founding EMS in Dubai in 2005, which involved “taking the Blackberry solu-

J U LY 2 0 1 8

39

tion to the marketplace through

go out on his own in the space and founded

mobile operators”. Within three

EQUIIS to assure clients with similar needs of

years, EMS became Blackberry’s

a secure, compliant communication method.

largest partner, representing 18%

Speaking to Business Chief, Roga was

of the company’s global sales

joined by Joe Boyle, CEO and co-founder of

and working with 105 mobile

SaltDNA, who started working closely with

operators worldwide.

Roga when the businesses formed a tech-

Roga went on to work with

nology partnership in 2017. Previously,

clients in the intelligence com-

Belfast-educated Boyle had worked for Irish-

munity. “They had a need to

based startups as well as Ericsson. “After

understand what type of com-

a number of years working in telecoms, I made

munications took place where

a switch to work in enterprise networking.” In

and if there was anything surrep-

2013, he founded SaltDNA, which was largely

titious they could identify.” Thus,

focused on “giving enterprises solutions for

in 2016, Roga was well-placed to

securer, compliant managed communication”. w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

TECHNOLOGY

Together, both entrepreneurs’ experience helped fill the cybersecurity gap. “What drove us to start the business was that over the past

“ A lot of organisations are grappling with how to do the most to ensure cybersecurity solutions are implemented with the least amount of investment” 40

— Derek Roga, CEO EQUIIS

several years there had been a significant uptick in cybercrime,” says Roga. “It’s a significant issue being faced by entrepreneurs. The idea was to provide an easyto-integrate platform that could provide the enterprise with a tool to communicate securely: secure messages, calls and file transfer, and being able to spontaneously have conference calls in a secure manner, regardless of where the team was in the world.”

J U LY 2 0 1 8

EQUIIS also offers the option

explains: “the administrator controls who has

to burn messages at both ends

access, who is communicating with them,

once read in case a device

how they are communicating and where they

becomes vulnerable.

are communicating from, ensuring the integrity of the platform.”

SECURE MARKETS

“The reason clients choose us,” Boyle adds,

EQUIIS’s closed communication

“is really that control and management of

network gives clients two options

closed user groups. Being able to do secure

to communicate. “We have our

conference calls within their own network,

own cloud network where we

not having to trust anyone else, is a key

host the solution. An enterprise

requirement for these large organisations

subscribes and we give them a

and government bodies that can’t afford to

portal through which they can

take any risks.”

manage their subscribers. It’s in

Key markets for EQUIIS include the oil and

our secure network and they can

gas industry, and the business is now grow-

deploy it across their whole

ing in the legal and government sector.

enterprise really quickly.” The

“A number of law firms use our solution,” says

second way is an on-premise

Roga. “In some cases, law firms are man-

solution which affords the client

dated to ensure the protection and integrity

organisation complete control.

of their attorney-client privilege communica-

“We take the infrastructure we’ve

tions, so they use our solution to accomplish

developed and replicate that in

that.” In terms of government, particular areas

the client’s own network.”

include police, military and intelligence organ-

How does EQUIIS’s offering

isations. “They are required, or have their own

differ from a consumer-facing

mandate, to ensure they’re getting the best of

communication service? “The

the best in regards to technology, and that the

WhatsApps and Vibers of the

solution they implement has the highest of

world enable somewhat secure

security built around it. Over the last two

communications but are not

quarters we’ve had some significant wins with

made for enterprise,” says Roga.

government agencies.”

With EQUIIS’s solution, he

In addition, business in the healthcare and w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

41

TECHNOLOGY

finance sectors is picking up.

seconds so they can use the

“We offer something unique in

solution. It’s intuitive; there’s not

this space: the ability to be com-

much training required and this

pliant, particularly around

can then broaden to a wider

regulatory requirements. In the

group of users. It’s an elegant

financial services industry,

way for us to build rapport

there’s a requirement that every

and relationships.”

transaction and communication be recorded and kept for

OPEN SOURCING SAFETY

future reference.”

In addition, Roga feels use of

A key added value for clients is

42

open-source software assures

the assurance of compliance and

users the solution is safe. “What

safety when using EQUIIS’ solu-

we have is not proprietary tech-

tion. “Clients are looking for a

nology. We use open-source

partnership,” Roga explains,

encryption: it’s tried, tested and

“And if the partner and the people

validated. Frankly, when you start

representing it can really empa-

touting proprietary solutions in

thise and understand their

the market, two things happen:

challenges, and provide real

there isn’t enough user experi-

world solutions, not hypothetical

ence to validate the technology,

ones, it becomes a partnership.”

and secondly you are opening

A consultative process also helps assure customers the solution suits their needs. “We can get a test group running within

yourself up for people to try to be the first to hack it.”

“We don’t see ourselves as cryptographers,” Boyle explains.

“ We can get the latest encryption techn then wrap up the management, cont and compliance around these techn — Joe Boyle, CEO and co-founder of SaltDNA

J U LY 2 0 1 8

43

hnology and trol, visibility nologies� w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

TECHNOLOGY

“We take the latest and greatest encryp- nitely something we see as becoming tion technology and if something better

more and more important across organi-

comes along, it’s about a three to four-

sations and sectors. Our technology

week process to upgrade. We’ve done

should definitely be something anyone

that four times in five years. What makes

who has a trusted engagement with

us different is that we can get the latest

a client where they are dealing with sen-

encryption technology and then wrap up sitive information should leverage.” the management, control, visibility and

Echoing the NTT study, Roga

compliance around these technologies

emphasises how little organisations

to make it something an enterprise can

are willing to spend on cybersecurity,

easily buy, because we tick all the boxes.” even in 2018. “If I’m a corporation, and With data breaches these days widely I’m going to invest say $10mn in a mar-

44

publicised, Boyle argues “the vast

keting campaign for example, I can see

majority” of businesses and indeed cus-

my return on investment (RoI) in a very

tomers are unaware of potential dangers tangible way. It can be measured and and how much data isn’t encrypted.

quantified. Whereas if I take the same

“There’s a level of apathy. But it’s defi-

$10mn and invest in cybersecurity, that

$500bn

revenue lost from cybercrime in 2016 J U LY 2 0 1 8

RoI is intangible. A lot of organisations

America lots of people send voice

are grappling with how to do the most

clips. Not only does this allow you to

to ensure cybersecurity solutions are

have an asynchronous conversation

implemented with the least amount of

with someone, but it is actually highly

investment.

compliant as you can keep a record

“We come in offering a very elegant solution giving peace of mind that

of things as they progress.”

In addition to voice notes, Roga

one part of the issue is covered – and

adds: “From a technology perspec-

covered economically.”

tive we’re always innovating. Our service is significantly enhanced:

LOOKING AHEAD

we’re bringing in video conferencing

An area of increasing important for the

and communication… A lot of the

future will be voice clips, says Boyle.

enhancements we implement come

“A lot of organisations on the consumer

from direct interaction with our

side are sending voice clips and voice

customers and understanding the

notes. It’s catching on more in the

landscape we exist in. That’s going

UK, and in Asia and North and South

to happen continuously.”

w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

45

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H O M E TO I N D U ST RY– L E AD I N G D I G ITAL B U S I N ES S P L AT FO R M S

HAVE YOU SEEN OUR OTHER TITLES?

SEAT SEAT City Focus

48

We take a look at how businesses in the port of the Pacific Northwest are helping to solve the city’s social problems – and the controversy the initiative has brought EDITED BY

J U LY 2 0 1 8

OLIVIA MINNOCK

TTLE w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

49

C I T Y F O C U S | S E AT T L E

L

ocated in Washington on the Pacific Northwest coast, Seattle has a reputation for getting a lot of rainfall, and indeed has a significant rainy

season in winter and early spring. However, these give way to almost drought-like conditions in summer and autumns, with temperatures averaging in the mid-upper 70s. Seattle provides a fertile atmosphere for innovation and the arts for those who love the outdoors but also want access to a thriving urban setting. The city’s politics are largely liberal and many residents are active in initiatives that support social justice and respect for the environment.

50

On the downside, traffic can be difficult for commuters in and around Seattle, something the city hopes to offset with the creation of a light rail system that will connect Sea-Tac International Airport with downtown Seattle as well as the areas north of the city.

AEROSPACE, SHIPPING AND MANUFACTURING In addition to being called The Emerald City thanks to the rain, Seattle is also nicknamed Jet City in honor of one of its biggest employers, the Boeing company. Boeing is a multi-national aerospace company which was first founded in Seattle and is still in operation there – however, its headquarters is currently located in Chicago, IL. The Port of Seattle makes the city a shipping hub and allows area manufacturers to easily import supplies and export their goods. The port employs around 2,150 people and has been in operation since 1911.

