An international client of Strategic Allies Ltd, let's call it Manufacturer X, identified a strategic need to develop innovative offerings to its clients that encompass not only the best delivered products but also forward looking services that secure business into the future. The problem facing this manufacturer though was - how do you systemise the capture and international roll out of such services ....when they haven't even been thought of yet? It was this dilemma that was given to Strategic Allies Ltd to decipher.

As it wasn't our business, the answer would obviously lie within the experience and knowledge of our client's personnel, with some insight and structuring from SAL. Our task was to stimulate the appropriate personnel in our client to develop the process themselves. Manufacturer X works across many different sectors as well as continents so it was decided initially to pick just two sectors in which the client had developed very strong relationships - oil exploration and power generation.

The solution came from a combination of "hard mental graft" allied with SAL's innovative approach. Three experienced personnel from the client spent two days in a SAL workshop where everything from what, when, where, why, how and by whom was explored, analysed, re-questioned and finally agreed. At the end of the second day a process started to emerge whereby Manufacturer X could engage with its clients to understand what those clients are seeking in order to enhance their business. By systematically using these building blocks our client could more than satisfy its own client's needs and add value throughout the supplier chain.