NEWS
LEDiL® LTD CONTINUES THE TRADITION OF GLOBAL SUCCESS OF SALO BASED COMPANIES
Founded in Salo in 2002, LEDiL Ltd specializes in the design, development and manufacture of LED optics. Growth in the LED sector and for the company has been phenomenal, and in just 15 years LEDiL has gone from a startup consisting of the two founders to an industry leader with more than 130 employees globally.In order to remain competitive and ensure a bright future in the face of increasingly tougher competition LEDiL is investing in skilled staff and infrastructure. The recent move to new and bigger premises has increased the company’s visibility in Salo where it has been the biggest local taxpayer for the past two years. Exporting Finnish know-how around the world forms the foundation of the company and is based on a strong Salo business culture.
LEDiL's workforce has increased by 36% in the last year from 98 to 133 people. The number employed in Salo has increased from 56 to 71 in the past year with new employees joining the company on an almost weekly basis. To date the Salo head office employs a total of 98 people compared to 79 a year ago.
The Salo head office is at the heart of the company's operations where administration, product development, laboratory operations and logistics are centred. The central warehouse primarily serves European customers as well as the global market when needed. "When we consider industry error rates in deliveries, we can proudly say we are also one the world's top player in logistics," says LEDiL's CEO Rami Huovinen. In addition to the central warehouse in Salo, LEDiL also has a warehouse in Hong Kong and during the summer North American subsidiary LEDiL Inc. will open its own warehouse in North America.
Established in April last year, US subsidiary LEDiL Inc. is located in Sycamore near Chicago and is part of the company's growth strategy for the American market. The Americas as a whole are a very significant area of growth, with the North American market spearheading the company’s marketing activities. "After 13 years of trying to conquer America with different operating models we decided to set up a subsidiary and hire an experienced corporate executive to lead it. Although Europe is still a much larger commercial market, the US and European markets are as big as each other. The decision to set up a subsidiary has proven to be the right one and we believe sales in America will continue to grow at a good pace in the coming years," says Huovinen.
LEDiL has subcontracted production to seven different factories on three different continents. The company employs 35 sales people around the world, ten of whom are employed by LEDiL Inc. in Sycamore. LEDiL also has a policy of providing work experience opportunities for school children and students during the summer holidays and this summer the company looks forward to welcoming several young workers to these summer jobs. "LEDiL is a good example of how the decades of knowledge and intellectual capital concentrated in the Salo region can be redirected into new areas to enable fast business growth. LEDiL's success and the creation of new jobs have literally been a beacon of light for Salo after some tough years, and the company has given the city the belief it has everything needed to rise again. Now with the Salo IoT Campus, a centre of competence for the internet of things, the overall economic outlook for Salo seems to be much better in many respects compared to last year," says Antti Rantakokko, Mayor of Salo. "LED luminaires are conquering the traditional lighting market. The change is a reality that sees the LED market growing strongly everywhere. Our strategic solution after this industrial revolution is to be a major global player in the industry," says CEO Rami Huovinen.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Taina Kalintiv, LEDiL Ltd, tel. +358 40 589 1425, taina.kalintiv@ledil.comRami Huovinen, LEDiL Ltd, tel. +358 40 745 7964, rami.huovinen@ledil.com
LEDiL LTD - FINNISH PROFESSIONAL SKILLS ON A GLOBAL LEVEL
LEDiL is an industry leading optics supplier to the world's largest lighting manufacturers. An extensive product range, innovative solutions, close cooperation with leading LED manufacturers and customer-oriented service have enabled LEDiL to become the market leader in its field.
LEDiL IN NUMBERS
Ownership:
66% Ratos AB
34% LEDiL Ltd founders, employees and board members
Turnover 2016:
EUR 39 million
Number of employees:
133 in total of whom 98 are in Salo
LEDiL HISTORY
Engineers Hannu Hukkanen and Tomi Kuntze founded LEDiL in 2002 to develop LED optics for the lighting market. Both founders had been involved in LED lighting since 1997 and after establishing their own company started designing, developing and manufacturing optics as well as providing training in LED competencies. The core business has focused on optics from the beginning and LEDIL's first product, FLARE, was launched in 2003. FLARE is still one of the company's most popular products today.
