Trust and cooperation in the ecosystem advances decarbonisation in marine and energy

I had the privilege of having a dialogue with 瑞士洛桑国际管理发展学院 (IMD) - 商学院 President and Nestlé Professor, Jean-Fran?ois Manzoni , about W?rtsil? and how we are working on shaping the decarbonisation of the energy and maritime sectors through balancing power and green fuels.

In a wide-ranging discussion we covered how our four business units serve the energy and marine industries; flexibility in offerings which enable our customers to future-proof their capital investments; our Services business moving up the service value ladder, and the opportunities in growing this area; the Sustainable Technology Hub; working closely with ecosystems and regulators in driving green development; and also about leadership.

If there is one area I would like to highlight, it’s the topic of trust and cooperation - with our customers, and within the ecosystem.

One of the first topics Professor Manzoni and I discussed was W?rtsil?’s strategic approach to moving our customers up the service value ladder – from spare parts; to yearly maintenance and agreements; then retrofitting and upgrading old equipment to new equipment; and finally to performance-based agreements, where we make commitments on reliability, uptime and fuel efficiency. To do this effectively, we leverage our data capabilities for proactive measures and proactive maintenance.

Digital tools also enable us to work with a much broader set of customers, and digital solutions are key to grow our Services business. And we must match that with people – service engineers, data analysts and leaders – having a customer-oriented mindset and a?purpose: ‘Enabling sustainable societies through innovation in technology and services’. Our culture is built around purpose and principles to enable us to make decisions close to where customer value is created.

Then, to transform effectively in our industries, we need to recognize that we are a part of an ecosystem. No company can do this transformation alone. Working with the ecosystem – and its stakeholders – is the key enabler to drive business and contribute to the transformation. Changes in capital-intensive industries like energy and marine are highly strategic and impact not only our organisation, but also customers’ and other stakeholders’ organisations.

Participating in an ecosystem also requires information and data sharing, which isn’t always easy. Everyone wants to be careful with their data, while unlocking value from the partnerships. So this is a journey of maturity and building trust with your ecosystem partners.

Our Smart Technology Hub, which we inaugurated in June this year, is not just a place where we bring all the different functions in W?rtsil? together and where we test future fuels and technology for the marine and energy industries. It is also the hub of open innovation, bringing in our customers, suppliers, partners and academia to see how we can speed up innovation. By working closely together, we can bring new innovations to market in a controlled but rapid way that creates value for the industry, for customers, and also for our shareholders. Collaboration with external stakeholders does not happen overnight. It is a learning process for all of us – starting with belief, ambition and intention, followed by a candid dialogue, and finally taking it forward.

An example of such cooperation is the ZEEDS initiative, which includes many stakeholders in the marine ecosystem. It was formed with the aim of developing ammonia as green fuel. Rather than starting with formal agreements, it began with building trust with one another and working in this system to accelerate innovation. The progress has been really encouraging.

An important part of the ecosystem work is the interaction with regulators, who have significant impact on our industries. Working with regulators is an integral part of our business model. Following COP26, politicians and regulators are now more focused on green initiatives than ever, and there’s an increased need for openness and dialogue. We need to recognize that green is not “black or white”, there are no single, simple solutions. We need to consider different technical alternatives depending on business application and geographical scope and the industry and regulators need to engage in a dialogue.

There will be more happening in marine and energy in the next ten years, as compared to the previous thirty years. To accelerate the green transformation, persistence is key. With cooperation and open dialogue we can do it!

For the full video and article: