Consultancy and advice

The following projects I’ve worked on revolved around advising or consulting business and governments. In line with my academic profile, they mostly involved prominent analytical/research components. Areas in which I’ve worked are related to technological innovation: strategic sourcing / supplier management, industry policy and energy innovation.

Example activities include:

Océ Technologies / Canon Group: Global key account management

Océ Technologies, a manufacturer of high-end production and graphic arts printing equipment and consumables, sought to streamline the long-term alignment with its strategic suppliers (ca. €100M annual spend). I was tasked with guiding this process, and I concluded early on that external alignment relies on internal alignment, in particular between the various Océ operating sites (in The Netherlands, Germany, Canada and Malaysia). This was achieved by instating an (S)VP-level meeting routine, strategic topic-driven agendas and translating long-running themes into concrete decision-making with clear responsibilities.

ASML: Supply chain risk management

As a temp hire, I was responsible for analyzing structural/systemic risks in the 1000+-supplier network of semiconductor lithography equipment manufacturer ASML. The outcome of this analysis was used to adjust existing processes of supplier monitoring and performance management (‘Value Sourcing’ and ‘QLTC’).

Netherlands Enterprise Agency (Min. of Economic Affairs): energy innovation roadmap

I contributed to the formation of Dutch government energy innovation roadmaps by (among others) analyzing the success and failure of energy innovation projects. This was done by following-up on past projects through interviews and document research. This yielded insights into how individual projects relate to each other in the context of long-term innovation processes and sets of success factors (such as resources) for such projects. The outcomes of this analysis were integrated into knowledge management systems that are used to track and report on innovation projects, also outside the scope of energy innovation.

Province of Gelderland / InnoTeP: manufacturing industry outlook

The province of Gelderland is home to an expansive manufacturing industry that shows similarities with the Eindhoven region, but is much less visible and recognized by the general public as well as policy makers. The Province of Gelderland asked us (InnoTeP, with prof. Benk Dankbaar and dr. Geert Vissers) to make an analysis of the strategic outlook of the manufacturing industry in this province. We compiled a list of manufacturing companies, condensed this list to a subset of 70 particularly prominent/strategic firms which we then analyzed in-depth using on-site interviews. The result of this study, including an appealing taxonomy of manufacturing firms, was a report “Gelderland Maakt ‘t” (“Gelderland Has it Made”) which informed the industry-policy making of the province.

Gelderland Valorization: startup accelerator

The startup accelerator of the Gelderland Valorization program was intended to coach people in the process of starting a business. Together with a colleague from one of the program partners, I acted as a sparring partner to these nascent entrepreneurs. I also offered theoretical insights on the entrepreneurial process and processes of innovation and new product development, and helped to make these insight practical and actionable.

Within the same Valorization program I was also member of the Starters Voucher committee. Entrepreneurs could apply for (modest) financial support in the very first steps of their entrepreneurial career. My task, together with the other committee members, was to assess business plan and elevator pitches for eligibility of these grants, to develop and specify assessment criteria, and to offer suggestions for further development to the applying entrepreneurs.