Manufacturing

Implementing critical insights and innovative methodologies to add value at every stage The automotive industry is under intense cost pressure, a function of razor thin margins being generated by new energy vehicles (NEVs) and expensive legacy operations and processes. To address future profitability challenges being posed by an increasing portfolio of EV vehicles, automakers are reviewing opportunities to reduce costs across the operational landscape, and notably the sales process. The dealership model has been in place for over 100 years, however it is designed in a way that disadvantageous for both the car buyer and the OEM. This is because it is characterised by a lack of vehicle price transparency, a low trust relationship between buyers and dealers, and a process no longer representative of the digital service landscape that consumers have become accustomed to. Catalysed by new market entrants such as Tesla, the bricks and mortar sales model was ripe for disruption, something which was recognised by a German automotive manufacturer who sought out Daniel Fitzsimmons , expert in Change Management and the Automotive Industry at Cambridge Management Consulting, to optimise their sales agency model. The Ask A German automotive manufacturer, recognising the need to digitise the sales process and begin its journey to a more customer-centric sales model, and secure the subsequent financial benefits, engaged our Automotive partner to support its digital transformation and change management requirements. Spanning a complex stakeholder map involving 7 legal entities, 4 user journeys, 3 critical functions and 1000s of employees, Daniel Fitzsimmons was engaged to provide clarity and structure across the entire digital transformation process. Solutions Functioning as a coordinating mechanism across a fragmented vendor landscape, Daniel Fitzsimmons provided leadership, facilitating: E2E Customer Journey Mapping Dealer Journey Mapping Digital Touchpoint Mapping Customer-Centric Messaging Stakeholder Mapping and Engagement Data-driven Sales Mapping Change Management and Communication Daniel provided critical insights and enabling methodologies to support the OEM begin its journey to the direct-to-consumer sales model, and the definition and calculation of digital sales logic streams. Teams Daniel Fitzsimmons , as partner of our Change Management function, was able to engage stakeholders in identification and communication of a change imperative that created unity in the delivery of the programme. His experience in delivering best in industry digital journey solutions helped empower the OEM to achieve its stated objectives within budget and in advance of target deadlines. Outcomes & Results 1. Model Redesign Provided experience and leadership to the project delivery organisation, allowing senior OEM executives to give guidance, rather than being hands-on in the management of the initiative. 2. Optimised Communication Engaged the organisation in the project as well as clarifying their communication strategy. 3. Efficiency All of this was delivered on budget and on time, with an NPS of 96.

edenseven Supports Direct Wines’ Progress to Net Zero By providing a carbon assessment and supporting global supplier engagement. Direct Wines Ltd (Direct Wines) is an international and independent wine merchant which launched its first non-UK business in 2007 and currently has operations across the globe, with over 450 suppliers in their network and employing approximately 1,000 people. Direct Wines owns Laithwaite’s Wine and Averys in the UK, as well as owning and operating a number of their own vineyards and wine-making facilities in the UK, France, USA, and Australia. Direct Wines engaged edenseven, one of the Cambridge Management Consulting group of companies, to support the acceleration of their sustainability programme, with a clear focus on engaging their supply base. Project Overview To research the different techniques being adopted across the globe to sequester (store) carbon within the wine-growing community. The final report would need to show technical in-depth research and be summarised in a format to enable general circulation. Create a muti-language online questionnaire focussed on benchmarking Direct Wines’ supply chain engagement levels relating to decarbonisation. This analysis would be summarised and presented to the board. To create an engagement plan with key suppliers across multiple regions to provide a variety of consultative services to enable the acceleration of decarbonisation. Skills & Knowledge An environmental expert with an in-depth knowledge of carbon sequestration and best practice techniques. Digital capability to produce a multi-language questionnaire and host it on a separate domain to Direct Wines. A clear understanding of an appropriate questionnaire structure, which will product meaningful quantifiable data, while assuring a high response rate. Experience in delivering bespoke carbon reduction and benchmarking projects across different geographies. Outcome & Results Market Analysis : A structured research paper giving clear guidance on the methods used to sequester carbon across multiple regions. This gave Direct Wines a document which would be distributed to senior stakeholders and suppliers to help positively impact their overall Scope 3 emissions. Supply Chain Assessment : A clear benchmark of Direct Wines supply chains current understanding an progress to achieve net zero. This gave Direct Wines the ability to identify individual suppliers who needed support to move forward. Programme Development : The delivery of a programme of work across selected suppliers which consisted of carbon foot-printing assessment, renewable energy feasibility studies, best practice gap analysis, and data reviews.