J U LY 2 0 1 8

51

‘The Port of Seattle makes the city a shipping hub and allows area manufacturers to easily import supplies and export their goods’ w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

C I T Y F O C U S | S E AT T L E

FACT

Population:

The city is home to the headquarters of a number of large

704,000+

and high-profile businesses,

Major industries: Aerospace & Defense, Technology, Clean Energy, Shipping/Manufacturing

including Starbuck’s Coffee,

GDP for gross metro area:

Airlines, Costco Wholesale,

$330.41bn Unemployment: 3.1%

Median household income:

$78,612

Median home price:

$764,700

52

Net migration: Seattle gained 21,072 people in 2016

Amazon, Microsoft (in the suburb of Redmond), Nordstrom, Weyerhaeuser, Alaska Zillow and the Expedia online travel company.

LIVING IN SEATTLE The city is consistently rated high in desirability as a place to live and work. Seattle has a crime rate of 7.1%, which is below average for similarly-sized metro areas in the country, like Houston, TX or Chicago, IL.

J U LY 2 0 1 8

However, it is the city’s proximity to nature, the Puget Sound

just outside the metro area.

The plethora of technology

(a geographically iconic inlet of

companies draw many to

the Pacific Ocean) and mountain

migrate to the city, but the cost

views that compel visitors to make

of living makes Seattle one of the

Seattle their home.

more expensive cities in the US

Beautiful parks, hiking trails

to call home. Bedroom commu-

and green spaces are always

nities like Shoreline, Edmonds

close at hand. While there is

and Lynnwood to the north and

plenty of nightlife and fine dining,

Renton, Kent and Auburn to the

many residents favor spending

south offer more affordable

time on their laptops in coffee

alternatives for those who wish

shops or enjoying a craft beer

to retain access to Seattle for

at a low-key pub. There are

work or play.

also several wineries located

53

‘ The cost of living makes Seattle one of the more expensive cities in the US to call home’

w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

C I T Y F O C U S | S E AT T L E

54

Seattle is home to a number of large and high-profile businesses, including Starbuck’s Coffee, Amazon, Microsoft, Costco and Expedia

‘Many patients battling diseases such as cancer seek out innovative and alternative health services in Seattle for cures and symptom relief.

Seattle’s reputation for healthcare has grown substantially in the past couple decades’

55

BIOTECH AND MEDICAL SECTORS In addition to a thriving technology sector, Seattle also offers business opportunities in healthcare and biotech.

Many patients battling diseases such as cancer seek out innovative and alternative health services in Seattle for cures and symptom relief. Seattle’s reputation for healthcare has grown substantially in the past couple decades.

The most significant current event affecting the business climate in Seattle is a recent decision to raise taxes to combat the city’s homelessness problem. The city of Seattle has the third highest homelessness rate in the nation, and it is looking to its most wealthy and successful companies to help with addressing this issue.

w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

C I T Y F O C U S | S E AT T L E

HOMELESSNESS ‘HEAD TAX’ CONTROVERSIAL WITH BUSINESS Companies like Amazon, Starbuck’s and Expedia have been extremely vocal in expressing their opposition to the tax, which is expected to raise $48mn per year toward the cause. Amazon is even looking for another city to be the site of a second corporate headquarters instead of expanding in Seattle. This could be a huge missed opportunity since the new Amazon facility will generate around 50,000 jobs for the city that it will eventually call home. The Amazon cor56

poration is currently worth around $780bn.

In 2015, King County and the city of Seattle declared a state of emergency due to the homelessness problem. However, the issue has become steadily worse due to skyrocketing real estate costs. The city reasons that the success of the larger companies in the area served as a catalyst for this escalation in cost of living, which has led to the displacement of many who can no longer afford to buy or rent in the area.

RESOLVING SEATTLE’S ‘STATE OF EMERGENCY’ Under the new plan, companies that generate over $20mn annually will pay around $275 per job position each year. Around 600 Seattle companies currently qualify. Critics J U LY 2 0 1 8

‘The most significant current event affecting the business climate in Seattle is a recent decision to raise taxes to combat the city’s homelessness problem’

of this measure say it sends a mixed

homeless, and the rest on rental subsi-

message to established companies

dies, shelter beds and services.

and entrepreneurs, arguing it can be

While there are initiatives underway

seen as a sort of punishment for suc-

to have the tax repealed, if it stands it

cess. However, proponents of the tax

may cause some entrepreneurs to

view it as doing the right thing for the

think twice about building or expand-

city’s homelessness crisis. The meas-

ing in Seattle. However, the trade-off of

ure will begin on 1 January 2019 and

higher costs is establishing yourself in

will expire within five years. Two-thirds

one of the most unique and beautiful

of this money collected will be spent

cities in the nation, as well as a solid

on creating affordable housing for the

and visible CSR contribution.

57

w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

We deliver you the stories that matter‌ Click to read

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H O M E TO I N D U S T R Y– L E A D I N G D I G I TA L B U S I N E S S P L AT F O R M S

“ We recently worked with BizClik Media on an article which characterizes and explains the total value that Kudu Supply Chain has on company growth plans.

From start to the finish, it was a pleasure working with the BizClik team. The feedback we have received from different audience groups on the article was phenomenal.

It has attracted a lot of interest and attention to our company, our growth plans and has definitely created additional value to what we are trying to achieve.”

– Murat Ungun, Senior VP Supply Chain Kudu Corp

HAVE YOU SEEN OUR OTHER TITLES?

T O P 10

60

J U LY 2 0 1 8

W RI T T E N BY

O L I V I A MIN N OCK

We take a look at Deloitte’s Global Powers of Luxury Goods list to find out which US luxury companies and their high-end brands made the top 10

61

T O P 10

09

Elizabeth Arden www.corporate.elizabetharden.com

10

Movado Group, Inc

62

www.movadogroup.com

Coming in at 57th overall on the global list, Movado Group’s most recent revenue is reported as $595mn. The US-based company actually has its origins in Switzerland, where it still produces its watches. The group is one of the biggest luxury watch manufacturers in the world and owns Concord, EBEL and Movado as well as manufacturing and distributing on behalf of some other licensed watch brands. These include Coach, Hugo Boss, Lacoste and Tommy Hilfiger.

J U LY 2 0 1 8

Well-known fragrance producer Elizabeth Arden is reported as having a $967mn revenue which puts it at 47 on Deloitte’s global ranking. The firm largely produces cosmetics including Elizabeth Arden branded products as well as licensed fragrance brands. Elizabeth Arden founded the company in 2010 opening an iconic “Red Door” salon in New York, an emblem which would become synonymous with the iconic brand. In 2016, Elizabeth Arden became a whollyowned subsidiary of Revlon in a deal worth $870mn.

07

Coty Inc www.coty.com

08

Tory Burch LLC www.toryburch.co.uk

At the overall 45th spot thanks to its revenue of $1.05bn, Tory Burch owns the Tory Burch and Tory Burch Sport brands. The American lifestyle company “embodies the personal style and sensibility” of CEO Tory Burch, who went into business in 2004 and has since grown her brand to encompass 150 shops and a presence in over 3,000 department stores. The company’s collections include clothing, accessories, home and beauty products.

Burch also runs the non-profit Tory Burch foundation which supports female entrepreneurs through loans, education and mentoring.

A stalwart of the cosmetics world, Coty is the company behind many household names. The company owns philosophy, JOOP!, Lancester, Calvin Klein Fragrance, Marc Jacobs, Chloé and DAVIDOFF as well as having licensed fragrance brands. Deloitte puts the company’s revenue at $4.35bn and it earns 23rd spot on the global 100. The company was founded in 1904 by François Coty and it also includes brands like Gucci, Burberry and Alexander McQueen within its portfolio. In a recent interview with Business Chief, Arya Gupta, a Procurement Director at Coty, told us: “We believe in the freedom of self-expression. It’s about being who you want to be. We want to empower this.”

w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

63

T O P 10

05

Tiffany & Co www.tiffany.co.uk

06 64

Fossil Group, Inc www.fossil.com/uk/en.html

Fossil Group is based in Texas and owns the Fossil, Michele, Relic, Skagen, Zodiac and Misfit licensed luxury brands. Overall, it reaches 20th on the Deloitte list, which puts its revenue at $3.23bn. The company was founded in 1984 by Tom Kartsotis.

The company also produces accessories for brands including Emporio Armani, Marc by Marc Jacobs, Karl Lagerfeld, DKNY and Kate Spade New York. The company established a Swiss presence when it purchased Swiss brand Zodiac Watches in 2001 for $4.7mn.

J U LY 2 0 1 8

A household name in diamonds, Tiffany & Co ranks at 16 on the top 100 and Deloitte puts its revenue at $4.1bn. The company owns the Tiffany & Co and Tiffany brands.

Founded in 1837 by Charles Lewis Tiffany, the company has spent almost two centuries creating highend jewelry, fragrances, homeware and accessories. In 2000, Tiffany & Co established the non-profit Tiffany & Co Foundation to help “preserve the world’s most treasured landscapes and seascapes” through responsible mining and coral conservation.

03

PVH Corp www.linkedin.com/company/pvh

04

Tapestry, Inc uk.coach.com

In 2017, Coach, Inc was renamed Tapestry, Inc to reflect the variety of brands owned by the company. The company owns the Coach and Stuart Weitzman brands as well as the more recently acquired Kate Spade New York. Its revenue of $4.49bn puts it at 15 on the Deloitte global list. The company markets itself as the “first New York-based house of modern luxury lifestyle brands”.

