FIND OUT WHAT CUSTOMERS NEED, THEN BUILD IT: HOW EDMONTON’S LORI PECORILLI IS INNOVATING HER BUSINESS TO GROWTH
If you want to build a better, more innovative mousetrap, you might want to call Lori Pecorilli. President and co-founder of Latium Group of Companies, Pecorilli has built innovation right into the company’s DNA.
WE LISTEN TO WHAT’S NEEDED AND HELP THEM DO THEIR JOB BETTER.
The Alberta-bornand-bred Pecorilli – a recent BMO Celebrating Women honouree in the category of innovation and global growth – grew up with the province’s vast oil industry as her backdrop, which offered her invaluable insight into the needs of companies in the space. That knowledge would propel her and her husband to launch the first iteration of Latium, filling gaps in service and technology for fleet management. Much like that first one, each subsequent step Latium would take over its 23-plus years would be motivated by challenges facing the industries it served.
“We listen to what’s needed and help them do their job better. If it makes sense, we’ll build it,” says Pecorilli. For instance, she adds, “we got into technology out of frustration because we couldn’t find a market for what our clients needed, so we decided to build our own.”
Today, the asset solutions Pecorilli and her team developed for Latium comprise five companies: Latium Consulting, Latium Equipment & Vehicles, Latium Technology, Latium Connected Asset and Latium Manufacturing.
Innovating into a new space, Pecorilli says, comes down to a simple question: What can we do better? Take an innovative Latium technology that allows clients to instantaneously receive reports on their monitoring of cables in tailing ponds. The product, recently commercialized, helps companies increase the efficacy of these resourceand labour-intensive activities without taking additional risks in hazardous working conditions. “Our biggest focus on the technology side is to digitally transform the industry as we know it today,” says Pecorilli.
What’s more, while other companies provide independent services—GPS, rentals, repairs, etc.— Latium is a one-stop shop. An abundance of legacy solutions persist in business today, each disconnected and outdated; Latium uses technology to connect the mishmash of programs.
And then there’s Latium’s global expansion. After the 201415 energy downturn hit Alberta hard, the company decided to look for opportunities outside of Canada. Thanks to partnerships, it has successfully expanded into West Africa and Mexico, with more expansions possible.
No matter the next step, one thing is certain: she’ll be taking it proudly. “It drives me crazy that in Canada we have some amazing businesses and talent but we’re so quiet compared to our neighbours down south, and we’re not given the recognition,” Pecorilli says. “Canada needs to get louder.”