Utilising our significant experience in procurement and contract management, Cambridge MC delivered £10m of savings on an addressable budget of £80m A large UK online retailer went through a downsizing exercise in the early part of 2023. This caused significant changes in demand, meaning that expenditure in many areas was far more than the business requirement. There were also instances where certain technologies were no longer required, but long-term contracts were in place that needed to be negotiated out. The goal of the project was to review all current vendor and supplier contracts, identify where savings could potentially be made, and then work with the procurement department to reduce the current level of expenditure to meet current business requirements. Our team was given a three-month deadline to make savings to the bottom line. Project Overview Cambridge MC was engaged on a three-month project to perform the following: Perform a deep dive on all vendor contracts against the current business. Establish priority saving areas and launch projects. Challenge demand and specification requirements. Build a cost reduction report. Engage in supplier negotiations in conjunction with the client's own procurement team. Produce weekly reports on cost savings achieved. Our experience in procurement, contract, and vendor management enabled us to completely meet the brief set out by the client which was to deliver significant bottom-line savings in a three-month turnaround. Specific Challenges Client had lost control of spend across the business. They had no awareness of what contracts had auto-renewed. They had signed long-term contracts. Some contracts had recently been extended for 24 months or longer. Due to downsizing, the volume of licenses for certain technologies were way above the actual requirement. Client had an inexperienced procurement team. Recent staff turnover meant that contract owners were no longer in the company. They had no contract management platform in place, resulting in contracts not being readily available. Most vendors were reluctant to renegotiate contracts at a lower cost to the business. Procurement had a process—not price—focus. Solutions Cambridge MC employed a data-driven analytical approach which prioritised target spend and volume data. All existing agreements and contracts were 'fair game'. We challenged what was the actual demand and specification, questioning whether what they have today is still relevant to what is needed now and in the future. After performing a deep analysis of all contracts, we entered into negotiations with vendors where the existing contracts did not meet the business requirement due to downsizing. Approach Vendors were allocated across the Cambridge MC team. Weekly all-day meetings at client's offices. Regular video conference calls to update progress. Engaged department heads as required. Outcomes & Results 1. Cost Savings In excess of £10m savings achieved off the bottom line. 2. Knowledge License requirements reduced to the correct level for the business. 3. Diligence Contracts managed far more closely. 4. Efficiency Procurement team coached to function more efficiently. 5. Commitment All contractual obligations were met.

Well Intended Guidance Leaves more Questions than Answers The UK Government Digital Services – part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology – has recently published guidance for how the public sector should adopt a multi-region approach to cloud technology. At first sight this appears encouraging. Any unnecessary constraints on hosting arrangements (or any other non-functional requirements) reduce the available market of providers, constrain competition, and therefore inevitably reduce value for money. If parts of Government, whether central, regional or local, have felt that everything must be hosted in the UK then it makes sense to produce guidance that clarifies this perception and helps to open their options up. But for guidance to be useful it should guide. It should make it easier for people to take actions that they previously would have discounted. The guidance in this case, which at 1420 words is almost as short as this article, probably leaves the reader with more questions than answers. It may reveal some unknowns, but without increasing certainty. The Guidance in a Nutshell A summary of the guidance is as follows: Look wider than UK: Many cloud solutions may not offer UK hosting, particularly new innovative solutions that haven’t scaled up yet. Irrespective, their staff are likely to be distributed around the world if the service is supported 24/7. There may also be other benefits in looking wider than UK hosting, such as enabling better business continuity and disaster recovery options if the vendor only has one UK site. Get legal advice: Before you even consider a non-UK option you need to seek advice from your own legal advisors and your Data Protection Officer (DPO). Ensure compliance with ICO guidance: Before you even consider a non-UK option you need to check and make sure that any international transfer of personal data will be compliant with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) guidance, and you should get further guidance from your own legal advice and DPO. Do a full review of vendor security: Before you even consider a non-UK option you need to make sure the vendor and solution are compliant with your own security policies. In a nutshell, it says: 'you should consider options outside of the UK but only if you have checked everything is legal and secure'. This seems to be verging on a statement of the obvious; the real difficulty in going offshore is covering all of