Audacia

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Planning Manager of STERIS

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Medical device sterilisation

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Audacia to accomplish?

• Develop New Scheduling Software

SOLUTION

How did you find Audacia?

• Online Search
• Referral

Why did you select Audacia over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Audacia were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Its main purpose will be to generate schedules for the plant, aiming for maximum quality of production whilst optimising utilisation and ontime delivery metrics. The software must also be able to fulfil general and site-specific scheduling needs to facilitate the roll out to any facility in the network, Enhance sustainability, Improve communication and visual management, Improve Utilisation, Facilitate Continuous Improvement, Reduce opportunity for human error Maintenance Planning

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

100% transfer from spreadsheet based planning to Automated end to end planning through all stages of the process. Effective modelling has improved utilisation across all processing lines and allowed both capacity / maintenance planning to seamlessly integrate in a capacity neutral environment. Software has been developed to deploy to different regions with optional configurations available to specific users

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Audacia focused on learning the complexities of our processes to deliver a comprehensive package that met our needs, their ability to listen and advise best possible strategy to resolve any unforeseen requirements rapidly and reprioritising as necessary was exemplary. The flexibility shown has generated a software package that not only meets our current needs but allows for future enhancements that will integrate with other operating software packages seamlessly.

What was your primary form of communication with Audacia?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Audacia came to the table with an open mind, they took the time to learn what we needed and showed huge flexibility in adapting to what at times seemed like an endless list of what if scenarios we were adding

Are there any areas for improvement or something Audacia could have done differently?

No. i appreciated the fact that my head may have said take step 1 to get to step2 but the patience shown to educate me on the number of coding steps required was genuinely appreciated

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of (a/an) Financial services

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

The company is an FCA authorised mortgage lender

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Audacia to accomplish?

• Develop and implement a new platform that automates loan repayment calculations and eliminates manual-based processes that are inefficient. 2 3. Streamline the process of sending out letters for charges and repayments, by automating this task through the new platform
• Improve the overall efficiency and growth potential of the business by eliminating the limitations caused by the previous manual-based processes.
• Streamline the process of sending out letters for charges and repayments, by automating this task through the new platform.

SOLUTION

How did you find Audacia?

Referral

Why did you select Audacia over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fits our budget
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

What was the size of Audacia’s team?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

The work involved the development and implementation of an online platform that automated loan management processes. The initial version of the platform was a database that tracked loan agreements and calculated repayments, charges, and arrears. The platform evolved to become a comprehensive system that managed end-to-end processes, including customer onboarding, repayment finalization, letter generation, SMS reminders, email document generation, and production of management reports.

The key deliverables were an online platform that provided greater automation, flexibility, and scalability to support the company's lending portfolio and overall growth. The platform enabled the company to work with greater efficiency, productivity, and minimized the risk of errors.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

• Improved efficiency and productivity due to the automation of manual processes such as loan repayment calculations, letter generation, SMS reminders, and email document generation. 2. Increased scalability of operations due to the flexibility of the platform, which supported the growth of the lending portfolio. 3. More efficient way to manage end-to-end processes from adding a new customer to finalizing the complete repayment of their agreement.
• Increased scalability of operations due to the flexibility of the platform, which supported the growth of the lending portfolio
• More efficient way to manage end-to-end processes from adding a new customer to finalizing the complete repayment of their agreement

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Audacia provided a Project Manager, one developer and QA resource. Their team collaborated with our key stakeholders and Directors to deliver the project. Our main point of contact is now within Audacia’s support team as they continue to support the platform.

What was your primary form of communication with Audacia?

• In-Person Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

We had regular meetings with our team at Audacia, with direct input from business directors on our end and developers on their side. Communication was very good and consistent throughout the project, benefiting from tight feedback loops.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Audacia could have done differently?

No

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of Yorkshire Gas and Power (YGP). YGP are one of the fastest growing companies in the UK, supplying gas and electricity to organisations throughout England, Scotland and Wales. YGP has a vision to become a serious competitor to the largest energy suppliers in the UK by providing a first class experience to their existing and new customers alike.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Audacia, and what were your goals?

