2. Altran Belgium: Corporate Profile
1. Altran Group
3-8
2. Altran Belgium & Luxembourg 10-13
3. Divisions: 15-36
Aerospace, Defense, Railways /Automotive, Infrastructure &
Transportation
Life Sciences
Financial Services, Government & Utilities (Energy)
Telecoms & Media
Solution Centre
3. Who are we?
■ Altran is an international group offering
innovation and high-tech engineering
consulting and is the European leader
in its field. The Group's mission is to
« Bringing our customers'
projects to life and boosting
assist companies in their efforts to their performance through «
create and develop new products and technology and innovation
services.
■ Every day, we bring our customers'
most complex projects to life and we
boost their performance through our
expertise in technologies and KEY FIGURES
innovation processes. €1,420M turnover in 2011
17,261 employees in 2011
500 major clients worldwide
Over 20 countries of operation
30 years promoting innovation to
better serve our clients
3
4. R&D and innovation
AEGT: the world's most
powerful electric car
Working alongside the Quimera international
R&D consortium, Altran was responsible for
■ For 30 years, Altran has had a designing and engineering the electric
transmission on this car, capable of reaching
close relationship with innovation. speeds of 300 km/h.
Where creative ideas become a Solar Impulse: the first plane
to fly on solar energy alone
reality, Altran consultants step up Since 2003, Altran experts have dedicated
to transform ideas into innovative their knowledge and skills to bringing about
this formidable technical and human
solutions that can enable achievement. Objective: to circumnavigate
technological progress. the world in stages in 2014!
In this way, Altran has contributed The airport of the future: outlining a
to some of the major ‘friend-lean’ space in 2040
technological advances in recent Altran and EADS partnered to develop
revolutionary concepts for airports
decades: speed, precision, responding to long-term changes in the
security, communication, industry.
practicality, interoperability,
artificial intelligence, etc.
Connected TV: 1st HbbTV pilot in
France and Spain
Altran has participated in pilots of
interactive services on DTV thereby
contributing to improving viewers'
experience in a wide-ranging areas such
as citizenship, personal assistance,
information or leisure...
4
5. Scale
■ An international group, Altran
operates in some twenty countries
throughout Europe, Asia and the
Americas.
■ As a strategic partner, Altran offers
its customers global project support
while guaranteeing a consistent
level of service.
■ In order to offer specific support to
dedicated local markets, Altran has
chosen to keep a local dimension,
through management by the various
geographical areas which make up
the Group.
5
6. What do we do?
■ To best serve our customers' needs, Altran has
created a range of products and services delivered
by its Industries and its Solutions internationally
and locally:
■ Our solutions cover four major technological *
AIT
domains:
Automotive , Infrastructure 18%
& Transportation
• Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
• Embedded and Critical Systems
ASDR
• Mechanical Engineering 22%
• Information Systems Aerospace, Defence
& Railways
■ Our presence in the main sectors of business EILiS
enables us to partner the key players in the Energy, Industry 24%
market: & Life Sciences
• Aerospace, Defence & Railways FSG
• Automotive, Infrastructure & Transportation Financial Services 15%
• Energy, Industry & Life Sciences & Public Sector
• Telecoms & Media
• Financial Services & Public Sector
TEM 21%
Telecoms & Media
Turnover split by industry for 2010*
(Unaudited figures)
6
7. Modes of engagement
■ Altran offers a variety of
modes of engagement to
meet the needs of each Engagement on Deliverables
project and adapt to the
specific requirements of our
customers.
■ These modes of Engagement on Services (KPI)
engagement are shared by
Altran operations in all
geographical areas,
guaranteeing our customers
a consistent level of
service. Engagement on Expertise
7
8. Human resources
■ Although innovation is obviously reliant « Talent, curiosity and passion for
innovation bring our consultants
on novel ideas, it cannot succeed together to further technological
without in-depth knowledge of state-of- progress.