the legal, regulatory and security compliance aspects. Adequacy is a Moment in Time On point 3, the guidance points out data protection compliance is easier if the country in question is considered by the ICO to be adequate – having equivalent regulations for data protection to the UK. Sound advice. But even this is not that simple. For instance, the USA is not considered adequate unless it is under an extension of the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. This framework is dependent on an Executive Order that the Biden administration put in place, and it is entirely possible that it will be revoked by the current administration. If such an action was taken, or if for any other reason the EU decides that adequacy is no longer met (also not unlikely given Herr Schrems has achieved this twice already and has stated he plans to challenge the DPF), then the vendor will no longer be considered compliant. Consideration is Far Wider than Residency Security is far wider than data residency though. This is where point 4 both states the obvious and understates the complexity. Managing risk in the supply chain is inherently difficult. Cloud providers, and particularly SaaS solutions, aggravate this challenge by an order of magnitude. By their nature they are solutions designed for a broad and varied range of customers. This means they will always involve compromise. If they tried to meet the most demanding requirements, they would price themselves out of the scale marketplace. If they went for the lowest common denominator, they would be unable to meet the requirements of the majority. An individual customer can rarely dictate a specific security requirement for themselves. They are also highly opaque. The vendor presents their service as a black box. The features delivered to the customer are defined, but much of the underlying design and the means the vendor uses to manage it in operation are hidden. This makes assessing the risk far more of a judgement call than when the design and delivery is conducted under your control. Depending on the supplier, and the leverage that the customer has over them, it may be possible to get some information and assurances; but the right questions need to be asked, and the answers need to be interpreted correctly. Third party certifications and audits, such as the ISO27000 series of standards or the SOC1, SOC2 and SOC3 reports, can also provide some additional assurances. But only the customer will be able to decide the extent to which they can mitigate the risk, and the confidence they have in the supplier to manage their own. This is a business decision informed by the specifics and nuances of the risks being considered. Summary It is important to minimise the non-functional requirements and keep an open mind about potential solutions and vendors. This includes looking wider than just the UK when national security requirements are not paramount. But this is not something that can be distilled onto a single sheet of A4 in any meaningful way. Yes, there are legal and regulatory issues that need to be reviewed. And geopolitical risk needs to be factored in, considering how you would respond to future external changes that are outside of the UK’s control. But from experience, the greatest challenge is getting comfortable that the vendor’s organisation and their solution have adequate security – this applies equally whether the solution is hosted in the UK or overseas. The SaaS world is opaque, and balances priorities across a broad and varied customer base. The public sector needs to increase its adoption of cloud and SaaS solutions to remain efficient and relevant, in the same way that the private sector has had to. But the route to responsible adoption is more nuanced, requiring candid conversations with suppliers, and ultimately an informed but subjective judgement by the customer’s leadership. Sources/Links: DSIT Guidance for Multi-region cloud and software-as-a-service ↩︎ ICO Guide to International Transfers ↩︎ Executive Order (E.O.)14086 of October 7, 2022, on Enhancing Safeguards for United States Signals Intelligence Activities ↩︎ Note: This article originally appeared on Tom Burton's personal blog at https://digility.net/insights/

The Digital Communities All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) shared the ‘Care to connect: Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) Migration’ report with key parliamentarians on Monday at a launch meeting on Parliament Street. This report highlights key recommendations for managing the ongoing Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) migration, focusing on protecting vulnerable residents and ensuring effective solutions. Here are the major takeaways for local government and communication providers: Data-Sharing Agreements (DSAs) DSAs between communication providers (CPs), local authorities, and telecare providers are crucial for identifying vulnerable residents during the migration. Challenges include inconsistent responses from local authorities and fragmented approaches across CPs. The APPG recommends all local authorities and housing associations sign DSAs, regardless of progress in digital switchover, to promote uniformity and resident safety. Telecare Devices The sale of analogue telecare devices must end, as these can leave residents unsupported during the transition. The government, in collaboration with the TEC Services Association (TSA), should enforce higher standards (TEC Quality’s Quality Standards Framework) across the telecare industry to achieve robust digital migration practices. Financial support for local councils is critical to replace outdated telecare devices and