As we continued to grow and diversify our service offering, we realised that our existing manual, spreadsheet-based processes were unable to support our needs. We hired to Audacia to build a bespoke system to manage our end-to-end billing processes that could scale and flex with our business as we grew. We needed a system that could simplify, speed up and add validation to processes, as well as provide a centralised store of data where all staff could access required information. The system needed to be simple and intuitive but capable of managing complex business processes such as complicated billing scenarios.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We shortlisted a number of companies, Audacia being one of them. They were by far the strongest in terms of understanding our requirements.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

After engaging with Audacia, they ran analysis workshops throughout the first month of the partnership to refine system requirements. The project delivery was based on an initial prototype, providing early user feedback, then broken down into five phases; from customer contract and meter management, to invoices and payments, developed using an iterative approach for continuous refinement.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

From YGP, I was the main point of contact. Audacia provided us with one developer, with whom I had direct communication with throughout, and a Project Manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

The new platform successfully streamlined existing processes, significantly increasing operational efficiencies, as well as improving visibility and accessibility of business-critical data. The platform has supported further growth by enabling YGP to offer further benefits to customers, including aggregated invoicing, as well as supporting flexible commission structures for brokers based on complex workflows. The project has enabled us to continue our planned growth, successfully expanding our service offering as business.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

They’re very collaborative. Communication was ongoing and consistent throughout the project, with frequent face-to-face meetings at either of our offices. I had communication directly with our developer, as opposed to managers, which was reassuring due to the complexity of certain modules within the project.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The quality of their developers is very impressive. Our developer went above and beyond to deliver our requirements, especially with regards to the complex parts.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

When we engaged with Audacia, they could have had more knowledge of our industry. However, they spent time and effort to get to know the market and our position, and dug deep into our business processes through wider analysis sessions before delivering the product.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

SMC are a global leader in offshore solutions - providing HSEQ and marine consultancy, marine coordination, offshore project management, client representation, vessel inspections, and bespoke training.

We work with the biggest global companies involved in oil and gas exploration and offshore renewable energy. We’ve deployed our skilled HSEQ Advisors on international marine projects across every continent and ocean.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Audacia?

Our continued expansion meant that our existing systems, made up of a collection of access databases to manage turbines, vessels, and transfers, with an online portal for client access and reporting, had become outdated. We hired Audacia to redevelop our legacy systems and introduce new functionality to support further growth and further enhance the business’ efficiencies.

What were your goals for this project?

We are the market leaders in the marine co-ordination sector. The main problem we had with the old system was the service part – we need the uptime.

We had trouble with remote connections with offshore facilities as most of our operators are actually based on supply vessels offshore. Another challenge we had was in-service support. We needed that 24-hour redundancy and service call, so the marine coordinators could call up any time and get someone reacting to any problems we have.

We wanted a system that could provide full, real-time visibility of business-critical operations, with increased accessibility to enable the optimal planning and transfer of personnel across global sites.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

With our clients, we tend to go through a tender process, so we thought this would be the best approach for choosing a supplier to upgrade our system.

We invited 30 companies to submit a proposal. Our key factor was actually flexibility and being able to understand our requirements, and Audacia ticked all the boxes.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Once we selected Audacia, we engaged in a requirements analysis stage, where prototypes were delivered to further refine and validate requirements. Collaborating over 10 months, they produced a new online platform to manage personnel, assets, logistics, and planned activities.

The system enables us to effectively execute the daily planning of personnel between locations for different job tasks, such as build, maintenance, or review; with reporting functions for factors such as distance traveled, fuel consumption, passenger transfer, and a number of ‘push-on’s’.

The platform also provides a visual representation to manage assets at sea including turbines, substations, and vessels, including the construction of turbines, with real-time visibility of the status of each asset – exclusion zones, current issues, build status.

What was the team composition?

Audacia provided a project manager, our main point of contact, who led the project, alongside one developer and a QA resource, with insight from their technical director. Their team collaborated with our Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and key stakeholders to deliver the project.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The solution delivered by Audacia is scalable and future-proof, facilitating over 215,000 transfers across wind farms around the world. Before the new system, we were just a service. Now it’s helped us put in that service and system and give us a complete package – that’s helped us win work from Scotland to Taiwan, and gain partnerships with major international players, such as Siemens.

