Category Archives: Services

NineSigma’s Open Innovation Mission

A few weeks ago, I wrote about The Value of Non-Confidential Exchange in the Open Innovation process and briefly introduced you to NineSigma, a consultancy built on an Open Innovation process. I recently had a chance to talk with Frank Evan at NineSigma about their company and their processes, and I’m going to summarize some of the key points in this post.

The primary offering of NineSigma, who are focussed on accelerating the innovation cycle, is their Rapid OIsm program that they designed to help clients design and launch their own open innovation initiatives.

The Open Innovation (OI) process begins with the NineSigma team sitting down with the client in a two-way conversation designed to help the client understand what OI is and how they might have to change the way they do business to take full advantage of what OI has to offer. Then NineSigma reviews the client’s goals, processes, and projects; builds a RACI (responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed) diagram to make sure that all key parties are included in the process; identifies areas where processes need to be altered or improved to take advantage of OI; and outlines the changes that need to be made for the company to take full advantage of OI. The next step is to sit down with cross-functional teams to help the client implement the appropriate OI-friendly process changes.

Once the client is ready to take the first step down the open innovation path, NineSigma will work with the client to generate the right proposals and disseminate those proposals through their network (which is 1.7 Million strong and growing). They’ll also review all proposals that come back, to make sure they are appropriate and well-formed, and assist the customer in identifying those proposals that appear to be the most suitable. Once one or two proposals are accepted, they will help the client engage with the solution provider(s) and make sure the entire process goes smoothly.

As partly discussed in The Value of Non-Confidential Exchange, there are numerous advantages to both the buyer and the supplier in the open innovation process when a third party is used as an intermediary. The buyer gets to explore the market without exposing their identity, which is important if they are a big multi-national in an ultra-competitive industry, as this could tip of their competition about their future plans. Furthermore, NineSigma, who requires suppliers to sign off that they are not releasing confidential information in the absence of a formal agreement, insures that all proposals submitted are appropriately formed.

In addition, at NineSigma, all of the primary facilitators are PhD scientists and engineers with significant industry experience. Compare this to your average big consultancy who is just as likely to assign you a fresh MBA with no real world experience as it is to give you a senior partner. Furthermore, commitments are on a project-by-project basis and the client retains the right to all information generated during the process – which has worked for big name clients including Kellogg’s, P&G, and Hershey in sectors that include CPG, Food, Automotive, High Tech, Chemical, and Petroleum. That might be why NineSigma has been growing rapidly for the past three years, opening their first international office in Japan in 2006 and their second international office in Belgium this year.

A Supply Manager’s Introduction to e-Discovery

Although I’ve blogged about how procurement can help marketing in The Creative Challenge (I and II) by way of a bit of Magic & Logic (I and II), I’ve yet to tackle the subject of e-Discovery, even though David Bush has a great 3-part series on e-Discovery last year over on e-Sourcing Forum.

However, a recent article over on SIG by Ted Ardelean of Oce’ Business Services, which was the first part of a three part series reminded me that this is an important topic and one that Sourcing Innovation needs to cover because, when bids for a given project can often range by as much as a factor of 10, this is one cost that a business really needs to get under control and one area where you have to understand the needs of legal in order for them to accept your help, which they obviously are in desperate need of in many companies.

So what is e-discovery? As per Wikipedia, “e-discovery”, refers to discovery in civil litigation which deals with information in electronic form. And as per e-Sourcing Forum, in recent years, the everyday use of e-mail and other forms of electronically stored information (“ESI”) has radically changed the discovery process, materially increasing its scope, complexity, and expense which has resulted in e-Discovery muschrooming into a multi-billion dollar a year industry. It’s important because amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), effective 12/01/06, move the adversarial discussion of E-Discovery right up to the preliminary stages of these cases. One emerging byproduct of this clarity from the Courts is the potential for E-Discovery costs to almost immediately dwarf the cost of whatever it is that is in dispute. Needless to say, this is quite troubling for corporate legal departments which can potentially have thousands of these cases going on at any point in time as per a Fulbright Survey.

And it’s not an easy process, especially if you want to be involved (and you do want to be involved, because it represents a huge saving opportunity, and gives you a chance to be an even bigger savings superstar than you already are), but if you follow the basic rules (laid out on e-Sourcing forum) and follow a good process, it is a manageable process. The basic rules are:

  1. You must be as non-disruptive as possible to Legal’s deliberative process and you must demonstrate complete and utter discretion.
  2. You need to understand how the e-Discovery market works.
  3. You need to know what questions you need to ask of Legal.
  4. You need to know how to communicate with the principals of Legal in a way that is meaningful to them.