prevent double costs. Battery Backup Solutions Existing guidance from Ofcom, requiring one-hour resilience for power cuts, is insufficient. The APPG recommends increasing power backup requirements to at least 4 hours in homes and 6 hours for fixed networks. Communication and energy providers must jointly create resilient power solutions, particularly for vulnerable residents reliant on telecare devices. A multi-sector priority service register should integrate communications and energy service protection for those at risk. Sunset of 2G and 3G Networks UK mobile network operators plan to stop supporting 2G and 3G networks by 2033, with some networks already switched off. There are cases where local authorities and residents have purchased telecare devices using 2G/3G SIM cards, as a lower-cost, interim solution — these devices will need to be replaced again, posing double replacement costs for local authorities and additional risks to residents. The government should stop the sale of analogue devices and accelerate efforts to prevent the redeployment of outdated telecare alarms. Summary We welcome these recommendations alongside the December 2023 PSTN Charter, the Telecare National Action Plan and the PSTN Non-voluntary Migration Checklist. The conclusions make it clear that coordination between local and central government, industry regulators (such as Ofcom and Ofgem), and communication providers (CPs), as well as significant investment in digital teams at a local level, are essential goals to ensure a safe and inclusive digital switchover for all vulnerable residents and telecare users. Read the full report here: https://digitalcommunities.inparliament.uk/care-to-connect-public-switch-telephone-network-migration-report About the APPG The Digital Communities APPG is a cross-party group of parliamentarians, with the aim to promote the delivery of digitally equipped places that support and foster a connected, healthy, and productive community. This includes the creation and maintenance of sustainable digital infrastructure, as well as providing residents with equal opportunity to thrive in a digital world. The LGA provides the secretariat to the APPG. Cambridge Management Consulting Our Public Sector and PSTN teams can help local councils and other public bodies by providing strategy, financial planning, procurement, and project management services to ensure that you have a comprehensive transition strategy and accurate financial costing for the PSTN switch-off. We can help you follow the recommendations in this report by completing a full audit, signing DSAs with CPs and most importantly, protecting vulnerable service users. Get in touch with Craig Cheney, Managing Partner and lead for Public & Education, to discuss a range of services which might suit your needs: ccheney@cambridgemc.com (or use the form below). Act now, before time and resources run out.

What Do Your Scope 3 Emissions Have to Do with Inflation? Scope 3 emissions cover everything outside your direct operations —the carbon footprint of your supply chain, purchased goods, logistics, business travel, and more. The higher your Scope 3 emissions, the more energy-intensive your supply chain is. And the more energy-intensive your supply chain, the more vulnerable you are to rising costs. Think of it this way: High Production Costs- If your suppliers are heavily dependent on fossil fuels, their production costs are rising fast Price Volatility- If your supply chain lacks efficiency and resilience, price volatility will hit you harder Locking in High Costs- If you’re not actively engaging with suppliers to reduce emissions, you’re locking in long-term cost increases that could have been avoided Without accurate Scope 3 data and a clear engagement strategy , businesses are leaving themselves open to higher prices, lower margins, and greater financial risk . Why Businesses Struggle with Scope 3 A major challenge is that Procurement and Sustainability teams often operate in silos: Procurement teams focus on cost and supplier relationships but often lack deep sustainability expertise Sustainability teams focus on compliance and decarbonisation but aren’t typically measured on financial performance This disconnect means emissions reduction is rarely treated as a financial opportunity —when in reality, cutting carbon from your supply chain is also one of the most effective ways to reduce exposure to cost inflation. The Businesses That Get This Right Will Lower their Costs Leading organisations are already taking action. They are: Gathering detailed Scope 3 emissions data to map out cost risks in their supply chain Engaging suppliers to drive efficiency, reduce emissions, and lower costs Building resilience by shifting towards lower-carbon, more cost-stable alternatives The result? Lower long-term costs, reduced financial risk, and a competitive edge over those stuck with inefficient supply chains. This is not just about sustainability compliance —it’s about smart financial decision-making. If You’re Not Taking Action, You’re Losing Money Every business will feel the impact of rising supply chain costs—but not every business will be prepared for them. If you don’t have accurate Scope 3 emissions data and an effective engagement strategy, you are: Paying more than you need to for essential goods and services Exposing your business to long-term cost inflation Missing out on opportunities to build a stronger, more resilient supply chain The sooner you act, the better the outcome for your bottom line and the planet. Is your business ready to take control of its costs? Get in touch with Cambridge Management Consulting and edenseven today. About edenseven edenseven is the sustainability-focussed sister-company of Cambridge Management Consulting. We work with businesses across all sectors in multiple regions to deliver robust and deliverable net-zero strategies. The success of any strategy relies on its awareness of how changes in policy and subsidies can create both risks and opportunities for a business. If you are a business trying to enter a new market or evolving in an existing market and would like to learn more about how edenseven can support you, please get in touch with the team at edenseven at info@edenseven.co.uk or use the contact form below. Find out more about edenseven on their website: edenseven.co.uk

