Improving profitability throughout the supply chain.
Sustained support for senior managers on projects to improve profitability throughout the European supply chain.
Thorn Lighting, part of Zumtobel Group, employs 3,000 people in Europe, Asia and Australia and has sales of €500 million. It has been a client for over twenty years. Thorn is the market leader in the UK and has strong positions in France and the Nordic region. The company is a leading lighting supplier in the Australian and Hong Kong markets and is developing its presence in the Far East, particularly in China and Singapore.
Our consultants have provided sustained support to directors and senior managers throughout Europe on projects designed to improve service, reduce costs and increase profitability. The focus of our work has been:
- to implement the manufacturing strategy, which emphasises shorter supply chains, increased operating efficiencies and reduced costs. We gave particular attention to reorganising facilities to enhance service to customers and to make best use of plant and overheads
- to re-focus the sales forces to add value by setting up closer relationships with customers
- to analyse separately the profitability of products, sales channels and customers in order to allocate resources more precisely
- to close sites that are underperforming
- to set up financial incentives and create new opportunities to exploit the Group’s considerable resources and skills.
We have provided executives to manage plants in France and the UK. And we gave considerable support to the company to upgrade processes, reduce costs and manage the relocation and commissioning of the award winning new factory in Spennymoor, County Durham (subject of a separate case study).
These varied assignments build on Collinson Grant’s long-term relationships with key managers, our understanding of the operations at all sites, and our appreciation of the complexities of managing pan-European businesses.