«
the-art technologies, engineering
disciplines and creative processes. It is
here that our talented staff provide our ■ Our objectives for 2012:
customers with the benefit of their
expertise on a daily basis. ■ Over 4,100 consultants recruited
globally in 2012
■ 100% 5 years of studies
■ The men and women we have working
■ 90% engineers / 10% business schools
at Altran are the Group's richest
■ 30% young graduates / 70% experienced
resource and a source of great pride to staff (>2 years)
us. That is why we pay particular ■ Over 20 nationalities
attention to recruitment, to internal ■ Top 3 sought-after skills:
training, and to developing the Mechanical engineering
career paths of our employees. Embedded systems
Software development
8
9. Altran Belgium: Corporate Profile
1. Altran Group 3-8
2. Altran Belgium & Luxembourg 10-13
15-36
3. Divisions:
Aerospace, Defense, Railways /Automotive, Infrastructure &
Transportation
Life Sciences
Financial Services, Government & Utilities (Energy)
Telecoms & Media
Solution Centre
10. Altran Belgium & Luxembourg
70 M€ turnover in 2011
Antwerpen
Tournai
650 engineers
Zaventem
Lille
Brussel
285 client accounts
Luxemburg
1. Our approach is hands-on
2. Our consultants are multi-skilled
3. Our interventions are flexible
4. Our network is international
10
11. Organisation
Executive Director
HR, Marketing Admin &
& Comm. Finance
AIT – AUTOMOTIVE, INFRASTRUCTURE &
FSGU – FINANCIAL SERVICES & GOV. &
ASD R– AERO, SPACE & DEFENSE &
SOLUTION CENTER
INFORMATION SYSTEMS
TEM – TELECOMS & MEDIA
LS - LIFE SCIENCES
TRANSPORTATION
SOLUTION CENTER
RAILWAYS
UTILITIES
ENTERPRISE PERFORMANCE
Bid & Delivery Management + Quality control
11
12. AIT 3%
ASD 10%
FSG 17%
TEM 24%
EILIS 45%
5 Main industries
ALTRAN: 5 main industries
the curiosity 285 clients
for new
Top 10 clients in Pharmaceutics,
market Telecom, Utilities, Banking and
challenges Consumer goods
12
13. Near-shoring
Relocation of service
activities to a foreign country
that is relatively close in
distance and/or time zone.
When Off-shoring
necessary, ALTRA
Relocation of business
N helps clients process functions from one
reduce their costs country to another
by providing either
near-shoring or off-
shoring facilities.
ALTRAN
ALTRAN works guarantees
principally with: deliverables, in
terms of
India PLANNING, CO
Tunisia ST and
Argentina QUALITY.
Serbia
China
13
14. Altran Belgium: Corporate Profile
1. Altran Group 3-8
2. Altran Belgium & Luxembourg 10-13
3. Divisions:
Aerospace, Defense, Railways /Automotive, Infrastructure & 15-36
Transportation
Life Sciences
Financial Services, Government & Utilities (Energy)
Telecoms & Media
Solution Centre
15. ID Card ASDR-AIT
ID CARD Services delivered
Project management
Mechanical Engineering
8 Managers
Software development
140 consultants Control systems & mechatronics engineering
55 clients in 2011 Electronics development
Revenue 2011 : 13,4 M€ Physics, chemical and material expertise
Quality assurance
Risk analysis & functional safety
End to end product development (I-Novi)
Economical sectors covered:
Automotive industry (Car and Off Highway)
Consumer Electronics
High Tech Equipment Our main clients :
Railway
Aerospace & Defense
Process Industry (Food, Chemicals and
materials)
16. ASDR-AIT: Belgian Market Overview
Automotive industry
ASDR
Cars : 3 end assembly plants (Ford,
Aeronautical : 4 major players
Audi and Volvo) with their ecosystem
suppliers of EADS of mechanical
around them, Toyota European R&D
systems
center
Railway : 3 equipment vendors
Drivetrain development, exhaust
(Siemens, BN and Alstom) +
systems, lighting systems and shock
infrastructure and public transport
dampers and navigation equipment
providers
Trucks : Volvo and Daf assembly
Space : hightech equipment and
operations
small satellites
Off Highway : Development and
manufacturing for Caterpillar, Case
New Holland and Dana
17. ASDR-AIT: Belgian Market Overview
High Tech Industry Process industry
Consumer Electronics : Philips and Materials : major international
NXP and all their spinoffs players like Arcelor, Umicore,
Bekaert, Corus Tata, Holcim
High Tech Equipment like industrial
printers (Agfa), compressors (Atlas Food Industry : multinationals like
Copco), Vision equipment, Display AB-Inbev, Unilever, Sudzücker,
systems, packaging and Kraft, Heineken, Pepsico
manufacturing lines
Chemicals : Total, Exxon,
Tessenderlo Chemie, Dow, BASF,
Bayer, Evonik Degussa, Solvay
18. ASDR-AIT: Focus on Top 3 Clients
Transport and power equipment R&D and manufacturing for consumer electronics
development and manufacturing applications like TV and lighting in Belgium
Represents around 600 people in Belgium 4 sites for around 3500 employees in Belgium
Collaboration with Altran managed in Framework agreement since 5 years
framework partnership Preferred partner for engineering and software
Developed the team size to 15 people on services
site, which means 25% of total number of A succesfull product development service in
external place for retail lighting solutions using I-novi
First steps towards ADM2 have been taken 10 consultants invoiced today
First collaboration with Praxis on SIL level
validation has successfully been completed
Development and manufacturing of wing slats for
Boeing, Airbus, Embraer and Bombardier airplanes.