The system has helped us to deliver better service with a wider reach, overall contributing to helping the UK progress towards a lower-carbon economy.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Their approach is very collaborative. The project was delivered using a highly iterative process, based on two-week sprints with tight feedback loops, with our product owner being closely involved in all stages of requirements definition and review.

With ongoing communication through various channels and two week face-to-face meetings, we were able to achieve a product that delivered real business value, that could also be sold onto our clients, within the agreed timescales.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The benefits that Audacia bring to it is their industry knowledge within their sector. Where we are offshore operators we don’t necessarily have that expertise. The working relationship is really good.

It’s refreshing that you can actually speak to people at a relatively normal level without over complicating anything, and that’s what I think Audacia does well. It’s fantastic.

They’re also really flexible. They come to the site to analyze what we are doing in-depth and they’re actually interested in what we do.

Are there any areas for improvement?

As with any project requiring complete knowledge of a new business, there will always be things to learn on the way. With Audacia’s approach, including fortnightly retrospectives, learning points were able to be captured quickly. I was impressed with how transparent Audacia was and how upfront they were with identifying and actioning risks before they became an issue.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We primarily buy and sell refurbished datacenter equipment. We’re one of the biggest players in the UK and one of the three biggest resellers in Europe. We have offices in Minnesota, New Jersey, Germany, and our main branch in Harrogate, England. I’m the IT security manager and technical consultant.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Audacia?

We have hundreds of thousands of products that each have up to eight different naming conventions. The difficulty is building a database that is fast enough to return search results in a short period of time. To avoid lost sales, we needed fast search capability with an intelligent search mechanism within a sales-focused database. We wanted something easy to use that had 100% up time.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I scoped the whole project out and produced functional and technical specification documents. Apart from key functionality, the hardest part was integration with about five different systems. We had broker-based systems with two of our IT suppliers, a direct integration with Magento 2 API, and a particularly tricky integration with Sage 200. Their software development kit wasn’t applicable to the stage we were on, so we needed to create a completely bespoke integration that was quick and accurate. Historically, that was a massive problem for us.

In the first phase, we needed to get accurate stock data very quickly. We can’t freeze the system, so stock would update every few minutes. We had additional pricing updates as quickly as every 15 seconds. A quick site with multiple, disparate systems and information coming in from multiple places was our main requirement.

What is the team composition?

We have a project manager, two developers, and a tester. I also spoke with Phil (Managing Director, Audacia) for some of the more complicated aspects of functionality.

How did you come to work with Audacia?

I've been in software for a long time and did my research. I knew who was available in the area. I narrowed the search to local companies within about 100 miles of us because we needed close involvement. Then, I went off referrals from different IT recruiters in the area who provided information on the companies they worked with. That gave me an idea of the scope and size of businesses and the level of expertise they had.

We narrowed our list of possibilities down to six. We ultimately interviewed Audacia and one other company. I presented them with my specification document of what needed to be built with the benchmarks we needed to consider the project successful. We asked for their feedback on the difficult parts and what they would be strong at producing. At that point, I met their technical director, their project manager, and two developers. They seemed very comfortable with the project, and were aware of the complicated parts like the multiplier effect and constituent parts that were tricky for our previous developers. They came up with a simple solution that was incredibly effective. We knew we were pitching to the right level of expertise.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent within the $50,000–$199,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in June 2017. Phase 1, the initial build, is live and we’re working on phases 2 and 3 now. They first rebuilt the database and they’re adding massive value to the business with the coming phases.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

There’s no question they were the best choice to work with. One of our key factors was availability. Since we moved to them, the site has had zero downtime. In the last month, we haven’t had even a second of unplanned maintenance. That’s exactly the reliability and sustainability we wanted.

We’re still working on speed and are focusing on benchmarks in phase 2. That’s still an area of growth. Base usage and the number of users is within tolerance. No one has had any problems with the site so far, which is rare when a system people are used to gets replaced. Feedback has been good.

How did Audacia perform from a project management standpoint?