The ‘Coach’ flagship brand has been around since 1941 and is headed up

by Joshua Schulman who took on the role in 2017.

Coming in at 10 overall, this luxury brand giant owns both Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger and boasts a revenue of $8.02bn according to Deloitte.

It is one of the largest apparel companies in the world and its revenue is now climbing closer to $9bn. It also owns a heritage brand portfolio including Van Heusen, IZOD, ARROW, Speedo and Warner’s. PVH says that these heritage brands are distributed across over 100 countries and bring in over $3bn in annual retail sales. Calvin Klein was founded in 1968 and is best known for its jeans and underwear, while Tommy Hilfiger has been around since 1985 and is famed for its tailored collection of apparel and lifestyle products at ‘accessible price points’.

w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

65

T O P 10

02

Ralph Lauren Corporation www.ralphlauren.com

66

A US household name in high-end fashion, the Ralph Lauren Corporation owns the flagship Ralph Lauren and Polo Ralph Lauren brands as well as Purple Label, Double RL and Club Monaco. With a revenue placed at just over $7.4bn, the company has been placed at eight on the global ranking. The company produces homewear and fragrances as well as clothing and accessories. Founded in 1967 by the designer of the same name, the company has grown to have 493 directly operated stores and 583 concession locations across the world. Additionally, international partners run 93 Ralph Lauren Stores, 42 dedicated shops and 133 Club Monaco stores.

J U LY 2 0 1 8

01

67

Estée Lauder Companies Inc www.esteelauder.co.uk

Estée Lauder makes it to third on the Deloitte list and is the top US company with luxury brands to make the global 100. The company is behind a lot more than the Estée Lauder brand, as it also owns MAC, Aramis, Clinique, Aveda and Jo Malone, as well as producing for licensed fragrance brands. Josephine Esther “Estée” Lauder began producing skin products in New York in the 1930s and the company was officially launched in 1947, becoming a supplier for the famous Saks Fifth Avenue in 1948. Since then, the company has grown to a global reach of over 150 countries and territories and, in addition to its key luxury brands, produces products for Bobbi Brown, Tory Burch, Tommy Hilfiger and Michael Kors.

w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

PROCURING SUCCESS for the STUDENT The College Board is a gateway for students to achieve college and career success, but what role can procurement play in that vision?

WRITTEN BY

DALE BENTON

PRODUCED BY

TOM VENTURO

THE COLLEGE BOARD

A

70

s a not-for-profit mission driven organization focused on connecting more than 7mn students to college success and opportunity, one could be forgiven for asking the question as to how a procurement function can not only support but drive that mission further?

At the College Board, which each year helps millions of students across the U.S. prepare for the successful transition to college through the SAT, Advanced Placement and other programs and services, procurement is very much a key component towards delivering on the organization’s promise.

Heading up the procurement function is Steve Hughes, Chief Procurement Officer at the College Board. Having forged a career in procurement that spanned a number of for-profit organizations such as the Comcast Corporation and Vertis Communications, Hughes first entered the not-for profit space with the National Geographic Society.

It was this experience, working for a mission-driven organization such as National Geographic, that really opened his eyes to seeing just how procurement can enable opportunity to better deliver on that mission.

In 2016, Hughes joined the College Board J U LY 2 0 1 8

and he immediately began to recognize the synergy between his previous role and that of the one he was about to embark on.

“It’s interesting because, at both Nat Geo and here at the College Board I was hired by someone who understood the benefits of bringing best business practices from for-profit organizations into the not-for-profit space.”

As CPO, Hughes works directly with the College Board to align a procurement strategy and the procurement function with that broader organizational goal of delivering educational opportunities for students.

Student experience and procurement aren’t exactly two areas that walk hand in hand but for Hughes, he feels that the role that procurement can and will continue to play is actually much clearer to see.

“The role that procurement can play manifests itself in a number of different ways, but it boils down to one driving principle and that is the idea

S U P P LY C H A I N

BIO

EDUCATION: BS in Engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point, MBA from the University of Missouri at Kansas City

“I HAVE THE GREATEST OF CONFIDENCE IN MY TEAM AND IN THIS FUNCTION TO ACHIEVE THAT AND TO EXCEED ALL EXPECTATIONS OF PROCUREMENT” – Steve Hughes, Chief Procurement Officer

CAREER: Over a career spanning more than 30 years, Steve has held senior procurement and operations positions with large and small, public and private, and for-profit as well as non-profit organizations. He joined the College Board in 2016 after serving as Vice President of Global Sourcing at National Geographic Society, and prior to that, as Vice President of Supply Chain Management at Vertis Communications, a national printer of advertising circulars and direct mail promotions. He has also held positions at Comcast as Sr. Director of Resource Management, and Becker Group as Vice President of Operations.

Hughes started his purchasing career at Hallmark Cards in Kansas City following five years of military service as a US Army officer at Fort Bragg, NC with the 82nd Airborne Division, where he completed 40 military parachute jumps.

w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

71

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S U P P LY C H A I N

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Founded in

1909

of applying best practices for stewardship of an organization’s limited resources,” he says.

“We go to great lengths to ensure that the additional value procurement can bring through strategic sourcing, contract negotiations and supplier relationship management, frees up additional resources that can be invested back into providing additional opportunities for students, such as exam fee reductions for lowincome students. That’s the mission.”

The very nature of procurement is changing.

Where once it was assumed as a compliance function that would support the business needs on a purely indirect level, over the last decade more and more organizations have begun to invest more in procurement to the point where procurement itself can influence strategic thinking.

Hughes agrees as such. w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

S U P P LY C H A I N

When he first arrived at the College Board, he was faced with a procurement function that he describes as primarily tactical. The emphasis of the organization’s procurement was based on processing paperwork, i.e. purchase orders and contracts.

During the two years Hughes has been with the organization, he has embarked on a journey of changing the perspective of what procurement can do for the College Board to a strategic role.

“Procurement can be a window into the marketplace to ensure that we are optimizing the value from the relationships we have with our external suppliers and internal stakeholders. Ultimately, we want to ensure those relationships are leveraged to the greatest advantage of college board through either vendor consolidation, focusing on category management.

“The results so far have shown that we been able to drive savings for the organization, and we can bring business and market intelligence to our stakeholders that create better opportunities when working with suppliers.”

It is through a refocused approach to working with suppliers that has been one of the biggest components of the procurement transformation. Prior to Hughes’s transformation mission,

the “tactical” approach to procurement saw a large portion of the existing procurement team spend limited time negotiating with and establishing relationships with suppliers and more time spent pushing paperwork through systems.

Upon seeing this, Hughes kickstarted this transformation by reorganizing both the department and the way in which the people in procurement worked. Hughes wanted to transition the focus from a transaction by transaction basis to a category management approach, with sourcing team members assigned specific categories that they are responsible for across the entire organization. We reorganized the procurement team by shifting resources out of the operations side over into the sourcing side, providing us with greater bandwidth to handle more sourcing events.

We also trained the people w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

75

THE COLLEGE BOARD

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who had not been exposed to sourcing and category management,” says Hughes.

Naturally any transformation, particularly one that looks to redefine the expectations and demands of a role, will bring with it challenges Sometimes change can be difficult.

But for Hughes, his ideas were met with incredible enthusiasm both by his procurement team and by the College Board’s leadership team.

“For some people, their job wasn’t challenging

J U LY 2 0 1 8

them enough and this in turn meant that they didn’t really see the strategic value that procurement could have on the organization,” he says.

“As part of this journey my team has become more engaged at the start of the procurement process and working with stakeholders from the beginning, when project requirements are being defined, right through to the end, when contracts are negotiated and executed.

This has empowered them and provided them with a sense of perspective

S U P P LY C H A I N

“TO PUT IT SIMPLY, IT’S ABOUT PROVIDING MY TEAM WITH BETTER TOOLS IN ORDER TO BE MORE EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT” – Steve Hughes, Chief Procurement Officer

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w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

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S U P P LY C H A I N

as to what the true value of procurement can and will be going forward.”

As is often the case, a function is defined by its people and processes. Hughes has already worked extensively on the people element, one that can easily be overlooked in the search for greater efficiencies but running alongside this is the process and technology side of procurement.

“To put it simply, it’s about providing my team with better tools in order to be more effective and efficient,” says Hughes.

“That in turn feeds into the wider goal of making procurement more valued by the organization and more effective in how we can deliver results and savings.”

Hughes has already started implementing a new digital procurement suite of tools from Zycus that includes spend analytics as well as e-sourcing, procureto-pay (P2P) and contract management, that will all be fully integrated when they go live before the end of 2018.

If a procurement function is defined on an internal level by the people and the process, then the role it plays externally is equally as important. After all, what use is a procurement function without a network of suppliers?

This notion is only magnified in the nonprofit sector, as Hughes himself admits that

in some instances organizations are sometimes “married” to their incumbent suppliers.

