Business Chief Europe - October 2018

EUROPE EDITION OCTOBER 2018 europe.businesschief.com

A driving force of supply chain transformation

Digital transformation for the new banking customer

OPTIMISING EFFICIENCY THROUGH AUTOMATION

Procurement excellence for the energy sector

Uniper’s Susanne Thole, Director of Procurement, talks procurement transformation for operational excellence

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WELCOME

H

ello and welcome to the October issue of the Europe edition of Business Chief!

For this month’s cover story, Uniper’s Susanne Thöle and Philip Höchstödter discuss the company’s mammoth procurement transformation to deliver innovative solutions, cost savings and efficiency.

Turning our attention to fintech, we take a look at how Moneta Money Bank is implementing a fast-paced digital transformation in order to improve customer experience, in an exclusive interview with CIO Vladimir Klein.

As the supply chain industry evolves at breakneck speed, we speak to Deloitte’s supply chain experts to learn how the business is helping companies across Europe implement supply chain transformation and digitisation programmes.

For our City Focus this month we take a look at Oslo, a top location for European businesses. We’ve also investigated the top 10 European countries with the biggest gross domestic product (GDP) and explored the industries that helped to establish them as economic powerhouses.

05

Plus, you’ll also find exclusive insights from industry giants like Mellanox Technologies, Ford Otosan and more. We hope you enjoy this month’s bumper issue and we welcome any feedback on Twitter, @Business_Chief.

Enjoy the issue!

Laura Mullan. laura.mullan@bizclikmedia.com

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

CONTENTS

10 Uniper redefined procurement to provide operational excellence for the energy customer

28 Is automation reshaping the future of workplace collaboration?

42 Transforming finance for a cashless future

OSLO CITY FOCUS

54 66 Top 10 economies in Europe

CONTENTS

78 MONETA MONEY BANK: DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION FOR THE NEW BANKING CUSTOMER

Pushing the boundaries of market share in Israel’s insurance sector

94 Coface Israel

106

90MELLANOX

TECHNOLOGIES: EMPOWERMENT THROUGH PROCUREMENT

126 Driving supply chain transfor– mations

140 BLOCKBASE

CUTTING OUT THE MIDDLEMAN IN CRYPTOMINING

168 A FORCE FOR GOOD IN THE AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR

154 Ford Otosan

DUNDEE PRECIOUS METALS:

EXPANDING A PORTFOLIO THROUGH OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

10

Uniper redefined procurement to provide operational excellence for the energy customer WRIT TEN BY

DA LE BENTON PRODUCED BY

RICHARD DURR ANT

OCTOBER 2018

TECHNOLOGY

11

Photo © Uniper e u r o p e . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

UNIPER

Through an extensive transformation of its procurement operations, Uniper can answer tomorrow’s questions today. We speak to Uniper’s Susanne Thöle, Director of Procurement, Spot Buy and Indirect and Philip Höchstödter, VP Spot Buy/Operational Procurement…

A

procurement function can be defined by two key components: the customer and the supplier.

How an organisation, through its procurement

process, engages and works with those two factors is crucial.

12

The procurement industry is transforming as more and more organisations begin to recognise that what has been historically seen as a support function is now becoming far more aligned to the core business strategy, enabling growth through efficiencies and innovation. However, Uniper, a leading international energy company, realised this at a very early stage and has already prepared for the future by implementing a large-scale transformation of its procurement and supply chain process.

Ultimately, procurement is about engagement with the suppliers and engagement with the customers or end users in order to deliver the best possible service to both parties. Uniper, tackled the challenge by asking one simple question: what is it that suppliers and customers really want? We speak to Uniper’s Philip Höchstödter, VP Spot Buy/Operational Procurement and Susanne Thöle, Director of Procurement, Spot Buy and Indirect.

OCTOBER 2018

Photo © Uniper

TECHNOLOGY

13

C OMPA N Y FA C T S

Uniper is a leading international energy company with operations in more than 40 countries and around 12,000 employees.

Uniper’s business is to provide a reliable supply of energy and related services. Its main operations include power generation in Europe and Russia and global energy trading. Its headquarters are in Dßsseldorf, Germany.

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

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What exactly is your contribution?

SAP aims to support companies with solutions that streamline working processes and allow employees to concentrate on the important work that not only makes their businesses run better, but improves the world around them. Together, SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass, provide a set of cloud-based source-to-pay solutions that companies can use to manage all of their spend – from direct and indirect materials to contingent labor – from end to end in a simple, compliant, contextual and conscious manner. SAP Ariba covers the procurement side of things – so everything from sourcing and orders through invoicing and payment.

And SAP Fieldglass helps to manage contingent labor and SOW (Statement of Work)-related activities. The key here is that the solutions are fully integrated. Procurement is not a discrete activity that can be performed in silos, but a connected one. And the solutions used to drive it need to be too. With SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass, companies can seamlessly connect their procurement systems and the people and processes used to drive them and manage everything through a single interface. And they can gain the transparency and insights needed to make better buying decisions that positively impact their business.

SAP Ariba is unique in the market with regards to its breadth and depth. With more than 3.4 million companies transacting more than $2.1 trillion on an annual basis, the Ariba Network is the largest business network on the planet. And when you combine this scale with our cloud-based source-to-settle applications that have been ranked as market leading by the likes of Gartner, Forrester and IDC, and use them alongside things like SAP S/4HANA, you can very quickly unlock real value.

How do these solutions integrate into a company’s IT landscape?

Most Chief Procurement Officers (CPOs) are looking for ways to manage goods and services in a more simple, consumer-like way. But the process still has to be compliant and fully integrated. Our approach is to natively integrate SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass into SAP S/4HANA as well as other ERP solutions. With S/4HANA as their core, companies can master massive amounts of data digitally in real time, enable instant insight and predictive analytics to guide critical decision making and eliminate risk. With the integration of solutions from SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass, they can extend this simplicity, power and speed outside their four walls and collaborate with customers, partners and suppliers in new and innovative ways that transform the supply chain. No business is an

Marcell Vollmer Chief Digital Officer (SAP Ariba) island. To make things go in today’s global economy, businesses need to work with thousands of suppliers, partners and customers across supply chains that have become increasingly complex. With the integration of S/4HANA and SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass, companies can simplify this process, connecting with all of their partners and managing all of their procurement activities in one place. They can share forecasts and sales to facilitate better planning. They can gain visibility into potential risks and mitigate them before they cause any disruptions.

What are the specific challenges for the energy sector and why do companies such as Uniper choose SAP to tackle them?

Energy companies face challenges unlike most other companies in that every day, millions of people depend on them to power their lives. They must be able to consistently deliver with a high degree of reliability and maintain the integrity of their supply to keep pace with growing demand.

They also have to contend with new players entering the market and keep up with the dizzying pace of innovation that all companies face in today’s digital economy where things that used to take months can now be done in hours and even minutes. And in many organizations, procurement is leading the charge on all of this. Uniper is a great example of a company that saw the sign of the times and started to drive their digital transformation. Under the visionary leadership of CPO Jan Taschenberger, Uniper is building an exceptional procurement organization with an integrated and highly automated source-to-pay process.

The main challenge with most digitization projects is getting people on board with them. You can have the best solution in the world. But unless your employees use it, it won’t deliver any value. And I think Uniper saw out of the gate that with SAP, they could create a consumer-simple, yet enterprise-strong process that would meet their people where they were at and bring them along in the journey at the pace they want to go.

UNIPER

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘UNIPER IS UNIQUE (2018)’ 16 “Ultimately, customers want speedy execution and seamless interaction,” says Susanne Thöle. “The way we achieve that is through understanding the market and identifying opportunities to enable cost savings, or technologies that can accelerate that. We then look at our engagement with existing suppliers and how we approach new suppliers.”

This journey started back in 2016 with Uniper looking at how it can create far greater supplier relationship management, incentivising suppliers to unlock more value and potential within those relationships.

OCTOBER 2018

“ We attend bootcamps, workshops and training talks to ultimately find easier, better solutions to reduce complexity. The idea was to exercise methodologies that we had learned previously to solve issues in our day-to-day business” — Susanne Thöle,Director Procurement, Spot Buy and Indirect for Uniper

TECHNOLOGY

For Thöle, this starts from within and

innovative ideas to the business. We

Uniper develops their Operational

are looking at where we are as a fun-

Excellence capabilities to challenge the

ction in the business, challenging the

status quo, to look at the company’s

status quo and finding new pragmatism.”

workforce and continuously strive for

Ultimately, the Operational Excellence

ways to improve and approach new

project epitomises the entire transfor-

or existing challenges with fresh ideas

mation and growth journey of Uniper’s

and more innovative approaches.

procurement as it answers a demand

“We attend bootcamps, workshops

identified by Thöle. As an international

and training talks to ultimately find

company, serving customers all around

easier, better solutions to reduce comp-

the world, Uniper needs to have a level

lexity. The idea was to exercise method-

of proactivity, reactivity and, most

ologies that we had learned previously

importantly, flexibility.

to solve issues in our day-to-day business,” Thöle says.

Thöle believes that by continuously supporting staff in developing their tal-

“For me, it’s been a real game changer

ents and skills through targeted KPIs,

as it has helped foster a culture of uncon-

personal development strategies and of

ventional thinking, bringing fresh and

course by valuing their staff and their

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E

Susanne Thöle Susanne has spent nearly all her professional life in procurement functions in the pharmaceutical, automotive and energy sector. Before starting at Uniper, she was responsible with her team for setting the frame, ensuring compliance and harmonizing the tools for the procurement function of E.ON.

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

17

UNIPER

capabilities, Uniper possesses a work-

We put our staff on a path where they

force that is extremely focused and

get the right insight and the perfect

knowledgeable.

training to take into supplier engage-

“Growing and empowering my team is my focus here. Backing up the dec-

ments and bring back innovations and learnings into our business.”

isions of my colleagues and providing

Another important aspect of striving

flexibility in the daily work are important

for excellence with a team is the appre-

cornerstones of providing a work envir-

ciation of diversity Thöle thinks.

onment that motivates my team to strive

18

“At Uniper we drive a diversity initiative

for success. We have developed a very

that puts emphasis on the opportuni-

solid framework to challenge our empl-

ties that pluralities bring which I highly

oyees and enable their development so

support. I see a big value in a diverse

that they can understand exactly what

workforce and also in an inclusive culture,

their strengths are and where they can

because obviously: the happier our peo-

continue to push their capabilities,” she

ple feel in their teams, the more value

says. “What it also does is help us

they are able to bring to Uniper.

concentrate on the things that matter.

Part of the development plan, and

We can focus on areas of improvement

a cornerstone of the company’s transfor-

or development that will drive true value.

mation, is digitisation and technology.

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E

Philip Höchstödter Philip has worked in different functions like Controlling, IT and Organizational Development for different companies before he joined Procurement in 2011. All these organizations were undergoing large strategic transformations, so the common theme of his career was acting as a Transformation Manager from different functional perspectives. Today he is responsible for the groupwide operational Procurement of Uniper and drives procurement digitisation.

OCTOBER 2018

Photo © Falk Gustav Frassa

TECHNOLOGY

Technology is redefining industry sectors

Procurement, has experienced first-

all over the world, with more and more

hand the need to adapt to technology

businesses investing heavily into tech-

and to bring a new innovative approach

nology to embrace the digitally enabled

to the business.

customer and marketplace.

Uniper’s approach to continuously

“When looking to implement technologies like Robotic Process Automation

developing its workforce extends into

(RPA), naturally it is met with some

the digitisation sphere and Philip

scepticism because people feel their

Höchstödter, VP Spot Buy/Operational

role or their work is becoming redun-

19

Photo © Uniper

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

UNIPER

20

OCTOBER 2018

TECHNOLOGY

“What we learned very quickly was that if we applied new technologies to repetitive and somehow boring tasks, those fears were allayed and actually people started appreciating and embracing new technologies, because it makes their lives easier” — Philip Höchstödter, VP Spot Buy/Operational Procurement

Photo © Uniper

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

21

UNIPER

22

Photo © Uniper

dant,” he says. “What we learned very

framework provided by our IT colleagues

quickly was that if we applied new

to ensure the right prioritization. Today

technologies to repetitive and some-

our virtual workforce consisting of

how boring tasks, those fears were

robots and a chatbot supported by A.I.

allayed and actually people started

is a well perceived standard and a fully

appreciating and embracing new

integrated part of our processes. These

technologies, because it makes their

technologies among others have ena-

lives easier.”

bled us and our staff to focus on higher

“Soon we were receiving so many ideas and ways that people felt we

value tasks,” Höchstödter says.

