Innovation. In order to fully establish ourselves as a
provider of solutions for players in the construction industry, we are
concentrating on certain priorities:
- An approach based on segments, such as building or infrastructures, to ensure that the solutions we
are offering our customers are suited to their needs.
- The availability of our special concretes in all countries, adapted to various building practices by our local
development laboratories. In parallel, the Lafarge Research
Center is working on new
applications which will enrich our offer.
- New systems and solutions to construct
foundations, facades or floors, combining several materials to ensure optimal
performance in terms of cost, insulation, strength...
- New services, such as upstream consulting
for designers, placing and finishing concrete, and recovery and recycling
demolition waste. We also take care of cement distribution as close as possible
to our customers.
In total, our innovation actions are expected to contribute
€450 million of EBITDA to our strategic plan for 2012-2015.
Performance. We are acting on several levers to improve our
competitiveness:
- Lowering costs. Having reduced our
expenditure by €1.5 billion between 2006 and 2012, we want to continue
producing more cheaply with the same level of quality. Our aim is to use more
alternative fuels in order to reduce our energy bill. We are also optimizing
our expenditure on the procurement of equipment and electricity.
- Growth through improved plant performance. In order to produce an additional 13 to 15 million tonnes by 2015 with
a minimum level of investment, we are further boosting the productivity and
reliability of our plants, through the systematic application of operational
models.
- Speeding up our performance culture, by developing the skills of our key positions and accelerating on the transfer
of know-how.
In total, our performance actions are expected to
contribute €1.3 billion of EBITDA to our strategic plan for 2012-2015.
