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Autonomous driving call in transportation

August 9, 2017

Hi!

Today I would like to say a few words in favor of having consulting topics on the agenda to eliminate risk in a modern and rapidly changing environment.

Based on my engagement in Roland Berger's Transportation Competence Center I will shed some light on the Autonomous driving trend that is no doubt our future. In Russia, business is already starting to prepare for it. Here are just a few insights from some of our recent projects, in which I participated:

  • The economics of highway construction is changing considerably, and will continue to do so, provided autonomous driving is implemented. Autonomous roads are significantly more attractive compared to sea and rail due to decreased costs per trip, combined with high delivery flexibility and speed.
  • The urban mobility players are preparing. The city administration is thinking of how to better address and foster coming trends via regulation solutions; what starting point would be better (e.g. separate lane for autonomous vehicles or a mix of autonomous and non-autonomous vehicles in the same lane). The mobility operators like taxi companies are starting to develop prototypes for autonomous mobility in the city.
  • OEMs are preparing themselves for the autonomous future with new connected trucks/cars solutions. For as long as vehicles are not connected, it is difficult to imagine the autonomous future.
  • LSPs (Logistics Service Providers) are working on their own connected and integrated logistics solutions to optimize route planning, order handling and customer service level control. They tend to think even wider – to connect not only own trucks but third party ones as well, to make logistics more efficient.

We are working closely with different types of players to help address these issues – e.g. general concept elaboration (what are Clients' ambitions in addressing these new trends); use case development (what functionality will be demanded); MVP elaboration, partnership strategy, implementation roadmaps, business case evaluation and, of course, implementation support.

So, any "cosmic" topic starts from something quite concrete and we as consultants are actively participating in it. If you had any doubts about the up-to-date acuteness of consulting topics – please be free of them :)

Greetings from Moscow again!

Apr 24, 2017

This time let me be on trend and say a few words about such a modern word as "digitalization".

Just five-years ago, when I was graduating, people and life around was not so digital. We had smartphones but not as powerful devices for many everyday purposes. New technologies were not so "publicly" discussed. Today, the words "digital", "uberization", "cloud technologies", etc. could come from any media channel. The environment is really changing at a rapid pace.

Meanwhile, would you expect active digitalization in Russia? We used to compare Russia with Western countries and apply a large "lag-behind" coefficient in our analysis. Meanwhile, the world is really global and the case is already here. For these six-months we have finished three projects focused on digitalization – one was digital as an operational layer in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) supply chain and two other ones as a more strategic view on digital in the financial sector and retail.

Just a few observations

  • Digital awareness is very high. In our meetings with clients we see that people really know a lot. It is not such a black box for them as you would expect – it is rather a challenge they need to be prepared for. We made an interesting study for one of our clients on digital disruption potential in key Russian industries with estimates of potential revenue losses – the result was really impressive.
  • Many companies already make systemic efforts to foster digital development. That is rather the case for large companies. Nevertheless, companies make joint ventures with accelerators, carry hackathons, expose on regular basis top and middle management to engage with world leaders in new technologies via workshops, create dedicated digital/innovative team and so on.
  • Russian people are digital enough to think about digital solutions for them. Let me give a rail example: 74% of rail passengers use Internet daily, 64% own a smartphone and 10% of all rail passengers constantly use online channels to manage their mobility.

We feel that digital solutions are not any more eye opening here. It is a challenge for us as consultants but it is the opportunity too (as it usually goes with any challenge).

Be on trend and do not doubt in Russia!

Autumn greetings from Moscow

Oct 11, 2016

Hi everyone! I am back again:)

This time I'd like to share one of this year's projects with you because the specifics are interesting. The project was for a startup company – quite a rare case for consulting :). Well, they needed some external help with market specification.

The business is developing logistics services. The Russian road logistics market is very non-transparent, highly fragmented and inefficient. For one thing, there are no full statistics to be found anywhere, even though road haulage accounts for large part of transportation in Russia. These guys were aiming to optimize the market with a new IT and business model solution.

Our task was to make a detailed analysis of the logistics market and outline the main customer groups who are ready or could be ready to buy into this new service. We conducted lots of interviews with shippers, asking a range of questions to find out whether the new service could meet their needs. What was the most interesting point in this project? I'd say it was the startup's internal "kitchen" – a young team constantly brainstorming, managing relations with various funders, taking decisions in short cycles, and making rapid changes. Hope, the guys will succeed and make their dream come true. Good luck to them!

Beside the project, I have of course a new travel anecdote to share with you: this time a trip to the central part of the Caucuses. We went to Camp Bezengi, Russia's famous mountaineering base known for the amazing and almost unsurmountable "Bezengi Wall". But our destination was much easier and more accessible. Again, we were lucky to be there at an amazing time. The mountains combine beauty and a sense of danger and fear. And again I was so lucky to meet really nice and interesting people. I enjoyed every second with them and I'm now full of warm memories.

Meanwhile, autumn has reached its peak here in Moscow. I'm enjoying the last outings of this year's cycling season and exploring the suburban scenery of Russia - gloomy and dirty but then very beautiful and uplifting.

I'm sharing with you a few pictures from the Caucuses and the suburban Russian scenery. Enjoy your autumn and be in time with all the planned deals before NY comes! :) Good luck!

CV

At a glance

  • Studied Economics at Moscow State University of Lomonosov
  • Internship in auditing
  • Since 2011: Roland Berger, Moscow, with a current focus on transportation and tourism
  • Languages: Russian, English
  • Interests and hobbies: Alpinism, traveling and painting

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Olesya Ponorets on working at Roland Berger in Moscow
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