Not strategy
in isolation.
Delivery.
A plan on paper was only the beginning. Over roughly six months, the work meant getting on planes to China multiple times, travelling into Vietnam, developing suppliers, employing local capability and establishing an office presence in China. The formal company setup was completed locally; the job was to make the commercial model happen.
The objective was not simply to buy cheaper. It was to create a credible, controlled alternative to an established European supply chain — improving the bottom line while creating opportunities to pass an element of the benefit to clients and strengthen the market proposition.
Most importantly, it could not remain a project. The new approach had to be integrated into normal operations: a new BAU.