Another key way in which Uniper

could continue to push further that

is embracing technology is through

we had to use a proper assessment

data management which in turn allows

OCTOBER 2018

TECHNOLOGY

the company to better serve its customer base. Through its very nature, the procurement function needs to know

8.2 bcm

Gas storage capacity

and understand the demand, the market and the suppliers to deliver insights to the business and capitalise on the market.

Höchstödter points out that the procurement team has to accurately capture supplier data, contract data, material master data and operational process data, but more importantly the company has to be able to extract value from it, because all future analysis and development

2016

Year founded

12,000

Approximate number of employees

strategies within procurement are built from this data.

Working in an integrated environ-

23 ACD solution provide us with incredible amounts of operational data,” says

ment is key to enable these activities.

Höchstödter. “When communicating

So, in addition Uniper decided to renew

with our requesters or a supplier, we

their Procurement platform to SAP

pool the information we receive and

ARIBA until the end of 2018 to create

can now use that information to target

a new and user-friendly experience for

the key areas where we can develop

their requesters, their suppliers and

and we can do it far quicker and more

their purchasers. This will reduce the

effective than ever before.”

administrative effort and workload con-

As a procurement function, Susanne

siderably. In parallel SAP Fieldglass

Thöle recognises that it can only be

has been implemented as a contingen-

successful and can only achieve any

cy workforce solution, which provides

real growth with a strong network of

additional process stability.

suppliers and key partners like SAP.

“Our systems like SAP ARIBA or SAP Fieldglass, our chatbot and our

“Procurement is a strategic function and, simply put, we’re trying to improve e u r o p e . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

UNIPER

the profitability of the company, so our

from German energy provider E.ON,

key to this is our supplier relationship

Uniper can already point to consider-

management,” she says.

able successes and cost efficiencies

“We are very clear on who our strategic partners are, how we identify them, and that we really put effort into developing

that represent the company and its procurement heading in the right direction.

Eyes inevitably turn to the future: with

these relationships and grow the

technological advancements and an

business together.”

ever-changing market and customer

Having started this transformational journey back in 2016, after the split

24

OCTOBER 2018

demands, procurement will continue to evolve further and Uniper will stay agile

TECHNOLOGY

to be ready for the challenges of

“And we will continue to work with our

tomorrow so it can keep shaping the

supplier base and our customer base

energy world.

and use that knowledge to help solve

For Thöle though, the future challeng-

the questions of the future.”

es will be tackled by greater collaboration with the customers and the suppliers of today. “Procurement has brought and will continue to bring innovation, new solutions and cost savings and efficiencies to Uniper,” she says.

25

Photo © Uniper

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

LEADERSHIP

28

Is automation reshaping the future of workplace collaboration?

Automation has transformed assembly lines across the globe but could it redefine the way employees collaborate?

Business Chief speaks to Wrike’s Frazier Miller to investigate WRITTEN BY

OCTOBER 2018

L AUR A MULL AN

29

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

LEADERSHIP

T

oday’s consumers live in an ‘on

believes it can drive operational

demand economy’ where, with

excellence through automation –

a few taps and swipes of their

and it seems that many businesses

devices, they can have the goods and

also share this view. In the Digital

services they want, exactly when they

Work Report 2018 commissioned

want them. As more enterprises are

by Wrike, nearly half of those

able to offer this instant gratifica-

surveyed (45%) in the UK believed

tion, customers’ wants and expecta-

that automation would give their

tions are ever changing in real time.

company a competitive advantage.

What differentiates today’s top-tier

30

With Wrike, teams can create

companies is that they can shift and

and share their project schedules

change their project cycles to meet

on the collaborative work manage-

these demands mid-stride. To do

ment platform. At any point in

this, organisations must be nimble

a project cycle, they can run reports

and adapt to the market; communi-

to see the status of tasks in real

cating any changes to their teams

time. They can also duplicate these

so that the right person is working

task cycles to start a new project

on the right task at the right time.

with minimal effort. Yet, perhaps

Automation could play an instru-

the main advantage of the platform

mental role here – and this belief

is that it offers a so-called single

has formed the backbone of Wrike,

source of truth, whereby employees

a software-as-a-service (SaaS)

don’t have to trawl through emails

company that sets out to help teams

for information or data as it’s all up

and organisations achieve operation-

to date in one place.

al excellence. Having started out

In his previous role at software

in the US, Wrike is well on its way to

firm Articulate, Frazier Miller, our

expanding overseas, with Europe

interviewee, says that his team used

as a key target market for growth.

Wrike’s platform to ensure all

By eliminating monotonous,

colleagues were on the same

non-value adding tasks Wrike OCTOBER 2018

wavelength when working virtually

“ For managers, it also helps with strategic planning by allowing them to think beyond this week and look at the bigger picture” — Frazier Miller, CMO, Wrike

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

31

LEADERSHIP

across different locations and offices.

“In this increasingly digital world where

ly. It allowed us to embrace more modern management practices whereby we

you’ve got multiple offices and people

could push decision-making down to

working in many locations, the challeng-

the front line, rather than having top-

es of keeping everyone on the same

down decision making. That really

page can be daunting,” comments Miller.

piqued my interest in the firm.”

“We used a variety of cloud software

Fast forward to today and Miller is

tools at Articulate but what struck me

now the Chief Marketing Officer

about Wrike was how effective it was

(CMO) at Wrike and remains as

at helping us collaborate more effective-

passionate as ever about the firm. He

32

OCTOBER 2018

believes Wrike’s ability to democratise decision making gives it a competitive edge in the sector. “Companies of all sorts have to be able to react more quickly and nimbly and so it’s really important that you’re not held hostage to top-down decision making,” says Miller.

FACT

Used by more than 15,000 companies in 130 countries, Wike has racked up over 2mn active users and completed 100mn tasks for its customers

Focusing on three core areas – employees, managers and executives – Wrike’s SaaS offering aims to help businesses to become

33

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

LEADERSHIP

34

OCTOBER 2018

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘WRIKE - MANAGE WORK, COLLABORATE WITH YOUR TEAM, AND TRACK THE STATUS OF PROJECTS’

35 more agile and forward thinking.

Similarly, the platform also

“For employees, our platform

allows managers to plan, prioritise

helps everyone understand the

work and coordinate their teams

next, most critical tasks for

through more effective commu-

people to work on and it

nication and improving process

creates a single source of truth

transparency. “For managers, it

for employees to get information,”

also helps with strategic planning

Miller says. On top of this, he

by allowing them to think beyond

underlines how the platform aids

this week and look at the bigger

creativity by automating more

picture: where is the market

mundane or routine tasks.

heading? How do they differenti-

“Automation can really give back

ate their product? How do they

time so that innovative individuals

face up to competitors? This

can be more creative and

often doesn’t get enough time

managers can be more strategic.”

when you’re in an operationally

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

LEADERSHIP

“In this increasingly digital world where you’ve got multiple offices and people working in many locations, the challenges of keeping everyone on the same page can be daunting” — Frazier Miller, CMO, Wrike 36

OCTOBER 2018

intensive environment.” Miller also

Airbnb wanted to quadruple its footprint

highlights that the platform aids the

from its 12 pilot cities. It set to work

executive team by providing accurate

creating thousands of assets for the

updates on projects without having to

service including photography, videogra-

waste time compiling emails and

phy and digital and print posters, using

spreadsheets.

Wrike’s platform to streamline and

Used by more than 17,500 compa-

manage this asset creation. “Airbnb

nies in 130 countries, Wrike has racked

was working with a number of contrac-

up over 2mn active users and complet-

tors and third parties to develop the

ed 100mn tasks for its customers. This

assets for their campaign, which leads

hasn’t gone unnoticed by the technol-

to a mess of spreadsheets and emails.

ogy market either, with Wrike being

It became unmanageable, but with Wrike

named among the fastest growing

they were able to streamline communi-

companies in North America on

cation, eliminate information silos and

Deloitte’s’ Technology Fast 500 List for

bring a bit more order to the chaos.”

the third consecutive year in 2017.

Positioning itself as a trusted name

Wrike is indeed making waves in the European market, gaining support

in the sector, Wrike has gained business

from clients like the Goodwood Group.

from renowned brands such as Hoot-

A luxury English estate, Goodwood

suite, SurveyMonkey, and TGI Fridays.

offers an impressive range of sporting

In a recent survey, the SaaS firm also

events including horse racing, motor

pointed out that seven out of 10 of

racing and golf to over half a million

these users experienced a positive

visitors each year. Wrike’s collaborative

return on investment (ROI) within the

management software allows these

first 30 days.

events to run without a hitch.

Valued at $31bn, Airbnb is another

“Goodwood’s events team con-

notable name in Wrike’s customer base.

ducts tens if not hundreds of events

After launching its latest ‘Experiences’

a year that all need to be done with

service (which gives travellers access

high precision,” notes Miller. “They

to locally relevant activities and trips)

needed to develop assets for each of e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

37

LEADERSHIP

these events and communicate these with their customers.

Goodwood has adopted our software quite successfully to make sure they uphold the highest level of quality as a luxury brand.”

With five international offices including a European base in Dublin, Wrike’s footprint is growing rapidly. The company’s global vision blended with a localised approach has been crucial to 38

its success. “Customers are increasingly savvy and there are lots of local competitors that are able to build software but I think one of our advantages is that we keep that global vision in mind whilst executing it on a local basis,” says Miller.

Wrike is making a name for itself providing cutting-edge software, but Miller is keenly aware that on its journey to operational excellence, continuous improvement is key.

Wrike has developed a rulebook for this journey with its strategy known as ‘The Wrike OCTOBER 2018

FACT

Wrike was named among the fastest growing companies in North America on Deloitte’s’ Technology Fast 500 List for the third consecutive year in 2017.

“Automation can really give back time so that innovative individuals can be more creative and managers can be more strategic” — Frazier Miller, CMO, Wrike 39 Way’. “Change transformation has never been easy,” he says. “There’s no magic wand you can wave to have processes running and working on time. A lot of businesses are on a journey towards this ideal of operational excellence.”

‘The Wrike Way’, Miller explains, highlights four key points as a checklist for success: planning, process, collaboration and visibility.

Wrike helps its customers navigate this roadmap using its software and in doing so, Miller says that customers are well on their way towards achieving true operational excellence. e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

Covering every angle in the digital age The Business Chief platforms offer insight on the trends influencing C and V-level executives, telling the stories that matter Click to read

w w w.bu si nessch ief.com

TECHNOLOGY

42

Transforming finance for a cashless future As society becomes cashless and emerging markets demand financial access, IDEX is poised to transform the way we pay. Business Chief spoke to CEO Stan Swearingen to find out how WRITTEN BY

OCTOBER 2018

OLIVIA MINNOCK

43

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

TECHNOLOGY

H

aving made his career at the fore of some of the most pervasive technology innov-

ations of this century, Stan Swearingen is

no stranger to working with market makers.

From Bluetooth to WiFi to touchscreen technol-

ogy, Swearingen has witnessed the earliest stages of current technology mainstays. That’s why he decided to come out of retirement and put his weight behind one more innovation: biometric technology that facilitates payment verification with just a fingerprint.

Notably, in addition to serving at mobile device management developer Amtel and semiconductor 44

revolutionary Rohinni, Swearingen was previously CTO at Synaptics, the company behind the touch technology which Apple brought into the mainstream with its MP3 players, mobile phones and tablets. Now Swearingen is back for what he describes as “one more career-defining role to create a new market”.