In 2005 production started in China and LEDIL's first product family to produced in China, APOLLO, was launched at the New York Fair the same year. The following year LEDiL participated in the all important Light and Building fair for the first time together with the industry’s largest LED manufacturer, Osram. LEDiL continued to grow in the international market but additional power was needed. This led to the recruitment of the first foreign sales person for the Chinese market, and the following year LEDiL signed its first global distributor agreement with Arrow.
As the market grew the founders realized if they wanted to continue focusing on product and sales development, the company needed a competent leader. In 2010 Rami Huovinen joined the company and continues to serve as CEO. LEDiL products and innovations began to gain international recognition and LEDiL firmly established its position in the global marketplace. The company also recognized it was time to start patenting their important innovations as well as standardizing quality across their complete business systems and processes.
Over the years LEDiL has won many awards, both at home and abroad. One of the most important of these was the Internationalization Prize awarded by the President of the Republic of Finland in 2014. In addition to this important prize, 2014 represented a significant leap forward for LEDiL's business when the Swedish venture capital company Ratos bought 66% of LEDiL shares, ensuring strong financial support and continued growth.
In 2016 LEDiL started to conquer the American market by establishing the subsidiary LEDiL Inc. in Sycamore, Illinois. LEDiL Inc.'s mission is to grow LEDiL's market share in both North and South America.
In April 2017 LEDiL's headquarters moved to more spacious and functional premises in Salo.
RATOS AB
Ratos is a Swedish investment company that owns and develops unlisted medium-sized companies in the Nordic countries. The company plays an active role as an owner by participating in long-term sustainable business development and value-creation in the companies it invests in. Ratos’s portfolio consists of 17 medium-sized Nordic companies and the largest segments in terms of sales are Construction, Industrials and Consumer goods/Commerce. Ratos is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and has a total of approximately 14,200 employees.
LED TECHNOLOGY
LED is a semiconductor component that radiates light with excellent energy efficiency, lights up quickly and has a long life span. Due to its small size and excellent light output its possibilities are virtually limitless and it is suitable for replacing virtually all older lighting technologies. Good colour rendering together with intelligent control also makes it possible to create spectacular illuminations. Able to maximize the use of natural light and space at different times of the day, LED lighting can achieve energy savings of up to 75%.
NEWS
Press release 18.05.2017
LEDiL® LTD CONTINUES THE TRADITION OF GLOBAL SUCCESS OF SALO BASED COMPANIES
Founded in Salo in 2002, LEDiL Ltd specializes in the design, development and manufacture of LED optics. Growth in the LED sector and for the company has been phenomenal, and in just 15 years LEDiL has gone from a startup consisting of the two founders to an industry leader with more than 130 employees globally.In order to remain competitive and ensure a bright future in the face of increasingly tougher competition LEDiL is investing in skilled staff and infrastructure. The recent move to new and bigger premises has increased the company’s visibility in Salo where it has been the biggest local taxpayer for the past two years. Exporting Finnish know-how around the world forms the foundation of the company and is based on a strong Salo business culture.
LEDiL's workforce has increased by 36% in the last year from 98 to 133 people. The number employed in Salo has increased from 56 to 71 in the past year with new employees joining the company on an almost weekly basis. To date the Salo head office employs a total of 98 people compared to 79 a year ago.
The Salo head office is at the heart of the company's operations where administration, product development, laboratory operations and logistics are centred. The central warehouse primarily serves European customers as well as the global market when needed. "When we consider industry error rates in deliveries, we can proudly say we are also one the world's top player in logistics," says LEDiL's CEO Rami Huovinen. In addition to the central warehouse in Salo, LEDiL also has a warehouse in Hong Kong and during the summer North American subsidiary LEDiL Inc. will open its own warehouse in North America.
Established in April last year, US subsidiary LEDiL Inc. is located in Sycamore near Chicago and is part of the company's growth strategy for the American market. The Americas as a whole are a very significant area of growth, with the North American market spearheading the company’s marketing activities. "After 13 years of trying to conquer America with different operating models we decided to set up a subsidiary and hire an experienced corporate executive to lead it. Although Europe is still a much larger commercial market, the US and European markets are as big as each other. The decision to set up a subsidiary has proven to be the right one and we believe sales in America will continue to grow at a good pace in the coming years," says Huovinen.
