CASE STUDY / YONDR
ADVERT / ESG
Segmentation and systems
To quickly and effectively communicate with existing suppliers it hoped would move with it, as well as reaching out to potential providers, Williams hit the road to hold supplier days. These took place at each of Yondr’s sites in Finland, Belgium, the Netherlands, England and Ireland and were supported by two members of the executive leadership team for maximum impact. “With the presence of our senior people, we were able to have more suppliers turn up at our supplier days,” she says. “The executive team is well known in the industry and new suppliers came along because they knew something exciting was happening in the data centre market.” After a presentation explaining the changes, suppliers had the chance to ask the Yondr team about their future growth plans. Great feedback followed this face-to-face approach and Williams says the business experienced barely any disruption during the handover. Since these events, Yondr Group has announced $2bn in data centre investment across the US, Canada, LATAM. It has also acquired 270 acres of prime real estate in Northern Virginia. This is a crucial milestone in its Americas expansion plan and part of its overall aim is to become the fastest full-scale service provider of data centres in the world.
science Do your suppliers have clear backed ESG targets?
business represents an opportunity for suppliers, it is keen to listen to and adapt to their requirements. “A lot of organisations focus on cost savings and think that's what procurement does – but that approach is from the 1990s.” After partnering with State of Flux to support Williams, Yondr carried out a ‘Voice of the Supplier’ survey early in 2020 to discover how it could become a customer of choice. “We asked them to compare their experience of us to date with their best client.” The results provided a clear baseline of supplier relationships, highlighted areas of good practice and those for improvement. “We had a huge response,” says Williams, “around 85% replied and the feedback was incredibly helpful. It essentially reminded us to focus on the basics – to pay promptly, not to immediately escalate conversations concerning performance and so on. It has informed our strategy for the first two years, which is constantly evolving.” Not only that, the exercise put the supply chain at the forefront of people’s minds within the Yondr business. “It’s helped stakeholders think differently about how to contract providers and has shown we have a buying function that adds genuine value to the business,” she says. This was vital because it is stakeholders who contract and manage suppliers once they’re onboard. Meanwhile, Williams provides support, advice and coaching to the business on all matters supply chain.
As well as finding out how suppliers viewed them, Williams and State of Flux set about segmenting the supply chain and established a buy desk. Providers were partitioned into three areas: ICT fit- out activities, services (such as lawyers and consultants), and construction. Work on this is ongoing. The top 30 partners to Yondr have already been identified and appropriate treatment strategies put in place. These include quarterly business reviews and a supplier performance management strategy with each of them. Williams and State of Flux ran training sessions for internal stakeholders to explain the importance of these activities. They also presented on the significance of having formal contracts in place to reduce risk and cost. Williams educated stakeholders to carry out everything from compliance, onboarding, performance management, the importance of considering what's in it for both parties and how to have difficult conversations, as well as how to record updates and changes via a shared drive. “State of Flux and I worked with the business to make it understand how important this is and they have bought into it and are running them,” says Williams. A tactical supplies desk now links to Yondr’s financial ERP system. This platform, delivered by State of Flux, covers catalogue and non-catalogue items under £25,000. It has improved the user-interface for colleagues, creates commercial benefit and delivers essential spend analytics to Williams. Meanwhile, the strategic Buy Desk, led by Williams and supported by State of Flux, helps the business to improve commercial and operational outcomes through spend analysis and opportunity delivery, as well as assisting with international expansion plans. The reaction from colleagues has been so positive that Williams is already at full capacity. “I’ve had fantastic feedback internally. Everyone recognises this skillset and they all want the help.”
Listening to suppliers
Yondr says it made “significant investment” into its business in 2020, and Williams anticipates this will grow as the company scales. Most of the initial investment was spent establishing a robust supply chain, evaluating market-fit strategies and data centre engineering design innovations. Investments were also set aside to meet Yondr’s aggressive international expansion programme. The company currently has around 1,700 suppliers globally and hopes to take vendors with it on its expansion journey. Williams says it will take a mixed approach to new locations that includes both tendering with local supply chains and working alongside existing suppliers to help them set up new entities. She is clear that while the
Despite the high profile importance of having ESG (environmental, social and governance) measures in place, some suppliers still lack credible targets that are supported with an actionable plan. State of Flux can help you identify which suppliers you need to work with to deliver your ESG goals and assist you to create a joint plan. Talk to us about how you and your supply base can affect change.
A LOT OF ORGANISATIONS FOCUS ON COST SAVINGS AND THINK THAT'S WHAT PROCUREMENT DOES — BUT THAT APPROACH IS FROM THE 1990S.
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STATE OF FLUX
2021 GLOBAL SRM RESEARCH REPORT
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