Our method: connecting people, technology and systems. We connect people, technologies and systems. We won’t succeed on our own; we’ll only succeed in harmony with our environment, our customers and partners, and with motivated and forward-thinking staff.
L'édito de Vincent BedouinFrom LACROIX Sofrel
to LACROIX Environment:
a look back at 5 years of major change
15 December 2020
LACROIX Environment
Coping with major changes
The remote management of water, heating and electricity networks plays a central role at the heart of our societies. Indeed, it is vital for us on a daily basis to be able to rely on a reliable and efficient supply of resources. These sectors, to which LACROIX Environment is exposed, have been undergoing major changes in recent years. First of all, society’s expectations have grown: everyone has become more aware that our reserves, especially water and energy, are not inexhaustible, and that it is necessary to control consumption and limit waste. In addition, the acceleration of digitalisation has had crucial consequences on our activities and ways of operating.
The new challenges of the Smart Environment
During the 5 years of our Ambition 2020 strategic plan,LACROIX Environment has embarked on profound transformations of its organisationand strengthened its means to meet the new challenges of the Smart Environment. Innovation has taken a prominent place, such as seen in the launch of a new range of “Remote Management 4.0” products including Sofrel S4W and S4TH in addition to their ecosystem. Cybersecurity, a major issue for the reliability and security of our customers’ installations, has become a native component of our products, as has communication using new protocols: IP, NB-IoT, LT-EM, 4G and even 5G, for which operational prototypes are already available. Thedevelopment of our international activityhas also been very important over the last 5 years with the opening of our subsidiary in Singapore, the strengthening of our subsidiaries in Spain and Italy and the development of our network of partners who now represent us in more than 40 countries.
The company’s digitalisation as a vector of performance improvement
The digitalisation of our services, communication and organisation has made it possible to gain in performance and reactivity, while keepingthe customer at the heart of our strategy. We have set up an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system, while working on the continuous improvement of our Lean Management approach, which aims to limit any waste in production as much as possible. In addition, the migration of our networks from analogue to digital technology, IP (Internet Protocol), has made it possible to increase the performance of our remote management systems.
Human capital, the cornerstone of the organisation
All these changes could only be achieved withmotivated and committed teams: human resources management has also innovated with the introduction of teleworking, the reinforcement of training and the consideration of well-being at work. This investment in human capital, combined with a merger with SAE-IT Systems, a specialist in remote control and power grid automation systems, has enabled us to acquire new key skills, create synergies and move forward more strongly into the future.
Ronald Vrancken
Managing Director LACROIX Environment