LEDiL has subcontracted production to seven different factories on three different continents. The company employs 35 sales people around the world, ten of whom are employed by LEDiL Inc. in Sycamore. LEDiL also has a policy of providing work experience opportunities for school children and students during the summer holidays and this summer the company looks forward to welcoming several young workers to these summer jobs. "LEDiL is a good example of how the decades of knowledge and intellectual capital concentrated in the Salo region can be redirected into new areas to enable fast business growth. LEDiL's success and the creation of new jobs have literally been a beacon of light for Salo after some tough years, and the company has given the city the belief it has everything needed to rise again. Now with the Salo IoT Campus, a centre of competence for the internet of things, the overall economic outlook for Salo seems to be much better in many respects compared to last year," says Antti Rantakokko, Mayor of Salo. "LED luminaires are conquering the traditional lighting market. The change is a reality that sees the LED market growing strongly everywhere. Our strategic solution after this industrial revolution is to be a major global player in the industry," says CEO Rami Huovinen.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Taina Kalintiv, LEDiL Ltd, tel. +358 40 589 1425, taina.kalintiv@ledil.comRami Huovinen, LEDiL Ltd, tel. +358 40 745 7964, rami.huovinen@ledil.com
LEDiL LTD - FINNISH PROFESSIONAL SKILLS ON A GLOBAL LEVEL
LEDiL is an industry leading optics supplier to the world's largest lighting manufacturers. An extensive product range, innovative solutions, close cooperation with leading LED manufacturers and customer-oriented service have enabled LEDiL to become the market leader in its field.
LEDiL IN NUMBERS
Ownership:
66% Ratos AB
34% LEDiL Ltd founders, employees and board members
Turnover 2016:
EUR 39 million
Number of employees:
133 in total of whom 98 are in Salo
LEDiL HISTORY
Engineers Hannu Hukkanen and Tomi Kuntze founded LEDiL in 2002 to develop LED optics for the lighting market. Both founders had been involved in LED lighting since 1997 and after establishing their own company started designing, developing and manufacturing optics as well as providing training in LED competencies. The core business has focused on optics from the beginning and LEDIL's first product, FLARE, was launched in 2003. FLARE is still one of the company's most popular products today.
In 2005 production started in China and LEDIL's first product family to produced in China, APOLLO, was launched at the New York Fair the same year. The following year LEDiL participated in the all important Light and Building fair for the first time together with the industry’s largest LED manufacturer, Osram. LEDiL continued to grow in the international market but additional power was needed. This led to the recruitment of the first foreign sales person for the Chinese market, and the following year LEDiL signed its first global distributor agreement with Arrow.
As the market grew the founders realized if they wanted to continue focusing on product and sales development, the company needed a competent leader. In 2010 Rami Huovinen joined the company and continues to serve as CEO. LEDiL products and innovations began to gain international recognition and LEDiL firmly established its position in the global marketplace. The company also recognized it was time to start patenting their important innovations as well as standardizing quality across their complete business systems and processes.
Over the years LEDiL has won many awards, both at home and abroad. One of the most important of these was the Internationalization Prize awarded by the President of the Republic of Finland in 2014. In addition to this important prize, 2014 represented a significant leap forward for LEDiL's business when the Swedish venture capital company Ratos bought 66% of LEDiL shares, ensuring strong financial support and continued growth.
In 2016 LEDiL started to conquer the American market by establishing the subsidiary LEDiL Inc. in Sycamore, Illinois. LEDiL Inc.'s mission is to grow LEDiL's market share in both North and South America.
In April 2017 LEDiL's headquarters moved to more spacious and functional premises in Salo.
RATOS AB
Ratos is a Swedish investment company that owns and develops unlisted medium-sized companies in the Nordic countries. The company plays an active role as an owner by participating in long-term sustainable business development and value-creation in the companies it invests in. Ratos’s portfolio consists of 17 medium-sized Nordic companies and the largest segments in terms of sales are Construction, Industrials and Consumer goods/Commerce. Ratos is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and has a total of approximately 14,200 employees.
LED TECHNOLOGY
LED is a semiconductor component that radiates light with excellent energy efficiency, lights up quickly and has a long life span. Due to its small size and excellent light output its possibilities are virtually limitless and it is suitable for replacing virtually all older lighting technologies. Good colour rendering together with intelligent control also makes it possible to create spectacular illuminations. Able to maximize the use of natural light and space at different times of the day, LED lighting can achieve energy savings of up to 75%.