Case Studies

Client

A Global FMCG segment leader.

Summary

A Global Fortune 500 FMCG acquires a €20B business (portfolio of brands) and requires support to meet integration deadlines and cost optimisation objectives in the integration program and post go live run operations.

Objectives

Enable integration and cost optimisation of acquired business through System Integrator (technology and business) selection and contracting and scaling existing supplier agreements for a doubling in size.

Approach

• Retreieved / requested supplier contracts data from the data room pre-deal to understand high level supplier and technology landscape to draft optimisation opportunities.
• Segmented integrator and run suppliers and further categorised existing to expand, new suppliers to continue and existing and new to be transitioned out to determine action plan at supplier level.
• Established a programmed approach for review, engagement, negotiating and contracting with stakeholders which was integrated within the overall program structure.  
• Solicited and aligned internal and external teams to enable execution.

Outcomes

Client

A Global FMCG segment leader.

Summary

A Global Fortune 500 FMCG divests a €4B+ business and requires support to meet divestiture deadlines, TSA enablement and cost objectives related to dis-synergies related to reducing business volumes.

Objectives

Enable the successful divestiture of a business unit and associated brands through i) specifically enabling a time bound TSA to be functional ii) optimise run costs for a reduced remainco and mitigate dis-synergy.

Approach

• Reviewed 200+ suppliers agreements to understand provisions enabling commercial flexibility: RTU and reduced volumes.
• Engaged across the business user base to determine volumetric impact on supplier contracts for divestco and remianco to demand profile accurately.
• Established and executed a prioritised plan for all supplier engagements.
• Established a programmed approach for review, engagement, negotiating and contracting with stakeholders which was integrated within the overall program structure.

Outcomes

Within a nine month window, enabled successful TSA go live and operations including flexibility to off-ramp earlier and save cost whilst ensuring dis-synergy impact was minimised / budgeted remainco run costs were further optimised.

Client

A leading logistics provider of mail and e-commerce services.

Summary

Over a 12 week period, a comprehensive assessment was conducted for a global logistics provider. The top 40 IT suppliers evaluation required ~1900 contractual documents to be assessed and 200+ hours of customer meetings from CIO to operator level. A detailed plan outlining between 16% and 28% in net annualised savings was shared with the customer.

Objectives

To identify initiatives to maximise ‘cost take out’ across a supplier base of 40 technology suppliers with annual spend of approx. €150M.

Approach

• Desk Research & assessment: Inventorise, filter and assess 1900+ contractual documents and agreements for validity, contractual integrity spend, commercial terms and technical flexibility and marry with AP data – current and forecast.
• Stakeholder engagement: To contextualise and sensitise: determine level of ambition, sensitivities, dependencies, future plans, satisfaction and pain points.
• Commercial levers assessment: Using proprietary tooling and methodology, assess at a supplier and landscape level savings potential, process, complexity, prioritisation time horizon to realise.
• Reporting & decisions: Distil into specific initiatives which are actionable recommendations that articulate expected savings and timelines.

Outcomes

• Outlined a detailed plan for ‘immediate’ savings (12months) of circa €9M- €15M across a spend base of €55M representing 16%-28%.
• Identified opportunities for supplier rationalization and consolidation to foster better partnerships with key suppliers.
• Highlighted contractual exposure and risks, and suggested remedial actions for liability provisions, DPA conditions, SLA shortfalls, termination flexibility, and non-standard terms.
• Commenced support in execution phase for some initiatives.

Client

A €6 billion+  FMCG industry leader.

Summary

Led a complex, global, enterprise wide assessment, sourcing and contracting process for a €6 billion FMCG where the goal was to  improve quality and realise business case savings through outsourcing finance and other shared services functions. Conducted the program through to contracting in 7 months realising 50% in tangible contracted business case savings.

Objectives

• Realise cost savings via improved efficiency, reduced cost of operations, internal & captive workforce optimisation (500+ FTE).
• Harmonise P2P process through outsourcing a globally disparate current state of operations (people, processes and tools).

Approach

• Performed a high-level benchmark to identify value gaps.
• Conducted a competitive process that tested solutions and optimised commercials.
• Led rigorous internal alignment, evaluation and scoring sessions to ensure inclusion and thorough, transparent and timely decision making.

Outcomes

Client

A leading logistics provider of mail and e-commerce services in the Netherlands.

Summary

Led a 10 month cross business unit RFI, RFQ, negotiation and contracting process with transition support for Low Code and High Code application development and support services. The goal was to secure services / scarce resourcing in high demand technologies. Once the opportunities were exposed this quickly evolved into generating in-year and multi-year savings and with Partnership oriented relationships with the awarded vendors.

