Since 2020, the Supply Chain in the Aerospace, Defense, and Space sectors has been in turmoil, facing unprecedented challenges.

Companies deal with the topic of “sustainability” in very different ways – sometimes it’s the elephant in the room that everyone eagerly ignores.

Which software investments can be attributed to CapEx?

On June 7th 2024, EFESO Management Consultants hosted an exclusive executive leadership panel discussion, providing a platform for leading European industrial and logistic players to share experiences and best practices in achieving sustainability goals while balancing profitability, quality, cost-effectiveness, and regulatory requirements.

The call for a reduction in CapEx seems to be common sense right now. What are the arguments against it?

The optimization of long-term investments has become a critical topic on the management agenda. What are the reasons for this development?

Mr. Kamenik, the financial framework conditions and the investment environment for companies have deteriorated significantly in recent years. How serious are these changes?

From May 2nd to May to May 5th was held the Motor Valley Fest in Modena, a pivotal gathering for automotive industry leaders, showcasing a mix of heritage and cutting-edge technology. An event where industry veterans and innovators converge to forecast trends and tackle the pressing challenges of mobility.

During the recent OpEx summit, one of our operational excellence experts participated to a panel discussion titled "Unlocking the Secrets to Successful OpEx Programs" alongside other experts Azeeza Sunmonu, EMEA Head of Commercial Operations & Excellence at GE Healthcare; Maritza Helfferich, Senior Manager Brand Communications Operations at Adidas; Sachin Sankpal, Head of Group Excellence of Digitalization at Vynova Group; and Philippe Lefranc, Global Head of Strategy and Program Delivery, External Affairs at Philip Morris International.

The persistent and pervasive challenge of food loss within agri-food supply chains is a multifaceted issue that has far-reaching implications for the industry's economic sustainability and the global food ecosystem's resilience. This white paper is a pioneering exploration into the complex labyrinth of food loss, offering innovative insights, actionable strategies, and a comprehensive understanding of the intricacies of this challenge.

A number of global phenomena have impacted – and are still impacting – all markets and businesses in 2024. These include: the Covid-19 pandemic; wars in Europe and the Middle East; extreme weather conditions; the decreasing birth rate in industrialized countries; the acceleration of migration flows; and the acceleration of digitalization – in particular the introduction of AI. All of these are likely to continue, presenting consumer goods companies with a number of challenges.

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We wanted to share with you a conversation that took place last week regarding the CSRD, Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, between an executive of an industrial company and an EFESO consultant.

Le 8 novembre 2023, les Assises de l'Industrie, organisées par L’Usine Nouvelle, se sont tenues aux Salons de l'Aveyron. Un événement majeur qui a permis aux acteurs industriels de réfléchir et débattre sur la réindustrialisation en France.

The automotive industry is in the middle of the biggest transformation ever. E-mobility, autonomous driving, connected vehicles and much more require a recalibration or even transformation of entire business models and supply chains. In addition, companies have had to contend with highly volatile and complex demands and supply markets in recent years - and there is no real end in sight to these challenges.

On October 6th, EFESO hosted an insightful executive event around the theme of greenhouse gas reduction. It served as a dynamic forum for industry key players to address solutions to implementing sustainable, long-term strategies within the challenging context of Europe's ambitious sustainability agenda.

Cost-out management & becoming future ready often seem to be contradictory, but they are not in fact, both embody the central demands of our time.

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Companies are increasingly calling on consultants to improve their industrial operations. “Our integrated approach to working on performance improvement, digitization, human dynamics and sustainable development, help our clients build a sustainable industrial future,” says Didier Brackenier, Managing Director at EFESO Management Consultants.

Every chemical company has safety rules, analysis tools, dashboards and a keen awareness of safety processes.

What are the biggest barriers to end-to-end synchronization in your organization? What are the counter measures and solutions that have proven to be successful against these? What are the accelerators that helped overcome the challenges?

The use of hydrogen as a fuel is not a recent phenomenon. Major OEMs were investing in this technology back in the 1990s but it remained an enticing mirage, never quite within reach. Now, however, it could become a major factor in the fight to slow down climate change.

The pharmaceutical industry has seen its share of challenges in recent years, from manufacturing and supply chain bottlenecks to growing demand for faster delivery of drugs to the marketplace. What will the near future bring to the table ?

When creating your plant strategy, you should be asking yourself the following questions: are my maintenance and reliability efforts providing a tangible and consistent competitive advantage?

A scenario of lights and shadows

The world of the vehicles and mobility is experiencing a very delicate phase, of profound and rapid transition to a future that still presents highlights and shadows, and plenty of uncertainty.

Russia is a leading player in Titanium industry for aerospace via its company VSMPO-AVISMA, main supplier of all western OEMs and engines manufacturers.

How Industrial Operations are transforming the way we live and work

In a recent interview Bruno Machiels & Luca Lecchi, co-CEOs of EFESO Management Consultants discussed how industrial operations and human ingenuity are totally transforming the world we live in.

The Covid-19 crisis has left its mark on the aircraft and defense industry, with the decline in activity changing the break-even point for firms across the sector. Nonetheless, the industry held out well in 2020/21 due, in particular, to State-guaranteed social and financial assistance programs which limited the number of bankruptcies.

