A global supply chain business

A traditionally ‘analogue’ business with huge digital transformation potential 

Our client is an integral part of retail supply chains - enabling billions of shipments annually.  

Historically, its business was entirely analogue, centring on renting assets to retailers and food producers to use in their supply chains. The leadership team saw an opportunity to change that model.  

The company needed consultancy support to understand how. The chief executive invited Berkeley to tender, having worked with us in previous roles and trusting the depth of our digital transformation expertise. After a competitive process, we were engaged to help develop a bold new digital strategy – one that has since evolved into a standalone business unit within the company. 

Identifying the opportunities for digital transformation 

Our first step was to speak directly with the client’s customers, predominantly supply chain leaders at major retailers across the globe. Through these interviews, we gained a deep understanding of the challenges they faced, such as damage, wastage, bottlenecks, customs delays, and misallocation of stock.  

These problems were often compounded by the absence of insight into the physical journey of products. Retailers’ systems tracked financial transactions but not the real-time location, temperature or condition of goods. This lack of visibility led to inefficiencies and losses, especially with produce that degrades rapidly and which is highly sensitive to handling and temperature. In an industry where timing and condition are critical, these issues directly threatened consumer satisfaction and ultimately, the bottom line. 

Our next step was to speak with the client’s global leadership team and understand their own pain points in terms of planning, forecasting, asset control and stock allocation.  Through these interviews we identified internal use cases where real time asset visibility could increase productivity.   

Selecting digital technology and assessing new customer propositions  

With a clear view of the problem, we turned our attention to potential solutions. Firstly, we assessed the client’s asset base, both physical and technological, to provide an initial foundation for what was possible.  

Then we held a series of sessions with the company’s leadership team, including the CEO, CDO, CIO, CFO, plus European and American sales teams, to develop a long list of different ideas for how digital technologies could unlock value for their customers.  

Following a further assessment of technology providers, where we explored potential solutions for the challenges raised, we narrowed down the list to focus on innovative solutions which would provide supply chain visibility and digital asset tracking.  

We identified new tracking hardware that could be embedded into the company’s assets and withstand the rigours of global transit. This would then be supplemented with investment in upgraded digital capabilities across data and analytics, customer engagement, and product development. 

Building the case for digital investment 

The concept had more in common with a start-up idea than a traditional technology investment so it needed a start-up-style business case to secure initial funding. We helped the client to create a compelling business case, outlining the degree of digitisation required to be able to deliver different customer propositions and internal efficiency benefits with confidence and the value that could be captured at various levels of investment.  

Our business case achieved successful sign-off firstly from the leadership team and then from an owner-level investment committee, acquiring the funding to proceed to piloting. 

The pilot: successfully trialling new digital technology  

We helped the client run a procurement process to select a hardware partner and then supported them through a series of pilots. Initial proof-of-concept trials were conducted, followed by us managing a country-wide pilot. 

We worked with major retailers to test the solution. The results were compelling. Retailers gained real-time visibility into their supply chains. This enabled better planning, stock allocation, reduced waste, and improved shelf-life management.   

Creating a valuable new digital business 

The success of the pilots laid the groundwork for a new digital business within the company. We helped the client build the capability, establish the team, and embed the technology. Once these pillars were in place, we stepped back, transitioning to enable the client to fully take over as business as usual. The digital business is now being scaled under the leadership of a dedicated CDO and team. 

In time, the company will be able to offer supply chain insights and asset tracking as a premium service. This shift moves them up the value chain, allowing them to operate more effectively and differentiate themselves in the market.  

A digital strategy that delivers tangible value 

Investment in digital is expected to deliver game changing financial benefit to the business.  By combining our deep understanding of digital transformation with insight from the client’s customers and leadership team, we delivered a strategy that was immediately actionable. We are proud to have helped our client move from concept to execution in record time, doing so with our signature collaborative, hands-on approach. Together, we created something truly innovative, a digital business born from a simple idea and scaling to transform an industry.