With business excellence in the direction of the energy turnaround

Dhe CKW Conex AG was founded in 1998 as a separate company from the Centralschweizerische Kraftwerke AG (CKW). Together with five other companies, it is part of the CKW Group, which belongs to the Axpo Group. Today CKW Conex is one of the leading service providers in the field of electricity and data applications in Central Switzerland. Two business areas are the pillars of the company: electrical and lighting installations and ICT solutions. For the future, solar technology and building automation are being developed as new business areas. And geographically, CKW Conex also intends to expand its field of activity to cover the whole of German-speaking Switzerland.

Surviving in a fiercely competitive market
The company generates around 80 percent of its sales in its traditional market area. In the electrical + lighting business, CKW Conex has a market share of 15 percent, making it the market leader. This is not a matter of course, given that competition is fierce with over 250 electrical installation companies in Central Switzerland. And for larger projects, suppliers from other economic areas are increasingly getting involved. Many contracts are therefore awarded almost exclusively on the basis of price. But CKW Conex is not aiming for price leadership. The company's vision is: "With our services, we are the leader in Central Switzerland in terms of market share, profitability and customer satisfaction". It therefore goes without saying that the company consistently strives for business excellence and for this reason alone has relied on the EFQM model since its beginnings. Continuous training and further education as well as innovative strength are decisive drivers of the company's development.

Into the future with a new strategy
The fact that the company finds itself in cut-throat competition is compounded by other strategic challenges. For the coming years, CKW Conex expects a weakening of residential construction - an important submarket in which the company is active - and declines in the export industry. New regulations are also likely to restrict market flexibility. Skills shortages and increasing security requirements in the ICT sector are further challenges. And last but not least, there are the buzzwords "digital transformation" and "energy turnaround": These offer opportunities for promising technologies, but require timely changes in the entire corporate structure, right down to the products and services. In concrete terms, the company wants to be able to supply building owners with everything from solar technology and energy storage to automation and control from a single source in the future. "Holistic solutions" is the magic word here. The company will therefore develop into a complete building service provider, as it were in the direction of a general contractor. With strategic success factors such as proximity to customers (the company has 32 locations in its catchment area), a high understanding of quality through business excellence, and consistent target processes in accordance with the Mbo system, the company considers itself well equipped.

The Human Factor...
At CKW Conex, too, the employees are crucial. The company's mission is "Enthusiastic employees create immediate benefits for customers with our services and long-term added value for us". Employees are also trained to meet the needs of the various interest groups, including customers. This includes ensuring that a technician is not only highly trained in his specialist area, but also in dealing with customers. The company also invests heavily in occupational safety and health protection. Accordingly, occupational health management was set up and introduced in 2013 with the help of external experts. Overall, all these measures have a direct or indirect impact on customer satisfaction: Here, the targets set have been regularly exceeded in recent years. Employee satisfaction is also high and has been consistently above target since 2011.

...and the innovation
In the further development of the company, CKW Conex makes a clear distinction between continuous improvement processes (CIP) and innovation. The latter is defined as the practical implementation of ideas that have a major overall impact. These include the development of new business areas such as photovoltaics, the development of new products and services, and the rapid improvement of processes in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. For example, a fully electronic accounts payable workflow was recently introduced. CIP, on the other hand, is the implementation of small development steps according to the "Plan - Do - Check - Act" (PDCA) scheme. There is also a dedicated innovation team that can identify and accelerate the introduction of so-called "quick wins".

Business Excellence "Top to Bottom
The culture of excellence is consistently exemplified by the management. All management actions and decisions are subject to assessment according to RADAR logic. Team development, constant communication and an understanding of the company's mission statement are further elements; even during the recruitment process, prospective managers are confronted with the management principles and the mission statement. In this way, the commitment to business excellence is "inculcated" from the very beginning. Internal EFQM assessments and, not least, participation in the ESPRIX Swiss Award for Excellence are the instruments with which CKW Conex AG measures and evaluates its continuous improvement process.