"delaware cherishes a start-up mentality"

delaware gave their Belgian consultants the opportunity to develop an automotive vertical within the organization and thus contribute to an innovative end-to-end story. One of the biggest customers involved is Ineos, the chemical giant that started its own car brand under the impetus of founder Jim Ratcliffe several years ago. 

‘For the Ineos Grenadier, we function as advisors in the development, implementation and support of the entire IT landscape, allowing delaware to do both business as well as IT consulting,’ says Glenn Huybrechts, Project Manager and SAP Solution Architect at delaware. ‘Our contribution plays a key role, as no car can be produced without the support of IT in logistics, production and planning.’ 

Market specialization 

With that approach, delaware proves its expertise reaches beyond IT consultancy and implementation. The organization thinks along with its customer at sector and market level, plays a crucial advisory role, implements the relevant IT systems and helps them with measuring and achieving strategic objectives.  

‘Our focus on automotive is partly the result of a verticalization delaware initiated some years ago,’ says Glenn Huybrechts. ‘Besides automotive, delaware has other verticals that help various industries, such as food, retail and healthcare.’

‘Today, automotive is one of our larger verticals with an international customer base,’ adds Egon Nuyts, SAP Consultant at delaware. ‘Thanks to delaware’s start-up mentality, we have the opportunity to build the department as a kind of company within our organization, while benefiting from the backup, support, client base and budgets of a large, international organization as delaware.’

Entrepreneurship

The consultants are able to demonstrate a great deal of entrepreneurship in every project. delaware gives its employees high levels of autonomy and trust when they are enthusiastic and passionate about a topic, technology or sector. ‘Within delaware, there are a lot of experienced and knowledgeable people to rely on and eager to inspire both colleagues and customers.’ 

‘Over a five-year period, delaware automotive has grown from a handful of people to more than 200 consultants working full-time in this industry,’ illustrates Egon Nuyts. ‘We are involved in the end-to-end story, from business consulting, development, implementation to support. Not only for Ineos, but also for also for several large automotive Tier 1 suppliers and OEMs, the major vehicle manufacturers. In other words, we are represented in the entire supply chain, which is highly exceptional in consultancy.’

The automotive sector currently faces many challenges that are radically changing the industry, such as the electrification of vehicles, the development of self-driving technology, the rise of platforms for shared mobility and so on.

‘By identifying the different challenges in the market and industry and looking ahead to what is coming in the next few years, we help our customers prepare for the future, stay ahead of sector-specific changes and generate more business value,’ summarizes Glenn Huybrechts. 

In doing so, we are no longer just an IT implementer, we also take into account the broader business needs of our customers,’ says Egon Nuyts. ‘It is particularly fascinating to be involved in those comprehensive processes and to investigate new trends and evolutions.’ 

A sustainable community

To foster team spirit within the verticals and strengthen the cooperation between colleagues from different regions, delaware regularly organizes formal and informal events.

‘We frequently have dinner together, go karting and we even travel to Las Vegas to attend the famous tech event CES, a trade fair that is becoming increasingly important for the automotive industry,’ concludes Egon Nuyts. ‘With the support of a mentor and more experienced colleagues, we get to map out our own career path and reinvent it whenever we feel like it.’