BUSINESS EXPERTISE
Operating model
How we support our clients
At Kea, we are convinced that there is no sustainable business model without responsibility. With the acceleration of thinking about industrial relocation, the circular economy, the development of ecologically and socially responsible models, the networking of resources... the movement towards "responsible competitiveness" has already been initiated by companies in various forms. To support this transformation and maximize its impact, we have developed an approach around the "Positive Operating Model", which reconciles responsibility & competitiveness:
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Responsibility: imagine, create and sell responsibly, in a more sustainable and local way, according to a new approach to value, performance and collaboration within sectors.
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Competitiveness: develop agile and optimized operating models in terms of full costs (R&D, purchasing, production, sales and distribution, recycling, reuse and obsolescence costs).
On the basis of these convictions, we help our clients (all sectors combined, in France and abroad) to achieve significant and lasting leaps in performance, whether in the context of a sudden drop in turnover or strong growth.To achieve these results in record time and to sustain them over time, we rely on the teams of Arkos, a Kea Group company specializing in mass deployment.
"The essence of competitiveness is liberated when we make people believe that what they think and do is important."
Jack Welch
Digitalization has imposed a new, much faster pace, while at the same time evolving consumer demand (new customer journeys, easier comparison, etc.) and creating new competitors that challenge traditional business models. Marketing & Sales departments must constantly reinvent themselves to face new challenges: innovation, user experience, use of customer data, real-time customer relationships, omnichannel customer journeys, etc., which create new responsibilities and revolutionize traditional activities. Whether it is the transition to more agile marketing or the activation of commercial transformation levers, we help our clients seize all opportunities to "augment" their marketing & sales functions.
A revolution in traditional marketing and sales activities
Our know how
MARKETING & TRADE
Reinventing yourself in the face of new market rhythms
Our marketing and trade projects
The marketing and sales departments we meet express their desire to make progress in the development of innovative offers (incremental or disruptive innovation), whether in ideation, design or marketing: design the right offer, at the right time, for the right target, reduce time-to-market, build an effective go-to-market. Discover our approach to Agile Marketing.
Our clients are also regularly faced with the challenge of optimizing their business model and organization: we help them to grow or maximize profitability in an iso-organization, to prepare for changes in the market and customer needs, and to align the commercial strategy with the global strategy.
MEET OUR TEAM
Eco-design, smart contracts, IoT, blockchain, consumer pressure, international regulations, ecological and social crises... the future of the Purchasing function is taking shape through multiple changes, and its role in the company will largely depend on its ability to transform itself in depth. As a key business function, Purchasing is also a major application point for the company's changes towards greater responsibility. Moreover, by positioning itself at the heart of the ecosystem (partners, experts, suppliers, customers), Purchasing has the potential to go beyond the simple role of supporting the transformation to become the key to entry and the leader of the orchestra that gives impetus to the rest of the company and the ecosystem. It is this evolution in a triple ethical, environmental and economic logic that goes far beyond compliance with new regulations that we support our clients.
An economic, ethical and ecological transformation
PROCUREMENT & RESPONSIBLE SOURCING
A procurement function with exposure to market developments from all sides
Our projects on responsible purchasing topics
With 20 years of experience, the Kea & Partners teams support purchasing functions in the various aspects of their responsible transformation: sustainable control of costs, risks and externalities, search for competitive advantages (eco-design, new markets, etc.), development of synergies with the ecosystem and the local economic fabric.
Find out more about our approach to responsible sourcing.
Repositioning of the purchasing function of a leading FMCG player
Kea supported the positioning of Purchasing as a strong arm of the materiality of the CSR strategy of a large group, with a repositioning of its added value, the search for new sources of performance (beyond financial) and the revision of the modes of collaboration with stakeholders.
Developing responsible sourcing for an apparel company
Kea defined a new vision for purchasing that integrates the challenges of responsibility: definition of criteria for "green" purchasing, working closely with stakeholders to define a green offer, relocation of sourcing to close import.
Operational excellence, lean management, simplification, ebit recovery... there are many terms to describe the search for, or return to, sustainable competitiveness, taken up by the teams and inscribed in the reflexes. Gradually, the field of reflection is widening, and it is the whole of the company's operating model that is being reconfigured to generate long-term value, beyond cost reduction and cost control.