“Part of that experience is seeing the point where you’re pushing something, an idea, and you meet resistance… even when we were developing WiFi people were saying ‘No, I don’t get it’ or ‘here are all the reasons why it won’t happen’,” Swearingen reminisces. “At the front end of an emerging market the supply chain forecast is very conservative, but once that inflexion point happens, it explodes and the volume goes through the roof.”

OCTOBER 2018

“ At the front end of an emerging market the supply chain forecast is very conservative, but once that inflexion point happens, it explodes and the volume goes through the roof” — Stan Swearingen, CEO, IDEX

45

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

TECHNOLOGY

46

This is what Swearingen strongly

global user base. For Swearingen,

believes is set to happen with biomet-

it’s not a question of when or if, but

ric technology in 2019. Soon, he argues,

how, biometrics will explode in the

PIN verification (and its now compara-

market. “What’s important is how you

tively archaic predecessor, swipe and

prepare yourself for that transition

sign) is set to become a thing of the

as a company,” he says.

past in favour of a fingerprint connect-

As with Synaptics and Apple, it takes

ed to payment cards, allowing the user

a technology developer coupled with

to verify payments at the point of sale

a market maker to bring about the

with just one touch.

Next Big Thing, and IDEX has found

He’s not alone: IDEX has partnered

a symbiotic partner in Mastercard.

with financial services giant Master-

“Mastercard is the market maker,” says

card, which is excited to roll out the

Swearingen. “We’ve been working with

new fingerprint technology across its

them on the total experience, not just

OCTOBER 2018

“ As society moves to a more cashless approach, reinventing the credit card with biometrics is a critical part of making that transition a reality” — Stan Swearingen, CEO, IDEX 47

technology – we are a solutions provider

print is unique to you and it’s not

partnered with a market maker.” When

something somebody’s going to guess

the CEO joined the company in 2016,

or look at over your shoulder. I think

IDEX had the perfect combination of

customers in general are even more

market maker, value proposition and

savvy regarding the dark web and

knowledge of systems and biometrics.

identity theft, and people just want to

With a plethora of fast and easy pay-

make sure their hard-earned money

ment options on the market, what is so

isn’t spirited away by somebody doing

special about the biometric element –

fraudulent acts.”

aside from the theatrical appeal of

In addition, IDEX has ensured

paying with a fingerprint? Security, of

biometric ID technology can be quickly

course, takes centre stage. “You get

deployed, with remote enrolment

a physical, unique connection with your

available for card users. “You get a card,

card,” Swearingen explains. “A finger-

you take your fingerprint and it creates e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

TECHNOLOGY

48

OCTOBER 2018

a template which is stored in

users feel versus other methods,”

secure memory inside the card,”

he adds.

he explains. “There are multiple

While the end user is always

ways to do that. The first instance

top of mind, merchants will need

would be going into your branch

convincing that this new POS

and putting your finger into an

technology is necessary – but

optical reader, but IDEX and

Swearingen doesn’t think this

Mastercard saw that as an inhibitor

will be a problem. “Mastercard

to mass deployment, so we came

and the like are interested in

up with remote enrol, involving

frictionless transactions: easy

a simple plastic sleeve that is sent

and intuitive so the customer

in the post along with the card.”

isn’t worried about security or

When it comes to payment

anything that might cause them

methods, security goes hand-in-

to think ‘I was going to buy this

hand with convenience. “If you

item but maybe I won’t’ – obvi-

look at how someone grabs

ously the retailers want this to be

a credit card, ergonomically

frictionless as well. It’s a unified

it’s a natural movement,” says

goal. As society moves to a more

Swearingen. “They don’t have

cashless approach, reinventing

to learn something different. It’s

the credit card with biometrics is

so intuitive.” This more secure

a critical part of making that tran-

option is also set to reduce the

sition a reality.”

necessity for things like payment limits for contactless cards.

“With fingerprint, this will go away.

You don’t need a limit or to re-enter your PIN. We’ve done many pilots with Mastercard and the feedback has been overwhelmingly

— Stan Swearingen, CEO, IDEX

positive about how easy it is to use and how much more secure e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

49

TECHNOLOGY

In addition, IDEX’s work will help to promote financial inclusion for those in underbanked areas. “There’s a lot of people who can’t bank today because they don’t have government ID or the things necessary to get an account – biometrics will help solve that problem as financial institutions will know the person they’re issuing the card to is a real person.”

Looking to the future, Swearingen anticipates that rolling out the new technology will be similar to marketing previous concepts that seemed radical.

50

Developers like IDEX often take on more of a systems role. “You have to engineer the total solution, so we did a reference design. We did all the hard work: the hardware, software, everything so that card manufacturers could quickly come up to speed and sample products.”

Already, IDEX has partnered with Taiwanese smart card solution provider JINCO and Chinese contactless card developer Feitian. “You’ll see more announcements imminently of different Tier-1 partnerships not just in China, but throughout the Asian supply chain.

JINCO and Feitian have brought technical, manufacturing and channel OCTOBER 2018

“ A fingerprint is unique to you and it’s not something somebody’s going to guess or look at over your shoulder” — Stan Swearingen, CEO, IDEX

sales abilities,” says Swearingen, adding that JINCO’s access and insurance cards business and Feitian’s tokens business will help IDEX to develop across different verticals.

IDEX has already made strides, especially in emerging markets where e-payment systems are leapfrogging the likes of the US, and to Swearingen this is evidence of the same take-off point he saw with the likes of Bluetooth.

“We’re preparing for what we believe is this inflexion point where the demand is just going to skyrocket. We have to be prepared to support many customers and make sure we have all the tools, documentation and talent necessary,” says the CEO, who expects millions of biometric units to have been deployed by the end of 2019.

Indeed, recent studies supported by IDEX outlined that 90% of customers would switch card issuer to one offering biometric technology if their incumbent did not. “The likes of Mastercard, Visa, American Express… biometrics is a vehicle for them all to take share from one another,” Swearingen concludes.

“For IDEX, this coming year is all about scale and making sure our supply chain has all the technical support needed.” e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

51

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CITY FOCUS

OSL City Focus

54

OCTOBER 2018

LO Is Oslo the next business hub of Europe?

A powerful economy, rapid industrial growth, and a booming talent pool — the Norwegian capital Oslo has it all, as Business Chief found out…

WRITTEN BY

LAURA MULLAN

e uer uro o p epe . b.busi u s i n ne e sssc s c hhief. i e f. ccom om

55

CITY FOCUS | OSLO

E

arning the title of Europe’s

being some of the country’s top

fastest-growing capital,

exports. Known for its robust

Oslo has positioned itself

political, social and economic

as an attractive location for firms,

environment, IFC and World

investors and talent alike.

Bank named Norway as the sixth

The Norwegian capital’s gross

‘easiest place to do business in

domestic product (GDP) was

Europe’ in 2015. Looking forward,

worth $398.8bn in 2017, one of

the future looks bright for Oslo,

the highest in Europe, with crude

but how has the capital achieved

oil, fresh fish and aluminium

this stellar reputation?

56

OCTOBER 2018

Modern Oslo: A business hub

young — with the 25-35-year-old age

The Norwegian capital has proven

group predicted to grow by 40% over

itself to be a major player in Europe’s

the next decade, according to Oslo

business scene. Oslo’s rapidly growing

Business Region. Topping the United

metropolitan area has a population

Nation’s World Happiness report, the

of 1.71mn with a growth rate exceed-

Nordic country is also praised for being

ing 2% in recent years, according to

‘the happiest place on earth’, which

Statistics Norway.

has helped it retain a large recruitment

Not only is the population booming, it is also talented, highly educated, and

base of highly-skilled employees.

As a result, the Scandinavian capital is

57

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CITY FOCUS | OSLO

Currency

58

Norwegian Krone

also credited as being the world’s fourth best city for talent by the Global Talent Competitive Index.

Oslo’s startup scene may spend less time

2015

Norway is named as the sixth ‘easiest place to do business in Europe’ by IFC and World Bank

1.71mn

Oslo’s population in the metropolitan area

in the limelight than some of its Nordic cousins, but this is changing fast. In the past year, the Norwegian capital has seen a 160% uptick in startup investments according to Oslo’s State of the City report – the second biggest jump in the Nordic region behind Sweden, which rose 171%.

With the highest wealth per capita, Norway is also one of the richest countries in the world so there’s no shortage of money for investment.

Last year, there were 78 investments in Norwegian tech companies, racking up total funding of $100 million, according to the 2017

OCTOBER 2018

State of the City report. The

Located on the tip of Oslofjord, which leads

research firm, Nordic Web, also

to the North and Baltic Seas, Oslo always has

found that approximately 15%

always had close business ties with the sea.

of the city’s tech investments

It’s estimated that approximately 60 ships

were focused on sustainability -

use the city’s port every day and it handles

the highest among all the Nordic

125,000 containers annually. The city is also

countries and indicative of the

home to the world’s largest ship and offshore

nation’s efforts to become greener.

classification society DNV GL.

The Norwegian Government is also doubled down on its efforts to support startups by offering tax incentives to foreign investors.

On top of this, it also provides start-up grants and funds to firms

59

who want to set up business in the country.

NORWAY YACHT CHARTER

CLICK THE MAP TO EXPLORE OSLO e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

CITY FOCUS | OSLO

From ‘liquid gold’ to green energy

forward it is looking to forge a greener future.

Norway produces a lot of renewable

Surrounded by the Nordmarka for-

energy — 97% of the electricity that’s

est, a nationally protected area, as well

generated in the country is renewable,

as the Oslofjord, Oslo is a remarkably

namely hydropower, says Innovation

green city — and it has taken a number

Norway. Yet, when it comes to the coun-

of environmental measures to protect

try’s exports, petrochemicals are

this. Looking forward, the city plans to

undoubtedly still king. Norway is a nation

cut its emissions by 50% by 2020 and

built on oil and gas - the country is, in

to be carbon neutral by 2050. To achieve

fact, the third largest exporter of gas

this, the city has promoted zero emis-

and the eighth-largest exporter of oil

sions transport and has become the

in the world. However, as Oslo moves

‘electric vehicle capital of the world’

60

OCTOBER 2018

with 30% of all vehicles sold in the city

cal innovation and sustainable thinking,

now being electric. Thanks to these

it has continuously made waves in the

efforts, Oslo has been named the Euro-

maritime landscape. In fact, 95% of

pean Green Capital for 2019 by the

the first liquefied natural gas (LNG)

European Commission.

propelled vessels ever built were

Norway’s renewable energy sector

Norwegian and, just two years ago,

is big business, comprised of approxi-

AMPER, the world’s first electric car

mately 2,000 companies, 50,000

and passenger ferry powered by bat-

employees, and a revenue of

teries, also began service in the country.

NOK200bn ($23.8bn). Similarly, it is

As a result, the country’s maritime

also a frontrunner when it comes to

sector is one of its most important

the maritime sector. As the Nordic

industries, employing more than

nation pushes ahead with technologi-

110,000 people.

61

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CITY FOCUS | OSLO

Big business in Oslo: Renowned industry giants, Statkraft and Norsk Hydro, have both chosen to position their headquarters in the bustling city of Oslo.

Statkraft: One of Europe’s largest generators of renewable energy, Statkratf, is headquartered in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. Employing 3500 people in 16 countries, Statkraft produces hydropower, wind power, solar power, gas-fired power and it also supplies district heating. In 2017, the group’s gross sales amounted to NOK69bn (US$8.2bn). Fully 62

owned by the Norwegian state, Statkraft Group is Norway’s largest and the Nordic region’s secondlargest energy producer. Christian RynningTønnesen has been President and CEO at Statkraft for the past eight years.

Norsk Hydro ASA: Headquartered in Oslo, Norsk Hydro ASA (commonly referred to as ‘Hydro’) is a fully integrated aluminium company with approximately 35,000 employees in 40 countries. Founded over a century ago, the firm operates in six key market segments: bauxite and alumina, primary metal, metal markets, rolled products, extruded solutions, and energy.

The company’s current president and CEO is Svein Richard Brandtzæg and, in 2017, the Norwegian firm reported revenue of NOK109.2bn ($12.95bn).

