Case study by Implement Consulting group: Future operations execution
Maersk Line ahead of competition
For years, Maersk Line has established itself as market leader with EBIT growth that is > 5 % higher than that of its competitors. This has partly been achieved by a reduction in unit costs through strategic initiatives such as slow steaming, larger vessels (economies of scale) and strategic partnerships. Maersk Line seeks to continuously improve; however, their innovations are also copied by competitors.
The Future Operations Execution (FOE) transformation programme was initiated in 2013 with the purpose of developing Maersk Line Operations Execution in order to achieve a unique competitive advantage: Operations that continuously drive costs down through standardisation and systemic process improvements.
Maersk Line Operations Execution
Maersk Line Operations Execution is managing the world’s largest fleet of more than 500 vessels with the objective to deliver what their customers have promised to their customers at the lowest possible operating costs. The main processes of Operations Execution are capacity planning, cargo execution, marine management and procurement. The organisation spans across 8 regional offices and 3 service centres working together in one global network.
The vision of Future Operations Execution
Before FOE, the primary driver was the performance of the individual regional locations. The result was a highly competitive internal environment. The eight locations did not follow global standards, but optimised their own processes, performance data, organisational structure and way of working. There was little motivation for sharing best practices, even though customers as well as the company’s bottom line were dependent on a high-performing network for global container shipping.
The FOE programme set out to change this through defining and implementing:
- One set of numbers
- One way of managing
- One set of processes
- One global organisation
- One continuous improvement mindset
This simple but strong message was broken down into a simple model for how Maersk Line was to succeed with the mission.
Read more about how Maersk developed Maersk Line Operations Execution in order to achieve a unique competitive advantage here: https://implementconsultinggroup.com/case/maersk-line-future-operations-execution/
