c100 - 2014 - frieslandcampina - en

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FrieslandCampina STRATEGIC IT SEIZES OPPORTUNITIES FrieslandCampina wants to get more out of IT, growing from being a commodity player to becoming a strategic partner delivering added value for the business. To achieve this goal, the dairy group’s IT department is in the process of attracting people with distinctive skills and has developed a new organisational model. A strategic transformation which is both refreshing and important for the industry. C hief Information Officer Erwin Logt joined Friesland- Campina, the dairy multinational with a strong local char- acter, 12 months ago. Logt previously worked at Procter & Gamble, for which he spent the last several years in the US. He’s delighted that he and his IT department will be offering these distinctive capacities and creating added value for the company. ‘From serve, to enable, to drive transformation,’ is the slogan Logt works with, as he explains below. But let’s start with the facts and figures. Royal FrieslandCampina N.V. provides approximately one billion consumers in over a hundred countries with dairy products containing valuable nutrients. With annual revenues of more than 11 billion euros and outlets in 28 countries, FrieslandCampina is one of the world’s five big- gest dairy multinationals. It is fully owned by the cooperative FrieslandCampina U.A., which has more than 19,000 member dairy farmers in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, mak- ing it the second largest dairy cooperative in the world. Co-ownership And now back to the slogan, as promised. Logt smiles: ‘When Friesland Foods merged with Campina back in 2009, the result- ing FrieslandCampina compiled a new strategy, ‘route2020’, which was designed to foster growth and create value. It also laid the foundations for ICT, with an initial focus on integration and consolidation and the creation of corporate ICT. Soon after that a new phase was started to simplify, standardise and automate our day-to-day operational processes. This is still under way and we’ve now also begun work on an organisational transformation to create a new ICT organisation which is more business value-centric. Without of course losing our focus on operational excellence, since that remains the basis of our organization. We want to be an organisation which is more assertive, eager to learn and forward-thinking. In doing so, we constantly ask ourselves: how can we as an ICT department generate more added value for the company? To offer that value, provide distinctive solutions and work with the business to provide input, lead transformations and become more stra- tegic, it is necessary for ICT to be extremely business-focused. Everything begins with understanding the business complete- ly: its problems, its possibilities, its processes. Where do we currently stand? Where do other companies stand? What is best in class? This business knowledge, combined with the latest technological know-how, and an inexhaustible desire to create value for the company and, as an ICT manager really feel responsible for the company with all its challenges and oppor- tunities, is the key to success. It is also the way to transform the dynamic of an environment in which the business is always the requesting party and ICT the solution-provider (‘ICT serves’) into an environment in which the initiative for a transformation project can come both from the business and from ICT (‘ICT enables or even drives transformation’). ICT as it were assumes co-ownership of commercial challenges and therefore goes in search of opportunities with the same rigour as the business does.’ Commercial concepts in ICT ‘During this journey you see that ICT can learn a great deal from departments such as sales and marketing, and can thus also use commercial concepts in its own processes and organisation model. You need to have that drive to make a small idea big. Why, for example, settle for a successful solution in China if you know it’s also applicable and valuable for other markets? You’ve got to be able to sell it to your business partners. We have created a new role within ICT: that of a global business service manager. Conceptually, it is no different than a com- mercial brand manager in marketing. This is often a global role, focusing more on a single department at FrieslandCampina (Sales, HR or Supply Chain), or being responsible for a specific business domain within one of these departments - and within that domain, responsible for creating maximum adoption of his or her ICT solutions (i.e. increasing market share), and generating added value (i.e. generating more turnover or profit) through a strong collection of ICT solutions or services (i.e. your brands and SKU portfolio) and strong commercialisation.’ Logt adds: ‘These changes in ICT mean that we’re looking to fill these business partner roles with people who have a com- mercial background. They’ll enjoy coming up with IT solutions to create value for the company and transforming business processes. What’s more, they’ll be so immersed in and with the business, it won’t be clear anymore who’s ICT and who’s business. Recently I opened a presentation I gave at Nyenrode Business University with the slide: ‘If you like sales, join ICT!’ Initial results Logt continues: ‘We now think more in business terms and are looking around us more. The newly implemented organisation model is ready, and so is FrieslandCampina. Although these changes to ICT will take time to implement, we’re already seeing the initial results. We’re currently working on a number of attractive projects in which IT has taken much more of an initiator and partner role, and to which the business is respond- ing very enthusiastically. This has created an equal partnership whose foundations are in the business. Strategic IT is seizing opportunities!’ Thema’s Co-ownership Strategic IT Proactive Shared input at the front-end Value creation ‘Everything begins with the business, including IT’ Erwin Logt

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Page 1: C100 - 2014 - FrieslandCampina - EN

FrieslandCampina

STRATEGIC IT SEIZES OPPORTUNITIESFrieslandCampina wants to get more out of IT, growing from being a commodity player to becoming a strategic partner delivering added value for the business. To achieve this goal, the dairy group’s IT department is in the process of attracting people with distinctive skills and has developed a new organisational model. A strategic transformation which is both refreshing and important for the industry.