Reducing the time to market for a logistics company's marketing department
Faced with a constant decline in activity and the rapid renewal of its market, our client called on Kea to transform its marketing method for designing offers. After having acculturated the teams to Agile, we co-constructed an Agile Marketing method adapted to their specificities, making it possible to divide the time-to-market by three
Defining a Commercial Excellence Program for a cosmetics company
To return to growth, Kea has helped the sales teams identify program levers: revising customer segmentation, defining go-to-markets, organizational changes, implementing new leadership and management rituals, and addressing the daily irritants of the sales force.
Designing the future factory model in cosmetics
Kea supported the executive team in defining a long-term industrial vision, translated into guidelines for the factory of the future and an Industry 4.0 roadmap. This exercise allowed to respond to the challenges of infrastructure and equipment saturation, lack of visibility on long-term developments in cosmetics production, and challenges to improve performance.
Industry 4.0 digitization strategy for Tier 1 aerospace supplier
Kea's intervention consisted of identifying and formalizing the key issues and priority objectives, designing the transformation roadmap, sourcing high value-added startups, and supporting the implementation of the transformation plan. We also applied a cultural transformation approach to facilitate the adoption of digital culture.
The transformations of the operations are multiple : the boom of the mass customization, the development of "make and buy" and of ecosystems, the agility, the emergence of a supply chain of data and services, the rise of the CSR issues... New technologies contribute to the profound changes that are underway. work in the industry, even if the reflection must be angled by the uses above all. Above all, they offer a series of opportunities that go beyond the issue of competitiveness, making it possible to exploit new growth potential while promoting more responsible approaches. For every player in the industry, it is a matter of finding the right approach to anticipate and prepare for the future of operations, rather than experiencing it. We are committed to supporting our customers in this complex transformation, which is global in nature and affects the vision, the production system, the skills and the management methods.
Future Operations is a future-oriented field of strategic opportunities
FUTURE OPERATIONS
Digital intelligence and the profusion of technologies : sources of opportunities and optimism for operations
Our projects on the operations of the future
Our clients come to us with many questions: What industrial ecosystems and supply chains should they build for tomorrow? What technological opportunities should they bet on and invest in now? How to simultaneously manage the current legacy and an accelerated digital transformation? How to initiate cultural & managerial changes that will drive transformation? We take advantage of our triple expertise (business, technology and transformation) and our multidisciplinary ecosystem, which provides access to a wide range of innovations, technologies and use cases, to find answers to these questions in a co-construction logic with our clients.
Lean approach & cost streamlining for a cosmetics company
Faced with a slowdown in growth despite an organization that continued to expand, our client called on Kéa to drive a lean approach, optimize costs, and regain agility within the organization. In each of the functions, Kéa assisted in the diagnosis and construction of a detailed plan to achieve these objectives.
Implementing Lean Management on a Large Scale at a Railroad Company
Kea helped define the management practices related to Lean and Change Management, the actions taken by managers, and a deployment standard to support deployment in all regions. In the end, 100% of managers were empowered and 50 local and regional facilitators of the approach were trained in the methodology.
Process approach, business process reengineering, lean management... so many methods that have been touted in recent years to improve performance and operational excellence. However, at a time when competitiveness has become the leitmotif of companies, they find, at the end of the nth plan, that the effects do not always live up to expectations. In fact, while these approaches may produce results (20-30% reduction in costs), 3 out of 4 companies feel that they have not made real progress over time.
The common denominator of all these approaches is a top-down implementation mode of standards, practices, processes and procedures, which makes them "another issue" in competition with other company issues (quality improvement, customer satisfaction, etc.).
3 out of 4 companies have no real progress with lean management over time
LEAN & OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE
Returning to Lean Basics to Achieve Sustainable Goals
Our Lean & operational excellence projects
The aim of this type of project with our clients is to increase the value/energy ratio by combining the 3 types of value (customer, shareholder, team). To achieve this, we are committed to implementing 3 major cultural changes:
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Develop an obsession with value that goes beyond the pursuit of excellence.
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Convince people that progress is always possible, beyond the achievement of performance
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Make the manager a coach, beyond the role of pilot and controller
Learn more about our Lean Management approach.
EBIT Recovery program in the food industry
Our client asked Kea to structure its competitiveness plan in the face of volatile raw materials, a stagnant market and plants that were difficult to make profitable. Thanks in particular to a cost reduction plan, a new pricing policy, and a review of purchasing processes, the program generated savings of 30 million euros in 24 months.
Turnaround plan for an aerospace plant
In a situation of hyper-growth and major investments, our client asked Kea to reverse the trend of deterioration in EBIT and quality. After a diagnosis, the structuring and implementation of the recovery plan with the site teams allowed the EBIT to progress from -3% to +4% of sales per month in one year.
