Case Study: Digital Product help Distrelec scale product led capability to deliver significant growth

The company

Founded in Switzerland in 1973, Distrelec are leading distributors of components and accessories in IT, electronics and engineering operating in over 20 European countries.

The company has an established pan-European e-commerce presence through 23 webshops and 26 partner websites.

In 2019, the company was acquired by AURELIUS Equity Opportunities who have subsequently enabled significant financial and operational growth across the group.

The problem

The IT function of Distrelec had previously worked in a traditional way where delivery was primarily project and outputs based. A single team would prioritise work to deliver on behalf of the wider business.

It was clear to Distrelec's new owners that there was significant growth potential through investment in scaling and maturing e-commerce capability. In order to expedite this process, the leadership team developed an ambitious vision and strategy for transformation to be delivered through a programme of Digitalisation which would take a customer-centric, product led approach.

A strategic framework existed which clearly identified the people, processes and systems required to implement the initial phases of the programme. It was identified that further support would be required to help:

• Structure and align multiple squads to drive towards a common strategic vision and goals
• Demonstrate the new ways of working to empower product teams and foster a culture of experimentation, transparency and collaboration
• Facilitate new processes covering discovery, shaping of work and establishing cross discipline communities
• Provide a framework for measurement of success from strategic to the tactical level.

In order to achieve the desired level of growth in customer satisfaction and digital sales, it would be necessary to undertake intensive support and encourage collaboration across all areas of the business.

The solution

Digital Product helped support Distrelec through the initial implementation phase of their Digitalisation strategy.

Structure and align multiple squads to drive towards a common strategic vision and goals

We collaborated with Distrelec and its partners to identify high priority themes based on early feedback from product delivery squads and communities of practice. We collaborated on the creation of an initial vision and goals and supported leadership in using them to inspire and motivate the teams.

Demonstrate the new ways of working to empower product teams and foster a culture of experimentation, transparency and collaboration

The new product led approach to delivery was a significant change to old ways of working, mindsets and culture. Digital product coached and mentored Product Managers and the leadership team to help navigate them through this process at each step of the way including establishment of the product community, evolving new leadership styles and enabling strong alignment across squads and disciplines.

Facilitate new processes covering discovery, shaping of work and establishing cross discipline communities

Teams needed support in establishing new product led ways of working and implementing new processes. Digital Product demonstrated multiple proven discovery and delivery approaches as well as facilitating individual teams as they formed, establishing a process of championship and continuous improvement to empower teams and roles whilst evolving towards a self-sustaining process.

Provide a framework for measurement of success from strategic to the tactical level.

A proposal was made to implement OKRs as a standard framework for measuring value across the newly established product teams. Firstly, we agreed a common definition of what constitutes value and consistent units of measurement linked to organisational KPIs. Secondly, we defined and established a prototype framework for unified performance tracking which could be quickly tested and refined with key stakeholders and the product teams.

The outcome

2021 was the company's most successful year, achieving exceptional levels of growth and sales, this success has continued into 2022.

Through transformation activity, the digital product function scaled to 7 multi-disciplinary, product led teams in 18 months whilst achieving significant improvement in performance across growth, efficiency and satisfaction.

The success achieved resulted from a number of factors including close collaboration between Digital Product, Distrelec and its partners and a ‘one team’ approach to delivering real, long-lasting change. Committed leadership and passionate squad level champions of the new ways of working also helped drive the transformation work.

Will Cox, Head of Product & UX commented "The scale of change we were embarking on was daunting. Digital Product used their wealth of experience in Product Management to help us prioritise our focus to ensure the transformation programme’s ultimate success. Beyond this, they were happy to get their hands dirty with day-to-day work and mentored individual team members ensuring their successful transition into new roles."

Unlike other consultancies, we help deliver positive change and support through doing rather than slide decks and set piece workshops alone, we elevate and amplify client teams to achieve success through collaboration and championship.