They have a good range of tools. They were clear and transparent, which is important for project management. Their updates were good and they were fantastic communicators. I never had a problem getting in touch with them and their pricing was very clear. They’re well-managed.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their ability to problem solve was impressive. They found constructive solutions to difficult issues. They were never negative, but offered viewpoints that we could implement together.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’m really happy with my choice of supplier.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

One key thing I asked for was a lot of communication. They were happy to meet those expectations, and they delivered everything I asked for. I may have enjoyed their normal level of communication, but they may have offered less if I hadn’t asked.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I have been recruited to provide project/program advice and support to Story Homes, a medium-sized housebuilder in the United Kingdom of aspirational homes. The company is proud to be one of the few housebuilders with a 5-star rating, which it has held for a number of consecutive years, and is determined to retain this rating. Currently, the company has 3 regional offices, with between 30 – 40 developments in build at any one time. They are currently in the throes of expansion as they target becoming a ‘national’ house builder within 5 years.

Historically the company, like a lot in the industry, was predominately manually driven, so they were very light on systems and procedures. When Steve Errington, the chief executive, was recruited in 2012 one of his key focuses was to identify and implement systems and processes that would help the business grow without increasing the company headcount whilst maintaining the underlying quality of everything we do. I was recruited to support him in ensuring the delivery and effective use of new technology within the business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Audacia?

We wanted to have a solution that would help us control the process from identifying potentially suitable land through to starting to build houses on it. It would also allow us to manage projects from a critical milestone perspective, giving us full visibility of all regional developments at any time. Specifically, we needed to find a replacement for the manual systems used to manage the land development process which is a critical process for the business.

This process starts with identifying and evaluating land through viability analysis, construction, and technical assessments, etc. We then develop a project plan, which includes a variety of steps, e.g. concept approval, completion of regulatory procedures for planning approval, pre-production activities, and handover, etc. The last stage-managed in this application is the handover to our production team who build the houses.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They were involved in the LDA [land development application] project from start to finish. Initially, they helped us with requirements analysis and business case activity, after which we had a series of workshops for scoping and refining the development. They also supported us through the UAT [user acceptance testing] and the subsequent launch of the product.

What is the team dynamic?

In the past 3 years, we’ve worked with a minimum of 2 developers, and at present, we have 4 developers working full-time on our projects.

How did you come to work with Audacia?

We were looking for a partner who could match our high level of quality and be a good fit with our culture. We were looking for a bespoke developer, someone who would make sure that we got what we wanted, and in some instances help us understand what we needed. After we had gone through the normal review process of a number of potential partners, Audacia was clearly the best fit.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in 2014, and the work is ongoing. Currently, we’re collaborating on about 6 projects. They’ve successfully delivered phase 1 of the LDA, and it’s now live and working well. Next year, we will start phase 2, which would take the LDA to another level.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Since we started working with Audacia, we grew 72% in year 1, 64% in year 2, and 79% last year. A significant part of our success is due to the systems and applications that we’ve delivered, including those developed by Audacia. Because of the successful use of technology, we’ve kept the headcount under control and had visibility on all of our key project activities.

How did Audacia perform from a project management standpoint?

They are one of the best teams I’ve worked with in terms of timelines, and engagement. In the instances anything is slipping, they’d always let us know be it cost or time. They are also good at informing us of issues and challenges before they arise, including estimates of any impacts and options available.

We have regular contact with them and the nature and frequency of the contact varies according to the stage of the project. Overall communications are very good.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are a key business partner because of their high-quality work and its impact on our business. Our organization believes that quality is key, and we’ve found that Audacia buys 100% into that. They always try to meet our requirements, no matter how challenging.

We also have a very good working relationship with all of the staff that we work with, which is really important. Phil, the managing director, is an exceptional chap and he’s extremely good at what he does.

Are there any areas they could improve?

It would be great if they had more resources. However, it’s a challenge to get people who are complementary to their business.

Do you have any advice for potential clients of theirs?

Be honest. If you are honest with them, you will get what you want. Sometimes, people are not honest about what they want and what they’re willing to pay.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of a startup that is creating a UK TurboTax. In the UK, we have far fewer DIY software solutions for personal tax filing. Our mission is to make tax filing more straightforward and less stressful than it currently is in the UK.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Audacia Consulting?

Myself and my two co-founders are not technical people, so we went to Audacia with our idea and our hefty accounting and tax knowledge. We gave Audacia the opportunity to architect the whole product. It wasn't going to be a discrete piece of software that we would use only for some purposes; it would underpin all of our relationships with customers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We provided Audacia with the technical specifications we had written. We had an initial call with Phil White, who was the managing director, which was useful. We had a roundtable with the managing director, the technical director, the prospective project manager, and the prospective lead developer, all of whom were fantastic at the outset and then all the way through the project. I felt like we had a good sense of the team.