Full commercial development leads to 7 consultants on site
3 of them in ADM2 mode evolving to ADM4
Operational excellence projects, configuration mgt
19. Altran Belgium: Corporate Profile
1. Altran Group 3-8
2. Altran Belgium & Luxembourg 10-13
3. Divisions:
Aerospace, Defense, Railways /Automotive, Infrastructure & 15-36
Transportation
Life Sciences
Financial Services, Government & Utilities (Energy)
Telecoms & Media
Solution Centre
20. ID Card LS
ID CARD Intervention level / Services delivered :
Quality Assurance
7 Managers Engineering
Support Production
140 Consultants
Validation / Qualification
20 clients in 2011
Regulatory Affairs/ QP
Revenue 2011 : 14,7 M€ Medical Affairs
Safety
Clinical
…
Sectorial and functional expertise : Our main clients :
Pharmaceutics
Biotechnology
Medical Devices
Functional Food
Hospitals
21. LS: Competition Analysis
Identification of our competitors
The generalists:
MCA ingénierie, Avertim, Assystem, AKKA technologies, Egemin consulting, Pauwels
consulting, TEC, Alten, Cap Gemini, Matis…
The specialists:
Cyberconseil – CVO Europe, Consultys, Intertek Sigma contrôle, CTG, Pharma
Insight, Ordina, Advipro,
Biotech Quality Group…
Since 2011, a new tool is in place to follow-up competition, to be more reactive
and defend / reinforce our market shares: BOOST business development program
E.g.it offers the possibility to have an overview of our competitors positioning through an account
Estimation of QA market shares* QA* Belgian market size estimation
about 140 consultants
9% Altran Approx 18,5 millions of euros
6% Cyberconseil - CVO Europe
5% MCA Ingénierie Benelux
Altran QA* market share about 65%
Avertim
5%
Consultys
5%
Egemin Consulting
6% 64% Autre (incluant Indep)
* pure QA (out scope qualif/valid)
22. LS: Belgian Market Overview
Worldwide Top 30 Top 30 of pharmaceutical
of pharmaceuticals companies companies located in Belgium
Rank Company Rank Company
About 90% of the top 30 global
1 Pfizer 1 Pfizer pharmaceutical companies have a
2 Novartis 2 GlaxoSmithKline subsidiary in Belgium
3 Sanofi-Aventis 3 Sanofi-Aventis
4 Merck 4 AstraZeneca High concentration degree on the
5 Roche 5 Novartis Pharma
6 GlaxoSmithKline 6 Janssen-Cilag (Johnson & Johnson)
market:
7 AstraZeneca 7 Roche
The Top 10 corresponds to 49,8% of the
8 Johnson & Johnson 8 Eurogenerics
9 Eli Lilly 9 Schering-Plough
workforce and 48,9% of sale generated in
10 Abbott 10 Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Belgium
11 Bristol-Myers Squibb 11 Bayer Healthcare
12 Teva 12 Abbott
13 Amgen 13 Merck Sharp & Dohme
14 Bayer 14 Bristol-Myers Squibb
15 Takeda 15 Eli Lilly N° Consultants
16 Boehringer Ingelheim 16 Boehringer Ingelheim 80
17 Novo Nordisk 17 Nycomed 70
18 Astellas 18 Amgen
60
19 Daiichi Sankyo 19 Baxter
50
20 Eisai 20 Sandoz
40
21 Merck KgaA 21 Merck
30
22 Gilead Sciences 22 Novo Nordisk
23 Baxter international 23 Mylan 20
24 Mylan 24 Solvay Pharma 10
25 Servier 25 Lundbeck 0
26 Chugai 26 UCB Pharma
27 Mitsubishi Tanabe 27 Servier
28 Menarini 28 Astellas
29 Genzyme 29 Meda Pharma
30 UCB 30 Codali
23. LS: Focus of Top 3 Clients
Business employs 10 000 people with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a pharmaceutical company
8 500 in Belgium of Johnson & Johnson (110 000 people / 4700 in Belgium).
