Cash & Liquidity Management
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Improving Cash Flow Forecasting at TRILUX GmbH & Co. KG

by Yvonne Wendler, Treasury Department & Oliver Thissen, Head, Finance & Legal Department

Introduction to TRILUX

TRILUX was first founded by Wilhelm Lenze in 1912 in Menden in the Sauerland, Germany, developing gas and electric lighting. Although its initial lighting products were very simple, TRILUX developed a reputation for high quality, resulting in substantial growth and expansion to the product range throughout the 1930’s.

With sales and production units across the world, with multiple bank accounts and banking relationships, Trilux was finding it difficult to achieve clear visibility of the group’s cash position.

The company’s manufacturing facilities were destroyed during WW2, and reconstruction started 1948 in Arnsberg with more sophisticated and powerful lighting solutions including lamps with threefold lumen output compared to traditional incandescent lamps, hence the name TRILUX, meaning threefold light. During the 1950’s, the company began to expand internationally with its first subsidiary in France, a trend which has developed ever since, with sales units in 14 European countries, distributors in the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the United States and 6 production sites in the Philippines, China, India and in different locations in Europe. Today TRILUX is a leading – No 1 in Germany and No 3 in Europe – international supplier of technical lighting solutions and electronic components for the lighting industry.

Business Challenges

TRILUX maintains a treasury department of three people at its head office in Arnsberg, Germany. In addition, TRILUX Finance B.V., located in the Netherlands, functions as the group’s in-house bank and provides financing to the business units.