OCTOBER 2018

63

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T O P 10

66

OCTOBER 2018

Top 10

economies in Europe When searching for a new business hub, economic stability is a pressing concern for any firm. Using data from the World Bank, Business Chief examines which European countries have the biggest gross domestic product (GDP) and explore the industries that helped to establish them as economic powerhouses WRITTEN BY

LAURA MULLAN

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

67

T O P 10

09 Poland Poland is the only EU nation that managed to avoid a recession, and today its economy is still strong. Last year, the nation reported a GDP of $524bn, with the pharmaceutical, agriculture, mining and banking sectors being some of the economy’s key industries.

The country has a population of

10 68

Belgium Belgium’s central geographic location and highly developed transport network have worked in its favour — recording a GDP of US$493.68bn in 2017, the country is one of Europe’s strongest economies. Metallurgy and steel production have grown to become two of the country’s key industries with the Global Steel Trade Monitor citing Belgium as the world’s eighth-largest steel exporters. Large-scale companies such as Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, and telecom Proximus Group are also headquartered in the country.

Click here for more info OCTOBER 2018

around 38mn and uses the Polish złoty as its currency.

Click here for more info

07 Switzerland Switzerland reported a GDP of $678.8bn last year, making it the seventh biggest economy in Europe. Discover Switzerland reports that approximately 74% of Swiss GDP is generated by the service sector whilst 25% comes from industry.

The EU is the country’s key trading partner: around 78% of Swiss imports come from the EU, while 43% of the country’s exports are destined for EU countries. Glencore International, Nestlé and Zurich Insurance Group are just some of the companies headquartered

08

in Switzerland.

Click here for more info

Sweden The Scandinavian country of Sweden also has a robust economy. The nation is primarily export-focused, with products like timber, hydropower and iron ore playing key roles in its foreign trade.

With a population of around 9.9mn, Sweden’s GDP was approximately $538bn last year. Some renowned Swedish firms include IKEA, H&M and Spotify.

Click here for more info e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

69

T O P 10

05 Spain Spain’s economy is returning to health after the recession. In 2015, the country recorded the sharpest drop in its unemployment rate since it adopted the Euro in 1999. Today, with a GDP of $1.3trn, Spain now stands as the fifth largest economy on the continent.

Tourism accounts for 11% of Spain’s

06 70

economy and in 2017, the number of international tourists visiting Spain

Netherlands

broke records for a fifth straight year.

Playing a key role as Europe’s trans-

visited country, behind only France

portation hub, the Netherlands recorded

and the United States.

a GDP of $826.2bn last year. With

Click here for more info

Schipol airport in Amsterdam, one of the busiest airports in Europe, and the port of Rotterdam, which is the largest port in Europe, logistics is one of the country’s most significant industries.

The Netherlands’ economy is also bolstered by a strong natural resources sector. The country is home to Royal Dutch Shell, the largest company in Europe by revenue, and it currently stands as the largest producer of natural gas in the European Union.

Click here for more info OCTOBER 2018

Spain is now the world’s third-most

03 France France is one of Europe’s biggest economies, generating a GDP of $2.57trn in 2017. The nation has a highly educated workforce, with Focus Economic noting that France has the highest number of science graduates per thousand workers in Europe. As a result, companies such as Airbus, L’Oreal, Groupe PSA and Veolia have positioned

04

their headquarters in the country. The chemical industry is also a key contrib-

Italy

utor to the French economy. Today, the

With a population of around 59.7mn,

in France who employ 165,000 people.

Italy had a GDP of $1.93trn in 2017,

Tourism is also a particularly important

according to World Bank. Italy is the

sector for its GDP, with the country

world’s 10th-largest goods exporter,

attracting more than 84mn visitors

with the apparel and textile playing

every year.

an important role in the country’s GDP

Click here for more info

chemical sector has 3,335 companies

and export earnings. Italy’s apparel market is expected to reach a value of $42bn by 2020. The country’s unemployment rate was 11.1% in January 2018, down from 11.9% the year earlier according to Trading Economics. Companies including Fiat, Geox, and Armani are headquartered in the country.

Click here for more info e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

71

T O P 10

72

Pioneering th smart factory w

15-16 No Hotel Catalon Barcel

OCTOBER 2018

73

he transiion into with lean thinking

ovember 2018 nia Eixample 1864 lona, Spain

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

T O P 10

74

02 United Kingdom Reporting a GDP of $2.62trn in 2017, the United Kingdom has firmly established itself as the second biggest economy in Europe. It is also the sixth-largest economy in the world, with a population of around 66.6mn. The service sector is one of the UK’s leading industries, contributing to over 70% of its GDP. Additionally, the UK has also gained a world-class reputation as a financial hub, with the sector generating £119bn for the UK economy last year. HSBC Holdings, the largest bank in the world, is located in the capital and the London Stock Exchange (LSE) has a market capitalisation of over $6trn, making it the third largest stock exchange in the world. The nation also has a very robust tourism sector, with London being the second-most visited city in the world.

Click here for more info

OCTOBER 2018

01 Germany Topping the leaderboard, Germany is the largest economy in Europe, accounting for 28% of the continent’s GDP. Aided by its low unemployment rate, low crime, developed infrastructure and qualified workforce, the nation reported a GDP of $3.67trn in 2017. The country’s economy is largely fuelled by its service sector, including the tourism and banking industries. The industry contributes to almost 70% of the country’s GDP and employs around 72% of the working population, according to Business Development Germany. The manufacturing and construction sectors — spanning across the automotive, machinery and chemical markets — also contribute hugely to the country’s economy. For instance, Volkswagen Group, the largest carmaker in Europe, is headquartered in Wolfsburg in Germany.

Click here for more info

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

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DI

OCTOBER 2018

79

MONETA MONEY BANK: IGITAL TRANSFORMATION FOR THE NEW BANKING CUSTOMER WRIT TEN BY

DA LE BENTON PRODUCED BY

JA MES PEPPER

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

M O N E TA M O N E Y B A N K

THROUGH A FAST-PACING DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION, MONETA MONEY BANK EMBRACES TECHNOLOGY FOR THE CUSTOMERS OF TOMORROW

T

echnology continues

how technology is truly disrupt-

to define and redefine

ing the way the financial industry

the modern world and

works with and exceeds its

industry sectors have to invest to not only keep up with the 80

customer expectations.

“The very role of the CIO is

rapidly evolving marketplace,

changing dramatically,” he says.

but to stay ahead of the curve.

“It’s moved away from focusing

This is certainly the driving force

on cost-effective solutions and

behind an ambitious company-

executing historical processes to

wide digital transformation of the

become far more aligned and

Czech Republic-based MONETA

integral to the business.

Money Bank. Spearheading this

“It’s about understanding, end

digital transformation in terms of

to end, what customers’ needs

information technologies is

are and executing that more

Vladimir Klein, Chief Informa-

collaboratively with the business.

tion Officer (CIO).

The traditional borders between

Having worked for a number of technology-based service delivery

black box IT and business do not exist anymore.”

organisations throughout an

No transformational journey,

extensive career, Klein has vast

especially one defined by technol-

experience and understanding of

ogy, can ever truly end. It has to

OCTOBER 2018

TECHNOLOGY

81

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TECHNOLOGY

continuously evolve with the along-

ture and adopting an agile way of

side technologies and customers.

working simultaneously, Klein feels this

MONETA has set a target for 40% of

has proven key in maintaining opera-

its all core products to be distributed

tional clarity.

online or digitally through a number of channels by 2020.

“You have to have more of an entrepreneurial way of thinking and

A transformation of this size and

have an agile mindset towards develop-

scope is not without its challenges,

ing software or solutions,” he says.

and for an organisation that has been

“With the proper IT strategy behind us it

operating for two decades the biggest

becomes far easier to understand

challenge is complex architecture.

where to move, how to move and how

“If you don’t have proper architec-

to get people on board for changes. On

ture in place then you cannot develop

our transformation journey we decided

at any real pace,” says Klein. “The

to focus on 5 areas – Agile way of

same with automation: you cannot

working, Cloud, Automation, application

automate without agile architecture

replacements and Data”

and so we decided to develop and digitise in parallel.”

With a digital transformation, one could be forgiven for focusing entirely

In both developing the IT infrastruc-

on the technologies and the solutions

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E

Vladimir Klein Senior executive with 25 years experiences in Information technology, banking and telecommunications. Vladimir Klein has been working in several countries, in different local or international managerial positions.

He executed several transformational changes in his career in the area of M&A, outsourcing, digital and agile, cloud implementations, organizational restructuring, cost cuttings and core applications migration.

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

83

M O N E TA M O N E Y B A N K

84

“ It’s about understanding end to end what customers’ needs are and executing that more collaboratively with the business. The traditional borders between black box IT and business do not exist anymore” — Vladimir Klein, Chief Information Officer

OCTOBER 2018

TECHNOLOGY

85

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M O N E TA M O N E Y B A N K

driving the digitisation – but a tool is just a tool unless it’s in the hands of the right person.

MONETA invests heavily in its development strategy to ensure that its people can help execute and deliver the best possible service to the end customer, whilst ensuring those same people are empowered and buy into this transformational journey.

This proves crucial in the changing of cultural mindsets as the company shifts towards an agile, innovative way of working and this is where Klein can not only call on his own experience in the industry but also external partners to understand how to implement change to enable greater efficiency.

86

“We’ve started rolling out agile workshops and brought in external coaches and partners to share knowledge and best practice,” he says. “We have looked at how other companies have done it and we share that with our people in order for everyone to truly understand their role in pushing the company forward.”

Klein admits that this in itself is a challenge as this new approach to working, one that will see each person define their own work and their own place in MONETA´s journey, can be met with some resistance and fear. This is where workshops and a strong sense of internal communication play a central role. Klein also empowers staff to make their own decisions.

“Naturally for some people it’s very difficult because historically speaking, management will OCTOBER 2018

TECHNOLOGY

“ You have to have more of an entrepreneurial way of thinking and have an agile mindset towards developing software or solutions” — Vladimir Klein, Chief Information Officer

87

make the final decision. I say: ‘you decide but try and think like a manager’,” he says. “This is where we combine communications, learning and workshops, and give them external support in order to seamlessly move forward together as a business.”

A major part of MONETA’s transformation is moving towards cloud services which will drive a more agile way of working and in turn create a significantly more flexible business.

To this end, MONETA is migrating significant amount of its legacy infrastructure over to a data centre. As part of this migration, Klein will oversee the integration of tens of physical e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

M O N E TA M O N E Y B A N K

applications to a cloud-based platform.

As Klein notes, MONETA is a bank

integration platform, we selected Mitra

and not a developer and so the

quite simply because we did not have

company relies on a key strategic

the right level of competence to do it in

technology partner to assist and

house,” says Klein. “They brought us

support the company throughout this

competence and they provided us with

transition. MONETA has called upon

crucial support and implementation

the services of AWS for infrastructure

work. Going back to the complexity of

cloud, for automation products of

this migration, we have over 4500

RedHat and other open source tools

interfaces across all applications

like for example Jenkins or JUnit. As

which had to be integrated.

part of the Integration layer replacement,

88

“In replacing our entire legacy

“In my experience of similar transfor-

MONETA decided to cooperate with

mations at previous companies it’s

Mitra, a party which has many experi-

taken more than one year to make

ences in WSO2 integration platform.

some real headway. With the support of

OCTOBER 2018

TECHNOLOGY

Mitra, we’re doing it in few months.”

Ultimately, MONETA’s transformation

banking solutions. All of these developments are defined by one clear goal: to

is driven by the customer, and as

enable the most efficient and seamless

technology has evolved over the last

banking experience for customers.

two decades so too has the customer.

“Many customers today just want to

Through the advent of mobile payments,

do everything for themselves through

customers are more demanding than

tablets and mobile phones. They

ever before and for an organisation like

simply do not want to spend time by

MONETA it is crucial to stay ahead of

coming into a branch or contacting a

that demand in order to continue to

call centre. It is crucial that we are able

deliver and exceed expectations.

to handle their requests also fully

To this end, the company devel-

online,” says Klein. “That’s what our

oped an award-winning mobile

mobile app Smart Banka has been

banking application Smart Banka and

able to answer. Through it we can offer

is significantly revamping its online

the customer exactly what they need

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

89

M O N E TA M O N E Y B A N K

anytime and from anywhere, but most importantly they can access it intuitively with no complications.