“Why change when stakeholders are happy with the service they are receiving and the price they are paying,” says Hughes.

“So, one of my challenges was to convince people that we should look at the marketplace again and determine whether these suppliers are in fact competitive with other options available to us. Often they are not.”

Hughes stresses that this was not a process of replacing vendors but rather re-evaluating those supplier relationships in order to identify opportunities for better or more cost-effective service.

The ultimate message, for Hughes, is one of greater collaboration moving forward.

“We aren’t here to disrupt existing processes or relationships,” he says. “We are here to extract as much value as possible and ensure w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

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THE COLLEGE BOARD

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Understanding Your PSAT/ NMSQT Score Report

J U LY 2 0 1 8

S U P P LY C H A I N

our supplier base understands that procurement is now part of the value equation at the College Board.”

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The program encompasses all contingent labor management, Statement of Work and Independent Contractor Management.

It is a key example of how The College Board leverages its key suppliers in order to extract as much value as possible.

TAPFIN delivers outstanding results through the use of its proprietary commercial VMS technology,

“WE ARE HERE TO EXTRACT AS MUCH VALUE AS POSSIBLE AND ENSURE OUR SUPPLIER BASE UNDERSTANDS THAT PROCUREMENT IS NOW PART OF THE VALUE EQUATION AT THE COLLEGE BOARD” – Steve Hughes, Chief Procurement Officer

Econometrix, which provides robust full-service VMS functionality in an intuitive easy to use format.

TAPFIN attributes much of its successes as a strategic partner and trusted advisor, especially during the business transformation at The College Board, to the relationships and sponsorship provided, specifically Steve Hughes.

Steve has been the executive sponsor since 2016, and has been an integral part of the program’s recent expansion.

Two years in, this is still very much the beginning of the transformational journey for Hughes and the College Board. While there already has been a number of notable changes and turning points for w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

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DON’T DREAM BIGGER WITHOUT IT.

S U P P LY C H A I N

the organization, no journey like this can ever truly end.

The procurement industry is changing and be it forprofit or not-for-profit, organizations such as the College Board have to continue to evolve and adapt in order to succeed in its mission.

Hughes recognizes as much and he himself admits that the successes that he has overseen to date are in fact only gateways into future opportunity.

“There will most definitely be lots of work and lots of opportunities that these new

tools and new processes, and this newly energized team, will be able to tackle in the future,” he says. “Technology will continue to change and so we must continue to change with it.

“But, ultimately, in the future I want us to continue to enjoy great success in leveraging our value that we bring to the organization. I want our status as a business partner to continue to rise and that we will have more opportunities to engage in a larger sphere of the organization’s addressable spend.

“I have the greatest of confidence in my team to achieve and exceed the College Board’s expectations of procurement.”

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BRINGING AGRICULTURE into the DIGITAL AGE WRITTEN BY

LAURA MULLAN PRODUCED BY

DENITRA PRICE

With smart machinery and robotics, Kuhn Krause is resolving the agriculture sector’s biggest pain points and meeting the demands of digitisation

KUHN KRAUSE

D

igitisation is transforming businesses across the globe – and the

the time savings, the agronomic

agriculture sector is no exception.

focus that we take in designing

With the world’s population mushrooming, consumer demands changing, and commodity prices becoming more volatile, the

and building our machinery,” he adds.

Looking forward, the digital

agriculture sector is being pushed beyond tra-

agriculture market is expected to

ditional business models into the digital age.

triple in size to $15bn by 2021,

With 100 years’ experience in manufactur-

according to PA Consulting.

ing farm machinery, Kuhn Krause is a melting

With this in mind, Director of

pot of traditional agricultural values and tech-

Operations, Eddie Smith, says he

nological innovation.

has seen a seismic shift in the

It is perhaps this unique perspective which has thrust the American firm into the spotlight 86

“It’s all about the profitability,

way farmers operate.

“I think we’ve seen a dynamic

as one of the leading agriculture and farm

change in the way farmers

machinery manufacturers in the market today.

approach business,” he explains.

“No matter what segment of the agricultural

“They’re no longer just trying to

industry we’re in, our mission is to build the

make a living for their families but

best equipment and deliver the best customer

are now increasingly looking

experience with that equipment,” explains

towards more technical aspects

Marketing Director Curt Davis.

of farming.

“That really comes from identifying and

“I think they’re better educated.

understanding the customer, understanding

They’re business people and they

their needs and providing the equipment that

run the farm more like a business.

solves the everyday problems many of the

They have expectations that their

farmers face with their operations.

fathers or their grandfathers

“This mindset helps us to create a differenti-

didn’t have, and so they are look-

able product in the marketplace, so that when

ing to derive value. They’re

a customer hears about our equipment they

looking for the latest and greatest

will immediately say to themselves, ‘This is the

technologies that can give them

solution I’ve been looking for’.

profitability.”

J U LY 2 0 1 8

S U P P LY C H A I N

The agriculture sector is a difficult one to be in, but Davis believes technology is key to realising the market’s financial potential.

“It’s paramount to have a good experience with the equipment, but it’s also important that customers realise the value and return on their equipment investment,” he says.

“In today’s agricultural market, commodity prices are somewhat depressed. This is a worldwide situation, not just in North America, and so it’s very important for our customer to stay profitable.

“They want to invest in machinery that is going to improve their profitability and decrease their cost of investment, whether it be through time, fuel or labour.”

Whether it’s creating state-of-the-art equip-

“ It’s all about the profitability, the time savings, the agronomic focus that we take in designing and building our machinery.”

— Curt Davis, Director of Marketing and Product Management

ment for livestock feeding and bedding, tillage, planting and seeding, crop protection and more, it seems innovation runs deep at Kuhn Group.

w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

87

KUHN KRAUSE

“The sheer fact that Kuhn Krause has prospered for such a long period of time is a testament to the product and the people at the facility” — Eddie Smith, Director of Operations

88

This is clearly demonstrated by the firm’s cutting-edge manufacturing facility.

By investing in smart machines, Kuhn Krause’s technology provides operators with “instant feedback on the performance of

weld cells are helping to provide feedback, speed up operations and produce better quality products.

“With all this technology, we

machines,” says Smith, which makes the

haven’t replaced any workers,”

manufacturing process faster and more effi-

Smith continues. “It has actually

cient.

given us more flexibility with our

Meanwhile, the firm’s million-dollar investment in smart machining centres and robotic J U LY 2 0 1 8

workforce and has improved our productivity and efficiency.

S U P P LY C H A I N

Kuhn – Invest in Quality 89

“The integration of technology is

standardising, sustaining and upholding

helping us make the interface

safety – the agricultural equipment firm is

between man and machine more

focusing on what matters: its products.

productive.”

Pushing its efficiency further, the

In conjunction with this, Smith also champions the company’s use of Gemba walks, to

team at Kuhn Krause has also

gain insight into what’s happening on the

implemented a clearer, lean way of

shop floor.

working.

Adhering to the 6S method of sorting, setting in order, shining,

“One of the main things we’ve done is that we set up a model area in each department,” Smith adds. w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

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S U P P LY C H A I N

“When a customer hears about our equipment they will immediately say to themselves, ‘This is the solution I’ve been looking for’” — Curt Davis, Director of Marketing and Product Management “Once we validated that a process was converted and changed using

the skills and expertise of its team.

“The sheer fact that Kuhn Krause

the lean methods, then we would

has prospered for such a long

expand it to other areas in that

period of time is a testament to the

department. When we wanted to

product and the people at the facil-

change something, we always went

ity,” observes Smith.

back to the model area to change it.

“We also introduced spaghetti dia-

“I think from a manufacturing standpoint, one of the challenges

grams to reduce the flow or waste of

we’ve had is adapting to the differ-

time of material moving from point A

ent generations of workers

to point B. We had over a 40%

because today we have some

reduction in one department, in one

workers that are celebrating their

area, just by doing that.”

45th year with the firm. In some

Technology and new business

cases, we have taken our sea-

models have undoubtedly trans-

soned workers and placed them

formed the business, but when it

alongside some of the younger

comes to the success of Kuhn

workers to let them learn the new

Krause, the pair both also point to

technology. They’ve been very w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

91

KUHN KRAUSE

receptive to doing that.”

“Finding good people is always a challenge,” adds Davis. “It seems like in today’s world if you can find a good foundation of character, work aptitude and knowledge about the business, you can begin to build upon that with the specific things that they need to know for the industry and the company. It’s a constant challenge to find good people and to retain them but we’ve managed to

Over

350

92

employees work at Kuhn Krause.

achieve this.”

Tapping into the latest industry knowhow, Kuhn Krause has not only hired the best talent, it is also developing strong industry partnerships to guarantee a superior customer experience.

“For instance, one of the companies that we have an alliance with is Montag,” notes Davis.

“Montag provides a fertiliser delivery solution which we attach to our strip-till machine called the Gladiator®. Both of those machines work together to really provide good value to the customer. It delivers a whole package to the farmer. That relationship with Montag has been very instrumental

J U LY 2 0 1 8

S U P P LY C H A I N

in increasing our market position

Although the company’s roots

with the customers for the strip-till

lie firmly in America, it seems

application of fertiliser placement.”

