Always on the test bench

Delivering outstanding quality and honouring deadlines while still maintaining a high degree of flexibility is important to Solarlux – especially when it comes to working with its specialist trade partners. In order to keep this balance even when the orders are flooding in, the family-owned, German company has been employing lean management principles for several years now. And the results so far have been positive.

When Solarlux was founded 37 years ago, it was a small firm with only a few staff. Now, the family-owned company based in Melle, north-west Germany, has around 850 people on its payroll. But growth is a double-edged sword – while generally a sign that a company is doing well, it also makes its processes more complicated. From Sales to Technical Preparations, Production and even Logistics, the routines and processes that once served the company so well eventually reach a point where they need to be continually adapted to the company’s changing needs. 

In order to ensure that its customers’ and partners’ jobs are processed quickly, to optimise its own production processes and ensure that the company retains its potential for innovation, Solarlux has adopted the lean management philosophy. And it’s safe to say that it has been a success – in the space of just three years, the company’s productivity has increased by 20 percent.

Consistency across every department
Isolated attempts at changes were being made as far back as 2006, particularly with a view to improving the company’s production processes. “But so many of those efforts were inconsistent and unsustainable,” recalls Raphael Placke, Head of Process and Quality Management at Solarlux. “Around ten years later when we moved to the Solarlux Campus in Melle, we decided to take this idea one step further and adopt a long-term lean management approach that would apply to every aspect of our company.” 

Placke describes lean management as a holistic approach that covers not just process optimisation, but also aspects such as the training and further development of both management and staff. The overarching aim of the philosophy is to increase the company’s value creation – and thus improve every factor that gives the customer added value.
 

As Placke describes it, there are several factors that are key to ensuring that a lean management approach works. “First you need to work out where your problems are: what’s not working, and why not? You can’t find the right solutions if you don’t know what’s holding you back. It’s also important to include every member of staff at the company in the process. When a process runs smoothly, that’s often because the staff working on it are motivated and qualified for the task at hand.” 

That is why here, just as in other aspects of its corporate strategy, Solarlux sets great stock in providing extensive coaching for its managers and comprehensive qualification programmes for its employees – on both the production and the commercial sides of its operations. The Executive Board meets once a month with the management to discuss ongoing projects and measures, while at the departmental level these conversations take place every day, with staff proactively coming forward to offer their own ideas and suggestions for improvement.

This is hugely beneficial, as Placke explains: “That helps us to be flexible in how we respond to changes.” After all, markets and customer demands are in a constant state of flux, and the same applies to individual members of staff. This commitment to constantly casting a critical eye over the company’s internal processes and structures is reflective of a both modern, agile corporate culture and a high level of efficiency. This assures Solarlux’s specialist trade partners that we are a reliable manufacturer that guarantees them quality, flexibility and dependability.