1. 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