In addition, as pointed out in Ted Ardelean’s article, you should also:

  • familiarize yourself with the FRCP
  • familiarize yourself with the EDRM (Electronic Discovery Reference Model) that standardizes the process of exchanging ESI in a manner that reduces associated costs
  • start a dialog with your in-house council early, and communicate often

And you should review the case study detailed by David Bush in parts II and III of his e-Discovery series on e-Sourcing Forum. It contains a basic process that you can use as a starting point for building the in-house process that’s right for you.

Workforce Management: A Servigistics Approach

Workforce Management, as defined by Wikipedia, is a business process that encompasses all the responsibilities for maintaining a productive and happy workforce. A workforce management solution is a software-based solution that optimally plans and dispatches field service technicians and their properly stocked vehicles to a customer’s location in a timely manner in order to deliver on their service commitments. Such a system will typically addresses demand management, workforce scheduling, workforce dispatching, and mobility solutions.

The workforce management solution offered by Servigistics, a Strategic Service Management Solution Provider (that was discussed last year in Tomorrow’s Strategic Service Management Today) addresses all of these points. Its workforce planning component forecasts workload to determine the appropriate workforce size, its scheduling engine can automatically set and adjust optimal assignments based upon available data and available rules and update those assignments in real-time if higher-priority service calls enter the system, its web-based appointment request feature allows customers to self-schedule, and its service mobility solution not only enables workforce communication, but allows the technicians to indicate where they are in the delivery cycle.

The scheduling engine is an advanced engine that can take into account dozens of variables that include contract / SLA type, service level, customer priority, ticket type, visit number, severity, customer inquiries, and age scores as well as transit times – which can be automatically computed based upon optimal routes computed by its GIS-aware engine that integrates with Google Maps. It allows the user to define priorities and scheduling rules and will take those into account in its computations. It also allows users to define alerts, such as a technician being stuck in traffic or a missed SLA because a technician wasn’t able to make the repair during the first visit. This not only allows the user to escalate the issue, but notify a customer when a technician might be late or unable to make the repair in the estimated time. (This, of course, goes a long way to keeping the customer satisfied as they know the service provider is working on the problem and keeping them up to date.) Furthermore, the scheduling engine is very effective in both its production and automatic update of schedules in real-time. In some deployments, the default schedules are usable as is by Servigistics’ customers, who include multi-billion dollar global enterprises (like Dell), as much as 98% of the time.

The view engine contains your classic GANTT chart view with drill down for details into specific tasks, but also supports map views with multiple filter options based on time period, priority, job type, and technician, among other factors. In addition, the job indicators can be color coded based on priority, whether or not they have been completed on time, or technician. This allows a support representative to quickly find jobs that might need to be escalated or reassigned. Finally, it allows jobs to be displayed in a grid, with user-defined detail columns.

The solution also supports multiple built-in report types and trend computations on multiple built-in dimensions such as resolution time, tickets closed, technician utilization, and overall performance. In addition, the solution integrates with their Command Center, their Knowledge Management Solution, and their Mobility Solutions which allows technicians to be more productive and keep their home office up to date on the status of the current service call.

Considering their success at a number of global multibillion dollar companies across IT, telecommunications, manufacturing, and automotive verticals, among others, and their recent updates in the real-time scheduling and mobility domains, it’s certainly worth a look if service is a large part of your offering.

The Complexities of Strategic Service Management

I first introduced you to Strategic Service Management in February of last year where I indicated that it was a proactive approach to making the customer satisfied and efficient while making a profit that balances strategy, resources, commitments, and pricing. It supports the integration, optimization, and efficient management of core business processes, adds to your overall business solution, and helps to differentiate your offering from that of your competitors. And it is a practice that is growing rapidly at many consulting firms as it is a topic that is now become common in many boardrooms that are feeling the squeeze in both directions on the product front: production costs are rising rapidly but prices need to remain flat in order to move any product at all.

For many companies, Strategic Service Management is now the only way to increase profits – as it not only allows premium prices to be charged for quality services that are perceived as valuable by the customers, but can also substantially reduce service costs when the right product is in the right place at the right time to be put in the hands of the right technician to do the job. The fact of the matter is that poor service often translates into real losses – which go beyond the financial penalties specified in your SLAs. If the product isn’t available or is priced too high when a customer wants it, that can result in a lost sale as well as dissatisfaction that may prevent the customer returning to you in the future. If your service team is unresponsive, not only will you lose repeat business, but your brand can take a hit. And if you price too low, you’re losing profit.

