Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE London: Danish Crown Keynote
Joanna Hrynenko-Dudek, Director of Procurement Centre of Excellence at Danish Crown, opened her session at Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE London Global Summit by addressing a fundamental paradox: in a world defined by digitalisation, why does adopting new technology remain so difficult?
Danish Crown is, of course, a complex organisation with six distinct business units ranging from meat production to food services. Joanna discusses how company culture, decentralised operations and resistance to change created obstacles in their journey to implement an e-procurement tool.
Joanna explains: "In Danish Crown, everyone who has access to the tool can buy. You can imagine how hard it is to upgrade the common way of working."
She highlights that a decentralised procurement structure, combined with inconsistent processes, hindered the tool’s implementation and user satisfaction.
An initial survey revealed worrying results: almost 50% of users reported dissatisfaction with the tool, with less than 1% of the total spend covered by the tool itself.
Key barriers to adoption included a lack of user training tailored to varied organisational needs, an inadequate understanding of local business requirements and employee resistance to change.
Shifting strategies to meet user needs
Faced with disappointing metrics, Danish Crown re-evaluated its approach.
Instead of focusing solely on compliance and control, Joanna and her team prioritised understanding and responding to the needs of end-users.
She continues: "We started asking them, ‘what happened? Why don’t you use the tool?’ And they said that we don’t need it”.
To address these challenges, Danish Crown restructured its strategy to align technology usage with practical needs.
For instance, the firm decided to deploy the e-procurement tool for administrative tasks while relying on existing ERP systems for production-related procurement.
Additionally, the company placed emphasis on local partnerships: “We have to go to the local business units and meet the people, listen to them and get their requirements."
By empowering local representatives as ambassadors for the technology, Danish Crown fostered accountability at a grassroots level.
It also compromised when necessary, allowing some teams to bypass the tool in favour of legacy systems, but required its use for critical spending categories like capital expenditures.
Results and lessons learned
The revised strategy brought measurable improvements. Adoption rates rose, with 60% of business units integrating the e-procurement tool.
Though still a work in progress, Joanna highlights an important milestone: "Thanks to combining these two things, we achieved nice results. We managed to convert 80% of our spend.”
Beyond metrics, the transformation helped shift organisational mindsets. Employees began to see technology as an enabler rather than an obstacle.
Danish Crown’s experience also reinforced the importance of ongoing engagement and flexibility. Joanna stresses the importance of “continuous monitoring” and the “need to retain.”
She adds: “You need to be very close to the end users because the tool is not only for us - the managers and leaders who want to see the fancy reports.”
Joanna’s advice for businesses embarking on similar journeys was simple: “listen to your customers and their companies and make sure that the technology that you want to implement is fit for purpose.”
Additionally, she emphasises the role of organisational alignment, urging companies to focus on creating value that resonates with both employees and stakeholders.
Danish Crown’s procurement transformation offers a valuable blueprint for navigating the complexities of technology adoption.
By focusing on people-first strategies and embracing flexibility, the company demonstrates that aligning technology with organisational needs is not only achievable but transformative.
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- Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE Dubai | 29 April
- Sustainability LIVE Chicago | 4-5 June
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- Manufacturing & LIVE Chicago | 4-5 June
- Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE London | 23-24 September
- The Global Procurement & Supply Chain Awards | 24 September
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