Leaders are confronting a storm, and it is not simply economic. Organizations are facing unprecedented Social and Sustainability challenges and their leaders are unsettled by trade uncertainty, political instability and competition resulting from disruptive technology. Many of the supply chains we have taken for granted are at risk.

Le marché des cosmétiques est un marché mondial en croissance depuis plus de 15 ans, avec une accélération notable depuis 2017.

La France, domine ce marché. Les cosmétiques restent sous-exploités par les fonds d’investissements au regard d’autres industries (10 deals de moins en 2019 par rapport à 2018; investissement start-up équivalent à 100 M€ sur 15 Mds€ investis en 2018).

Pourtant ce secteur bénéficie d’un niveau de risque plus faible que d’autres (ex: biotech, acteurs technologiques, agroalimentaire).

Pre COVID, I attended a conference, for which all of the delegates had to answer a questionnaire on their areas of interest beforehand. Unusual? Not really. The part that I found most interesting, however, was that 50% or so had ticked the box titled “E2E Supply Chain Planning”.

Connectivity in the automotive industry is not a recent phenomenon. For years, Connectivity has been called another name “telematics” which refers to “the technology of sending, receiving and storing information through telecommunication devices for OEM use only.”

What are standards, and why they are they so important? Why are standards the only known antidote to chaos? What do we really mean by “standards” in business? These are the questions we are going to address in this article.

People's behavioral data has become the largest source of business. Shoshana Zuboffh’s book The Age of Surveillance Capitalism is based on this very question. Whatever we choose to call this period, we now live in a time when “Big Data” and, in particular, behavioural data, has become the world’s major source of business. What is it all about? Where, when and how did it start?

DARE Acceleration (Digitization, Autonomation, Robotization and E-Commerce)

Yes COVID-19 has let us enter unprecedented times but historic data learns us that during disruptions like this, systemically things will change much deeper and more sustainable than we foresee in the middle of the disruption itself. During crisis like this, companies are much more likely to make capital investments. Specially if the reason for the crisis has shown us the risks of (dependency of) humans, the investments will be targeted on eliminating these risks.

The pandemic crisis has had a devastating effect on worldwide GDP and, from now on, there will be major changes in the way we do business ("shut-in-economy"). Most of these changes were already in progress but the pandemic event has forced the rate of this change to accelerate. A simple “evolution” will not be enough, a step change (a quantum leap, a breakthrough) will be necessary. As such, we cannot waste time trying to understand what has happened and will happen through the lenses of the previous business paradigms. Instead we must imagine ourselves already catapulted into this new competitive scenario and look at it through a new perspective.

New business ecosystems and new business models

by Giorgio Merli

Today, Smart Cities and Smart Services are a key topic for Companies and Governments. Both are engaged in planning and implementing new realizations, interacting with different purposes and objectives in the same Ecosystem. In this article, the author considers this topic from two perspectives of Business and Government Services for Citizens, who live together sometimes synergistically, sometime conflicting. Examples and cases from both sides are included to highlight how the two parties should manage it in the best way in order to develop the Ecosystem sustainably and satisfactorily. It is also explained why the goal of having an Integrated Sustainable Plan is a priority of a Territory Government, while the understanding of the possible Business Model is the priority of the Business Organizations.

How Digitization Is Potentially Changing The Game And The Rules

by Filippo Mantegazza

Returning from Barcelona, where I attended the World Congress for IOT Solutions
#IOTSWC19, I brought back 3 strong impressions:

1. Connectivity is a fact, even becoming a commodity.
2. We are starting to see many instances of IoT in Manufacturing and Supply Chain and a lot of application of Advanced Analytics, but we still do not see a well progressed 4.0 transformation. This will be the next step.
3. What is key for the next step, apart from the architectural capability, is the ability to develop people with new leadership and new capability, new roles, new knowledge and new skills.

This is where we must focus our efforts.

Industry 4.0's investments and approaches will actually increase the levels of competitiveness of companies only if they are used to enable new levers of competitive advantage. It is, therefore, necessary to have a strategic vision that can identify the new Products/Services that can be offered to the market and the related business models.

Do you measure your performance? Probably yes, but do you also measure the behaviour in your company?

The key factor to keep and improve the results of a company is the sum of all human behaviour in the company. And in this fast moving world, you need to continuously progress in order to keep your competitive advantage. After all; “it’s not the big that eat the small…it’s the fast that eat the slow”.

The 5 fundamental challenges to address

Healthcare systems differ greatly across countries and regions. It is challenged by many external factors to deliver higher levels of service at constant or even lower cost, which means simple efficiency measures are no longer sufficient.

Having a clear and powerful "Why"

The Shingo Model’s definition of the principle Create Constancy of Purpose is, “an unwavering clarity of why the organization exists, where it is going, and how it will get there", which it goes on to say, "enables people to align their actions, as well as to innovate, adapt and take risks with greater confidence.”

Operational Excellence in Laboratories

The pharmaceutical sector is very different from the short cycle manufacturing environment that Lean was originally developed for (i.e. mostly batch processes with relatively long cycle times).

A 6-step holistic approach to ensure strategic consistency

Despite having spent years and countless millions on optimising their operations, 61% of companies (according to the Economist’s Intelligence Unit) find themselves frustrated with the same problem.