Seeing Things Clearly: A Success Story by STAUFEN.AG
Barberini GmbH‘s success story can be summed up briefly: While the company was still reporting substantial losses in 2015, the company has undergone a significant restructuring since 2018, and has been showing a steady profit since its re-alignment. But, let‘s start from the beginning. The German subsidiary of the Italian eyeglasses specialist manufactures lens blanks for sunglasses and other special eyeglasses at its Grünenplan plant, which is between Hanover and Göttingen in Germany. The story, which ends happily, started as a crisis in 2015: The German company was not meeting the expectations of its parent company. The Italian parent Barberini S.p.A. had acquired the manufacturing operating from Schott AG in 2010. It planned to expand its production depth, ensure its own supply and get control of the quality in general.
Barberini GmbH‘s success story can be summed up briefly: While the company was still reporting substantial losses in 2015, the company has undergone a significant restructuring since 2018, and has been showing a steady profit since its re-alignment. But, let‘s start from the beginning. The German subsidiary of the Italian eyeglasses specialist manufactures lens blanks for sunglasses and other special eyeglasses at its Grünenplan plant, which is between Hanover and Göttingen in Germany. The story, which ends happily, started as a crisis in 2015: The German company was not meeting the expectations of its parent company. The Italian parent Barberini S.p.A. had acquired the manufacturing operating from Schott AG in 2010. It planned to expand its production depth, ensure its own supply and get control of the quality in general.
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<strong>Seeing</strong> things from the right<br />
angle makes the difference<br />
The Italian partner took a change in management as an opportunity<br />
to try something entirely unorthodox. It did not send a<br />
delegate to Germany, nor did it attempt to control operational<br />
business from Italy. The Italian manager was only legally responsible,<br />
but left the operational responsibility to the management<br />
team in Germany.<br />
The reasons for the unusual decision: The personnel changes<br />
at the top that the company had implemented in the past had<br />
brought about any significant improvement. So, in consequence,<br />
all operational tasks were assigned to the experienced experts in<br />
their field - what had in the past been deemed the „second rank“.<br />
They had the expertise required and could therefore optimally<br />
prepare the decision-making basis for management.<br />
What this meant for Staufen <strong>AG</strong> was that its mandate was expanded<br />
to include coaching a new team, which now assumed various<br />
tasks in preparation for the managing director. This allowed<br />
the team of managers, supported <strong>by</strong> Staufen experts, to prepare<br />
collective bargaining agreements and recommend investments,<br />
which were then approved <strong>by</strong> the management board at short<br />
notice. The latter related primarily to production automation and<br />
digitization of production. Here, because of its many year of experience,<br />
Staufen was able to provide valuable assistance in the<br />
areas mentioned as well as offer an analysis of what would most<br />
likely be feasible.<br />
12 <strong>STAUFEN</strong>. | BARBERINI
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