Kuhn Krause remains optimistic

Now, looking forward, the agriculture equipment firm plans to continue the company’s historic

about the future and is eyeing opportunities further afield.

“In the next decade, we plan to

legacy by embracing new and rev-

continue to grow in the North

olutionary technologies.

American sector, both in the US

“In the future, I predict we will

and Canada,” Davis says. “Glob-

continue to increase our technology

ally I see that we have many

use in all aspects of manufacturing,”

opportunities, especially in grow-

reflects Smith.

ing and developing countries

“That will allow us to have flexi-

where agriculture is vital to pro-

bility. This is important because

duce enough food for the growing

the agriculture market is cyclical,

population. Continued develop-

which means you need to able to

ment in those growing and

flex-up and flex-down your manu-

emerging countries are going to

facturing capability to continue to

be a priority for us.”

be profitable.”

w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

93

F o r e v e r On .

T5 CONSTRUCTION SERVICES:

The data center experts AS A PROVEN EXPERT IN THE RAPIDLYEXPANDING DATA CENTER FIELD, T5 CONSTRUCTION SERVICE IS FINDING ITS TURNKEY OFFERING IN HIGH DEMAND

WRITTEN BY

JAMES HENDERSON PRODUCED BY

TOM VENTURO

T5 CONSTRUCTION SERVICES

W

ith the proliferation of high speed networks and information exchange, the data center market is on the crest of a wave. If a recent report is to be believed, the data center infrastructure market is expected to surpass $90bn in the next six years with new technology driving demand.

96

T5: An introduction In addition to delivering first class data center facilities as a landlord, T5 Data Centers has become a proven expert in building data center facilities via its construction division T5 Construction Services, LLC (T5CS).

T5CS excels at various service offerings: Turnkey data hall projects; data center upgrade/ expansion projects; equipment procurement; and project management and consulting.

T5CS’ expertise allows them to execute with regards to design, equipment procurement, construction, start-up and commissioning, security implementation, successful J U LY 2 0 1 8

integration, and turnover to the facility management team.

Put simply, building and operating data centers is T5’s core competency. T5’s ability to perform projects in a turnkey manner allows their clients to focus on their core businesses. “We view ourselves as an extension of our client’s staff. We understand what its like to be an owner/end user, because we are one. As a landlord, we tailor our design to meet the needs of our client.

We take the same focus when our construction service group performs turnkey construction projects. Our goal is to customize the right solution for our clients,” says Robbie Sovie, Senior Vice President, Development, for T5 Construction Services The message from T5 to its clients – many of which are Fortune 500 companies – is a simple but effective one: “Let us build the data center you’d like to build yourself”. To deliver on such a personal pitch requires extremely close collaboration between client and contractor.

T5CS’S SERVICES

CONSTRUCTION

TURNKEY DATA HALL PROJECTS Delivering turnkey data hall design/construction projects on schedule and under budget. The turnkey delivery model allows T5 take leadership for the entire project and proactively implement a solution that truly works for the customer.

DATA CENTER UPGRADE/EXPANSION PROJECTS T5 has experience in managing a construction project in a “live” data center environment. The company collaborates with the facility management team to implement a solution that works for both construction and operations.

EQUIPMENT PROCUREMENT T5CS has strong relationships across the equipment vendor industry, and believes these relationships are attributable to our success because buying power helps garner the best possible costs per unit and the best lead times available to the market. By utilizing these relationships, T5 has successfully procured equipment to enhance construction schedules, while also saving costs for the customer.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT/CONSULTING T5 offers project management and consulting services for enterprise data center projects. It has proven expertise in the overall leadership/ management of due diligence, design, contract procurement, construction procurement, preconstruction, project delivery, closeout, and handoff to facility management team. w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

97

Uptime is everything—

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CONSTRUCTION

“A lot of companies will say they want to become partners to their clients but T5 truly means it,” says Sovie. “We sit across the table from our clients and look them in the eye to understand exactly what it is they want, and then we strive to achieve that. We challenge our team to build those relationships because they result in the best projects. One team, one dream, let’s make it happen – that’s the approach.”

Similarly, T5 values its relationships with equipment vendors. T5’s vendors are critical to its success. “As owners we purchase equipment in scale,” says Sovie, “so we have purchasing power.

We’ve developed healthy relationships with a group of vendors who have proven their ability to pull a rabbit out of a hat for us when we need them to.

When you can call some of the big players and say ‘we need a generator in three months’ and they figure out a way to make that happen, it’s huge.”

“ WE’VE DEVELOPED HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS WITH A GROUP OF VENDORS WHO HAVE PROVEN THEIR ABILITY TO PULL A RABBIT OUT OF A HAT FOR US WHEN WE NEED THEM TO” — Robbie Sovie, Senior Vice President, Development, for T5 Construction Services TalkTalk

How T5 operates T5CS thrives because its foundation is strong. T5CS’s ability to execute on five core principles is key to its success: SAFETY: Adherence and execution of strict safety process and procedures w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

99

CONSTRUCTION

is one of T5’s core focus points.

Maintaining a positive safety record is critical to T5CS, which has a Zero Accident Objective across all our projects.

PROCESS & PROCEDURE: Details, details, details… executing on the process and procedures is not just busy work for T5CS. The company understands that being detailed and diligent with process and procedures is critical to success.

Its processes and procedures are utilized at every level of projects: design, preconstruction and bid levelling, construction delivery, start-up and commissioning delivery, security integration, completion and closeout, etc.

COMMUNICATION & COLLABORATION: Effective communication and collaboration is critical to a successful project.

“We want our clients to enjoy the construction experience,” adds Sovie. As an example, T5CS uses a CFD analysis (Computational Fluid Dynamics) to analyse IT loads within a data hall. T5CS collaborates with clients on the

most optimal data hall design based on what the CFD analysis presents. “The CFD model is important when clients are trying to maximise their output in terms of killowatts. It shows us where we need to contain temperatures via containment, chimney, or other design measures,” says Sovie.

As part of its service offering, T5CS is adept at data center upgrade programs and expansion projects, where it has to undertake mission critical work in the ‘live’ environment. Once again, collaboration is crucially important, says Sovie: “I think our track record with working on live projects is a major reason why clients come to us. That’s more the reason they use us. You simply have to collaborate with the facility group, so that you’re going through maintenance procedures step-by-step; you’ve got to do ‘A’ before you do ‘B’ to get to ‘C’, so we stick rigidly to that. Added to that, it’s a question of the correct competences and skills for the job, and our team has that.”

w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

101

T5 CONSTRUCTION SERVICES

Founded in

2008

CONSTRUCTION

PROJECT FOCUS T5 data centers owns and operates data centers in all of the sector’s most important markets, including Dallas, LA, Atlanta, Portland, Charlotte, Ireland, Chicago, and New York. Here are a few of the company’s most recent project highlights, including its entrance into the European market…

T5@ATLANTA II T5 Data Centers recently finalised the purchase of a new 40-acre property in Douglas County as the location for T5@Atlanta II, the company’s second data center in the Atlanta region. The land acquisition marks the first step in the construction of a new 130,000-square-foot data center, purpose-built to meet the needs of hyperscale enterprise customers. When it is completed, the T5@ Atlanta II data center will feature 10 MW of critical power load and 66,667 sq ft of white floor space.

T5@IRELAND The new T5@Ireland Facility, is located just five miles from Cork City and stationed conveniently over a global IP transit hub to keep you connected to North America and mainland Europe. The five largest fibre providers in Ireland will provide a direct connection to the campus, that is built with future expansion in mind.

T5@DALLAS III In October last year, T5 Data Centers completed construction on the state-ofthe-art T5@Dallas III on its Plano data center campus. The new greenfield, purpose-built data center is tenant ready and offers the same robust construction as the balance of the T5@Dallas campus, including a dedicated data center support team. The T5@Dallas campus is located in Plano’s Legacy Business Park. The T5@Dallas III facility is a LEED Silver certified, concurrently maintainable data center with 94,400 sq ft of available data hall space and 10.75 MW of critical power.

T5@CHICAGO In March of this year, T5 Data Centers completed construction on the stateof-the-art T5@Chicago located in Elk Grove Village, IL. The new purpose-built data center is tenant ready and offers the same robust construction as the balance of other T5 facilities, including a dedicated data center support team. The T5@Chicago facility is a LEED Certified, concurrently maintainable data center with approximately 70,000 sq ft of data hall space and 10 MW of critical power. w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

103

Nationwide Landscape Civil Engineers Architectures Planners Mission Critical Specialist: Hugo Morales, P.E. hugo.morales@kimley-horn.com 817.339.2294 | 469.288.3185

Mission Critical Specialist:

“WE UNDERSTAND THAT ‘LIVE PRODUCTION’ DATES CAN BE THE DIFFERENCE IN SUCCESS VS. FAILURE FOR OUR CLIENTS. WE MANAGE THE CLIENTS SCHEDULE EXPECTATIONS AND IS IF WERE OUR OWN SCHEDULE” — Robbie Sovie, Senior Vice President, Development, for T5 Construction Services TalkTalk J U LY 2 0 1 8

BUDGET ADHERENCE: Focusing on the project budget is critical to T5CS because its critical to our client. As an owner and end user, T5 understands what it means to manage a budget from a client’s perspective. “We manage the client’s budget as we would manage our own budget,” Sovie says.

