David Kramer, North America Program Manager at SE Advisory Services, discusses how his organisation helps clients overcome infrastructure constraints, reduce execution risk, and unlock business growth, including through its partnership with Givaudan
In today’s complex and increasingly constrained landscape, one of the biggest challenges is not simply the ability to grow but the execution of growth in a constrained environment.
Success depends on organisations getting infrastructure financed, built and operated as a coordinated system, instead of relying on a series of disconnected handoffs.
Enter SE Advisory Services, Schneider Electric’s global consulting practice.
The organisation helps clients close that gap between strategy and execution by embedding energy, infrastructure and financing decisions earlier in the process – transforming potential constraints into enablers of growth.
The impact is seismic. When infrastructure is financed, designed, delivered and operated as an integrated system, it can drive long-term efficiency gains, more predictable cost structures and improved sustainability and resilience.
Givaudan is one example of how SE Advisory Services helps organisations reduce execution risk and move complex projects forward with confidence. By bringing together infrastructure planning, financing, procurement, delivery, and long-term operational accountability under a single model, they helped streamline execution, secure critical equipment, and create greater cost and schedule certainty.
Givaudan had been developing a state-of-the-art $250 million greenfield manufacturing facility in the United States driving them to their net-zero ambitions, with complex, multi-utility infrastructure across electrical, mechanical, process, plumbing, and automation systems. SE Advisory Services provided Givaudan flexibility in managing budget commitments by shifting scope between capital-funded investments and an Energy-as-a-Service (EaaS) model. SE Advisory Services’ in-house experts offered design-assist capabilities throughout the project lifecycle to proactively manage risk and avoid delays.
David Kramer, North America Program Manager at SE Advisory Services, believes a service-based model was critical because it significantly reduced operational risk for the client. “Givaudan recognised that managing complex utility infrastructure would require specialised expertise and long-term operational oversight,” he says. “They needed a partner that could take ongoing responsibility for system performance and reliability, allowing their team to stay focused on core operations.”
As both a technology provider and infrastructure partner, SE Advisory Services can streamline procurement and reduce layers of markup often introduced through traditional sourcing channels, helping clients lower overall project costs while improving price transparency through the EaaS model. For Givaudan, these benefits were further enhanced through direct access to Schneider Electric-manufactured electrical and automation equipment and services.
Traditionally, infrastructure decisions have been late-stage, capital-heavy, and spread across multiple vendors, creating complexity and risk the business must absorb. The traditional model would have required over $50 million in upfront capital for utilities, with fragmented delivery across multiple vendors. But a shift is underway towards a more integrated model, where energy, infrastructure, and financing are considered together from the start, with accountability extending from design through ongoing performance.
Kramer emphasises that without the EaaS model, Givaudan’s project could have been limited by capital availability and forced to compromise on the plant’s long-term vision. “Instead, it enabled Givaudan to build the facility they needed for future growth while improving operational efficiency from day one,” explains Kramer. “This was made possible through smarter design decisions, optimised equipment selection, and a focus on long-term performance.”
A catalyst was the early involvement of SE Advisory Services’ in-house experts, whose engagement helped fundamentally change the trajectory of the project by identifying critical scope gaps before they became costly issues. It reduced exposure to change orders, ensured the utility systems were designed with the right balance of efficiency and reliability, and allowed SE Advisory Services to secure long lead equipment early. “As a result, the project moved forward with greater certainty, lower risk, and an accelerated schedule,” Kramer affirms. “It’s a great example of why early involvement is so important to project success.”
Further, Kramer asserts that SE Advisory Services’ EaaS model accelerated delivery by reducing the burden on both the architect of record and Givaudan teams. “SE Advisory Services supported utility coordination, equipment selections, and key design decisions, allowing other stakeholders to stay focused on their core competencies and responsibilities,” he explains. “Combined with early procurement of long lead equipment, that saved valuable time during design and helped shorten the overall construction schedule.”
For organisations facing increasingly complex energy and infrastructure challenges, Givaudan demonstrates how a coordinated approach can turn potential constraints into enablers for growth.
Connect with an SE Advisory Services EaaS Expert here
(link: seadvisoryservices.perspectivefunnel.com/energyasaservicegreenfield/).