YCP Solidiance and Shenkuo leaders on their joining of forces

Three months after the acquisition of Shenkuo by YCP Solidiance, we sat down with leaders Naoki Arai (YCP Solidiance), Craig Morin and Fred Chan (both Shenkuo) to discuss how the joining forces will boost joint capabilities and benefit clients in the Greater China region.

How will the integration with Shenkuo benefit YCP Solidiance’s position in Greater China?

Naoki: “The deep knowledge of Shenkuo in operations is one of the advantages of the integration with our Greater China practice. As our Greater China team is focused on the business and digital transformation side, we needed a deeper capability on company operations, such as supply chain.”

“Another intention is to increase B2C clientele, and the integration can increase our Western clients. In addition, with the economic downtrend in China, we see a big trend of Chinese companies going overseas. With Shenkuo’s capability in France, we will have a broader regional coverage in Europe too.”

What makes Shenkuo a unique choice for clients compared to other consulting firms?  

Craig: “In addition to providing strategy services, we have a deep and hands-on implementation approach so clients can count on us to not just provide a report but actually see it through so they realize the benefits. On the sustainability side, we try to take a process optimization “lean” approach.”

“In addition to just focusing on optimizing costs or throughput, we factor in electricity or carbon footprint as a waste that needs to be eliminated. Reducing these in addition to the traditional factors will also likely drive down cost as there are costs associated with them. By leveraging these savings to invest further into the business or to drive other sustainability gains, we can assist companies in creating a blueprint that would allow them to reduce their carbon footprint.”

“This is an approach we’re well suited to with our optimization tools for internal business processes, business transformation, and the supply chain.”

Fred: “Our strategy is to provide end-to-end business solutions to our clients; for example, we supported a high-jewellery brand’s finance shared service center to streamline their accounting processes and work prioritization system, redesigned their reporting structure, and, most critically, led them through the changes during the implementation stage.”

“Our relationships with clients often go beyond a single phase, as we bring our deep experience in operations excellence and project implementation change management to the table to ensure we chart the path to sustainable success together.  

“Shenkuo’s willingness to invest in such long-term relationships and become their trusted advisors sets us apart in the challenging business environment in the Greater China market.”

How has the integration with YCP Solidiance been beneficial for the Shenkuo team and its clients? 

Fred: “A large portion of our work has been done in Hong Kong and China, historically, but now clients have increased their focus for both consumer growth and sourcing to South East Asia and elsewhere. We’ve been working on with the YCP Solidiance team to make sure that everybody in Southeast Asia, Japan and India knows our service offerings and can help us engage with clients there.”

“In addition, when talking to clients in those markets, we can now communicate our enhanced delivery capabilities. Instead of staffing out of Hong Kong or Shanghai, we can provide local resources. That’s where we see a lot of benefits on both sides.”

How can YCP Solidiance’s relationships and deep understanding of Asian markets be utilized to create synergies for clients operating in both Greater China and Europe? 

Fred: “The synergies are clear – Shenkuo is always ready to support our clients’ ambitions to expand beyond their existing region into Southeast Asia. With Solidiance’s relationships, knowledge, and presence of resources across Asia, we have the potential to enhance our current offerings and significantly expand our client base, driving growth in the Greater China and European industries.”

About the leaders: Naoki Arai is Managing Partner at YCP Solidiance and Greater China Regional Manager, Craig Morin is Partner at Shenkuo, where Fred Chan is Director.