SCHEDULE ADHERANCE: Just like the budget, schedule is important for various reasons. “We understand that ‘live production’

WHY PARTNER WITH T5 CONSTRUCTION SERVICES? | T5 DATA CENTERS

CONSTRUCTION

Forever On .

105

dates can be the difference in success vs. failure for our Clients,” Sovies explains. “We manage the clients schedule expectations and is if were our own schedule.”

As somebody working at the epicentre of the data center space, Sovie says he is “unsurprised” by the prediction that the value of the market will surpass $90bn by 2024, pointing out that just around half of the world’s population have internet access.

“There are billions of people who at some stage will get that access, so when you take that

into consideration alongside ever evolving technology, whether that be IoT or AI, it’s going to drive a lot of further capacity.

You have to also consider that some of the older generation are not too tech-savvy, which is not going to be the case with generations to come. It’s just kind of natural evolution so unless servers get way more efficient that demand for data center space is just going to increase.”

As is, you’d expect, the demand for proven experts in the data centre construction field. w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

HOLISTIC BUILDING with COMMUNITY IN MIND WRITTEN BY

OLIVIA MINNOCK PRODUCED BY

TOM VENTURO

Alan Ruth, Vice President of Facilities & Construction at New Horizon Academy, discusses the company’s growth across the US and how it continues to develop sustainable, economical and community focussed schools

NEW HORIZON ACADEMY

“Working at New Horizon Academy, where children have a safe place to grow and learn, I’m doing something that matters and will have a long-term impact on the community”

— Alan Ruth, Vice President of Facilities & Construction

108

“Working at New Horizon Academy, where

maintenance, IT and the compa-

children have a safe place to grow and learn,

ny’s 100-plus fleet. “They needed

I’m doing something that matters and will

someone to head up that national

have a long-term impact on the community.”

presence and help grow the

For Alan Ruth, Vice President of Facilities &

brand across the US. I have many

Construction, New Horizon Academy is more

different department heads who

than just a developer – it works to nurture the

report to me, and I set them up for

children and communities of the future.

the future. I started working with

The family-owned Minnesota business was

key decision-makers for the com-

founded by elementary school teacher Sue

pany, inside and out, seeing what

Dunkley who recognised the need for children

our goals were and putting all

to learn in a nurturing environment. The com-

departments on track to achieve

pany is now led by her son, CEO Chad

those goals.” He also oversees

Dunkley, who was one of the first students at a

day-to-day facilities manage-

New Horizon Academy. Since 1971, New Hori-

ment: “At all times, we’re

zon Academy has expanded across the US to

negotiating long- term contracts,

design and build bespoke, holistic school

for all services, which include:

buildings and is still growing, with 75 schools

energy, lawn care, snow removal,

in its portfolio and 12 under development.

cleaning and repairs.”

Ruth joined the business in 2014 and has brought many elements of the business

FOCUS ON LEARNING

together, overseeing a variety of departments

“Our buildings are designed

like construction/development, purchasing,

around the students,” Ruth

J U LY 2 0 1 8

CONSTRUCTION

109

Alan Ruth has 25 years + in the Development, Construction & Facilities field with many companies including: Ryan Companies, Bally Total Fitness, Abercrombie & Fitch, CKE Restaurants, & Emerald & Diamond Foods

emphasises, adding that CEO Chad Dunkley

it’s all put into the plan of how the

works with state and federal government as

building should look and feel. We

well as the University of Minnesota, Harvard

build and install things with a set

University, Yale and many others, to ensure

of eyes of a child. Everything we

the business is focused on child development.

look at is specific for the clientele,

“We find the right environment for the chil-

such as the design of doors in our

dren from the way we build the buildings to

classrooms with finger guards so

size, classrooms, ergonomics, you name it…

no child’s fingers get pinched.” w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

NEW HORIZON ACADEMY

Caring Beyond the Classroom

110 STRATEGIC COLLABORATION

strategic savings by bringing pur-

Designing bespoke schools requires collabo-

chasing together under one roof,

ration to promote synergy. “Every project has

so to speak. “Over time, we’ve

something that creeps up so it’s about being

started to buy materials our-

ready with every team member prepared to

selves. By going straight to the

respond,” Ruth explains. “Not just internally

manufacturers, we can reduce

but externally, from ownership to people run-

costs, avoid mark-ups and basi-

ning the schools, building them and supplying

cally become our own supply

material. We’re all on the same page.” It’s also

chain. Over time, instead of get-

important that management empowers staff

ting more expensive with inflation,

to take ownership and work toward common

our buildings have slowly gone

goals. “They’re really behind the direction

down in cost because we con-

we’ve taken the different departments. I’m

tinue to buy more directly. That’s

very fortunate to have the backing of not just

why I ended up taking purchasing

the owners but my team members.”

over, to put us in the position to

In addition, Ruth has been able to make J U LY 2 0 1 8

do more of this in the future.”

CONSTRUCTION

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFORMATION

A key ingredient for holistic building development? “Technology has of course been our friend,” says Ruth. “Each of my departments has specific software to keep projects on schedule and at cost. We send out reports weekly or monthly to share with ownership and other departments, so we have a good handle on where we’re going. Technology has done a wonderful thing for us – we have better control.” Ruth has also found that a level of independence is healthy, ensuring employees have the freedom to explore more digital initiatives. “I leave it with each department head to present me with what they feel is the best software for their department and why.”

BIM (building information modelling) software is also used, with the company’s architect having upgraded from CAD to Revit, which shows preliminary design in 3D, virtual

“ Part of the education is building efficient buildings to teach responsibility for future generations” — Alan Ruth, VP of Facilities and Construction

reality model. “Back in the day, if I showed blueprints to people who weren’t in the trade, it was hard for them to see what a room would really look like. With this new software, you can put a 3D model on a screen and walk

to Ruth. “Technology is going to

through the building, inside and out. It helps

change the way we build and

the group move ahead because there are less

make our buildings more efficient.

change orders. People can question things at

We’re going to get a better

an early stage. There’s a clearer understand-

product, and we’ll be able to

ing throughout the process.”

enjoy even greater time and

Transformation is set to continue, according

cost savings.” w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

111

75

Number of schools developed by New Horizon

112

12

Number of projects currently under development

J U LY 2 0 1 8

CONSTRUCTION

113

w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

DESIGNED CONCRETE PAVER WORK / STONE WORK ARTIFICIAL TURF RETAINING WALLS FOUNDATION WORK EXCAVATION

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Experience

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Quality

Results

CONSTRUCTION

1971 Year founded

Lighting is not just a sustainability factor but helps child development too. “There has been a lot of research on colour tuning, natural and unnatural, colours and hues, what’s best for certain activities or how different colours and ray beams help development and growth in each room.”

Classroom design varies across age ranges, but always keeps functionality in mind. In particular, it’s important to have

A SUSTAINABLE, HOLISTIC FUTURE

indoor play areas with enough

As it implements the latest technology, New

room for activities if students

Horizon Academy is seeing its buildings

can’t go outside. Even the exterior

become even greener through a sustainability

play areas are designed where

focus, from implementing skylights which

children can venture out for work

make the most of natural light, to water-saving

and play. “One of our partners,

sinks and lighting control systems, as well as

Cre8play, is a national provider

using automation to control temperature. “We

based in Minnesota that studies

also work with local utility companies to figure

exterior play areas to understand

out how we can become more efficient with-

age-appropriate playgrounds,”

out taking away from the comfort and

Ruth explains. “Like everything

functionality of the buildings,” Ruth adds.

we do, it’s for fun but also to help

“LED lights have really saved us. With the

children grow and learn. We part-

new lighting control system, we fluctuate how

nered with Cre8play to not just

much light we use to save money, and LED

get a play area you could have at

has a full range of what you can do, from col-

home, but something that means

ours to cycling on and off.”

children can learn as they play.” w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

115

NEW HORIZON ACADEMY

When You Drop Off We Pick Up

CREATE + SOLVE + ADVISE

• Architecture and Development Planning • Construction Management Consultant, Owners Representation • Zoning Appeals • Expert Service, Construction Disputes and Forensics • Designing and Building Creative Child-Friendly Environments since 1988

Proud to be working with New Horizon Academy.

