Part II: Turning Problems Into Profits

CEOs everywhere are banking on innovation to help them turn problems into profits. These are the "Warren Buffetts" of this new global economy who have come to realize that all of the old rules of business are changing - at the speed of technology.

And they see the evidence mounting everyday. Mortgage lenders, steeped in sophisticated systems of credit analysis, face near-collapse, while the fledgling microcredit market thrives at an unheard of 97% payback rate on its loans.

Brand advertisers who spent $2.4 Billion last year to help Johnson & Johnson be the second most trusted brand, watch first place go to a company that spends nothing on advertising (Google).

Here are some detailed examples of companies that have turned problems into profits:

Turn A Liability Into Assets: Coca Cola:

Under a turnkey design-build contract a Rochester NY company, Ecovation, delivered a wastewater treatment system for the world's largest soft drink manufacturer to treat high-strength process wastewater. Coca Cola will cease prior wastewater disposal practices. The system was designed to achieve an effluent that ultimately meets state water reclamation quality standards.

Eliminating historical land disposal practices has allowed that land to become available for future plant expansion.

Coca Cola is now working closely with city and state officials to determine how the effluent from the system can be used as reclaimed water to support community conservation projects.

Largest Cost Into Cash: United Natural Foods:

At United Natural Foods the company's largest component of their energy bills were for the refrigeration and cooling sections of their four acre warehouse in Rockville, CA. By installing rooftop solar panels they were able to reduce the largest component of their energy bill down to zero. In addition, they received a sizable rebate check from Pacific Gas & Electric company

Watch the United Natural Foods Video: http://tinyurl.com/United-Foods

From Problems To Profits: Caterpillar:

Caterpillar Inc. is a great example of an organization that took an internal problem and turned it into $2.4 billion in revenues. The company — the world's leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, industrial gas turbines and diesel and natural gas engines — first solved their own internal logistics and supply chain challenges.

Then they turned their problems into profits by selling the extra capacity they had created externally. They also began marketing their new subject matter expertise in supply chain logistics to other companies.

This innovative solution to an internal challenge, led to the formation of Caterpillar Logistics Services Inc., a subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc, which is considered one of the top 100 third party suppliers of logistics services in the world.

Leveraging innovation to turn problems into profits isn't the exclusive province of multi-billion dollar companies either. For companies don't innovate - people do!

David Rice, CEO of TrueCloud of Phoenix Arizona, and his team are using their years of experience in multi-billion dollar companies to turn problems into profits for many of the small to midsized companies right here in Phoenix.

Darin Oreman, President of Redcat Racing, was looking for ways to dramatically improve automation in the areas of inventory management, overall expense management, as well as AR/AP. He wanted to accomplish business automation and growth without expanding and increasing his dependency on IT. TrueCloud showed Darin how he could achieve those objectives and more through the use of cloud computing software and internet-connected P/Cs. Darin and his customers are very pleased with the new features.

For Glen Davis, Owner of Right at Home Senior In-Home Care, TrueCloud helped breakthrough the limits of their previous business model and accelerate their business growth.

So from Scottsdale to Santiago, from Miami to Milan, from Argentina to Australia CEOs are banking on innovation to turn problems into profits.

So, which Turning Problems Into Profits success story would you like to share with your peers?

Jackie is the CEO of BT Industrials which is a strategic management and technology consulting firm providing collaborative management consulting services to create value innovation. The company works with Board of Directors, CEOs, CFOs and CIOs to integrate technology into business strategy as a competitive advantage - turning problems into profits www.btind.com. She can be reached at: jackieb@btind.com