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| Company e-News Q2 2002 |
Outsourcing Network
Build
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| Hot off the press is a
new outsourcing supplement commissioned on Greenwoods
Communications to examine the growing trend of outsourcing. |
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 Greenwoods
has specialised in providing outsourcing services for many years but
the recent downturn in the telecom market has meant increasing numbers
of telco’s and OEMs are interested in talking to the company about
how their services can help drive down costs and maximise efficiencies.
This document provides in-depth discussion on the complex and often
misunderstood concept of outsourcing telecom network build to a third
party company such as Greenwoods.
Outsourcing is basically where a company takes an area of activity
currently undertaken internally and contracts it to a third party
to undertake that aspect on its behalf. Outsourcing should enable
management to better focus on the activities it regards as ‘core’
to its own business and should also bring cost benefits. The logic
of the whole process is that the third party will have the outsourced
activity at the core of its own business and will be able to bring
efficiencies of scale to the outsourced component.
“We’ve
always lived in the turnkey services market and about eight years
ago, we completed our first major outsource for Cable & Wireless when
they outsourced their consumables. We started handling things like
cable, connectors, racks and frames for them,” comments John Greenwood,
managing director at Greenwoods Communications.
Since then, Greenwoods’ outsourcing business has grown steadily. It
is now the UK’s leading independent provider of custom-built solutions
for telecom network operators and OEMs. Founded in 1989, it employs
over 400 people, 200 of which are qualified engineers, and operates
150,000 sq ft of logistics and materials warehousing and 30,000 sq
ft of assembly and manufacture space.
One form of outsourcing currently being expanded by Greenwoods Communications,
is to take the network build function, with engineering staff, workshops
and a depot, and run it more efficiently, returning savings at the
same time. Most telcos have traditionally run these operations reliably
by simply having enough slack in the system. However, this is no longer
a viable option for troubled telecoms companies. Non-utilised assets
are now regarded as dangerous liabilities, and many companies would
rather see yet-to-be utilised assets such as network equipment, fibre
or network capacity, held by their suppliers with them buying what
they need, when they need it.
“The biggest twist on the
cost screw and the technique that can only be brought into play by
a third party, is to reallocate the staff on a more flexible basis
across several clients,” claims John Greenwood.
“As an outsource
partner, we should be able to utilise those resources more efficiently
– maybe centralise them, maybe have flying teams going in. You can
reduce the number of heads needed by redeploying work, whilst keeping
the full facility to back it up." |
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Q2 2002 Articles |
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