Right now, we are looking to bring our web banking service to that same level.”

Klein highlights the agile way of working again as key to being ready for this demand. This transformation has destroyed the historical barriers between IT and the wider business and brought about a more collaborative business, one that is better prepared to match this evolving landscape.

The company has implemented daily stand-up meetings and sprints for all agile squads and moved away from a historical focus on long term delivery in order to make incremental steps on smaller things 90

today and therefore be ready for tomorrow.

Key to this is instant customers feedback.

“Customers can leave feedback in our Smart Banka app which we take directly to the backlog proposals and discussions with our teams and this is then taken into implementation,” says Klein. “The key points from the customer are directly implemented faster than ever before.

“We even conduct research through our brokers.

We do this by giving them a laptop or a tablet and they themselves give us feedback if they like it or don’t like it so they can sell our product. It’s all about understanding the end-to-end customer experience.”

Klein entered MONETA back in December 2017 but even less than 12 months into this journey he can already point OCTOBER 2018

TECHNOLOGY

91

€400mn Approximate revenue

1994

Year founded

3000+ Approximate number of employees

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

M O N E TA M O N E Y B A N K

to significant success, be it through the mobile application, new customer portal or the migration own data centre to the hosted data centre and integration of AWS cloud into bank environment. Organizational changes were successfully executed in April this year to fit better to business value streams and cloud. Looking towards the future, Klein identifies ambitions to advance agile way of working to all IT Development staff and migrate next applications into AWS cloud with possibility to close a second data centre. Next his focus remains very much on legacy application replacements as 92

migration of card system to the partner cloud and migration and implementation of new web banking.

“It’s about making our online banking solutions clearer for our customers, as well as opening it up and expanding it to our wider customer portfolio,” he says.

“Banking is complex and there are certain elements surrounding interest rates and the different types of customer. What we want to be able to do is remove some of that complexity and make banking with MONETA simpler, easy and clearer for every single one of our customers.”

OCTOBER 2018

TECHNOLOGY

93

“ Banking is complex and there are certain elements surrounding interest rates and the different types of customer. What we want to be able to do is remove some of that complexity and make banking with MONETA simpler, easy and clearer for every single one of our customers” — Vladimir Klein, Chief Information Officer

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94

Pushing the boundaries of market share in Israel’s insurance sector WRIT TEN BY

SE AN GA LE A-PACE PRODUCED BY

K ARIM M AS SA AD

OCTOBER 2018

TECHNOLOGY

95

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

C O FA C E

Carmine Mandola, CEO of Coface Israel, discusses the importance of delivering a high-class service to customers and his success in holding a 15% market share of Israel’s credit insurance industry

96

E

stablishing a new venture with the goal of enabling clients to become profitable, dependable and successful is no easy task.

In addition, setting up a business and helping it thrive is a different proposition entirely.

As Chief Executive Officer of Coface Israel, Carmine Mandola, understands these challenges all too well.

Since his appointment as CEO, he has sought to address the difficulties of launching the business in Israel.

“Israel is a wonderful and very interesting country; however, it is extremely difficult for negotiation and new business,” he says.

“I think that my background and origin helped me to face the biggest challenges as I have experience in holding strong negotiations, dealing with well-known competitors and finding the right people to succeed.”

Having first joined Israel in July 2014 during the last OCTOBER 2018

Carmine Mandola, CEO, Coface Israel

TECHNOLOGY

97

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C O FA C E

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OCTOBER 2018

TECHNOLOGY

conflict, Mandola created the branch on his own in September 2014 before obtaining a credit insurance license in October 2014,

€1354.9m Turnover

leading to the official opening of the company’s offices in January 2015.

“At the beginning, it was very difficult because we were facing two big competitors that have

4,100 Employees

been in the market for 45 years. However, we found our way to achieve success by offering new solutions, fair commercial terms and a good quality service,” he adds.

“I believe the market was waiting for a third

86.6%

(Combined ratio)

player with innovative ideas and an international approach.”

Making tough decisions With previous experience working in senior

£83.2m Net profit

level roles, working for companies such as the Rotarex Group, Burgo Group, Indesit Group and FCA Group, Mandola prides himself on being proactive and adopts the mantra: “you will never win if you never begin,”

50,000 Clients

believing it is the tough decisions that have enabled him to keep his businesses lean and successful in challenging markets.

Upon the launch of Coface Israel’s offices under Mandola’s stewardship in 2015, four other employees joined to begin the venture into Israel’s competitive insurance market. Now in

200

Countries where products and services are offered

2018, Coface Israel currently has 25 employees e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

99

C O FA C E

and sees a turnover of ILS60mn a year.

Nonetheless, Mandola points to the value of the way his company serves its customers as paramount to the success Coface has achieved, with the importance of word of mouth at the top of his agenda.

“When you have satisfied customers, they talk about you, the company and the service in a very positive way. Most of the time people will come to us 100

because of word of mouth from someone that has tried our product and our services,” explains Mandola.

“If all of the representation of the company, service and product is positive and it comes from customers that you have satisfied then it is much healthier because they can share their positive experiences with friends or with suppliers that can then become future customers.

The process continues because they can then suggest the same service.”

OCTOBER 2018

TECHNOLOGY

101

“ Israel is a wonderful and very interesting country; however, it is extremely difficult for negotiation and new business” — Carmine Mandola, CEO, Coface Israel

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

C O FA C E

Driving change As a result of the emergence of new technologies which continue to expand and grow on an ever-changing basis, businesses have a responsibility to its customers to adapt to and embrace the latest trends.

With this understanding, Coface Israel has introduced group tools such as CofaNet and Tradeliner in a bid to keep ahead of its rivals and maintain its success.

102

CofaNet enables the firm to set up an online connection to receive its customer’s requests and allows Coface to provide feedback in a timely fashion.

Shortly, a new product will be launched as Easyliner to protect small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) against unpaid invoices and insolvency of clients when trading or exporting.

“The major trend I am observing at the moment in our industry is linked to the fact that SME’s are asking for credit insurance in order to protect their sales and better manage their risk” says Mandola.

OCTOBER 2018

“ It’s not the end of the path. We are the middle of where we want to be hope that within the next three yea market share will be as high as 25% — Carmine Mandola, CEO, Coface Israel

TECHNOLOGY

right in e and I ars, our %�

103

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

C O FA C E

104

Carmine Mandola would like to express a special thank you to his team for their continued hard work and dedication to Coface Israel as without them achieving 15% of the market share would have been impossible.

“This has seen Coface Israel respond

There is a lot of work that still needs to

to that demand with Easyliner which I

be done but a key target is to increase

believe is tailor-made for this com-

this percentage further.”

pany segment.”

Mandola believes there are three key phases to remaining profitable and

Gaining market share

generating business when entering

Over the last 3.5 years, Coface Israel’s

Israel’s busy insurance market.

biggest achievement has been to hold

“You have the phase when you first

an impressive 15% market share of the

enter the market and you get some

insurance industry in Israel. However,

customers. The second phase, which

Mandola is adamant that Coface Israel

is where we currently are, is where you

is not finished there.

achieve rapid growth. Lastly, you have

“I believe we can expand this 15%.

to keep going with your ambition in

OCTOBER 2018

TECHNOLOGY

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘COFACE: FOR TRADE – BUILDING BUSINESS TOGETHER.’

order to make sure that your goal is stable and profitable, which is the phase where we are entering into,” emphasizes Mandola.

“It’s not the end of the path. We are right in the middle of where we want to be and I hope that within the next three years, our market share will be as high as 25%.”

“ We thought that when you have customers that are satisfied, they talk about you, the company and about the service in a positive way” — Carmine Mandola, CEO, Coface Israel

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

105

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TECHNOLOGY

MELLANOX TECHNOLOGIES: EMPOWERMENT THROUGH PROCUREMENT WRIT TEN BY

DA LE BENTON PRODUCED BY

HE Y K EL OUNI

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

107

MELLANOX TECHNOLOGIES

Through a vision of continuous improvement, Mellanox Technologies places procurement at its heart

I

n the procurement space, having a strong relationship internally with the wider business is proving

just as crucial as establishing a strong relationship with suppliers. Over the past decade there has been a paradigm shift 108

that has seen procurement move away from its traditional “support” function role as it becomes far more aligned to business strategy. Nowhere is this more apparent than Mellanox Technologies, a leading supplier of end-to-end interconnect solutions. Over the last few years Mellanox Technologies has gone to great lengths to ensure that its customer facing teams are fully supported by an efficient and robust procurement function.

“At Mellanox, procurement has a very special place,” says Oshri Cohen, Vice President of Purchasing and Logistics. “Procurement is involved at the very beginning of a project, through mass production and right OCTOBER 2018

TECHNOLOGY

“ We are providing support throughout a product lifecycle and so what we are doing is overseeing product cost and deliverability from top to bottom” — Oshri Cohen, Vice President of Purchasing and Logistics.

109

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

MELLANOX TECHNOLOGIES

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TECHNOLOGY

CLICK TO WATCH: MELLANOX TECHNOLGIES OVERVIEW 111

up until the product’s end of life. We are providing support all throughout a

the best people from within.

“The fact that I had the chance to

product lifecycle and so what we are

touch almost every operation issue

doing is overseeing product cost and

by myself, provided me the chance

deliverability from top to bottom.”

to learn a lot and prepared me very well

Oshri first joined Mellanox in 2007

to the role I’m holding today. When you

as an NPI Manager. Over the years

know, theoretically, what the right thing

his role evolved as he took on more

to do is and you’re connected to your

procurement responsibility before

organisational DNA, then your chances

taking on his current role in 2012. He

to take the right decision and do the

feels that this experience of growing

right implementation are very high,” he

within the company and developing a

says. “Luckily, I grew up inside Mellanox

strong procurement team is a testa-

and so did my great team. I think that

ment to Mellanox and its ability to grow

this is a winning formula to succeed.” e u r o p e . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

MELLANOX TECHNOLOGIES

Through his career with Mellanox he has seen first-hand this shift in understanding what procurement can deliver

That is a short-term activity,” he says.

“Procurement today is responsibile to

to a business. He feels that now more

establish a strong enough supply chain

than ever before a good strong procure-

to enable company growth and even

ment function that is aligned to the right

bring added value to the company’s

vendors can be the key difference; not

customers. These values can be game

only in delivering success but staying

changers, as customers are exposing

ahead of competitors.

themselves less to commitments but

“Traditional procurement was centred around taking care of orders

112

and essentially focusing on shortages.

still demanding complete times.”

“I think procurement has a main role

“Procurement today is a responsibility to establish a strong enough supply chain to enable company growth and even bring added value to the company’s customers” — Oshri Cohen, Vice President of Purchasing and Logistics.

OCTOBER 2018

TECHNOLOGY

of making sure that we are enabling

Mellanox to grow and to invest into

business on our end, while also

spaces it might not have done otherwise.

protecting the company from over exposure.”

As Oshri notes, the market have

“Customers are getting smarter and have access to greater information and technology,” says Oshri. “This allows

changed and are continuously chang-

them to compare better and to under-

ing as procurement continues to evolve.

stand where their investments could

The company prides itself on how it can

and should be made. If an organisation

continue to provide creative solutions

or a business intends to grow and

to meet the evolving demands.

intends to be better than its competitors,

It is this approach that has allowed

then it has to continue to find ways to

113

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

MELLANOX TECHNOLOGIES

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TECHNOLOGY

1999 Year founded

2,900 Approximate number of employees

115

become better and better and listening

this data to gain a better understand-

to customers is key to doing that.�

ing of those customers and suppliers

The technology conversation in procurement is defined more and

and a better insight into how Mellanox can grow and improve.

more by data and data analysis. With a supplier and customer base from all

SUCCESS THROUGH COLLABORATION

over the world, Mellanox has access

Vital to this understanding is collabora-

to incredible amounts of data and

tion between the procurement function

information. Through technology

and the wider Mellanox business.

solutions, Oshri and his team can use

Oshri is incredibly proud of the unique e u r o p e . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

MELLANOX TECHNOLOGIES

TECHNOLOGY

117

collaboration that procurement has

talk the same language and achieve

with the design team as it allows the

the corporate goals we get.”

two teams to create a roadmap to

For Oshri, the key to enabling

achieving greater cost savings while

success for Mellanox lies in fostering

enabling efficiencies together.

and developing collaborative relation-

“Collaboration is a must to achieve our goals,” he says. “We stay aligned

ships across the business.