CONTACT: A. PETER HILGER, AIA

Phone: 612-868-3636

Email: philger@rylaur.com

CONSTRUCTION

“We work with local utility companies to figure out how we can become more efficient without taking away from the comfort and functionality of the buildings”

— Alan Ruth, Vice President of Facilities & Construction

“We use different materials now that meet

future. Its proudest achievement

more of the LEED Certification as we strive to

in Ruth’s book is a flagship center

become LEED certified. We’re using more

in north Minneapolis. “It’s one

recycled materials that are safe for children

of the more impoverished areas,

like LVT (luxury vinyl tile) flooring. We’re becom-

but we built our nicest ever

ing wiser with the materials we use, which

building there for the community

sends a good message.” Ruth adds that this

to reinvest in the children. We’re

sustainable focus is important for children to

basically going into areas others

see. “Part of the education is building efficient

won’t, taking on challenges oth-

buildings to teach responsibility for future gen-

ers won’t and turning around

erations such as how to control lighting.”

projects that the community

That’s just one-way New Horizon Academy is focused on building communities for the

loves. That’s what I’m most proud of.”

w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

117

ENERGY

Powering the US solar agenda WRITTEN BY

CATHERINE STURMAN PRODUCED BY

TOM VENTURO

THE DEMAND FOR SOLAR PROJECTS CONTINUES TO GROW APACE ACROSS THE UNITED STATES. JOE BROTHERTON, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE, DISCUSSES HOW CYPRESS CREEK RENEWABLES DELIVERS A ONE-STOP-SHOP WITHIN THE UTILITYSCALE SOLAR INDUSTRY

w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

CY P R E S S C R E E K R E N E WA B L E S

T

120

he solar energy market is booming across the United States. Americans are increasingly demanding access to cleaner sources of energy, driving utilities and large corporate electricity consumers to turn their attention towards renewable energy projects.

Upgrading facilities

With such high demand, inte-

In April, Cypress Creek opened its

grated utility-scale solar

national solar control center at its

developer Cypress Creek

flagship Research Triangle Park,

Renewables has been behind

North Carolina office. The new

the development, construction

control center marks a significant

and operation of an array of pro-

milestone for Cypress Creek as

jects across a dozen states,

the company expands its opera-

including North Carolina, New

tions and maintenance services

York, and Oregon. The company

for third-party customers and sig-

has placed focus on working

nals its unique ability to operate

alongside community, utility and

secure solar sites and maximise

commercial clients to undertake

production.

all the required work.

built,” explains Joe Brotherton, Executive Vice President of Operations and Maintenance.

“Because we have this integrated approach to project development, construction and operations, our Operations & Maintenance team is able to be involved in the upfront work, whereas a traditional operator would not be.”

The C4 is just one of a handful of

“Cypress Creek is unique.

North American Electric Reliability

While we find and develop land

Corporation (NERC) – Critical Infra-

for solar farms, we also have a

structure Protection (CIP) compliant

group that builds projects. I run

control centres in the country oper-

the operations team. Projects

ated by a solar-only company. The

are handed to us after they are

C4 was designed to meet North

J U LY 2 0 1 8

ENERGY

“Cypress Creek is unique.

While we find and develop land for solar farms, we also have a group that builds projects” — Joe Brotherton, Executive Vice President of Operations and Maintenance

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American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC’s) most stringent cyber security and reliability requirements. To meet the new compliance level, Cypress Creek hired 22 people over the past three months.

Partnering with Power Factors to implement a robust data collection system across its 230 operating power plants, data is now pulled from each plant and centralised into one core platform inside of Cypress Creek’s new control center.

Through this investment, the business has gained w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

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ENERGY

FACT

increased visibility across its entire portfolio. Additionally, it has allowed teams to gain direct

Cultivating small utility scale, ground-mounted solar farms has adhered to Cypress’ ambition to support communities when developing land

access to a site to look at any potential issues.

“We want to undertake as

team in the operation centre.

“When an alarm goes off, it generates a

much work ahead of time so that

work ticket which automatically goes to a

we can tell a technician where to

technician. As we have undertaken all this

go, take the required parts and

upfront work, the responsible technician will

relevant tools to undertake a

reach it in (almost) real time and fix the issue,”

specific repair,” says Brotherton.

he continues.

“Reducing plant or component

“We’ve automated our entire monitoring

downtime is our O&M team’s

process. From a data analysis standpoint,

main goal; to produce as much

we can get into granular detail around site

as we can so smart repairs and

performance.

efficiency all starts with my

“With data analysis we can see that the w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

123

“We have this integrated approach to project development, construction and operations, so our Operations & Maintenance team is able to be involved in the upfront work” — Joe Brotherton, Executive Vice President of Operations and Maintenance

124

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ENERGY

Operations and Maintenance team member at Tracy solar farm in in Nash County, NC

125

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CY P R E S S C R E E K R E N E WA B L E S

Cypress Creek’s Control Center in its Research Triangle Park office

ENERGY

plant is on, but it’s not performing

solar is popular and there are a lot of

as best that it could be. We can see

projects. Having qualified personnel

what we can gain by either fixing

allows us to build cheaper, quicker

something; being predictive in our

and more efficiently.

maintenance, analysing data and

“From construction jobs to the

seeing trends to resolve issues

operations side, we have licensed

before they happen.”

electricians, medium and high voltage experts, which all come with a

Enhancing opportunities for communities

level of training. We’re moving so

With extensive experience in both

can partner and build a curriculum

operations and maintenance

to create more opportunities,” com-

(O&M) and the semiconductor

ments Brotherton.

space, Brotherton is aware of how

quickly and have looked at who we

“If we know labour is available,

partnering with communities can

that’s great from a construction

benefit all parties.

standpoint. From the operation

“When we go into a new area, we

side, having people that know

show the community how we’re

electrical or solar-specific compo-

going to build these projects and

nents benefit my group

illustrate how a solar project will

specifically. We also have an inter-

benefit them,” he says.

nal training programme where we

One of the ways that Cypress Creek shows its commitment to the

can bring individuals up to speed,” he continues.

community is through workforce development. The company has

Supporting industry growth

collaborated with five community

By operating across the entire life

and technical colleges across the

cycle, Cypress Creek offers excep-

country, including Cape Fear Com-

tional, seamless performance

munity College in North Carolina to

across its development, construc-

train future solar workers.

tion and O&M capabilities. With all

“We’re doing this in areas where

three groups working in sync, any w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

127

CY P R E S S C R E E K R E N E WA B L E S

128

Cypress Creek’s Control Center in its Research Triangle Park office

FACT

• Cypress Creek has partnered with Power Factors to implement a robust data collection system across its 230 power plants • Cypress Creek has collaborated with a number of colleges to provide an array of programs

J U LY 2 0 1 8

ENERGY

Tracy solar farm in Nash County, NC

issues can be mitigated or reduced,

Such is the company’s success, it

guaranteeing world-class results.

has now looks to incorporate differ-

“If a project is going to have high

ent initiatives at its solar farms.

operational costs or it’s in the ter-

“We now have our first project in

ritory that we have some special

Maryland where we’re putting in

vegetation requirement, we can

pollinator habitats and beehives on

start those conversations at the

site as part of our pollinator program,”

front end,” adds Brotherton.

he concludes. w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

129

THE RISE MOBILE EDGE, of

OPEN SOURCE NETWORK

&

VIRTUALISATION

Inside Kontron Canada’s business model transformation Written by Tom Wadlow Produced by Glen White

KONTRON CANADA INC.

Benoit Robert, VicePresident of Strategy & Marketing, and Steve Séguin, Vice President of Operations, discuss how Kontron Canada has leveraged new technologies to remain an industry leader

132

I

n a world that is increasingly defined by software and all things virtual, organisations across industries are reaping the benefits of migrating critical functionality away from onpremise and into the cloud.

Indeed, IDC predicts global spend on public cloud to hit $160bn this year, an increase of 23.2% on 2017. Offering cost efficiency, scalability and increasing reliability to its beneficiaries, it appears the software and cloud computing tide is gathering irreversible momentum.

However, hardware still has a critical role to play.

IT hardware spending J U LY 2 0 1 8

continues to rise – Statista forecasts global spending to reach $1.12trn by 2019, up from the $987bn spent in 2013.

For Kontron Canada Inc., a globallyactive subsidiary of the Kontron Group, its mission statement is to design hardware fit for this software-defined world.

“Our business model has had to change dramatically over the past five years,” comments Benoit Robert, Vice-President of Strategy & Marketing. “Where we used to selling the hardware to a customer who would then sell a complete solution to a service provider, however we now work directly with these service providers to expose them to what we’re doing.

“We show them what integrated hardware and software can do and how this can fit into the new type of virtualised networks they’re trying to build.”

Kontron Canada’s portfolio includes best-of-breed OEM hardware and its SYMKLOUD open infrastructure platforms, built to help clients deploy virtual services using software-defined networking and network function virtualization.

Such clients predominantly operate in three core industries – telecoms, media (video and broadcasting) and cloud.

TECHNOLOGY

MOBILE EDGE – THE 5G FRONTIER

Central to the firm’s shift in business model has been the emergence of mobile edge computing.

The premise of mobile edge is simple – to bring processes closer to the end consumer, thereby reducing congestion on networks and boosting performance of applications.

“This is all about the computing and the support services closer to the cell towers and at the actual cell tower itself,” explains Robert. “Mobile edge computing is about using a lot of new

virtualisation software technologies and mixing that with a cloud data centre type of environment.