So what is involved in Strategic Service Management? As I covered in depth in my piece on Strategic Service Parts Management a few months ago, a lot of it revolves around parts and price management – having the right product available at the right place at the right time and at the right price – and this involves forecasting, inventory management, and price optimization, but it also involves having the right technician available to install the part and get the repair right the first time and making sure the technician has access to the knowledge she needs to do her job – and this involves workforce management, scheduling, routing, and knowledge management.

In other words, good strategic service management has to address all aspects of the entire service value chain (that may also include other suppliers, distributors, OEMs, dealers / value added resellers, and after market services) and not just the part or the price of the service. It also has to go beyond just the short term issues of problem diagnosis, replacement part location and delivery, technician scheduling and dispatch, and price optimization and address the long term issues of regular re-orders of parts when inventory reaches threshold levels, appropriate workforce training and staffing, and performance monitoring to insure that price levels and service remain at optimal levels.

Furthermore, the fact that this has to be done across geographies, diverse customer segments, product types, various types of SLAs, various levels of customer commitments, and both company-owned and third-party resources, should be enough to convince you that this requires a dedicated solution designed to address strategic service management. A spreadsheet (despite the fact that Aberdeen found that 91% of companies still use spreadsheets to plan and forecast parts and service levels in its report on “The Emergence of the Chief Service Officer”) is NOT enough. Furthermore, neither is your ERP.

An ERP was designed for inventory control, work order processing, basic product tracking, catalog management, simple case management, and, maybe, basic call center management. Enhanced add-ons may also handle inventory forecasting and planning, replenishment planning, exception monitoring and analysis, simple GANTT scheduling, and work order tracking, but this barely covers stage 2 (operational control) of SSM (where stage 1 is firefighting) and doesn’t even begin to address stage 3 on the optimization of performance management, and definitely doesn’t even hint at stage 4 where true integrated service management is reached and strategic service management acts as a growth engine for your company. To get there, you need the foundational capabilities that include parts optimization, integrated PLM, order planning and sourcing optimization, manpower planning and optimization, knowledge management for issue diagnosis and resolution, and performance analysis which then enable multi-enterprise collaboration, integrated part location and technician dispatch; integrated parts, labor, and pricing optimization, contract and market profitability analysis, and integrated service offerings – the ultimate key to successful strategic service management.

As my previous entries on Servigistics and MCA Solutions addressed strategic parts, pricing, and warranty management, my next two contributions to this series will cover workforce planning and knowledge management for service success, and, specifically, Servigistics’ new offerings in these areas.

What Does the doctor Do … For You?

In What Does the doctor Do?, I gave you a high-level overview of what the doctor does — Innovation for the Real World — and how it came to pass. Then, in What Does the doctor Do? … For Executives, I outlined what the doctor can do for sourcing & procurement technology and/or services providers and for enterprises looking to acquire sourcing and procurement technology and/or services for their day-to-day operations.

In this post, I’m going to outline some of the specific services that I offer.
Quick Links:
Investment Firms and Companies Doing Acquisitions
Technology & Service Companies
Buying Organizations


Investment Firms and Companies Doing Acquisitions

Technology Due Diligence
the doctor has not only been a CTO, but has done literally every job in a technology organization under the CTO role and with his deep academic background can, and has on multiple occasions, literally done an entire technology due diligence on his own – architecture, infrastructure, security, code review, roadmap, etc. – and can do it all for you if you are considering acquiring a small company with a small product portfolio. (Not that he can’t do a large product portfolio on his own, but given that exclusivity windows these days are short, it’s impossible for one person to do a large portfolio on their own with sufficient certainty no matter how well trained, experienced, and skilled they are.)

Product Due Diligence
the doctor has deep expertise in multiple areas of e-Commerce, Sourcing, Procurement, and Supply Chain technology, as well as deep expertise in advanced technology, especially in the areas of RPA, optimization, analytics, ML, and AI.  If you are looking for deep insight into product maturity, competitiveness, direction, and potential capability, and the product overlaps one of the doctor’s market areas of expertise and advanced technology, the doctor can offer you deep insight and analysis in a short timeframe.

 


Technology & Service Companies

Assessments

Total Solution Assessment
the doctor will spend approximately three days to two weeks on your site, meeting with your senior staff, depending on the depth and breadth of your solution.  Together, we’ll explore your technology offering, services offering, training and education materials, product roadmap, messaging, positioning, and current marketing strategies. I’ll then provide you with a written high-level assessment that captures where you are, how that compares to the market, and, if appropriate, what you could be doing to be more competitive. After you’ve had a chance to digest the report, I’ll conduct one or more one to two hour conference call to discuss it in depth.

