NOBIA Eggedal

Finding the full potential in Nobia’s factory in Eggedal

Nobia designs kitchens for life. Integ Partner works to realize the strategies necessary for achieving such ambitious visions. Through an in-depth capacity assessment, Integ Partner, together with the client, discovered existing inherent capabilities and strengths at Nobia’s factory in Eggedal, Norway, while also identifying key areas for improvement to ensure strategy implementation.

Challenge

In 2020, Sweden-based Nobia Corp., with its new overarching strategy, “Tomorrow Together,” decided to transform Nobia from a manufacturing-focused company into a sales-oriented one, organized into three regions. This transformation aimed at creating a product supply organization that supports Nobia’s sales operations as efficiently and reliably as possible, making it essential to strengthen local kitchen brands. For Nobia’s Eggedal factory, this meant clearly contributing to the overall strategic goals as part of a productive, streamlined, and collaborative network of production facilities.

Goal

Fredric Forsell, head of Nobia’s Eggedal factory, set ambitious strategy-driven goals to increase both productivity and delivery reliability while reducing absenteeism.

1. Increase the production of kitchen cabinets per full-time employee from 7.5 to 10.
2. Improve delivery reliability from 85% to 95%.
3. Reduce absenteeism from 12% to 8.5%.

Fredric Forsell recognized that, to achieve these ambitious goals, it was crucial first to understand how capable and motivated his management team and factory staff were to take on this challenge.

Solution

After a brief review in August 2020 with Nobia Productions management, Integ Partner recommended an “Assessment” to evaluate the Eggedal factory’s ability to meet this challenge. The factory was analyzed across eight dimensions, covering both structural and process-related aspects (such as distributed decision-making, shared views on strategy and goals, communication channels, work structures) as well as cultural aspects (leadership style, collaborative ability, cross-border cooperation).

Implementation

How was the proposed assessment conducted in detail?

Step #1 – Aug 31, 2020 – Expectations, planning, and preparation with Fredric Forsell, factory head of Eggedal (2-3 hours)

1. What is the strategic challenge? What’s at stake? What is the potential? Understanding the “why” behind it.
2. Introduction to and setup of the assessment, designing and planning, reading and preparation for the analysis.

Step #2 – Sep 22-23, 2020 – Interviews and analyses primarily conducted in Eggedal

1. Introduction to the management team and all colleagues in the factory.
2. Two-hour live interviews (conducted by Integ Partner) with everyone in the management team, 30-50% of other leaders, 30% of employees, and union representatives.
3. A web-based survey was completed by everyone in the organization.
4. A preliminary report and analysis results were presented and discussed.

Step #3 – Oct 2, 2020 – Workshop with factory management – analysis and path forward (4-6 hours in Eggedal)

1. Presentation of preliminary analysis results with “best practices” and recommendations from Integ Partner.
2. Discussion and alignment within the team regarding the current state and desired state.
3. Discussion and alignment within the team on the path forward and next steps.
4. Reflection and insights gained from the assessment process.

Result

The evaluation revealed the following for Nobia’s Eggedal factory:

1. The brand was strong, and the market relatively resilient, with minimal impact from the pandemic.
2. Employees were very proud of the brand, their products, and highly committed to customers.
3. A clear and shared vision of the company’s direction and the “why” was lacking, as was the connection between the global and local strategies.
4. A systematic approach was lacking, where everyone could effectively contribute to solving issues related to the company’s challenges.
5. Leadership was characterized by operational firefighting rather than strategic efforts and building individual and team capabilities.
6. These issues resulted in a fragmented organization that was slow to enable change, leading to frustration and conflicts within and between teams due to a strong commitment to customers and pride in the products.

Insights

The following conclusions and insights emerged from the evaluation:

1. The main potential was to make full use of the already existing internal capabilities. The market and brand were strong.
2. There was untapped potential in strategically developing employees and building efficient, more self-sufficient teams.
3. Local expertise was underutilized in terms of unified work toward common goals, personal commitment to customers, and encouraging more individuals to independently solve problems aligned with the strategy.
4. Compared to other Integ Partner clients who have worked on unlocking similar inherent capabilities with the help of Integral Management, Nobia Eggedal’s goals of >10 cabinets per FTE, improved delivery reliability, and reduced absenteeism were deemed achievable within a 12 to 18-month period.

Testimonial

“The assessment results provided reassurance in what we already knew and some eye-opening moments. It was interesting to see the things we were blind to and others we were confident about, only to realize the reality was quite different. I highly recommend conducting an assessment if you see a need for change, especially when the need is cultural.”

“Integ Partner demonstrated high competence and experience in what it takes to turn strategies into reality. They also showed extraordinary care for people and respected where we were, our opinions, and experiences. This quickly built trust and a strong relationship with all of us – a crucial part of the success.”

Fredric Forsell, Factory Manager, Nobia Factory Eggedal, Norway

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