Provides medicines including: attention deficit hyperactivity
Market over 30 prophylactic vaccines disorder (ADHD), general medicine (acid reflux
worldwide to prevent potentially life- disease, infectious diseases), mental health (bipolar I
threatening or crippling illnesses such disorder, schizophrenia), neurologics (Alzheimer’s
as hepatitis A, hepatitis disease, epilepsy, migraine prevention and treatment), pain
B, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping management, and women’s health.
cough, measles, mumps, rubella, polio,
typhoid, influenza and bacterial
meningitis.
Production of 1.4 billion vaccine doses
to 179 countries in 2010
Baxter International Inc. markets products against
Also targeting therapeutic vaccines that hemophilia, immune disorders, infectious diseases, kidney
may prevent relapse in cancer patients. disease, trauma, and other chronic and acute medical
conditions.
Baxter applies a unique combination of expertise in medical
devices, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.
Baxter had 2010 sales of $12.8 billion and has approximately
47,600 employees.
24. Altran Belgium: Corporate Profile
1. Altran Group 3-8
2. Altran Belgium & Luxembourg 10-13
3. Divisions:
Aerospace, Defense, Railways /Automotive, Infrastructure & 15-36
Transportation
Life Sciences
Financial Services, Government & Utilities (Energy)
Telecoms & Media
Solution Centre
25. ID Card FSGU
ID CARD Services delivered
Risk Management IT Process Improvement
Private/Asset/Wealth Mgt Program/Project Portfolio Mgt
7 Managers
Trading/BPM/Engineering Business Solution (with SC)
150 consultants
IT Governance Service Management
Clients in 2011: 15
Revenue in 2011 : 18,5 M€
60% of Revenue From TOP 3 Clients
Our main clients :
Sectors of activity : BANK & INSURANCE ENERGY & UTILITIES PUBLIC SECTOR
Finance
Utilities/Energy
European Institutions
26. FSGU: Service Framework
People & Profiles
IT EXP BA MGT QA EXEC
Technical Business Analysts Project & Service Quality Executive
Experts Managers Assurance Managers
Technical Environments
Business Environments
IT Governance
Directly support Senior Executives in defining their
appropriate tactics, making decisions and turning strategy
into operational results
Process Improvement
Improve business, support, operational, management, governance processes
within an organization in order to exceed the organization’s capabilities and cope
with business challenges
Business Solutions
ALTRAN FSGU Provide end-to-end business solutions to our clients. From the problem analysis to the solution
implementation, Altran CIS consultants provide demonstrated business value to its customers in all
business industries.
