Trailmaker customer: Neste seeks alignment to develop its innovation platform

Neste is the world’s largest producer of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel. Headquartered in Espoo, Finland, it operates in 14 countries. In 2020, Neste established a new innovation business platform to develop renewable hydrogen and Power-to-X (P2X) technologies. Trailmaker helped create strategic execution clarity and a common view for the new platform.

According to Outi Ervasti, Vice President of Renewable hydrogen and P2X atNeste, renewable fuels is an area that is “developing fast” with huge local and global possibilities. “By developing these fuels we are bringing more sustainable products to the market and creating prosperity for tomorrow,” she says.

The new innovation business platform is one of three established by Neste in 2020, and according to SVP of Innovation Lars Peter Lindfors they are not only new to the company but also new to the world. This brings challenges and opportunities, says Lindfors, adding “we need to have a clear vision and strategy on how to go about these things.”

Trailmaker decision-making process results in restructuring of the innovation platform  

Neste invited Trailmaker to help clarify strategy and produce a common view of strategy execution, which was a particular challenge, says Lindfors, because the new team comprised individuals that didn't really have any common background. “The business platform is extremely broad,” says Lindfors, noting that this was one important aspect that Neste sought help with. 

For VP Ervasti, it was very important that the strategy of the new renewable hydrogen and P2X platform was clarified with top management. “Initiatives and ideas come at us fast, and we needed an external view to concretise the strategy and execution, form a common view, and ensure resources and capabilities for the strategy execution.” 

Working with the Trailmaker process was very successful, both Ervasti and Lindfors report, with Lindfors noting that one of the most valuable results from the Trailmaker exercise was saving time in “achieving clarity, commitment, and alignment relating to the new innovation business platform.”

“We ended up re-organising the business platform’s structure to increase focus and pace,” says Ervasti, an outcome also highlighted by Lindfors: “The Trailmaker process brought up that we should have two separate initiatives within this platform. Before the Trailmaker process we were thinking that it’s a big question needing solving and Trailmaker really gave very good argumentation for this.”

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TRAILMAKER is a concept for faster strategy execution:

• Concrete common view and commitment

• Identified capability needs

• Visibility

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