“Procurement can be proactive or

in front of the HW team, around the

reactive. Working with HW teams, we

same targets of quality, cost and avail-

are getting involved at the very early

ability. This enables both groups to

stages of the product design process. e u r o p e . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

MELLANOX TECHNOLOGIES

proactive in eliminating potential

CHANGING TECHNOLOGIES AND CHANGING CUSTOMERS

supply chain risks,” he says.

A particular challenge for companies

This allows procurement to be

“It makes our supply chain stronger

in any sector embracing this techno-

and more robust. Once the products

logical innovation is understanding

are moving to mass production, opera-

the right technologies to implement.

tions are able to support those prod-

In the quest to outweigh competitors,

ucts without any special issues

one could be forgiven for investing in

or surprises.”

technologies for the sake of keeping

118

OCTOBER 2018

TECHNOLOGY

“We know our customers are measuring us and so we constantly look to better understand how we are perceived, this leads to continuous improvement” — Oshri Cohen, Vice President of Purchasing and Logistics.

up, rather than investing smartly.

This is a challenge that Oshri recognises, but he understands that the most important part of the Mellanox equation is the customer. Through this understanding, Mellanox continuously challenges itself against a series of KPIs that are defined by the customer which allows the company to be more focused moving forward.

“We know our customers are measuring us and so we constantly look to better understand how we are perceived,” he says. “This leads to continuous improvement. Even from a technology perspective, we implement technologies and look at how it is received by customers.

We are constantly evaluating oure u r o p e . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

119

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WE SUPPORT OUR COSTUMERS GROWTH

TECHNOLOGY

CLICK TO WATCH: MELLANOX WORLD END 121

selves to ensure we are delivering

does its customer base. For him, Mel-

value to our customers.”

lanox could not succeed without them.

But how does Mellanox establish and

SUPPLIER NETWORK

foster relationships with key suppliers

A defining component of what Oshri

in order to continue to bring value to

strives to achieve with Mellanox is

Mellanox and its customers, while also

that strong and robust supply chain

growing and developing the suppliers

network. A procurement function can

themselves?

have all the best tools at its disposal, but

“We prefer to find partners that can

it’s all for nothing if there isn’t a supplier

provide us real added values in terms

network in place.

of technology, supply chain and quality

Oshri understands this and approach-

and we invest in those partner relation-

es Mellanox’s supplier network with the

ships as if they were our customers,”

same level of care and attention as he

says Oshri. e u r o p e . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

MELLANOX TECHNOLOGIES

122

“We should enable Mellanox to penetrate the new markets it aims to.

We should allow the company to compete by keep suggesting short lead times, competitive prices and best quality products ” — Oshri Cohen, Vice President of Purchasing and Logistics.

OCTOBER 2018

TECHNOLOGY

123

“The strongest partners we have,

firmly believes that trust is devel-

are the ones we experienced some

oped through transparency and

difficulties with and we had to

communication.

manage a few crises. Real partners

“Very similar to marriage, such

are not only being measured when

relationships need to be maintained,”

the business is perfect and blooming.

he says. “Along the way we must keep

The painful hours are the ones to

transparent in order to hear and say

expose the real partners.”

our observations, so in case any

Key to fostering these relationships is establishing trust and Oshri

adjustments need to be done, we will know about it and act accordingly.” e u r o p e . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

MELLANOX TECHNOLOGIES

“ We prefer to find partners that can provide us real added values in terms of technology, supply chain and quality and we invest in those partner relationships as if they were our customers” — Oshri Cohen, Vice President of Purchasing and Logistics.

TECHNOLOGY

125

THE FUTURE OF MELLANOX

positioned in the core of the business,

As part of its entire DNA, Mellanox

but there is always place to improve.”

will continuously strive to improve in

he says.

order to better serve its customers.

“We should enable Mellanox to pen-

Oshri is proud of where the company’s

etrate the new markets it aims to. We

procurement function is in terms of its

should allow the company to compete

alignment with the core business strat-

by keep suggesting short lead times,

egy, but even he himself approaches

competitive prices and best quality

each day with a means of improving.

products. Procurement is one of the

The company is looking to break into

key groups to enable such plan.”

new markets and Oshri believes that it cannot even begin to think about doing this, without this continuous improvement approach to procurement.

“Mellanox’s procurement is well e u r o p e . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

126

Driving supply chain transfor– mations WRIT TEN BY

JA MES HENDERSON PRODUCED BY

RICHARD DURR ANT

OCTOBER 2018

S U P P LY C H A I N

127

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

DELOITTE

Deloitte’s supply chain practice is helping companies across Europe implement critical supply chain transformation and digitisation programmes

T

he role of supply chains is changing at breakneck speed, driven by a worldwide business movement

towards digitisation. Companies of all sizes are attempting to transform their supply chain and procurement functions, with varying 128

degrees of success.

And while the arguments for digital transformations seem to have struck a chord with executives, implementation is not happening as quickly as one might have expected.

A recent industry study found that while 83% of respondents believe digital transformation will be impactful, only 5% of respondents have highly automated processes.

With such a discrepancy between aspiration and execution, companies are increasingly turning to global supply chain practices to help them devise a pathway to effective supply chain transformation and digitisation, with Deloitte being a prime example.

Key to this pathway, says Dr Stijn-Pieter van Houten, Director Supply Chain Strategy OCTOBER 2018

Stijn-Pieter (front) and Arjan (back)

S U P P LY C H A I N

129

2016

Year of North Western Europe integration

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London Headquarters

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S U P P LY C H A I N

& Operations for Deloitte NW Europe,

tailored products that suit their needs.

is changing the perception of FMCG

Further, established retailers are

businesses about how effective

being pressurized by e.g. ecommerce,

supply chains operate.

discounters and convenience channels.

“Companies often still pursue a ‘one

The result of these trends is that increas-

size fits all’ approach when it comes to

ingly different types of products are

supply chain where the way they plan,

coming to the market and that increas-

produce and distribute their products all

ingly the service levels demanded from

follows the same pattern from a supply

FMCG companies are becoming more

chain and even technology perspective,”

stringent. So, it makes sense for FMCG

he comments.

supply chains to move to a model

“But what we are seeing increasingly

whereby different (virtual) supply

is consumers are becoming more

chains are created and managed for

demanding, and they want to have more

distinct groups of products and/or 131

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E

Dr Stijn-Pieter van Houten “SP” is a Director at Deloitte Consulting in the Supply Chain Strategy service line of Deloitte’s Strategy and Operations Practice since February 2018. He has been working for over 11+ years with primarily Consumer Products clients in developing and delivering competitive supply chains in terms of cost, operating models and (digital) innovation.

His experience is focused on leading Supply Chain work in the areas of: • SC Strategy & Transformations • Operating Model Development • Supply Chain and Integrated Business Planning • Customer Centric SC Design

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

DELOITTE

customers. Organisations will have to ensure that their supply chains become more differentiated and adapt them to changing customer (and consumer) demands, while managing their cost to reach the right profit levels.” Besides differentiation, part of a successful future setup also requires supply chains to be truly synchronized from and end-to-end perspective.

What seems clear though is that for all the talk of collaboration, there are still stark disconnects between supply chain functions such as demand planning, warehousing, logistics and customer service, all of which 132

have often their own separate set of targets driving particular behaviours and outcomes.

This is then besides the lack of integration between commercial, finance, innovation and supply chain. The lack of end-to-end planning and synchronisation, says van Houten, is hampering the supply chains of even some of the world’s largest organisations.

Analytics and increased supply chain visibility are also central to the supply chain transformation blueprint, he adds. “We know that the market place is volatile, so companies need to be aware of trends and changing customer demands. Products can very quickly become popular and gain traction cross social media, so companies need to have the insights & foresights (“sense” and OCTOBER 2018

“ For supply chain we have a specific supply chain digital experience where we show the impact of technological disruptions and emerging trends” — Arjan de Witt, Manager at Deloitte Consulting

S U P P LY C H A I N

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘LET’S DO THIS – MAKE YOUR IMPACT WITH DELOITTE’ 133 capabilities that enable them to move quickly (“respond”) when that happens.

In an increasingly crowded and competitive market place, Deloitte’s clients are asking for non-traditional services in a bid to remain successful and be customer centric, according to Arjan de Witt, Manager at Deloitte Consulting.

“Across all of our projects, our clients are consistently asking us to help them adapt to this new world and advise them on new ways of working. In years gone by, a client would just want to see a presentation but now we’re providing them with proof of concepts or run pilot programmes with them.

Our clients recognise that change is going e u r o p e . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

DELOITTE

134

on, and expect us to inform them what

As part of the journey to under-

that means for them as a business.

standing the ‘art of the possible,’

For us it means that we have to work

Deloitte leverages its ‘Digital Garages’

very closely with our partners and

– with a new one soon to be opened

leverage our eco-system to really

in Amsterdam. “These are really

provide our clients with a competitive

energetic, start-up like, environments

edge. What we have proven we can

where we take our clients and hold

do is bring fresh insights that inspire

discussions about the different digital

them – we help them to understand

building blocks, how they fit together

‘the art of the possible’.”

and how they should operate in our

OCTOBER 2018

S U P P LY C H A I N

“ What we have proven we can do is bring fresh insights that inspire them – we help them to understand ‘the art of the possible” — Arjan de Witt, Manager at Deloitte Consulting

135

clients’ companies,” says de Witt.

“For supply chain we have a specific supply chain digital experience where we also show the impact of technological disruptions, emerging trends and what you can do to adopt them in your supply chain and organisation. We do this by creating a serious game environment where we really want to not only showcase the technologies but e u r o p e . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

DELOITTE

also give them subjects to think through.

We’re working in collaboration with our eco-system of partners to make the experience as valuable as it can be.”

But for any transformation to work, companies must ensure that their employees are prepared to embrace the ‘change journey,’ says van Houten.

“You can put in as many tools and new processes as you want, but if you don’t change the people, if you don’t change their behaviour and the way they look at their business then it’s never going to work on 136

the mid- to long term. Ultimately, we train our clients’ people to change their businesses so they work end-to-end with their customer in mind. You have to really look at a business end-to-end and ask how do day-to-day activities and decisions impact the customer and consumer at the end of the supply chain?

“It’s also really important that companies encourage collaboration across all of their departments in an effort to really break down silos and business functions. That’s the best way to think about what is best for customers and develop the optimum organisational setup to sustain and improve a segmented way of working across function, while delivering the right services in a profitable way.”

OCTOBER 2018

S U P P LY C H A I N

“ Supply chains have to become more flexible and adapt to changing consumer and customer demands at an increasingly faster pace” — Dr Stijn-Pieter van Houten, Director Supply Chain Strategy & Operations for Deloitte NW Europe

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

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DELOITTE

138

THE VISUALFABRIQ CONNECTION Deloitte utilises VisualFabriq’s AI Enhanced Revenue Management Platform, says: “The VisualFabriq platform greatly reduces the routine work load for consumer-packaged goods organisations by largely automating demand creation, demand and budget reviews and promotion planning and making all of these available at the commercial level on which the sales organisation operates.