framework: at
IT Infrastructure
the crossroads Consolidate and optimize the usage of IT infrastructure assets of our clients for cost efficiency and
of effectiveness in business operations
management
and IT Best Practices
27. Altran Belgium: Corporate Profile
1. Altran Group 3-8
2. Altran Belgium & Luxembourg 10-13
3. Divisions:
Aerospace, Defense, Railways /Automotive, Infrastructure & 15-36
Transportation
Life Sciences
Financial Services, Government & Utilities (Energy)
Telecoms & Media
Solution Centre
28. ID Card TEM
ID Card Services delivered
Telecom Project Management
4 Business Managers Network Deployement
Service Quality
100 Consultants
Telecom Architecture
> 10 Clients
Marketing/Web
Revenue in 2010 : 14 Million Euros
Industries & Sectors of Activity: Our main clients :
Telecom Operators
Telecom Vendors
29. TEM Offers & Delivery Models
Engagement Modes Developed Offers
Time & Means : 90 %
Service Platform Management
Competence Centre: 5%
Network Deployements
Fixed Price : 5 %
Infrastructure & Access
Project Management
Active References
BPM
VOO: Opening the Cable Business
Telecom Cost Reduction
Model
30. TEM Expertise for all Sectors
Contact centers
Multi-channels :
Telephone, SMS, FAX, Email
, Chat Mobility
IVS : voice recognition Wifi, WiMax
IP Centers, VolP, TolP GPRS, 3G
Applications for Smartphones
Unified
Communications
& Conferencing
Systems
Convergence
Video & Video
Audio, Visio and web
Surveillance
conferences
Devices, gathering and
storing
Telecom Costs
Optimisation Access and
Charging systems Transmission Networks
Mobile fleet management VoIP
SLA and SLM services levels Data exchange optimization
Activating the adequate media
channel
31. Altran Belgium: Corporate Profile
1. Altran Group 3-8
2. Altran Belgium & Luxembourg 10-13
3. Divisions:
• Aerospace, Defense, Railways /Automotive, Infrastructure & 15-26
Transportation
• Life Sciences
• Financial Services, Government & Utilities (Energy)
• Telecoms & Media
• Solution Center
32. ID Card Solution Center: IS-EP
Intervention level / Services delivered :
ID CARD Project Management Excellence
Operational Excellence, Lean Manufacturing & Office
7 Managers Innovation in product, design and production process
110 Consultants Supply chain Optimisation & Purchasing Cost reduction
Sustainable Energy, Energy Management & audits
50 clients
Environmental, Health & Safety Regulations
Revenue 2011 : 10,850 M€
IS/IT Services: Business Intelligence , ECM, IT Gov
EBIT 2011 : 1,850 M€ TEM for Entreprise (Transversal Activity with TEM)
Sectorial and functional expertise : Our main clients :
Horizontal approach
Sectors of activity : All
ADM : 1 (30%), 2 (20%), 3 (30%) and 4
(20%)
33. Enterprise Performance Portfolio
We support the whole product or service lifecycle, in a sustainable way
NEO PMP OPEX PULSE SD
•Competitive •Organisation •Operational •Supply Chain •EHS Impacts & Risks
Intelligence Solutions: Project Efficiency in Services Organisation Assessments
•Identification of new Lifecycle & Industry •Procurement •Performance & Risk
market potential Management •Customer Performance Management
(PPM, PMO) Transformation & •Logistics •Energy Efficiency &
•New product concept
development •Delivery Solutions : change management Performance monitoring
Portfolio, Program •Supply Chain Quality •Sustainability &
•Product Redesign and Project & Risks Mobility
Management Centers
TRAINING & EDUCATION SERVICES
34. Information Systems & Services Portfolio
ITG ECM BI BA EA TEM E.
•Strategy & •Collaboration •Marketing •Tailor-made IT •Enterprise •Telecom Costs
Organisation •Document Intelligence solutions Architecture and Services
•Delivery Management •Customer •Project Solutions Optimisation
Improvement •Publishing Retention Management •Change •Call Center
•Service •Records •Risk Intelligence Approach Management Certification
Management Management •Financial •Best Fitting •Business Process •Telecom
•Product Quality •Enterprise Monitoring Methodology Management Infrastructure
•Risks Information •Operational •Proven Quality (BPM) Engineering
Management and Management Intelligence Management •Service Oriented
Compliance •Data Quality System Architecture
•Education (SOA)
services
SERVICES & APPLICATIONS STRUCTURE & NETWORK
35. The Altran Delivery Model
Tailored Project & Service 5
Management of a complex system needing one or more engineering skills
and/or a dedicated organization
5 levels for an increased
commitment : from T&M to a
Service Center 4 Fixed Price Project 3 dedicated organization
Access to a portfolio of services, 2 organization modes
to take in charge part or all of your projects,
with engagement on result - services and resources mode
- project mode
Management under fixed price mode
with commitment on
Competence Center 2 Deliverables, Planning, Budget Dedicated Altran Management
through the technical management
Access to a competency catalogue, role
with KPI/SLA’s related to management
A commitment
1 on means: ADM 1 & 2
Time & Material on result: ADM 3, 4 & 5
Consultancy, technical expertise and assistance under Time and Material basis
to support you on your projects
