The first six months of the year marked a few changes at SEKISUI Alveo. As of April 1st, the company is being led by a new management team. And on June 21, the Headquarters office was moved from Lucerne to Adligenswill, where the company’s Application Service Laboratory (ASL) has already been located for three years.
After 25 years in the centre of Lucerne, the new location marks a positive change – now having all employees united in one place. SEKISUI Europe talked to the organizing team to get some more insights on the move.
Why did you move offices?
We had the great privilege to have our HQ offices in downtown Lucerne for the last 25 years. When the owner of the building decided to do some major renovations work resulting in a substantially higher rent we sat together and discussed the location regarding its advantages and disadvantages. We considered thoroughly and finally decided to move offices for several reasons. First of all, we saw the opportunity to unify the HQ office location with the Application Service Laboratory (ASL) location. This is a great chance to have all employees working in one place. On top of that, we did not want our employees to suffer from the renovation works again. We already had some major work in the past few years and it was really not comfortable to work with noise and dust. Last but not least, the substantially higher cost with no additional benefit was a reason.
When did you start with the preparations for the move and what needed to be done?
We decided to move offices in August 2018. After detailed research on the real estate in the area, the decision was based on various criteria such as location, office space, storage space and public transport. Due to the timing (11 months from the decision to the move) we had a very challenging project plan which was only possible through a good team work – both internally with our colleagues and externally with our moving partners.
In addition to the organization of the move, and of highest importance, we wanted to keep the employees informed at all times and made sure that they have all the information they need.
Last but not least, we needed and still need to make sure that all our customers know our new address.
What are the advantages of the new office rooms?
The offices are completely new and modern with a nice atmosphere to work in. As we are all sitting close to each other, we can cooperate well – both the HQ employees and the colleagues from the ASL. Communication lines are short and we get to know each other better. On top of that, we can use synergies of the ASL, such as the existing IT infrastructure.
It is sad to give up such a nice office location in Lucerne, but we are looking forward to a new era of collaboration and team work.
New Executive Board
And the new offices are not the only change, SEKISUI Alveo faced this year. At the beginning of April, the Executive Board of the SEKISUI Alveo AG was recomposed. Several former officers were appointed to new functions and new members were appointed from within the ranks of the company.
Find out more about the different changes on the SEKISUI Alveo website: https://www.sekisuialveo.com/en/news-media/top-management-changes-at-sekisui-alveo-n311
What is the Application Service Laboratory (ASL)?
Continuous research and development is one of SEKISUI Alveo’s core competencies and makes the company an innovative and reliable partner in the field of foam development. In order to provide targeted support for customers, for example through the development of applications and production of prototypes, the Application Service Laboratory (ASL) was built more than 25 years ago. The ASL is the only facility in the sector within Europe and is a key to the innovation and quality advantage provided by SEKISUI Alveo. Since February 2016, it is located in Adligenswill.