After that point, we decided we were going to sign on with them, and they gave us a scope of work and cost. We began working with them in the middle of September through mid-December, which was kind of the first scope of work. Then we started working in the Agile methodology, reviewing every two-week sprint either by video chat or by meeting again in their office. Even during crunch times when we had to get the product out, we still traveled to Leeds and worked with them in their office. Although they work with a lot of really big clients, they’re also happy to work with startups and people who just want to get an idea off the ground.

The product needed to have some standard items. We needed to have account creation for our users and payment implementation. We went with Strip as a payment processor. We also needed a complex and dynamic way of understanding a user’s tax circumstances by asking them a series of questions, and then based on their responses, triggering other follow-up questions or not, as the case may be. That was a complex area. We didn't want to just show our users a form to fill in. We wanted to give them a Typeform kind of view. There was also a lot of work in terms of design.

Finally, and probably the most important piece was the technical integration with the government’s services. Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs formally recognizes suppliers that meet their technical specification, and we became one of those suppliers in December through Audacia’s work, so we were happy with that. We’ve learned a lot through working with Audacia, and they’ve been fabulous tutors in that sense as well.

What is the team dynamic?

Our project manager is Adam Stirk. He was fantastic, incredibly well organized, and hands-off enough to let me speak with the lead developer whenever we needed to. We had the lead developer, a QA tester, and other ad hoc people when the team needed to expand a bit to fulfill the scope.

In the beginning of the project we were talking once every week, and then toward the end when we needed to work in a more collaborative way, I was speaking with their lead developer, Danny, on a daily basis, sometimes three to four times a day. They were so fantastic and flexible. I think a load of other places really could have put the stoppers on that, but Audacia really wanted to get the product across the line for us.

How did you come to work with Audacia Consulting?

We found Audacia while we were looking for a replacement company. We had started a small piece of work with another company and it wasn’t a collaborative process. We spoke with teams based in Eastern Europe, America, all over the place. We wanted something onshore, and we also wanted somebody who could fill us with confidence about meeting this particular deadline.

Although Phil was always strict with us about how difficult the project would be, he did say that by scaling the project back and by getting it down to the exact features and user stories that we needed for this first version of our product, it would mean that we’d be able to get something out there. For an entrepreneur and startup, which is much different from a corporation, it was good to have somebody helping us reign in our ambition so that we could deliver a product to market.

We found Audacia by making a lot of phone calls, and we chose Audacia partly because of their quote, but mostly because of the relationship we were building with them. Other people quoted us less, but we weren't feeling as comfortable with them.

How much have you invested with them?

Confidential.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in September 2016 and ended in June 2017.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We launched for a month in January, which is peak tax filing for the UK, and during that time we had a really good response, such that we were able to go away and raise our angel round of funding that far increased the expectations of what the founders had in terms of what we would be able to raise, and that was based on our traction in January.

We then took a step back, and with Audacia’s help, we rolled the product forward for the new tax period, and then that’s currently out and selling. Essentially, their work is underpinning what we’re doing right now.

It was always going to be difficult because it was a tight timeframe to build such a product. There were errors that would come up when it was in beta and when it was live, but I would say nothing ever went more than 18 to 24 hours without being either fixed, addressed, or communicated about in some way.

How did Audacia Consulting perform from a project management standpoint?

They answered all of our calls and emails, and then we also used Slack, which was really helpful. In terms of project management, I think they handled that well, because they let us know if they were going to be out of the office and if parts of the team were on holiday or leave for some reason. They were good at communicating.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their managing director had a spot on sense of the commercial outcomes for our business. Even now, I could happily ring him up, ask him about a technical question and what he thought the feasibility of it would be. I could even ask him a question about the commercial side and business model driven questions, because he’s an exceptionally good entrepreneur in and of himself. I found working with him interesting and beneficial for our company.

Are there any areas they could improve?

