Case Studies
Decision Evaluation's method can help you make major business decisions of all types
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Evaluating Major IT systems
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Biwater
Company background
Biwater plc provides water and wastewater treatment services to millions of people around the world. Established in 1968 in the UK, Biwater employs almost 3,000 people worldwide and has a turnover exceeding £200m. Their expertise covers:-
Water & wastewater treatment
Desalination
Water asset management & consultancy
Infrastructure ownership, investment & operation
Package plants and products
Leisure & environmental advice
Situation
Their bespoke IT systems managed all projects, budgets, systems, materials and personnel data within the company. The project was to replace these systems with a single enterprise resource planning (ERP) package.
To get the best out of ERP, every company department must be involved, so inter-departmental agreement was essential and detailed knowledge of suitable systems on the market was needed. Large ERP systems typically take a long time to implement, so a decision had to be made as soon as possible, with the main existing system 15 years old, labour intensive, expensive and due to become unsupported.
Investigations/diagnosis
Biwater agreed that the Board, charged with making the decision to choose a replacement, needed a formal method of evaluation. They engaged IT Evaluation, a division of Decision Evaluation.
Treatment
The new system had to replace eight other systems, making the project very complex and high risk.
Biwater required a formal approach for choosing a new system so we implemented our method, covering:-
Project scoping
System selection method (derived from our master checklist of over 1,000 items)
Weighted attribute scoring at short-listing and detailed evaluation stages
Formal decision-making workshops
Outcome
Using our method, Biwater determined that the scope of the project should be expanded to include the global enterprise rather than solely the main UK division. With our project support technology and decision-making facilitation, the project spanned a period of 15 months.
The outcome was that their preferred system was demonstrably superior to the industry brand leader, but at half the cost (even before negotiation).
Following a thorough gap analysis to identify opportunities, Decision Evaluation also briefed the negotiation team, focussing on price, maintenance and free enhancements. The result was a reduction on the asking price of £1.2m to £800,000.
Client comments: Project Manager, Peter Ogden, Biwater Treatment
[Best part of experience?] "The formal methodology. Because it is so clear in terms of objectives and outcomes, it enables people at all levels to buy into the process at an early stage. It also provides a clear record of due diligence, which is exactly what we required for a major IT/business system investment."
"During the implementation, the selection process has been thoroughly justified. We involved the right people from across the business in the selection process, and nobody can say they were not represented or involved. Although no system is perfect, we have taken a thorough and auditable approach to finding the best fit for the business."
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Evaluating Business Strategies
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Company background
This international conglomerate has an annual turnover in excess of $7bn, with more than 40,000 employees worldwide and sales in over 80 countries.
Decision Evaluation was contacted to help its UK subsidiary make major decisions on the future of assets following reorganisation.
Existing Situation
UK business regions had recently been amalgamated with the potential for cost savings and improved production methods. The Board needed to establish which products or factories to invest in, and which, if any, to decommission. The project team, who had been tackling the decision for nine months, had already created financial projections for all seven strategic options, but the results needed integrating, clarifying and presenting. The project team had a collective intuitive preference for one particular option, but needed to support this by using provable evaluation method.
Investigations/diagnosis
Decision Evaluation's initial investigation into and diagnosis of the situation was necessarily rapid as the project team were required to present their findings, decision and supporting evidence to the company's European board within one week.
Treatment
Decision Evaluation joined the team one day after a briefing with the Managing Director, and continued working closely with the team for the rest of the week.
Rapidly absorbing business knowledge and quickly melding with the team, we helped them to establish almost 50 relevant criteria on which to base their decision. Crucial to this was formally considering stakeholder groups - everyone from staff to suppliers, customers to unions.
Outcome
Once the decision-making process was shown to have integrity, the team's confidence in their decision increased hugely. While the formal analysis scores did not clash with gut feel this time (as sometimes happens), the gain was a substantial increase in conviction. The team presented to the European Board on time and their preferred option was endorsed. The workshop process helped them not only to decide on the preferred option, but also to show credible decision-making - crucial in this situation.
Client comments: Regional Managing Director
"It's just as well you are here, Martin, because if not we would have another twenty pages of flip-pad on the walls. and be no further forward."
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Evaluating Industrial Locations
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Company background
The client is a multi-billion dollar turnover manufacturer with production in more than 35 countries. Their vertically-integrated, global operation takes the product right from raw materials through manufacturing to distribution of their own brand and those of major retailers.
Decision Evaluation was contacted to help the UK operation choose the location for a proposed new, huge, greenfield facility.
Existing situation
The client had considered the viability of a set of manufacturing plants. The decision was to sell off old factories and build a new 350,000 sq ft factory on a greenfield site at a projected cost of £33m.
Investigations/diagnosis
A commercial property consultant had identified 18 possible sites. However, the project team needed help to establish the salient factors to consider when choosing the industrial location for the new build. The decision had to take into account issues including: geography, site, personnel, suppliers, customers, access and cost, among many others.
Treatment
After extensive research, Decision Evaluation established the necessary attributes. A two-day workshop then rated each of the available sites basied on this criterion.
Outcome
A clear preferred option emerged from the workshop, which was put to the European Board. The Decision Evaluation process helped the team not only to confirm their instinctive choice, but also to show process credibility for their collective decision, defending the argument and supporting a major change in the organisation. Supporting analyses were able to demonstrate due and fair process, without personal bias.
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Penwortham
Preston
PR1 0BP
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