Who are we?Experience: almost 20 years (foundationyear: 1992; mergerinto Altran SA/NV: 2009)Size: 830 employees, amongwhich 750 highlyqualifiedengineer consultantsCEOs: Pascal LaffineurSpecific locations: Brussels, Zaventem and AntwerpAltran has been active in Belgium since 1992. It is currently operating in Brussels, Zaventem, and Antwerp. Its 830 employees, including 750 highly-qualified consulting engineers, manage a portfolio of more than 280 clients. On the heels of several successful mergers between 2006 and 2009, whose culmination was the creation of Altran SA-NV, the Belgian division of the group established itself as the most global innovation partner in the country. With a 2-digit margin, Altran SA-NV’s 2010 revenues reached 79 million euros. Under the management of CEO Pascal Laffineur, our Altran consultants bring to Belgium all the competences of an international group active throughout the innovation cycle within all major technologysectors of oureconomy. The resultis an offeranchored in the complementarity of threepoles of activity. Our competitive difference:Altran brings you their global competences differentlythan the competition Our approach is hands-onAltran goes well beyond advice and consultation. Its experts implement projects from A to Z and adapt their methods to the budgets, the market, and the vision of each client.Beforeclosinganyproject, our consultants ensure the clients’ teams cansafely continue itsgood management. Our consultants are multi-specializedAltran’s consultants are each expert in a specific field and also have world-class technical skills and global knowledge of the sector in which they operate. They can manage projects from strategy to implementation, never losing sight of typically operational demands in order to define more effective processes and inversely, never forgetting the global picture when reviewing specific steps in the production cycle. Our interventions are flexibleAltran operates at all points in its clients’ management cycles of innovation and production: from Research and Development; and improvements in organization, production, and procurement; to Market Analysis and the Management of Projects and Information Systems. One word remains key throughout: performance. Our network is international Altran can ensure its clientele the expertise and steadfastness of an international group in continuous organic growth. Diversity of competences and awareness of market developments enable it to easily review projects at both the levels of methods employed and of profiles attributed.
Who are we?Our client approach:To offer its clients a maximum of transparency and efficiency, Altran is organized in 5 key divisions In Belgium, these 5 key divisions are grouped as follows:ASDR/AIT – Aerospace, Defense, Railways/ Automotive, Infrastructure and TransportationTEM – Telecoms & MediaFSGU – Financial Services, Government and UtilitiesLS – Life SciencesThe Solution Center Comprises:Solution Center – Information SystemsSolution Center – Enterprise Performance
Who are we?The Result in Numbers:Altran in Belgium is active with 285 clients in 9 main industriesNumber of industries:5 Number of clients: 285Thanks to its 830 employees in Belgium, Altran currently manages a portfolio of more than 280 clients active in 5 engineering industries.Its top 10 clients includesome of the largest international groups active in Belgium. To maintain its growth and provide itself with the means to fully support its clients, the Group has positioned itself as the benchmark employer in the sector of consulting. Its goal is to stimulate entrepreneurship, and attract the most qualified and brightest profiles.
Who are we?Extra flexibility for those clients who need it:To complement our inhouse skills on certain very specific topics, we also offer near-shoring and off-shoring possibilities. When necessary, ALTRAN helps clients reduce their costs by providing either near-shoring or off-shoring facilities.ALTRAN works principally with:India TunisiaArgentinaSerbiaChina
Our Business FrameworkOur services span well beyond our solutions. Our consultants combine hands-on expertise with knowledge of well-known frameworks and methodologies to provide a variety of tailored services to our clients. These services are grouped into 4 service lines at the cross-roads between management and IT: IT Governance (Strategy), Process Improvement (IT and Business), Business Solutions and IT Infrastructure (IT).IT GovernanceDirectly support Senior Executives in defining their appropriate tactics, making decisions and turning strategy into organizational and operational resultsProcess ImprovementImprove business, support, operational management and governance processes within an organization in order to exceed the organization’s capabilities and cope with business challenges.Business solutionsProvide end-to-end business solutions to our clients. From problem analysis to solution implementation, Altran CIS consultants provide demonstrated business value to its customers in all industries.IT InfrastructureConsolidate and optimize the usage of IT infrastructure assets of our clients for cost efficiency and effectiveness in business operations.