“This means that organisations free up time from day-to-day routine work OCTOBER 2018

S U P P LY C H A I N

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘HOW WOULD YOU PLAN YOUR BEST TRADE PROMOTION EVER’

to instead focus on interacting

Besides these immediate benefits

strategically and tactically with their

for the commercial function, solutions

customers. In these interactions, the

like VisualFabriq are increasingly

AI-driven scenario planning further

becoming the forefront of customer

supports the account managers by

centric, synchronised supply chain

creating direct insight into a full range

setups driving better customer service

of options and showing the volume

and higher profit margins via tailored

and financial pros and cons in detail

supply chain responses.

with a much higher level of reliability than traditional estimations. It shows these outcomes both from the point of the manufacturer and the retailer, optimising for the choice for win/win scenarios.” e u r o p e . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

139

BLOCKBASE 140

CUTTING OUT THE MIDDLEMAN IN CRYPTOMINING WRIT TEN BY

CATHERINE S TURM AN PRODUCED BY

LE WIS VAUGHAN

CONSTRUCTION

141

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

BLOCKBASE

FOUNDER AND CEO, VLADO STANIC, DISCUSSES THE LONG-TERM GROWTH OF CRYPTO CURRENCY AND THE ADVANTAGES OF CRYPTO MINING IN THIS MONTH’S BUSINESS CHIEF EUROPE

T

he financial sector is undergoing a significant transformation as it seeks to adapt and cater towards an evolving consumer market. As

technology continues to reshape traditional ways of working, the emergence of digital cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Zcash, have turned our 142

understanding of currency completely on its head.

Whilst the emergence of cryptocurrency exploded into mainstream media last year, leading to a number of established companies, founder and CEO of crypto mining business, Blockbase, Vlado Stanic, has sought to provide crypto mining as a service to clients since 2015.

Sourcing and purchasing hardware and delivering greater security to clients, the business relocated to Sweden in 2017 in its bid to obtain access to reliable, low-cost source sustainable energy sources at scale.

Close to finishing the construction of a second data centre, a third is currently being planned as the business continues to purchase and host miners at its data centres in Sweden. “The cryptocurrency technology is one of the biggest revolutions that we have seen in the past decade, as

OCTOBER 2018

CONSTRUCTION

“FOR ME, THE CRYPTOCURRENCY BUSINESS IS, IN MY OPINION, ONE OF THE BIGGEST TECHNOLOGICAL REVOLUTIONS THAT WE HAVE SEEN IN THE PAST DECADE, AS IT GIVES THE POWER BACK TO THE PEOPLE” — Vlado Stanic, Founder & CEO

143

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

CLIMATE NEUTRAL ELECTRICITY

Compensate what you can’t reduce.

Vattenfall can impact CO2 emissions along our whole value chain by investing heavily in renewable energy. To reach zero emissions it includes energy production investments in other countries. corporate.vattenfall.com/sustainability

CONSTRUCTION

145 it empowers people to transact directly

GREENER SOLUTIONS

between each other at very low cost,”

Whilst Blockbase works to purchase

says Stanic.

the necessary hardware for its clients,

“Everybody has power over their own

who remain the owner, Stanic high-

money, effectively cutting out the middle-

lights that if they wish to change provider

man and a need for third parties. It’s no

at any stage they are able to do so.

surprise that Bitcoin was established

Providing greater security and ultimate

after the financial crisis as people were

choice is something which the business

fed up banks and how they work, how

has placed essential focus, particularly

they treat your money and how they still

for those who invest from $50k for

almost went bankrupt.

mining hardware.

“Bitcoin is like digital gold and crypto-

“Our clients prefer owning the miners

mining is equal to gold mining. We help

so they can keep 100% of the mining

our clients to monetise the significant

rewards. We source and buy the hard-

difference between the production

ware for them, ship it to our facilities,

costs and the market price of bitcoin.”

set them up and then we also run and e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

BLOCKBASE

146

“ELIMINATING THE MIDDLEMAN THROUGHOUT HAS ALSO PROVIDED CUSTOMERS WITH AN INCREASING LAYER OF SECURITY AND ULTIMATE TRANSPARENCY” — Vlado Stanic, Founder & CEO

OCTOBER 2018

CONSTRUCTION

147

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BLOCKBASE

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘WHAT IS BITCOIN MINING?’ 148 service it in our facilities. We do the complete process,” he says.

“The next huge benefit is that their

Placing all hardware within one of its data centres, Blockbase is keen to increasingly scale its services, housing

hardware mines in their own mining

the potential for 16MW to be placed in

pool. They provide us with the mining

one of its facilities alone. 1,600 sq. Block-

pool where they want the machines

base’s data centres benefit enormously

to be pointed at. This gives them the

from its location in northern Sweden,

next best security, and all the coins

which has brought cooling costs

mined are going directly into the

down considerably.

customer’s wallet.”

“Eliminating the middleman through-

“Previously, most companies, particularly in China utilise coal or nuclear

out has also provided customers with

power plants. However, we utilise 100%

an increasing layer of security and

green energy in our facilities. We have

ultimate transparency.”

a contract with Vattenfall, whom we

OCTOBER 2018

CONSTRUCTION

“WE UTILISE 100% GREEN ENERGY IN OUR FACILITIES. WE HAVE A CONTRACT WITH VATTENFALL, WHOM WE PURCHASE RENEWABLE ENERGY, SUCH AS HYDRO POWER AND WIND POWER” — Vlado Stanic, Founder & CEO

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BLOCKBASE

C OMPA N Y FA C T S

• The emergence of digital cryptocurrencies, have turned our understanding of currency completely on its head • Blockbase relocated to Sweden in 2017 in its bid to obtain access to reliable, low-cost source sustainable energy sources at scale.

150

• Close to finishing the construction of a second data centre, a third is currently being planned

OCTOBER 2018

CONSTRUCTION

151

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BLOCKBASE

purchase renewable energy, such as hydropower and wind power,” notes Stanic.

Building effective, long-term

2015

Year founded

partnerships has been central to Blockbase’s success. With five team members providing local support, on top of it’s in house developed hosting software, the company remains confident in its ability to remain operational 7 days a week, day and night.

“The last big power outage in 152

the north of Sweden was back in 1984. The country has built its power grid with Norway and Finland, increasing stability. We work closely with our local grid provider to also address any problems,” he says.

LONG-TERM GROWTH With plans to further scale up its operations in Sweden and upgrade the current facility up to 19 megawatts, the company is gaining an additional power line where 10 megawatts will also enter the facility. Plans to build a second and third facility are in OCTOBER 2018

15

Number of employees

CONSTRUCTION

construction, with a goal of scaling up to almost 30 megawatts in Sweden by next year.

Additionally, Stanic is keen to enter other markets outside of Europe long-term, such as the United States and areas of Canada which are stable, cryptocurrency friendly, house a similar climate and promote green energy.

“Our long-term plan is to move from strictly mining-as-a-service to a high-performance computing company,” concludes Stanic.

“This goal we want to achieve over the next three years so that we’re not just relying on one business.

“Becoming a high-performance computing business would be the perfect fit for our company, where we will consistently provide costeffective prices and ensure we remain competitive for the future.”

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

153

154

A FORCE FOR GOOD IN THE AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR WRIT TEN BY

L AUR A MULL AN PRODUCED BY

JOSH S TE VENS

ENERGY

155

FORD OTOSAN

MAKING ITS MARK AS BOTH AN AUTOMOTIVE AND MOBILITY COMPANY, FORD OTOSAN’S STRATEGY ISN’T JUST ABOUT SELLING MORE CARS, IT’S ABOUT CREATING NEW AND SUSTAINABLE WAYS TO MOVE

I

t seems that nothing is putting the brakes on Turkey’s burgeoning automotive sector. In 2017, the nation’s vehicle production reached an all-time

high, with the country rolling out approximately 1.75mn vehicles according to the Turkish Automotive Manufacturers Association. Leading the pack, Ford Otosan has vowed to forge a sustainable path in the automotive industry by cham156

pioning leading manufacturing practices and environmental standards.

Owned equally by Ford Motor Company and Koç Holding, Ford Otosan describes itself as the region’s ‘export champion’ and it’s clear to see why. With a production capacity of 440,000 commercial vehicles, 75,000 engines and 140,000 powertrains, the firm stands as the largest commercial vehicle production centre of Ford vehicles in Europe.

Today, by tapping into the expertise of its parent companies, Ford Otosan hopes to tackle some of the biggest questions facing the automotive sector, which have arisen as a result of urbanisation, climate change and demographic changes.

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS: SUSTAIABLE, PROFITABLE GROW In its latest sustainability report, Ford Otosan said that 2017 had been ‘full of success and record-breaking OCTOBER 2018

ENERGY

157

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FORD OTOSAN

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘A FORD STORY BIR’

158

practices’. The firm not only preserved

The firm’s financial figures make for

its place in Borsa Istanbul’s Sustainabil-

impressive reading but, keen not to

ity Index but has also been included in

be complacent, Ford Otosan has now

the ‘FTSE4Good developing Markets

developed a strategy to keep up this

Index’, an internationally-renowned index

sustainable growth.

in responsible investment. This view is

Digitisation forms a key part of this

clearly echoed by Ford Otosan’s General

plan and, in light of this, Ford Otosan

Manager, Haydar Yenigün.

has increasingly invested in technology

“In 2017, we maintained our position

to create the so-called ‘future of mobility.’

as the leader in commercial vehicles

With extra funding allocated to data

as our market share rose to 30.3%,”

analytics, cybersecurity, coding and

Yenigün explains. “We also became the

more, Yenigün says the firm is adapting

export leader of Turkey once again,

to Industry 4.0 and cementing its

achieving $4.9bn in export revenues.”

leadership in the sector.

OCTOBER 2018

ENERGY

“One of our projects, the most important perhaps, has been the company’s digital platform transformation,” he says. “This involves moving everything that the company has created to a digital platform and managing all future innovation and business opportunities on this platform.”

“ SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY SOLUTIONS ARE NOT ONLY THE MOST IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF SMART CITIES, THEY ALSO CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE BY MAKING PEOPLE’S LIVES EASIER”

In a similar vein, Ford Otosan has also used technology to transform the customer experience of sale and after-sale inter-

Haydar Yenigün, General Manager at Ford Otosan 159

E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E

Haydar Yenigün Haydar Yenigün graduated from Yıldız Technical University in Mechanical Engineering and joined Ford Otosan in 1987. He got the opportunity to serve in different departments in production and worked as a Project Engineer between 1992 and 1996. He continued serving in different positions during the establishment of the Kocaeli Plant after the shares of Ford Motor Company and Otosan A.S. were equalised in 1997. He became Project Leader in 1998. He was appointed as Ford Otosan General Manager and became a Member of the Board of Directors on 15 February 2012.

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

FORD OTOSAN

$6.9bn Approximate revenue

1959

Year founded

10,000 Approximate number of employees

ENERGY

161 actions. In a project known as iDEAL,

capabilities. Yenigün says that the firm

the company has developed an app that

now boasts the largest technology and

supports the development of its dealers

R&D base in the Turkish automotive

in areas such as digitisation, employee

market.

improvement, customer satisfaction and institutionalisation. “As a result of the

SCALING UP LOW-EMISSION VEHICLES

app, the rate of returns for sales has

Climate change is perhaps one of the

improved by 60% through data analytics,”

greatest challenges facing the automo-

notes Yenigün. “We have also achieved

tive sector and Ford Otosan has taken

an additional turnover of US$15mn in

up the fight. As a result, the company

after-sale processes. Our goal is to

is striving to deliver fuel efficiency and

fully roll-out the platform by 2019.” On

reduce its emissions by developing

top of this, the automotive giant has

cutting-edge engines, transmission

also invested heavily in its R&D

boxes, electronic systems and more.

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

FORD OTOSAN

FACTS

• With a production capacity of 440,000 commercial vehicles, 75,000 engines and 140,000 powertrains, Ford Otosan is the largest commercial vehicle production centre of Ford vehicles in Europe • Ford Otosan is one of the top three exporting companies of Turkey since 2005.

162

OCTOBER 2018

ENERGY

“Along with the growing sharing economy in the automotive industry, autonomous and electric vehicles are paving the way towards a strong trend of change,” observes Yenigün.

“At Ford Otosan, thanks to the vision of both Koç Holding and Ford, we have been able to start these activities much earlier.

“Our partner Ford is working on smart mobility, electric and autonomous vehicles, taking firm and quick steps,” he continues.

“With an investment of $11bn, Ford aims to develop 40 hybrid and electric vehicles by 2022 and we are happy to report that one of these — the Ford Custom — is manufactured in Turkey.”

