AI Commoditizes Advice. Execution Becomes the Differentiator.

In consulting, commoditization is becoming the key AI-driven competitive dynamic. Research, analysis, business cases and presentations can increasingly be produced faster with AI. This puts pressure on a traditional model that charges significant value for producing the recommendation.

The underestimated threat is the unbundling of consulting. Clients can increasingly conduct analytical work internally using AI. Consultants therefore need to move beyond selling analysis toward delivering outcomes.

This creates an advantage for the operational contractor model. Rather than stopping at recommendations, experienced practitioners integrate with client teams and remain involved from diagnosis through implementation.

Its defensible advantage is operational experience, empathy and stakeholder management, particularly the ability to work across the organisation from Board and Directors to management and the shop floor.

The strategic move over the next 24 months should therefore be AI-enabled analysis + senior human-led execution. AI does more of the analytical heavy lifting; experienced operators focus on judgment, stakeholder alignment and implementation.

The trade-off is deliberate: cannibalize traditional analytical consulting before AI-native competitors do. The future premium should be attached less to producing recommendations and more to delivering measurable operational outcomes.

Sustainable Packaging Hurdles - Overcome the Unknown

New regulations like the "Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (2025/4 PPWR)" and consumer preferences are driving brand owners into the need for sustainable packaging solutions.

With the increased awareness the urge to commercialise improved packaging solutions has also grown. But we are not seeing that the speed to market for new sustainable packaging solutions (NPD) are actually improving. We are seeing the opposite launching sustainable NPDs is getting harder and more complex.

The root cause for the slow go-to-market is often found in complex decision making and stakeholder management instead as often thought by a poor commercialisation performance.

In the past new packaging solutions were often discussed and executed by engineer/ procurement teams. Due to the public awareness the group needed to make packaging decisions has risen to 'town hall' sizes. Now public affairs, sales, marketing, communication, the C-suite, everyone need to be involved and consulted.

A cross-functional decision requires a cross-functional team. The need for individuals who can navigate and influence all these functions is needed.

The questions why new packaging solutions are still on the bench and are not getting any playtime yet are many:

• Is there enough brand real estate to ensure shelf presence?

• Do we need to re-balance the production line efficiency?

• Who has reviewed and conducted the Life Cycle Analysis (greenwashing risk)?

All of these questions and many more must be answered. However, the most not open discussed one is "How do we overcome the Unknown?". Often the speed to market is slow as the capability (skills) of managing stakeholders to win-over for the new bold ideas does not exist.

Operational (Un-)Readiness: Reason for failed Business Case delivery

The start of most business case developments is to answer the 'cost versus benefit' question and to identify the Return of Investment (ROI) hurdle in years. A practical approach must be applied to sharpen the cost assumption to hit the ROI. The challenge here is to apply an end-to-end lens in determine risks of quality, safety, capability and cost to deliver the business case in full, on time, on budget.

Unfortunately, often a short term thinking is applied and operational readiness is missed. Operational Readiness is the cost item in every business case which must not be missed. However, many OCon case studies showing exactly this. Operational Readiness was missed or significantly understated to hit a ROI hurdle. The consequence is brutal as Business Cases are delivered delayed with increased costs.

Operational Readiness is:

1. Developing scenarios to manage inventory & customer service during commissioning

2. Project management of installation, commissioning to full operation

3. Providing team with capability for new technology (training)

4. Problem solving to close out installation punch list

5. Support factory for vertical start-up phase after commissioning

The ambitious timeline to manage project costs requires that the newly installed production equipment starts up smoothly to maximum efficiency (OEE) as quick as possible - vertical start-up. A methodology used to achieve high factory performance is Centre-Lining.

 OCon is providing Centre-Lining for Vertical Start-ups     

• Number #1 issue of achieving and sustaining OEE improvements is the activity: Centre-lining of production lines/ equipment which is also the least understood and practiced.

• Centre-lining is a methodology used to reduce product and process variability and increase machine efficiency in manufacturing processes.

• The principle to Eliminate, Simplify, Standardise and Automate (ESSA) will help your organisation make savings by streamlining processes and removing inefficiencies.

• Determining best settings for your production process and ensure the consistent use during production (changes) is the core objective.

• Under OCon two lean practitioners with over 25-years of beverage manufacturing experience have come together to offer their (centre-lining) service to you.