Objectives

Approach

• Led a 10-month RFQ process for selection of application (Low Code and High Code) development and support partners evaluating incumbent and new suppliers through market exploration, pitches, and negotiations based on criteria such as cultural fit, SLAs, ways of working, and commercial terms.
• Aligned stakeholders through tiered governance and a robust evaluation and award mechanism ensuring inclusion and timely decision making.
• Tested market responses with proprietary benchmarks and methodologies for scenario modelling to optimise commercials and deal structure for the customer and partners selected.
• Assisted in transition management to minimize client disruption and ensure realisation of the business case. 

Outcomes

• First year savings 33% and 44% savings across the 3 year contract term.
• Established / recalibrated relationships to Partnership level.
• Improved SLA’s, quality of personnel, operating model and contract.
• Facilitated the development of an internal Center of Excellence via access to Partner’s technology leadership.
• Greenfield implementation of contract and Partner management to maintain value.

Client

A €3 billion+ global logistics provider.

Summary

Greenfield implementation of a vendor and contract management function for the international business unit of a global logistics provider enabling improved supplier and partner governance, contractual compliance, efficient change management, implementation of front end controls and assessment of contracting process readiness for CLM tool implementation to ensure proactive optimisation of decisions and spend.

Objectives

• Ensure improved governance mitigate risks and compliance issues related to contractual obligations.
• Implement efficient change management and renewal planning.
• Optimise spend and contractual terms for any new / renewed demand. Enhance front-end governance for holistic asset and spend management.
• Ensure process/organizational readiness to adopt a Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) tool.

Approach

• Detailed assessment of existing contracts (~150) identifying obligations and non-favourable terms with mitigation plan of action underway.
• Installed an objective mechanism to delineate "Partners" from "Suppliers" and implemented a 360 degree supplier and partner governance structure: from clear XLA's  , SLA's and KPI's to meeting agendas, objectives and outcomes.
• Established a savings and cost deviation (to budget) reporting mechanism to ensure accountability of product owners.
• Streamlined the invoice processing to eliminate discrepancies.
• Developed 25+ bespoke KPIs and associated dashboards for monitoring and management of outcomes and their alignment to departmental operational and financial performance.
• Assessed the existing contracting process to identify gaps and suggest recommendations towards achieving the state of "readiness" for CLM implementation.

Outcomes

• Exceeded savings plan by 5% resulting from regular monitoring and tasking to achieve the committed savings.
• Improved the visibility of otherwise tangled contract structure (~20 unique documents) to enable quicker resolution of contractual conflicts by signing off 1 consolidated contract.
• Timely renewal of contracts (avg. 15 days in advance) with sufficient attention to and negotiation of contractual terms.
• Continuous monitoring of KPIs lead to improved vendor performance, thereby achieving 12% more user stories for the same budget.
• Identified gaps in current contracting process and suggested tangible actions to achieve readiness for advanced (~2 months) implementation of CLM tool.

Client

A leading logistics provider of mail and e-commerce services

Summary

A leading logistics provider of mail and e-commerce services faced an increasingly complex relationship with a major software publisher and required support in simplification and achieving a cost reduction. 

Objectives

Identify and advise on obtaining cost reductions, improving contractual terms, contracts optimisation, contracts harmonisation. Demonstrate the benefits of software asset management in optimising consumption and managing value both at the time of renewal and within a contract term.

Approach

• Contract Analysis: Reviewed 100+ agreements to provide a consolidated and comprehensive relationship overview. Documented all key standard and non-standard clauses and corresponding governing agreements.
• Entitlement Analysis: Prepared a summary and market insights including cost, license and service entitlements. 
  
  • Why: Business case and TCO assessment (incoming and exiting)
  • What: The must have versus the ‘opportunities’
  • When: Risk adjusted planned roll out
  • Who: Assured consumption and feature utilisation
  • How: The resources / interfaces required and availability

• Consumption Analysis: Collected consumption data corresponding to the entitlement analysis. Implemented regular monthly software asset management report with recommendations. Governing rigorously what is being utilised.

• Future Demand Analysis: Understood the future demand and likelihood of certain scenarios to pair market insights and best outcomes with customer-specific trajectory to allow flexibility and areas with most impact. Engaged in a competitive process when introducing new products.
• Negotiations: Developed a negotiation strategy and advised during the negotiation phase.
• Contracting: Led the contracting including quality, alignment and approvals.
• Governance: Partner and supplier governance by making investements into establishing and maintaining a relationship.

Outcomes

• Insights on consumption and license type directly allowed our customer to buy the right amount of the right thing at the right price and hence reduced their three-year spend from €36M to €22M.

• Identified a harmonised and optimised contract structure to allow focus on the relationship vs. focus on a complicated contract structure.