Alongside 11 other peers, Ford Otosan has also given a helping hand to the optiTruck project, which aims to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of heavy commercial vehicles.

The prototype, Yenigün adds, is planned to be over 20% more efficient than the Euro 6 standard heavy commercial vehicle.

SMART MOBILITY, SMART CITIES According to a new report by Grand View Research, the global smart cities market is forecast to reach $2.57trn by 2025 and it seems that Ford Otosan hasn’t neglected this booming market. Through its ‘City of

e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

163

FORD OTOSAN

164

“ ALONG WITH THE GROWING SHARING ECONOMY IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY, AUTONOMOUS AND ELECTRIC VEHICLES ARE PAVING THE WAY TOWARDS A STRONG TREND OF CHANGE”

Tomorrow’ vision, the company is embarking on internal entrepreneurship projects that aim to support smart mobility solutions.

“We are working on the development of safe, efficient, life-enhancing and low-emission transportation models and we’re also aiming to ensure the sustainable

Haydar Yenigün, General Manager at Ford Otosan

production of these technologies for the smart cities of the future,” comments Yenigün.

“Sustainable mobility solutions are not only the most important

OCTOBER 2018

ENERGY

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘FORD TRUCKS – IAA HANNOVER COMMERCIAL VEHICLES FAIR – LIVE STREAM’

component of smart cities, they also can

the app uses a smart algorithm to

make a big difference by making

predict future traffic density as well

people’s lives easier. To this end, our

as the total cost of trips and emission

goal is to contribute to sustainable

values. So far, the tool has been down-

solutions by working on vehicles with

loaded by 233,000 users with the

low emissions and smart technologies.

company aiming to reach 475,000

Besides this, we are also working with

users by the end of 2019. In doing so,

governmental organisations to make

the firm hopes to confine urban

city life more liveable.”

congestion to history.

One such project that hopes to support smart city initiatives is Easy

INVESTING IN PEOPLE

Route, a mobile app created by Ford

Ford Otosan’s sustainability efforts

Otosan. Providing up-to-date traffic

aren’t just restricted to environmental

news, traffic forecasts and navigation,

issues or technology; the company e uro pe .busi ne ssc hief. com

165

FORD OTOSAN

166

OCTOBER 2018

ENERGY

is also keen to promote an inclusive workforce in the belief that its diversity is its strength. Just two years awgo, for instance, Ford Otosan appointed the industry’s first female Chief Digital Officer, Hayriye Karadeniz. Today, the automotive company hires around 1,700 female employees, a 30% increase compared to 2015, and Yenigün is keen to keep up this momentum.

He says: “One of the biggest problems facing the business world is the discrimination experienced by women during recruitment. Our goal is to employ one woman for every two candidates in our selection and placement process.”

Ending last year on a record-high, Ford Otosan’s vision for the future is a simple one: to become the most valuable and more preferred industrial company in Turkey. With its environmentally and socially conscious ethos, it seems that this goal is well within its grasp.

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167

168

OCTOBER 2018

MINING

DUNDEE PRECIOUS METALS:

EXPANDING A PORTFOLIO THROUGH OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE WRIT TEN BY

DA LE BENTON PRODUCED BY

RICHARD DE ANE

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

169

D U N D E E P R E C I O U S M E TA L S

THROUGH THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE HISTORIC CHELOPECH MINE, DUNDEE PRECIOUS METALS LOOKS TO GROW THROUGH OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

I

n the mining industry, there is a belief for some that it is often the smaller exploration and mining companies that take the biggest risks which define

and redefine the status quo.

Dundee Precious Metals (DPM) defines its vision as a progressive gold mining company that unlocks

170

and delivers superior value through innovation and strong partnerships with stakeholders.

One of the company’s goals, is to grow its current mining production to around half a million ounces of gold per year over the next few years. It looks to achieve this by developing a number of projects across its portfolio, which includes exploration and development projects in Bulgaria, Canada and Serbia.

“Part of our strategy is built around possessing the capability to execute projects on time and within budget,” says John Lindsay, Senior Vice President, Project Development. “But it’s also about having the ability to scope a project and to actually understand what makes a project the right project.”

Dundee Precious Metals strives to deliver excellence in sustainability and to create value for all its shareholders, be they investors, government or the OCTOBER 2018

MINING

“PART OF OUR STRATEGY IS BUILT AROUND POSSESSING THE CAPABILITY TO EXECUTE PROJECTS ON TIME AND WITHIN BUDGET” — John Lindsay, Senior Vice President, Project Development

171

local community. It aims to deliver this excellence through its commitment to its six core values; safety, dignity and respect, environmental responsibility, community investment, continuous improvement and transparency.

Nikolay Hristov, SVP, Sustainable Business Development, believes this commitment plays a key role in propelling Dundee forward as a company.

Hristov played a lead role in the company’s rehabilitation of its Chelopech mine, located in Bulgaria. Chelopech is an historic mining operation with production starting back in 1954. Over the course of its lifetime, e u r o p e . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

D U N D E E P R E C I O U S M E TA L S

more than 19 million tonnes of ore

located very close to the nearby village,

have been produced.

not a single square meter of land had

Dundee Precious Metals acquired the mine in 2003 and since then,

between the community and the other

has reinvested the vast majority of

surrounding communities, not just that

its profits to transform the mine into

village, has been a very important com-

a world class operation.

ponent in this journey which is at the very

This transformation started by re-examining the environmental impact of the mine.

“When we acquired the mine there wasn’t much thought given to the environmental impact of the operation,” 172

been rehabilitated. So, the relationship

says Hristov. “Even though the mine is

core of our strategy.”

As a mining operation, the importance of a relationship with a local community and the local government can be the difference between success and failure.

Hristov believes that the key to achieving environmental sustainability

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OCTOBER 2018

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D U N D E E P R E C I O U S M E TA L S

is born through stakeholder relationships and he identifies the local community as a key stakeholder.

This is echoed by Lindsay. “It’s doing well by doing good. So, if we do the right things in the communities and the countries that we work in then we will succeed as a business. This is a progressive and a credible company that’s going to benefit communities and that allows us to grow.”

A mining company can walk the talk with regards to having a social licence to operate, but it has to be able to point to some consid174

erable successes or achievements that prove it is delivering on its promises.

For Dundee Precious Metals, the most convincing proof that it is indeed doing things right is the company’s Krumovgrad development project in south-eastern Bulgaria. With the company targeting first gold production

“THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE COMMUNITY AND THE OTHER SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES, NOT JUST THAT VILLAGE, HAS BEEN A VERY IMPORTANT COMPONENT IN THIS JOURNEY WHICH IS AT THE VERY CORE OF OUR STRATEGY” — Nikolay Hristov, Senior Vice President, Sustainable Business Development OCTOBER 2018

MINING

175

in late 2018, and adding more than

if we continued down that path we

100,000 ounces per year to the compa-

would not be successful.”

ny’s production portfolio, Krumovgrad

The company took the project

is a project that was “unlocked” by

back to the drawing board, taking

applying the company’s community

into consideration the community

relationship model, that was developed

feedback and retooling its plans

over the years at Chelopech.

based on redesigned tailings and

“It has a long history,” says Lindsay.

processing flowsheet in order to

“We presented an initial project back

successfully develop Krumovgrad

in 2010 but there were a number of

as a sustainable operation.

concerns from the local community

“It demonstrated to the community

regarding a tailings system and the

that we are a company that is pre-

processing method. It was clear that

pared to listen and prepared to walk e u r o p e . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

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MINING

177 the talk,” he says. “Originally we were

ship will enable us to work together to

trying to manage these discussions

further raise standards in the mining

remotely and we soon realised we

sector, focusing on innovation, sustain-

needed to be talking face-to-face

ability and employment opportunities”.

with people in the community. It really

While Chelopech is not the compa-

paid dividends for us and gave us far

ny’s only operation, it is a cornerstone

more credibility as an organisation.”

of Dundee Precious Metals’ vision

In addition to the strong support of local communities, Dundee’s approach

of delivering superior value through innovation and strong partnerships.

has garnered the support of other

Innovation is key to Chelopech as

like–minded partners: In 2016 the

the company has invested heavily in

European Bank of Reconstruction

developing the mine to be one of the

Development (EBRD) invested slightly

most digitally enabled mining opera-

more than $43 million in the company

tions in the industry today.

and noted at the time that the “partner-

Dundee Precious Metals implemente u r o p e . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

D U N D E E P R E C I O U S M E TA L S

FACT

Social license to operate

178

It is incumbent on all mining companies to find ways of operating responsibly, and to demonstrate social and environmental responsibility in credible and consistent ways.

Operating responsibly has many faces, including maintaining strong relationships with our stakeholders and minimizing harm to the environment.

It also includes ensuring that our employees are treated well, that they go home to their families safe and healthy, and that we strive to build sustainable communities that survive long after mine closure.

Dundee Precious Metals Chelopech EAD is anchored by its values. The Company continuously pursues progress and development of the mining industry based on technologies, sustainable development and

OCTOBER 2018

concerted effort to protect the environment, as demonstrated by a number of international awards.

Our corporate wide community investment policy focuses our community spending toward local development, based on dialogue with local leaders. Our Krumovgrad project will be a model of best practice social and environmental management, and serves as a demonstration of our six Core Values: Safety, Dignity & Respect, Environmental Responsibility, Community Investment, Continuous Improvement, and Transparency.

These, together with the strategic imperatives support the Company’s brand promise: We Succeed Because We Care. — Nikolay Hristov, Senior Vice President, Sustainable Business Development

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179

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

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MINING

181 ed a ubiquitous wireless network throughout the mine, as well as innovative hardware solutions that send execution information from the underground mine directly to the surface to capture, monitor and gain valuable insights.

“Chelopech is a fantastic case study whereby technical and technological transformations occurred simultaneously,” says Theophile Yameogo, VP of Digital Innovation. “It is a true testament that technology and technical prowess can be implemented successfully in mining.”

“ CHELOPECH IS A FANTASTIC CASE STUDY WHEREBY TECHNICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSFORMATIONS OCCURRED SIMULTANEOUSLY.” — Theophile Yameogo, VP of Digital Innovation.

With technology evolving at such an immense rate, so too must companies such as Dundee Precious Metals. As the company looks to the future of technology in mining e u r o p e . b u s i n e s s c h i e f. c o m

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“ TECHNOLOGY IS A NEVER-ENDING HUMAN ENDEAVOUR. SO IS OUR WORK AT CHELOPECH. AS A COMPANY WE WILL ALWAYS BUILD ON OUR PAST SUCCESSES TO ENABLE AND DRIVE NEW REALITIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS” — Nikolay Hristov, Senior Vice President, Sustainable Business Development

OCTOBER 2018

MINING

through artificial intelligence, machine learning and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), it can do so based on the solid foundation of what it has achieved at Chelopech.

“Technology is a never-ending human endeavour. So is our work at Chelopech,” says Yameogo. “As a company we will always build on our past successes to enable and drive new realities and accomplishments.”

But as both Lindsay and Hristov stress, digitisation is all well and good but means nothing without an operational model that can enable and unlock the true value of technology.

“We have spent a lot of time developing a very structured, disciplined operating model that defines how we do our business,” says Hristov. “It’s easy to say we will digitalise but what does that mean? You need to have an underlying process in place.”

For Lindsay this operating model is one of if not the most important developments at the company, as he feels it is something that the company will implement across all of its existing and future operations.

“What do we take away from Chelopech as a business?” he asks. “I think it’s that operating model and the ability to apply that operating model in other projects and other operations gives us an edge. It really sets us up very well to be able to exploit the opportunities that are available through digitisation both now, and in the future.”

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Just in time to say goodbye.

Keeping you in the air. The best time to develop services for tomorrow’s technology is today. That’s why we’re doing that now — along with integrating new models, materials and technologies in our portfolio as quickly as possible. Our goal is to keep your aircraft off the ground, tomorrow as well as today. So let the future arrive: our services will be waiting. Talk to us.

Lufthansa Technik AG, marketing.sales@lht.dlh.de Call us: +49-40-5070-5553

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