Technology Roadmap Assessment & Recommendations
the doctor will spend approximately two days to two weeks taking a deep dive into your technology offering, depending on the depth and breadth of your solution.  I will assess functionality, architecture, platform, and UI; compare it to the state of the practice; assess it with respect to customer needs; and then prepare a detailed written assessment that captures where your solution is with respect to the market, what improvements might need to be made, and what enhancements could be made to differentiate it. After you’ve had a chance to digest the report, I’ll conduct one or more one to two hour conference call to discuss it in depth.

Product / Technology (Management) and Roadmap Advisory Services
the doctor will review specific modules, current or planned, and specific aspects of the product and roadmap and provide advisory services as appropriate.  This can include architecture, delivery infrastructure, stack, algorithms, and other technology components.

Research / Advisory Services
the doctor is a Ph.D. in Computer Science with a degree, and advanced training, in Mathematics.  As such, for certain products / technology endeavours, he is uniquely qualified to provide research and research-based advisory services on a short, or long, term basis.

Public Label Writing

Solution Whitepapers
the doctor will work with you to create a co-branded expository white paper relevant to your solution domain that explains what the problem is, why it needs to be addressed, and what the benefits of addressing it can be. The first step in selling a solution is making sure that people understand they have a problem. A sponsored white paper is a powerful way to get your salespeople over that first hurdle.

Sourcing Innovation Illuminations
Sourcing Innovation Illuminations, like the briefs and perspectives offered by analyst firms, will serve to elucidate a service or technology need and the state of the market with respect to that need. However, unlike the briefs and perspectives offered by many of the analyst firms, these pieces will be written by someone with a strong understanding of technology, and will clearly define how technology (or the technology-based solution offering) can help, what the current capabilities of the relevant (underlying) technologies are, and what a buyer should look for.

What’s the difference between White Papers and Illuminations?
a) Co-branding – Illuminations can be sponsored by, but are not co-branded
b) Distribution – you can distribute the white-papers for lead-gen on your site, but Illuminations are only distributed by SI
c) Focus – white papers can lead up to a specific solution, Illuminations focus on generic needs and do not lead up to specific solutions

  1. d) Cost – Illuminations cost less, but the topic and editorial discretion is entirely at the discretion of the doctor

Private Label Writing

Marketing Brochures
the doctor will help you to prepare your marketing brochures. I have a strong understanding of technology, supply chain needs, and the space as a whole, and I can help you focus on messaging that succinctly summarizes the problem, the solution you’re offering, and the particular benefits of your solution that are most relevant to a buyer.

Published Articles
the doctor will ghost-write articles on your solution space and how your solution addresses problems in that space. These articles can be submitted to traditional and on-line publications, which will publish vendor-specific content if it is broadened appropriately for general consumption.

 


Buying Organizations

Needs Assessment

the doctor will spend up to three days meeting with your team to identify what your problems are, where you are on the process and technology curves, and what solutions would be best for your organization. I will then prepare a written report that summarizes your challenges, your current processes, your current technology, what you need to look for in a technology and/or service solution, and what benefits you can expect to receive.

RFX Preparation

If you need a new technology(-based) solution, the doctor will help you create the RFx that you need to be sending out to make sure you get the information that is relevant to your needs, which is essential to selecting the right solution. It’s hard to write an RFx for a solution you don’t yet fully understand, and every day dozens (if not hundreds) of companies are sending out RFxs for sourcing and procurement technology solutions that don’t effectively communicate the solution the company actually needs. There’s no need for you to be one of these. the doctor can help.

As he co-created the Spend Matters Solution Map and Tech-Match solutions, he can also work with you to take maximum advantage of those solutions (which can be used to verify the vendors you are sending the RFI to are relevant and that their solution meets at least a market average level of appropriate technical and product maturity), thereby allowing you to focus your RFI on the key technical capabilities that are most important and/or unique to your organization and the service, culture, security, roadmap, and other requirements not captured in a relatively useless feature/function checklist that most RFIs end up becoming due to a lack of appropriate expertise on the buying organization’s part).

Solution Assessment

the doctor will helping you assess proposals from potential vendors, and prepare a formal recommendation on the strengths and weaknesses of each proposal, as well as follow-up questions to consider asking.

Train the Trainer

the doctor has a background in both academic education and industrial training, and in select cases can assist you in training your power users and star performers on change management, best practices, new processes and even new technologies. The goal will be for these key resources to achieve the level of understanding and proficiency necessary to be able to disseminate their knowledge to the rest of the organization, thus making your organization independent of vendor and other third-party services personnel and consultants.

Contact us (using the contact information in the FAQ) for details!