With more than 10,000 references in lighting and electrical equipment, Minusines is in contact with private individuals as well as with all project owners, architects, design offices, electricians and other professionals.
The company, which employs 80 people, also offers solutions in the fields of technical engineering, ICT and building intelligence at various stages of construction, allowing objects to be interconnected in a building which is being built or where the construction work has not yet started.
In order to continuously optimise and improve its processes, the company launched the recently completed “Minusines 2020” project in the autumn of 2017. “At a time when we are experiencing a paradigm shift in the lighting and home automation markets, we are reaching a point where we need more performance in terms of operational excellence,” explains Laurent Saeul, CEO of Minusines.
The company used Luxinnovation’s Fit 4 Innovation programme to implement its project. That is to say: a better structuring of the management and monitoring of the company’s operational and administrative activities, and a more detailed redefinition of the commercial approach, with the aim of continually getting closer to its customers and to consolidate its key role on the Luxembourg market. With a quantified objective: to substantially improve the company’s profitability within two years.
Strengthening of team spirit
No less than seven complementary areas have been implemented in parallel, ranging from operational excellence to innovation, simplification of administrative processes, strategy and governance, product management and sales dynamics. Various working groups have been set in motion, with the external guidance of a consultant, “essential to stay on course and stay on track,” says Mr. Saeul.
This has been achieved, among other things, by setting up a “Product Life Cycle Management” process and dashboards with indicators for managing activities, all supported by an increased dynamic of change and continuous improvement. With concrete results quickly measured in terms of stock turnover, lead times and order processing and, as a logical consequence, an improvement in turnover. Not to mention a strengthening of team spirit.
“By involving the entire organisation in this exercise and applying both bottom-up and top-down approaches, we have more easily identified weaknesses to be improved. This obviously helped the whole team to appreciate how important and permanent the need for innovation is. I even think that this has changed the perception of some people. In any case, it is an ideal way to promote innovation, even among the most sceptical, and make it a common objective.”
As a result, the company has launched another project “Minusines digital and beyond”, more specifically oriented towards the digital world.
“This Fit 4 Innovation project has enabled us to align all our stakeholders, employees and shareholders around the axis of innovation and make them aware of the importance of investing in the future and in digital technology,” concludes Mr. Saeul.