BJB is now a member of the Club of Excellence®

BJB has been a global system supplier for conventional lighting (lamp sockets for Edison lamps, fluorescent and halogen lamps) for over 100 years. Against the background of the disruptive change in the lighting industry towards LED technology, the challenge was to completely replace the core business, which is technologically being phased out.

With great innovative strength, BJB has developed numerous future-oriented products for the new business field “Technology for Light” for everything to do with LEDs in recent years. In the meantime, these products fully compensate for the technology-related decline in the former core business of conventional lighting and lead the company back to solid growth. As a first mover, BJB has also been supplying patented LED assemblies for ovens to the household appliance industry since 2018 and rounds off its range of products and services with 3D measurement technology from industrial computed tomography and the development of systems for the industrial automation of wiring processes.

"The organization of BJB, including research and development, was consistently geared towards innovations for the new electronic technology," explains Managing Director Philipp Henrici. This innovation management also convinced the scientists from TOP 100: BJB was accepted into the Club of Excellence® and can therefore call itself one of the most innovative medium-sized companies in Germany in 2021.

150 years of competence in the lighting industry

BJB has existed as a family business for over 150 years. What began with kerosene lamps led over the electrical bridge to light (lamp base and sockets) to today's product portfolio: "Technology for Light": This includes a wide variety of LED connection and fastening systems such as terminals, but also optics and lighting solutions for the household appliance industry ( "Light for Appliances"). BJB's export share is over 80%, which is why BJB is also considered a Hidden Global Champion. There are currently 290 employees at the headquarters in Arnsberg and another 150 worldwide.

The success story of the Arnsbergers requires permanent change and innovative products: in the last year alone, BJB registered 19 patents and 17 utility models. The fundamental realignment and adaptation of the business model was successfully completed in this way. The 2020 financial year also achieved a turnaround in terms of earnings and made profits again, which will continue in 2021 with significant increases in sales and earnings. Philipp Henrici was positive about this: “Our global sales network and our innovative products form a solid basis for profitable growth. For example, we were able to significantly increase our business in China compared to the previous year, which our globally competitive structures and processes undoubtedly prove. "

About the TOP 100 competition

Since 1993, innovation management and above-average innovation successes of medium-sized companies have been evaluated by compamedia's TOP 100 competition under strict scientific criteria and awarded the TOP 100 innovator seal. The core question here is whether innovations are the result of planned procedures and how the solutions will assert themselves on the market. Due to the current situation, there was a special section in this round in which the corporate reaction to the corona crisis was examined.

The scientific management of the selection process has been in the hands of Prof. Dr. Nikolaus Franke, for his part founder and director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Professor for Innovation at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. With 25 research awards and over 200 publications, he is one of the leading international researchers in his field, but is always enthusiastic about the driving forces behind the award-winning companies: Belonging to world class! "

This world-class elite will be honored by one of the TOP 100 mentors, science journalist Ranga Yogeshwar, on November 26th, 2021. That's when all the winners of the current year come together to receive the congratulations and exchange ideas at the 7th German SME Summit in Ludwigsburg - especially about innovation.