TL;DR: At Healthcare Holding Schweiz, we use KAIZEN — our hands-on, visual project management methodology — to integrate acquired companies into stronger platforms. A full-day kick-off workshop, a physical Master Schedule and 15-minute weekly check-ins keep the work transparent, accountable and on track.
At Healthcare Holding Schweiz (HHS), we acquire companies that strengthen our position in Swiss healthcare and medtech distribution. Some companies continue to operate on their own for a time. Others are integrated into a larger platform to strengthen internal processes and customer access.
Our platforms are a group of companies that share customers, markets, systems, processes or leadership structures. A platform can be partly integrated or fully integrated. The level depends on the business, the customer overlap and the value we can create by bringing teams and processes together. Overall, we move continuously towards stronger integration, but are mindful of the individual circumstances of each acquired company.
Many smaller healthcare distributors have strong customer relationships and deep product knowledge, but limited infrastructure. A larger platform adds that infrastructure, providing stronger sales coverage, customer service, logistics, quality management, IT, finance, HR and reporting, enhancing what made the acquired company successful through a stronger operating base.
“An acquisition only creates value if the company is stronger after joining us. Our job is to protect what works, support the people who built the business, and bring in the systems and processes that help it grow.”
Fabio Fagagnini, CEO Healthcare Holding Schweiz AG
Thus, integration drives value through professionalization (i.e., infrastructure as mentioned above) and simplification (i.e., removing duplication from IT systems, insurance policies, external service providers, rent). The value does not come from one large move, but from many small practical improvements.
How we integrate at HHS using the KAIZEN Methodology
We have onboarded more than 20 companies and integrated over ten of them over the last three years. Based on this experience, we have developed a well working integration methodology that continues to improve as the group grows.
Before we acquire a company, we decide on the integration strategy together with the prior owner and if relevant, with the management of the acquired company. If the target is not large or distinct enough to found a new platform it will be onboarded to the platform where it shows the largest overlap, passing under the responsibility of the respective Platform CEO.
The platform CEO is then responsible for the integration of the company. The Holding acts as sponsor, sparring partner and facilitator, challenging the plan, supporting the integration lead, helping to remove barriers and making sure lessons are carried from one integration to the next. This knowledge transfer is crucial to define the key work packages and to identify issues early.
A good integration protects daily business while the company moves into a better structure. That is why we use a structured project management approach for integrations. We call it KAIZEN Project Management. The name comes from the Japanese term for “continuous improvement” — small, consistent steps, repeated and refined, that compound into meaningful change. That philosophy matches how we think about integration.
KAIZEN is our standard method for running important change projects. It gives teams a common way to define the goal, plan the work, track progress and solve issues. The method is practical, very transparent and has been proven to work extremely well in an SME setting.
The KAIZEN methodology allows us to efficiently run integrations because it cuts across many functions. Sales, customer service, logistics, and admin need to collaborate closely to ensure nothing gets missed.
Every KAIZEN runs with four clearly defined roles. The Sponsor (typically the Platform CEO or a Holding executive) sets the mandate, secures resources and removes barriers. The KAIZEN Lead owns the day-to-day project — running meetings, updating the Charter, holding the team accountable. The Facilitator guides the kick-off workshop and the weekly check-ins, protecting the discipline of the method. The Core Team, typically 6 to 8 workstream owners from sales, customer service, logistics, IT, finance and HR, plans and executes the work in their respective swim lanes.
Each integration starts with a KAIZEN Charter. The Charter defines the project before the team starts working. It covers the goal, current situation, gap, assumptions, scope, boundaries, team, timeline, expected effort and key deliverables. It is prepared by the project lead and reviewed with the sponsor. It sets clear parameters and surfaces underlying assumptions that can trigger problems later in the process (e.g., do we keep two brands, or will there be a re-branding?)
The Charter becomes the binding project contract each member of the core team (the workstream leads) will sign.
After the Charter is ready, the core team meets for a full-day KAIZEN kick-off workshop, following the Visual Project Management Methodology.
A full day can feel like a heavy investment. In practice, it saves time. Trying to plan an integration in a short meeting usually creates more work later. People leave with open questions, unclear ownership and different versions of the plan.
A few simple rules keep the day disciplined. The workshop runs a full day, in person, with no phones and no laptops; the only exception is the brief presentation of the Charter at the start. Each work package on the board follows a noun-plus-verb format (“ERP data cleaned”, “Customer letter sent”) so ownership is unambiguous. Each swim lane carries between 6 and 16 work packages of 2 to 16 hours each, small enough to be real, big enough not to micromanage. And we assign two volunteer roles for the day: a Timekeeper to keep us within the agenda, and a Bio-Break Master to call breaks when energy drops.
The workshop gives the team enough time to work through the integration properly. Each workstream owner plans their own swim lane. They write down the work packages in their area. They place them on the Master Schedule and explain what needs to happen, when it needs to happen and which other teams are affected.
The Master Schedule is a physical board. The timeline runs across the top. Each function has a swim lane. Milestones sit above the relevant weeks. Work packages sit in the lanes. Dependencies are marked. Vacations, risks and issues are added as they appear. Below a disguised version from our last KAIZEN VPM project.
We deliberately chose a physical board over digital project management tools. The visibility is the point: when the plan is on the wall, every team member can see at a glance where they are, what is due this week and where the risks sit. There is no hidden Gantt chart and no buried task list. Transparency and accountability follow naturally — the work is in the open, and so is ownership.
Around the Master Schedule, three additional tools keep the team aligned. The Parking Lot captures any topic that arises during the workshop but cannot be resolved in the moment, so the day keeps flowing without losing important issues. The Pitcher/Catcher method tracks dependencies: numbered 1 to 10, each pair links the team member delivering a result (the Pitcher) with the one who depends on it (the Catcher), directly on the Master Schedule. And at the end of the day, the team fills in a Learnings flip chart, capturing positives, negatives and AHA moments — feedback that shapes the next KAIZEN.
“This format works because the people doing the work build the plan together. Every swim lane has an owner. Every dependency is discussed. By the end of the day, the team knows what has to happen and where the risks are.”
Moritz Sollberger, COO Healthcare Holding Schweiz AG
After the kick-off, the project lead takes over the daily management of the integration. The core team meets weekly for a 15-minute status update. Each owner reports on their swim lane. Items that are on track do not need long discussion. Delays are addressed directly. If a work package moves, it is moved on the board and the move is clearly marked. If an issue appears, it is added to the Issue Tracker with an owner, clear countermeasure and a deadline. If a risk needs attention, it goes into the Risk Register with the same discipline.
Key Learnings from the last ten integrations
A successful integration requires
Integration means a temporary increase in workload for the team. But if it is structured well, this can be minimized and even create more efficient processes down the line.
Building stronger platforms
Integration is careful work. It touches customers, employees, systems, contracts, suppliers, products and routines. It requires judgment as well as discipline.
Our approach gives teams a clear way to manage that work. KAIZEN creates the structure. Visual Project Management keeps the plan visible. The platform executes. The Holding sponsors and supports. The team learns and improves from project to project.
That is how HHS turns acquisitions into stronger healthcare platforms: with continuity for customers, clarity for employees and a practical road to value.