Peter Drucker wrote in his book The Practice of Management (1954) that ‘it is the customer who determines what a business is’. This sentiment still firmly holds true today, as consumers increasingly expect personalised shopping experiences from aspirational businesses that desire to have a positive impact on the community, country, or world in some way. Across this series of articles, Daniel Fitzsimmons explores the role of customer-centricity as a mechanism to support the delivery of superior customer experience and business profitability. In the first two articles in this Customer Centricity series, Daniel has established the foundations of what makes a truly customer-centric organisation, and how a business can be tailored towards ensured customer satisfaction. In the final article in the series, he takes this further to discuss how technological innovation can amplify these goals. Digital Transformation – Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) Technology is typically the most common interaction point for customers engaging with products, and is especially critical to the service industry. The banking industry has pioneered the digitalisation of services (Dube and Helkkula, 2015), with digital payment services and blockchain solutions. In a fiercely competitive environment, the creation of superior value requires increased insight into how customers experience value (Medberg and Heinonen, 2014). Value can be typically defined as the ‘consumers’ overall assessment of the utility of a product based on perceptions of what is received and what is given’ (Zeithma, 1988). This concept can be extended to a value definition in the following forms: Total Monetary Value – The amount a customer is prepared to pay for a product Perceived Use Value – Defined by a customer’s perception (utility) Exchange Value – Realised when the product is sold Value can be enhanced through digital capabilities, marking technology solutions, and digital marketing strategies to support user acceptance. Securing User Acceptance One compelling approach to understanding how users may engage with a new technology is the TAM model. The TAM model suggests that Perceived Usefulness (PU) and Perceived Ease of USE (PEOU), define how a user will interact with a new product or service, i.e. if the product usefulness and ease of use can be communication, barriers to adoption can be mitigated. When developing new customer solutions, mobilisation of the TAM model is the engagement of consumers in product development, and inclusion of then construct of ‘user intent’ to inform product ideation. Venkatesh et al. formulated the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT). This model was found to outperform other models (Adjusted R square of 69 percent), and is worthy of further investigation in terms of its ability to predict user acceptance of new technology solutions. Experimentation Technology should function as an enabling mechanism to support experimentation in the creation of products and services, and increased alignment with prospective customers. Experimentation, which from an engineering perspective represents ‘continuous improvement’, allows businesses to see what does and doesn’t resonate with target personas, iterating towards a value proposition that will drive superior customer engagement and subsequently an increased % of the customer wallet. Booking.com runs more than 1,000 tests simultaneously to fine tune its offering specific to a user profile, behaviours, and characteristics. Experimentation and the subsequent data generated provides a meaningful base from which to make decisions, thereby negating ‘strong opinions or the HiPPO mentality, which is often pervasive in organisations. For experimentation to be successful, leadership needs to create a culture of curiosity in the business, supported by organisational design and the psychological safety to try and fail. Digital continuity provides an exciting opportunity to enhance the customer voice in product development. Real time data availability provides instant insight into consumer preference, which can be used to support product development and increasingly personalised product offers. Through the experimentation cycle, digital prototypes can be rolled out quickly to support the product innovation cycle. For experimentation to be successful, customer requirements should be integrated into business operations to create an industry-aligned value proposition (Ohmae, 1988). Conclusion Throughout this three-part series, I have demonstrated the importance of customer-centricity as a critical way to ensure success. In this article specifically, I have covered how to leverage technology – a power that is already prevalent and constantly evolving – to best support this venture. Building upon the TAM model, technology can be used to facilitate enhanced customer satisfaction, consequently spurring innovation and growth.

Funds donated by Cambridge MC supplied some new equipment, including new boards.