CREATING A SELF SUSTAINING BUSINESS MODEL FOR NDI

Unlike any of the other UK association or trade bodies NDI is a business development company, which, for the benefit of its members, seeks to match their capability with the supply chain requirements of the global defence, security and aerospace industries, against the ever changing economic and political climate.

By Mike Winter - NDI Business Support Manager (Republished from the NDI Annual Review 2009)

It was realised some time ago that many of the traditional funding streams for NDI were reducing or ending and new revenue streams must be realised to sustain the business. Therefore a new business model was required, to increase revenue for NDI by providing improved services for the Members, the Region and the Nation by engaging on a more commercial footing with the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD), global Partners and Members.

However, NDI needed to maintain the ethos of a not-for-profit company, where all the benefits go to the Members, and it could not engage in conflicting contracts or activities. All of this also had to be done against the background of a severe domestic recession. The NDI Board initiated a number of studies from the team, followed by comprehensive reviews, where it was decided that organic growth and added value services were the key delivery mechanisms. Although NDI is currently a relatively small organization, it does exert influence out of all proportion to its size, as demonstrated at the recent DSEi Exhibition.

NDI has been developing this strategy in many different ways:

• Growth by developing a national SME support structure and furthering links with similar national and overseas organisations to promote joint work sharing projects.

• Increased work share and fee paid services with NDI’s Global Partners.

• Ongoing MOD contract discussions to facilitate SME contract take up and cost reductions.

• Consultancy Services, which include Business Process Development, Offset Support and SC21 accreditation.

• NDI Project Management services, including co-ordination of defence and other projects and MOD Supply Chain Development.

• NDI Marketing Support services, which include Bid support, assistance with the compilation of EOI, preparing the winning Bid, “Red Team” Bid evaluation and Commercial Strategy Development, market identification and assistance in determining overseas partners.

In doing this we face many challenges. We have to demonstrate to the MOD and Global Partners the advantage of using NDI as a means of accessing SMEs, as required in the Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS), and interpret alterations to this regarding SMEs in a changing geopolitical world.

With our Members, we must also demonstrate that we can access and influence decision makers at the appropriate level. We must also show that we can help bring new technologies to specific markets in imaginative ways.

We are rising to these challenges with many successful outcomes. For example, NDI’s Business Managers are engaged in manpower planning services for the MOD; acting as Project Manager on a naval contract for a Member; identifying the export potential for a new technology of a Member and we are assisting their entry into the US market and assisting a Member to supply personnel with specialist skills, to fulfil a proposed defence contract.

We have achieved much in the implementation of our new strategy and have much to be proud of. NDI is positive the next twelve months should prove just as challenging and just as rewarding.