SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC SUCCESSFUL INTEGRATION OF TWO GROUPS REQUIRES CAREFUL MANAGEMENT THE CHALLENGE How do you successfully merge and integrate two groups swiftly and under difficult market conditions? Particularly without losing market shares, key employees, or your ability to deliver? This was the challenge faced by the Nordic-Baltic section of Schneider Electric and the Lexel Group. Together, the two groups comprised 45 companies with a total annual turnover of 730 million EUR, numbering 3,800 employees at more than 50 sites in seven countries. The task was to unite these under a common heading. ABOUT SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC Schneider Electric is a global company specialising in energy optimisation and management, taking a target-specific approach to helping people and organisations improve their energy efficiency. The company has more than 110,000 employees in more than 100 countries; its 2010 turnover was approximately 20 billion EUR. TESTIMONIAL ”I’ll happily confess that there were times when I found myself wishing that the Valcon consultants were a little less efficient. Particularly on those Monday mornings when my in-tray contained a reminder about those tasks I hadn’t finished on time – always with a humorous remark stating that they would like me to get things done within a couple of days.” ”The crucial factor for success in our integration process was open communication and ongoing reporting at every stage of the integration process. This allowed us to take swift action and make corrective actions if a task required adjustment or was late.” Paul-Ingvar Ohlsson, VP and director business development, Schneider Electric THE SOLUTION Schneider Electric originally bought the Lexel Group in 1999, and by 2003 it was time to integrate the Lexel Group into what would become Schneider Nordic Baltic. The integration process lasted six months. It was run by a steering committee of approximately 30 key employees from the two groups together with a small team of consultants from Valcon. The work involved a new business model, a new organisational structure, and a practical model for ensuring integration. That practical model in itself featured 14 sub-projects and 270 major milestones. The specific projects were carried out by Schneider Nordic Baltic’s own staff, while a Valcon consultant kept track of everything in order to keep the change process moving along. If deviations from the plan occurred, Valcon brought in target-specific experts to get things back on track. As part of the change, support functions such as logistics, finance, and IT were moved to central organisations that serve the entire group. THE RESULTS All major milestones were reached within the scheduled timeframe and budget. This meant that all functions were set up and operational on time and that market plans for the following year were in place. The physical relocations of sales offices in Denmark and Norway
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