Product portfolio optimization as the key to profitable growth in digital access control systems

They can be found in homes and businesses or organizations from a wide variety of industries. If you have walked through automatic doors, stayed in hotels or gone through passport checkpoints, you have probably used one of ASSA ABLOY’s products or services.

The ASSA ABLOY Group is the world’s leading provider of access solutions. The group operates globally with 52,000 employees and global sales of SEK 121 billion (2022). The corporate group’s strong brands make it one of the leading providers in the areas of access, identity management and entrance automation. ASSA ABLOY’s innovations enable secure and convenient access to physical and digital locations. Every day, we help billions of people experience a safer and more open world.

The company’s decentralized structure with strong local brands and customer focus comes with both advantages and challenges. Companies of that size and with an extensive and complex portfolio face particular challenges in finding the ideal state between synergy and customer orientation. Trends like digitization, mobile solutions, an increased need for security coupled with convenience and standardization are confronted with a history of organic growth and acquisition. This often requires portfolio optimization to allow the exploitation of R&D potential and synergies today and create opportunities for tomorrow.

The product range analysis focused on the broad portfolio of digital access solutions in the EMEIA region. With an interdisciplinary ASSA ABLOY team and the experts from 3DSE, we were able to implement important steps for our portfolio optimization within three months already. The determining factors were the structured methodological approach, the preparation and analysis of data as well as a sense of the practically feasible in order to deduce the potential and recommendations for action. Workshops were paired with jury appointments to incorporate the feedback of key stakeholders from organization.

Portfolio measures will lead to sustainable results only if the organization accompanies them as a whole and is aligned with them step by step. Parallel to short-term portfolio measures, we have therefore initiated accompanying measures to align the complexity of both portfolio and organization to the market and the customers. “3DSE’s expertise in portfolio analysis and methodology and market and client-focused approach has enabled us to create visibility and direction with regard to redesigning our complex portfolio.”