15/09/2011
NEWS STORY
McLaren Group has announced that it has formed a long-term strategic partnership with one of the world's leading pharmaceutical corporations, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).
According to the press release issued this morning:
This relationship, which will run initially to 2016, is not a conventional business consultancy - it is more specific, dynamic and game-changing than that. It is the distillation, communication and application of 45 years' worth of winning Formula 1 expertise, meticulously adapted and tailored to the needs of a new McLaren Group partner, GSK.
The scientific elements of this expertise include analytics, data management, strategy modelling, processes, telemetry and human IP - elements that sit at the very heart of McLaren's unique and bespoke technical DNA, which is characterised by a relentless and fast-paced pursuit of ultra-accurate technological high-performance.
Specifically, GSK has selected McLaren Group as a strategic partner in order to deliver its business a unique competitive advantage. That advantage will manifest itself in myriad ways, including (but not limited to):
The development of more efficient planning processes
The development of data modelling tools to inform strategic decision-making
The development of better real-time monitoring, scenario-planning and forecasting
The inspiration and development of GSK's managers, and the preparation of its managers to be able to make better and more informed business choices while remaining agile and adaptable to ever-changing circumstances
The initial focus of the partnership will be on GSK's Manufacturing, R&D and Consumer Healthcare businesses, and specifically its GSK Nutritionals business unit, which markets key brands such as Lucozade, Panadol and Sensodyne.
For example, based on McLaren Racing's existing Formula 1 race-strategy Mission Control centre, GSK Nutritionals will construct an all-new Mission Control facility at its London headquarters. This facility will drive faster decision-making around variables such as wholesaler stocking, inventory management, pricing, responding to retailer requests, competitor activity, and market and customer needs. This facility will reflect a perfect synthesis of the McLaren/GSK collaboration.
McLaren-developed analytical and performance management tools and expertise will also be used to improve GSK Nutritionals' ability to make faster decisions around longer-term investment allocation for new product development and innovations.
"I am delighted to announce this partnership with McLaren," said Andrew Witty, CEO, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), "which brings together two British companies whose continued success hinges on the ability to innovate and rapidly respond to change and competitor activity.
"McLaren has an unparalleled reputation for innovation, built on rigorous analytics and fast decision-making. This partnership is another example of GSK looking outside its sector for inspiration and fresh perspectives on how we can achieve our strategic goals in an ever more challenging and fast-changing business environment."
Whilst the initial focus of the partnership is on Consumer Healthcare, other business units within GSK, including R&D and manufacturing, are also reviewing their business processes to identify areas that may benefit.
In addition, a brand-new state-of-the-art learning facility will be constructed as part of the agreement. It will be called the McLaren GSK Centre for Applied Performance and will be located alongside the existing award-winning McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey. Employees from both organisations, and other partners, will be able to use the facility to share ideas and collaborate on innovative, dynamic and exciting joint working projects. The McLaren GSK Centre for Applied Performance will be opened in 2013.
"This all-new collaboration between McLaren Group and GSK - McLaren's first ever such association with a major pharmaceutical corporation - represents a ground-breaking strategic partnership that engages two great British companies at a variety of levels across a number of disciplines in a multi-faceted and ground-breaking way," said Ron Dennis, Executive Chairman, McLaren Group and McLaren Automotive.
"Specifically, our intention is that GSK will harness McLaren's world-beating Formula 1-bred technology, processes and operational dynamism, in order to enhance its [GSK's] performance across a wide variety of its divisions in a way that none of its competitors can match.
"More than that, though, this all-new partnership is a pioneering and game-changing initiative that will play to the UK's strengths as a globally competitive industrial powerhouse for science, engineering, technology and R&D.
"In today's challenging economic conditions, we firmly believe that innovative associations such as ours will play an increasingly significant role in ensuring that the UK remains globally competitive in the field of scientific innovation."