Eficode partners with Helvar to enable Agile product development

“Helvar is a very interesting private company that has been operating for nearly a century, focusing on lighting for the past 50 years. Currently, Helvar employs approximately 200 people. We are an international lighting brand, and more than 90 % of our sales are international,” says Tommi Raivisto, who is in charge of smart lighting products at Helvar.

Partnering for Agility

Helvar’s primary objective is to preserve energy. In addition, it has become increasingly important to improve people’s wellbeing. Digitalization and the development of increasingly intelligent cities and buildings has created a revolution in many industry areas, including lighting. This revolution is also generating new opportunities.

“Helvar is rooted in industry. As we are making the shift towards the IoT business as well as intelligent buildings and cities, our operations differ quite dramatically from those of traditional industries. We saw a wealth of opportunities in this, and we also had the need to develop our operations and make them more agile and modern,” Raivisto explains.

“When I started at Helvar, one of my first tasks was to improve product development to make it more competitive in the increasingly digital environment of the future. I have experience with agile software, and we saw that as an area where we needed a partner. We started discussions with a few companies and realized that Contribyte, now part of Eficode, was the best fit for us,” he says.

When Raivisto talks about agility, he means Helvar’s ability to meet market demands quickly and flexibly. The cooperation between Eficode and Helvar is flexible, because the key focus areas are regularly re-evaluated based on requirements. The partnership is close, and the Eficode consultants are part of the Helvar team.

“Product development is mainly carried out here in Espoo, Finland. Half of the operations are located in the UK. Eficode has been working with us in both countries,” Raivisto says.

“We have been very happy with what Eficode is doing. We have specific and distinct needs, because our business generates income from merged products, but the value comes primarily from the software, which requires a very specific operational model. Eficode has skills that are helping us to determine that model,” Raivisto says.

“I feel our relationship with Eficode is candid. They can tell us what they think of our development. We, on the other hand, can give them feedback on how we see their operations and the added value it provides us. The most important thing for me is that Eficode really cares about how we are doing,” Raivisto stresses.

Improved work satisfaction and efficiency

According to Raivisto, the most significant benefits of the cooperation are the increase in work satisfaction and efficiency. With the help of Eficode, switching to innovation-based operations has made our teams more self-sufficient.

“Self-sufficiency gives us room to experiment. It is very positive to see people starting to enjoy their work, with room, ability and opportunity to innovate. I believe that being coached by Eficode has helped us significantly,” Raivisto reflects.

“I think Eficode services are good value for money. This is a far better option than building our own competence in this area. When we are working with a company that also works with many other companies, their insight and experience are very useful to us,” Raivisto says.