Strategy advisory for rail, ports, shipping and mining
Clear strategy for the businesses that move bulk commodities
We help leadership teams make big decisions about growth, capacity, assets and contracts. When a question keeps coming back, we turn the analysis into a live tool your team keeps using.
Mining
Rail & road
Ports
Shipping
Renewables
We work across the whole bulk supply chain – from the mine to the ship – and help our clients prepare for the shift to renewables
What we help with
The big decisions we help leaders make
Where to grow next
Which customers, commodities and corridors to go after, and in what order.
Capacity and bottlenecks
Where the network, port or fleet will run out of room, and what to do before it does.
Fleet and assets
When to buy, replace or switch to new technology, and what it is really worth.
Customers and contracts
Which contracts come up for renewal, who else wants them, and how to win them.
Our services
We offer strategy advice and live decision tools
A clear decision your board can approve
A focused piece of work with your leadership team. We get the facts straight, test the options with real numbers and finish with a firm recommendation.
Your market on one screen, kept current
When the same question comes up every quarter, we turn the research into a living tool. Built with AI and checked by people, so every fact is traceable.
Live decision tools
Your market, mapped and kept up to date
Most strategy work ends in a report that is out of date within months. We turn the research into a live tool your team keeps using: a clear picture of your market, your customers and your competitors, updated as new information comes out.
- 1
What it shows
Your whole market in one place. Who the players are, what they are planning, and where the next opportunities are.
- 2
Why it helps
Your team sees what is changing and knows who to talk to next, without starting from scratch every quarter.
- 3
Why you can trust it
Every fact links back to its source and is checked by an industry expert. Your own data can be added in a separate, secure space.
The same approach works for ports and terminals, shipping flows, grain and other bulk commodities, and customer contracts.
Example
Live map of coal mines in Queensland and New South Wales
Who owns each mine, how long it will run, which rail line it uses and who hauls its coal.
- coal mines mapped
- 92coal mines mapped
- coal rail systems
- 9coal rail systems
- mining companies
- 37mining companies
- public sources used
- 3,800public sources used
Our work
Recent projects
Australian rail freight operator
From growth strategy to a live market map
A 10-year growth and diversification strategy approved by the Board, followed by a live tool that maps every mine, owner and rail contract in its market. It shows which mines are growing, which contracts are coming up, and where to focus next.
2025 to 2026
Integrated bulk logistics group
Growth in marine transshipment
A growth strategy for transshipment: where bulk cargo demand is heading, which opportunities to pursue first, and the marine assets needed to win them.
2025
National express freight business
Fleet and customer transformation
A data model of Australian industries that pinpointed the most profitable customer segments, and a fleet strategy to serve them as the business grew.
2021
Global vehicle maker and major miner
Electric vehicles in mining
A Board-level feasibility study on switching a mining fleet from diesel to electric, covering total cost of ownership and when prices reach parity.
2021
Major property fund manager
Portfolio strategy and decision tool
A strategy to triple funds under management over ten years, backed by a decision tool showing how each investment would affect group profit.
2023
Why work with us
What makes Strategy Co-Design different
We know the industry
We have worked inside rail, shipping, mining and freight businesses, so we start from what matters, not from a blank page.
We are top-tier strategists
Trained at BCG and proven in senior strategy roles. Clear logic, real numbers and a firm recommendation.
We make a lasting impact
We solve complex problems with your team. Every strategy, decision or live tool keeps working long after the project ends.
How we work
What co-design means
You know your business best. We don’t hand you a strategy from the outside. We build it with your team, so it’s clear, practical and yours.
What you bring
Deep knowledge of the business, its constraints and what has already been tried.
What we bring
Clear structure, an outside view, industry knowledge and live data tools.
What we build together
A clear decision your people understand and support, with tools that keep it current.
About us
Katya Kravtsova
Founder & Principal Consultant, Strategy Co-Design
Katya has always liked taking things apart. Give her a tangled problem and she will break it down to its basic building blocks, test each one against the data, then put them back together in a simpler, better way. She sharpened that habit at Boston Consulting Group, working on energy strategy for oil, gas and petrochemical leaders across Europe and the Middle East, where every big idea had to stand up to hard numbers.
She carried that toolkit into strategy roles at Commonwealth Bank, Virgin Australia and Suncorp, and added the other half of the craft: storytelling. Data alone changes nothing. People act when the story is simple and the plan feels like their own. Too often, she watched good thinking end up in a slide pack that nobody opened again.
So in 2018 she founded Strategy Co-Design to do it differently. Today Katya and her team work side by side with leaders in rail, ports, shipping and mining, from planning a rail operator’s next decade to helping a miner weigh up an electric fleet as energy shifts towards renewables. Together with clients, they build things that are still in use long after the project ends: clear decisions, simpler processes and live tools.
Contact
Facing a complex decision?Let’s work through it together
Tell us a little about the challenge in front of you, and we’ll be in touch.