INNOVATION AT FERO: WHAT IT MEANS TO US
OPINION PIECE - RICHARD SAYSELL, MANAGING DIRECTOR, FERO
What is innovation?
Innovation can mean many different things to different people. In fact, surveys of the literature on innovation have found a large variety of definitions. In 2009, Baregheh et al. found around 60 definitions in different scientific papers, while a 2014 survey found over 40*.
Based on their survey, Baregheh et al. attempted a definition to cover multidisciplinary applications and arrived at the following:
"Innovation is the multi-stage process whereby organisations transform ideas into new/improved products, service or processes, in order to advance, compete and differentiate themselves successfully in their marketplace."
Why is innovation important?
The word is flung around loosely by Procurement and Marketing alike; In RFIs and RFPs “demonstrate where you have delivered in the past...”, and on agendas for chemistry meetings “how will you deliver for us…”. In one recent instance, the client outlined how many innovations they would expect each month! Is this not devaluing the resource and energy needed to truly innovate? In turn, demoting it into a box-ticking exercise? A game to be played in powerpoint slides perhaps. In summary, definitions are all well and good, but how does that translate in the real world – and more specifically within our business and the clients we work for?
Our clients are facing pressure that calls for innovation in all areas:
- to meet cost reduction or (even more prevalent now) sustainability targets
- to mitigate reduced headcounts and more accountability
- to handle the strain on raw materials supply and price volatility
Finally, there is the need to deliver under the ever reducing lead times due to the competitive nature of the UK retail supply chain and the combined impact of the points above. Put simply, our clients need us to do more for less.
To remain competitive (and preferably profitable), incredibly agile and manage processes on behalf of our clients, innovation therefore needs to be at the heart of our business and an intrinsic element of our culture and DNA.
How do we bring innovation to life at FERO?
We have a framework we use, but doesn’t everyone? In essence, we rigorously examine every single element of our process and the end product to ensure we are as efficient and effective as possible. We’re obsessed with technology and automating absolutely every aspect of our operations. Maybe this doesn’t sound terribly glamorous, but it makes a significant difference to our clients’ businesses – and ours.
Perhaps more importantly, as we see innovation as a mindset, we employ the best people we can; experts in the individual disciplines with significant experience to improve all areas of our business. We don’t expect our junior colleagues to provide all the answers, or have all the necessary experience and knowledge. One day they will, because that’s also part of the plan, but in the meantime we don’t dismiss their ideas either. In some respects there is an innovative freedom in not being tied to the repetition of years of experience.
What is innovation not?
Well firstly it’s hard to count if the client asks for it in a brief…! There is a fine line between doing our jobs well in servicing our clients and genuinely innovative responses to briefs. It’s also not just ‘free-stuff’ which is a common assumption.
In our experience, you can’t create innovation in a vacuum, so we don’t see innovation as a department or the responsibility of a few people within our business. How can one isolated team understand how to innovate and improve throughout the whole operation? Who better to shave a few seconds off a process, reduce incremental waste, or change the way we share our data with a client, than our people? They just need to be empowered to make suggestions. They also need to believe it’s worthwhile bothering taking the time.
Rather than seeking the silver bullet, innovation as marginal gains can be tested and deployed quickly and efficiently, without needing massive change management programmes which stifle delivery and frustrate those involved. This way of thinking needs to be ingrained throughout our culture and ways of working. Our people are best placed to understand how to improve their ways of working and pro-actively understand what will work best for our clients. By telling everyone the ultimate destination, pointing the organisation in the direction and empowering our voices, we can move quickly. We have all had big ideas, and even seen them sold in with big budgets and the promise of bigger payoffs, but they usually falter and stagnate because of cultural complexity and politics.
Does it actually deliver?
We genuinely think it does and we track data through our WORKX online tool to ensure we are transparent in the savings and improvements we deliver.
Are we perfect? No - and I guess that’s the point of needing to continually improve, being honest with ourselves, and sometimes brutally so. We have to evolve to reflect the changing needs of brands and retailers. With seismic change still ahead for our high streets and the way we shop, our ability to adapt – and adapt quickly - will never be as important.