A recommendation I have for Audacia concerns their processes. One particular tool they used was Microsoft Visual Studios, because they’re a Microsoft-certified development house. Right now, I'm working with JIRA, an Atlassian product, and it’s just more user friendly. Potentially from a client perspective, using something like JIRA might be easier for clients to wrap their heads around and understand where they are in the project lifecycle and how many tickets have been completed. That’s a tiny point, but I would ask them to consider if any of their processes could be more client friendly. Other than that, I don't have any recommendations. We talked enough, and we were happy with the outcomes.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Group Head of Design of Bellway Homes

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

House Builder

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Audacia to accomplish?

to Develop a digital Sales Specification App

SOLUTION

How did you find Audacia?

Referral

Why did you select Audacia over others?

Referred to me

How many teammates from Audacia were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

To deliver a regionally configurable national sales specification, expanded to include Accommodation & Plot scheduling with functionality for elevational enhancements bolt-ons

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The app has been implemented across the business and is working satisfactorily.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

On program, all requests were incorporated

What was your primary form of communication with Audacia?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Straight talking, Keenness, FUN

Are there any areas for improvement or something Audacia could have done differently?

I know they are they when i need them, there support team are helpful, maybe they could look to introduce a "catchup call" - a friendly "is everything ok" call - which could may lead to additional works being generated

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Financial Director of ADM Agriculture Ltd

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

ADM is a global food processing and commodities trading corporation that operates in agriculture, nutrition, and manufacturing industries.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Audacia to accomplish?

• Develop a scalable commodities trading platform that can accommodate the increase in users and data resulting from the ADM merger.
• Create a platform that can integrate decades of data from multiple sources and streamline processes to reduce time and resources spent on workarounds.

SOLUTION

How did you find Audacia?

• Online Search
• Other

Why did you select Audacia over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Audacia were assigned to this project?

6-10 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

"We initially contracted Audacia to build a commodities trading platform based around core business functions. Two years into the project, four ADM organisations merged; ADM Agriculture, DUNNS, ADM Arkady, and ADM Direct. In response to this merger, the software platform that was being developed now needed to be able to adapt and scale to support more users and data. 

Having seen a significant increase in our customer base after the ADM merger, we needed a platform that could accommodate decades of data and a large number of users at one time.After an initial two-week analysis period, Audacia began defining multiple user scenarios from which they could develop prototypes of these potential solutions. 

This also gave them the opportunity to get a solid idea of how employees worked and what the business was looking to achieve. Audacia used an agile approach in this project. Each release was broken into two-week cycles, during which the combined Audacia/ADM Agriculture team reviewed feedback and performance relating to the previous cycle, before moving on to build, test and release work allocated to the current cycle. 

Prototypes were then tested with feedback loops and iterations. Throughout this process, ADM had full access to Azure DevOps, which gave us visibility of progress, alongside all aspects of development, testing, deployment, and user feedback throughout the process. 

The new platform streamlines and automates key areas of the business including purchase and sales contracts for products, pricing structures on contracts – added as fixed, process or variable price dependent on market value – and integrated price alerts to notify traders on price fluctuations. There is consistent data transfer across the platform, which updates factors such as invoice generation and supplier validity in real-time."

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

"Since November 2018, ADM has processed over £3.1 billion contracts and services using the platform. £1.3bn annual commodity transactions traded Global rollout of the platform across 16 countries"

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

"The software platform met all KPIs. It is completely scalable, to allow for future changes and growth of the company, is user-focused, eliminating workarounds to the previous system and provides significant time and cost savings across the business. Communication was regular which allowed for rapid feedback loops. With 1–2-day meetings – face-to-face and virtual – we were able to review the build and solve challenges quickly and effectively."

What was your primary form of communication with Audacia?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They were very willing to overcome the challenges that were facing them and really took the time to understand our company and existing platform at a granular level.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Audacia could have done differently?

No

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Supply Chain Manager of a retail company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Supplier of Grocery products

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Audacia to accomplish?

• Implement an ERP system
• EDI integration

SOLUTION

How did you find Audacia?

Online Search

Why did you select Audacia over others?

High ratings

How many teammates from Audacia were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Design and install ERP system with EDI integration

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Published project plan and budget

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Gridfox was a really useful tool for keeping all parties aligned and on track.

What was your primary form of communication with Audacia?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Personable and down to earth. They were able to cut through the jargon and really understand our requirements

Are there any areas for improvement or something Audacia could have done differently?

no