Chief Information O� cer Erwin Logt joined Friesland-Campina, the dairy multinational with a strong local char-acter, 12 months ago. Logt previously worked at Procter

& Gamble, for which he spent the last several years in the US. He’s delighted that he and his IT department will be o� ering these distinctive capacities and creating added value for the company. ‘From serve, to enable, to drive transformation,’ is the slogan Logt works with, as he explains below. But let’s start with the facts and fi gures. Royal FrieslandCampina N.V. provides approximately one billion consumers in over a hundred countries with dairy products containing valuable nutrients. With annual revenues of more than 11 billion euros and outlets in 28 countries, FrieslandCampina is one of the world’s fi ve big-gest dairy multinationals. It is fully owned by the cooperative FrieslandCampina U.A., which has more than 19,000 member dairy farmers in the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, mak-ing it the second largest dairy cooperative in the world.

Co-ownershipAnd now back to the slogan, as promised. Logt smiles: ‘When Friesland Foods merged with Campina back in 2009, the result-ing FrieslandCampina compiled a new strategy, ‘route2020’, which was designed to foster growth and create value. It also laid the foundations for ICT, with an initial focus on integration and consolidation and the creation of corporate ICT. Soon after that a new phase was started to simplify, standardise and automate our day-to-day operational processes. This is still under way and we’ve now also begun work on an organisational transformation to create a new ICT organisation which is more business value-centric. Without of course losing our focus on operational excellence, since that remains the basis of our organization. We want to be an organisation which is more assertive, eager to learn and forward-thinking. In doing so, we constantly ask ourselves: how can we as an ICT department generate more added value for the company? To o� er that value, provide distinctive solutions and work with the business to provide input, lead transformations and become more stra-tegic, it is necessary for ICT to be extremely business-focused. Everything begins with understanding the business complete-ly: its problems, its possibilities, its processes. Where do we currently stand? Where do other companies stand? What is best in class? This business knowledge, combined with the latest technological know-how, and an inexhaustible desire to create value for the company and, as an ICT manager really feel responsible for the company with all its challenges and oppor-tunities, is the key to success. It is also the way to transform the dynamic of an environment in which the business is always the requesting party and ICT the solution-provider (‘ICT serves’) into an environment in which the initiative for a transformation project can come both from the business and from ICT (‘ICT enables or even drives transformation’). ICT as it were assumes co-ownership of commercial challenges and therefore goes in search of opportunities with the same rigour as the business does.’

Commercial concepts in ICT‘During this journey you see that ICT can learn a great deal from departments such as sales and marketing, and can thus also use commercial concepts in its own processes and organisation model. You need to have that drive to make a small idea big. Why, for example, settle for a successful solution in China if you know it’s also applicable and valuable for other markets? You’ve got to be able to sell it to your business partners. We have created a new role within ICT: that of a global business service manager. Conceptually, it is no di� erent than a com-mercial brand manager in marketing. This is often a global role, focusing more on a single department at FrieslandCampina (Sales, HR or Supply Chain), or being responsible for a specifi c business domain within one of these departments - and within that domain, responsible for creating maximum adoption of his or her ICT solutions (i.e. increasing market share), and generating added value (i.e. generating more turnover or profi t) through a strong collection of ICT solutions or services (i.e. your brands and SKU portfolio) and strong commercialisation.’ Logt adds: ‘These changes in ICT mean that we’re looking to fi ll these business partner roles with people who have a com-mercial background. They’ll enjoy coming up with IT solutions to create value for the company and transforming business processes. What’s more, they’ll be so immersed in and with the business, it won’t be clear anymore who’s ICT and who’s business. Recently I opened a presentation I gave at Nyenrode Business University with the slide: ‘If you like sales, join ICT!’

Initial resultsLogt continues: ‘We now think more in business terms and are looking around us more. The newly implemented organisation model is ready, and so is FrieslandCampina. Although these changes to ICT will take time to implement, we’re already seeing the initial results. We’re currently working on a number of attractive projects in which IT has taken much more of an initiator and partner role, and to which the business is respond-ing very enthusiastically. This has created an equal partnership whose foundations are in the business. Strategic IT is seizing opportunities!’

Thema’s Co-ownership

Strategic ITProactive

Shared input at the front-endValue creation

‘Everything begins with the business, including IT’

Erwin Logt