The life of a company is sometimes made up of market reversals that require a significant recovery in EBIT: reduction in activities, increase in costs, increased competition and pressure on sales prices, increased need for agility in a constantly changing market... to finance growth and increase investment capacity, shareholder concerns, multiplication processes and the diversity of organizations within the company. When we help our clients to overcome these situations, we rely on the commitment of the management, the adhesion and the mobilization of the collaborators, through a systemic approach tackling both sales and costs. In helping our clients to overcome these situations, we rely on the commitment of the management, the loyalty and the mobilization of the employees through a systemic approach that addresses both revenues and costs (customers, sales and channels, supply chain, procurement, product development, industrial presence and support functions), with special attention to the avoidance of labour disputes and the ability to fund the measures to restore EBITs with the financial resources.
Short-term outcomes, with cultural shifts for long-term momentum
EBIT RECOVERY
A 360° approach to EBIT turnaround
Our Ebit Recovery projects
We support our executive clients in Ebit Recovery projects of international scope. We aim to deliver double value: quantified results and cultural change to ensure that momentum is sustained. For us, the challenge is to develop sustainable competitiveness by enabling teams to make a difference and create the right reflexes. Discover all the ingredients of our approach.
Restructuring an equipment brand
Kéa supported the turnaround and transformation of the company, ensuring a return to basics (clarification of positioning, cost control, etc.) and managing the transformation through a step-by-step working method.
Restructuring project for a property developer
Kea assisted the operator with a diagnostic that resulted in a plan to optimize its cost structure. Beyond the restructuring, we contributed to the definition of a new project for the future to cope with a 40% drop in activity.
In a very short time, the situation of the company can change and weaken the whole activity, despite a solid foundation. If Kea is committed, through its labels "Company with a Mission" and B Corp, it is to respond to this type of difficult or even brutal challenge, helping its clients to develop their resilience with 3 strong convictions: the definition of a goal to be achieved that is both sustainable and desirable, a way of operating responsibly alongside the COMEX and managers, positioned at the heart of the project, and a start from day one to put the activity under control.
Our responsible approach to restructuring (to be discovered here) aims to support the company at the right level, depending on its current situation, through reconciliation:
Reconciling restructuring and responsibility
RESPONSIBLE RESTRUCTURING
Towards a sustainable business rebound
Our restructuring projects
With 20 years of experience in business transformation, we offer our clients responsible and innovative support in restructuring challenges, as close as possible to the challenges of employees, thus contributing to our mission: "Leading transformations for a desirable economy. ".
This is yet another issue that is struggling to mobilize teams to maintain a dynamic of continuous progress over time and throughout the organization. In order to intervene in this type of issue, Kéa has developed a Lean for Value approach that looks for 3 complementary values: customer value (customer satisfaction, lead times, quality of service, once & done), shareholder value (productivity, costs, quality, deadlines, capacity utilization, time to market) and team value (mastery of the business, elimination of irritants, accident rate, motivation).
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The need for security and stabilization in the short term, through targeted actions
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The need to preserve the company's ability to build on its strengths for sustainable resultss
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The balance of value between customers, employees, shareholders and the ecosystem
Our current model of production and consumption is based on cheap and accessible materials and energy. It is now reaching its limits in the face of environmental challenges, employment and global population growth. It is therefore necessary to change the model.
The crisis has revealed weaknesses: the vulnerability of supply chains, the rigidity of globalized supply chains... At the same time, customers, investors and employees are demanding more responsible and sustainable models. Finally, political and regulatory upheavals (AGEC law, RT/RE, climate law, etc.) have a strong impact on all sectors.
To address this issue is to go beyond the norm, to meet the expectations of your customers and the aspirations of your teams, to create new competitive advantages for your company, your sector, your territory and to reinvent your economic models! Although many initiatives are underway, particularly to reduce environmental impact, it is possible to go further. To create positive value at all levels: economic, social and environmental (learn more).
Be ahead of the norm by redesigning your model for positive value creation
CIRCULAR ECONOMY
A Need for Model Change
Our projects in the field of the circular economy
Depending on the desired level of maturity and commitment, we intervene with our clients in different ways: from initial awareness raising to supporting experimentation with new activitie
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Circularity diagnosis
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Raising awareness of management teams
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Opportunity studies and creation of new offers and circular business models
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Anticipating and qualifying regulatory impacts
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Modeling of the economic and environmental impact of activities
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Supporting for multi-stakeholder approaches within sectors
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Supporting for the transformation of the operating model