“As a hardware vendor who is also getting increasingly involved with open source software, edge computing represents a tremendous opportunity for us to provide hardware-software solutions to our customers.”

133 BIO

Benoit Robert is Vice President of Strategy and Marketing for Kontron’s Communications Business Unit and responsible for product strategy, planning and implementation of market and consumer penetration strategies.

Benoit specializes in cloud infrastructure and communications technologies and has spent the last 25 years managing product lifecycles, gathering and prioritizing customer requirements and defining product vision.

w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

KONTRON CANADA INC.

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Team building activity on water J U LY 2 0 1 8

TECHNOLOGY

Mobile edge computing, Robert explains, stands at the frontier of the 5G network.

Promising to deliver unrivalled connection speeds and immense bandwidth capacity, 5G will see an unprecedented number of devices connect to a single network.

Providers of such networks will thus be dependent on mobile edge to disperse this demand and ensure optimum experience for end users, and Kontron Canada’s solutions can help them deliver this.

“We’re actually building operating hardware that provisions multi-access edge computing, compatible for devices beyond just mobile, i.e. anything that can connect to IoT,” adds Robert.

Addressing the physical and environmental challenges at the edge is where Kontron’s expertise truly comes to the fore.

“We develop types of hardware that can now sit at the base of the cell tower, a specialised product that fits in that environment where the space is very limited and where the environmental constraints are very tough,” explains Robert.

“ Edge computing represents a tremendous opportunity for us to provide hardware-software solutions to our customers” — Benoit Robert, Vice-President of Strategy & Marketing

“It needs to be able to support freezing cold temperatures all the way up to searing heat.

Some markets are very hot and you need to develop products that can withstand that kind of punishment.”

Kontron’s hardware also stands up to the shock and vibrations caused by extreme events such as earthquakes and fire. Today’s softwarebased world very much relies on equipment that can withstand the physical elements, and Kontron Canada has carved its own niche in provisioning this requirement. w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

135

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TECHNOLOGY

EMBRACING OPEN SOURCE

A crucial facilitator of Kontron Canada’s hardwaresoftware evolution has been open source software.

Integration of OpenStack in particular has proven a differentiator for the company, not least because it can

tap into the expertise of a community of experts at an economical price.

Open source software also enables flexibility for clients to build networks and data centres in their own way.

However, while the perks of cloud adoption for organisations in industries such as telecoms are well-documented, deterrents such as higher than anticipated costs, start-up delays and being locked into a vendor’s specific approach do exist.

Kontron’s OpenStack turnkey platform solution, fully integrated with the Canonical distribution of Ubuntu 137 BIO

Steve Séguin is Vice President of Operations for Kontron’s Communications Business Unit. Steve is a goal-oriented and results driven operations executive with extensive experience in high technology manufacturing. With over 15 years management experience spanning operations, production, manufacturing engineering and global supply chain, Steve has a strong record of success developing strategic initiatives, delivering cost reduction and profit improvement, driving organizational change and implementing LEAN through leadership and motivation.

w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

KONTRON CANADA INC.

INSIDE SYMKLOUD OPEN INFRASTRUCTURE PLATFORMS

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SYMKLOUD series of converged open infrastructure platforms are commercial-off-the-shelf x86 (COTS) platforms for carrier clouds, content delivery networks, hosting and cloud (XaaS) provider infrastructure. They allow organisations to massively scale VNF, edge datacentre, and video/OTT /broadcast workloads and enable fast and efficient roll-outs.

MS2900 Series of converged platforms feature nine high density modular nodes managed by redundant gigabit ethernet switches and include compute, storage and dual 600GbE ingress switch fabric in a single 2U short depth enclosure.

If an operator wants to run the entire stack for AI from their central office and data centre, for example, the SYMKLOUD MS2910 has a single socket Intel Xeon processor and a PCIe slot on each of the nine nodes, whereby consumable components such as storage, FPGA and GPU can easily be added. SYMKLOUD can also be used to run Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) on top of it – several can run on the same platform which eliminates the need to purchase numerous pieces of hardware.

J U LY 2 0 1 8

TECHNOLOGY

OpenStack, alleviates these concerns.

Robert explains how Kontron’s hardware must keep aligned with updates from Canonical and the OpenStack community: “Canonical have their own releases of their distribution of OpenStack and our software team does all the work behind the scenes to make sure that it will be fully validated and integrated on our hardware.

“This is one of the key advantages of using open source software, especially when considering a community as large as OpenStack. I don’t know how many thousands of developers are part of different projects within the OpenStack community, but when there is a new release you’re gaining the benefits of all the work done.”

Robert also mentions Kontron’s work with Google’s Kubernetes, another open source software solution sold through a separate licensing agreement with Canonical, used for automating deployment, scaling and management of containerised applications.

“Particularly at the edge of a network, we have seen increasing interest in Containerisation. Containers are integrated in the Kontron

“ We developed an ecosystem of key partners that are integrated to our supply chain, as if they were an extension of Kontron” — Steve Séguin, Vice President of Operations 139

SYMKLOUD MS2910 platform in a turnkey manner, providing a modular approach that is designed to fit into the sorts of rack spaces available at the edge,” explains Robert.

Software can be more efficiently tested, benchmarked or even developed by partners and customers on SYMKLOUD hardware in SYMLAB, a remote colo environment deployed by Kontron Canada.

This greatly accelerates the purchase decision making process with minimal risk. w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

KONTRON CANADA INC.

OPEN SOURCE MISSION Kontron is enabling the networks of the future by offering turnkey, modular, converged hardware platforms that incorporate fully validated and supported Open Source cloud provisioning. Open Source turnkey solutions offer operators a disruptive deployment model, reducing operational costs whilst giving operational freedom. This includes the freedom to mix and match multi-vendor service solutions without the consequences of being locked-in.

140

WHAT’S NEW Kontron recently updated its SYMKLOUD suite of products, launching the ME1100, a flexible, high-performance platform for vRAN and mobile edge computing (MEC).

The platform can enable IT and cloud computing capabilities within the radio access network and easily integrates with telco cloud infrastructure.

J U LY 2 0 1 8

TECHNOLOGY

SUPPLY CHAIN PARTNERS

Sigmapoint, a “Lean Enterprise” contract manufacturer based in Ontario, is taking on the manufacturing of the SYMKLOUD suite, while Hitek Logistics has been a key transportation and logistics partner, able to quickly ship products anywhere in the world from Kontron warehouses in Canada and Shanghai.

141

RESHORING VIA PARTNER POWER

On the operational side, Kontron Canada Inc. is in the midst of reshoring the SYMKLOUD product suite to its homeland.

Building up an ecosystem of manufacturing and supply chain partners to provision this is the domain of Steve Séguin, Vice President of Operations. A company veteran of more than a decade, Séguin has spent time both in Germany and Canada in various roles.

“As part of our operations strategy over the last few years, we developed an ecosystem of key partners that are integrated to our supply chain, as if they were an extension of Kontron,” he explains.

“The SYMKLOUD product family was produced in Asia, and we’re reshoring this so that we can reduce lead times and also increase flexibility.”

Sigmapoint, a “Lean Enterprise” contract manufacturer based in Ontario, is taking on the w w w. b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

KONTRON CANADA INC.

manufacturing of the SYMKLOUD suite, while Hitek Logistics has been a key transportation and logistics partner, able to quickly ship products anywhere in the world from Kontron warehouses in Canada and Shanghai.

The company may expand this network to Morocco, Europe and Southeast Asia if the need arises.

“Our customers now expect flexibility in our supply chain, short lead times, configure to order, and programs like vendor managed

inventory,” Séguin adds. “We must be able to deliver the right product at the right time and at the lowest total cost of ownership.

“These partners contribute directly to meeting these key objectives, and this helps us grow our business.”

LOOKING AHEAD

Séguin expects the reshoring effort to be fully operational by the end of June, by which

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Click to watch ‘SYMKLOUD: I See Open’

J U LY 2 0 1 8

TECHNOLOGY

time Kontron Canada Inc. will be primed to deliver its unique set of products and solutions not only across its native territory, but worldwide.

So, what are the priorities for the two executives heading into this post-reshoring future?

“I think we will continue to adapt to our customers footprints and requirements and maintain our very flexible operations so that we can transfer as needed or increase in capacity as needed, and adapt to this evolving market,” Séguin says.

For Robert, deciding which of these evolving trends to pursue will be paramount: “I think one of our biggest issues will be trying to remain focused because there are many new trends or markets that are opening up now, and in most cases, they involve computing hardware of some sort.

“We’re monitoring which are the new directions that we would like to be a part of, but when it comes to how things are being built and are being designed, the mindset of everything is software defined.

“Everything’s being managed by software – there’s so many new opportunities for us, and we’re already starting to look at some,” he concludes.

“ I think one of our biggest issues will be trying to remain focused because there are many new trends or markets that are opening up now, and in most cases, they involve computing hardware of some sort” — Benoit Robert, Vice-President of Strategy & Marketing

Website | Youtube | Blog

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